Free Call Me! by Dani Ripper Page B

another drink and asks if we’d like something.
     
    “I think we’re good,” Ben says. He and I are still nursing the drinks we ordered before Roy showed up.
     
    “Benny never could hold his liquor,” Roy says. “I could tell you stories, but I wouldn’t want to embarrass my best friend. Not in front of his wife, anyway.”
     
    Ben shows a smile, but it’s a sad one.
     
    I know what’s going on in Ben’s mind. He’s feeling guilty for all the negative remarks he made about Roy. Now he sees Roy’s looks have faded a bit, sees him in a wheelchair, sees him drinking too much. Of course, Roy’s enjoying every moment of Ben’s discomfort, narcissistic bully that he is. And what makes him truly evil is he’s pulled me into his ugly game so I can watch him dismantle my husband’s ego.
     
    What a complete bully he is! I can’t imagine what sort of high he could possibly get by emasculating my husband in front of me. According to Ben it’s been going on since the day they met.
     
    Dinner arrives and we dig in. The men talk to each other about their college days, and I try to remember everything Carter Teague said and did last week, and everything Roy, as Joe Fagin, said and did.
     
    The one thing I keep coming back to is Joe’s final comment: “This is the best birthday present I ever had!”
     
    At the time I thought he meant I was the first part of the present, like an appetizer to whet his appetite, and having sex with his “wife,” Carter, was the rest of the present. I know some couples watch porn together before having sex, and I figured Carter and Joe had taken this concept to the next level. Perhaps they intended to take it up another notch as well, since they offered me three grand to have sex with them. I wouldn’t have done that for any amount of money, but what if I had? Poor Ben would be even more devastated.
     
    Now I realize Roy’s best birthday present ever was what’s taking place tonight. He’s beaten my husband again, and he’s piling on the compliments so he can pull the rug out from under Ben. He took my husband’s pride and joy, me, and reduced me to a stripper for his pleasure. I had yelled, “I’m not a whore!” and he said, “Maybe not, but you’re certainly a stripper.”
     
    Well, when it comes right down to it, it’s Roy’s word against mine about seeing me naked, and there’s no way Ben would believe such a cock-eyed story if I deny it. Ben knows I was out very late Friday night, and that’s an issue, but on the bright side I destroyed Carter’s cell phone, so there’s no photographic evidence. Even if Roy drags Carter Teague in here, it’ll be my word against theirs. I’ll convince Ben that Roy’s trying to put one over on him. I tell myself if it goes down that way I shouldn’t act defensively. I need to laugh, or roll my eyes like I would if someone were making up a story about me as a joke. Maybe I’ll listen to the whole story, as if spellbound, and say, “Absolutely true. Then I flew back home on my flying unicorn!”
     
    Every now and then, as they’re talking, Roy turns to me and gives me a wink. He’s a disgusting pig of a man, and I hate myself for being a part of his game. I’m convinced he wants to destroy my husband’s faith in me tonight, and I feel sick, cheap and degraded about it. Worse, I feel disloyal to Ben, who’s done nothing worse than brag to his old college roommate about how wonderful his wife is.
     
    After dinner, the moment of truth arrives.
     

ROY SAYS, “BEN, you’ve never said a word about my wheelchair.”
    Ben looks uncomfortable. “Well, I figured you’d explain if you wanted us to know.”
     
    “But weren’t you even concerned for me?”
     
    “Well, of course I am! But I don’t like to intrude.”
     
    Roy stares at Ben, enjoying the fact he’s making him squirm.
     
    I say, “Tell us, Roy. Why are you sitting in that wheelchair tonight?”
     
    Ben gives me an odd look.
     
    Roy pushes the chair