Free Accidentally on Purpose by L. D. Davis Page B

the morning, my head was no longer murky. I slept like the dead. I stil felt like a cheater.
    The first thing I did was go see if Kyle was stil around. I stepped into the hal way and listened. I heard my mom moving around in the kitchen
    humming, and I heard the rustling of the newspaper from the formal living room from my dad. I tip toed to Emmet's door and careful y opened it. The
    bed was empty and made. There was no sign of Kyle, save for his wal et peeking out from under the bed.
    Sonofabitch.
    I grabbed the wal et and retreated back to my bedroom. I left it on my bed while I got ready to take a shower, but I kept looking at the wal et. I
    wondered what was inside of it. Condoms? Pictures of Jess? A lock of my hair?
    "None of my business," I said out loud to the wal et. "Just because you were abandoned - again - doesn't mean that I can freely go through you.
    That would be wrong, you know?"
    I took my shower, brushed my teeth and applied deodorant. When I stepped back into my room in a towel, the wal et was stil there, enticing me.
    I turned my back on it, got dressed, and brushed my hair.
    "Wel , if you're just going to sit there and stare at me," I said before picking up the wal et.
    I careful y opened it, expecting what, I didn't know. I found a few credit cards, business cards for restaurants, car dealers, a few work-related
    cards, and I even found one for an upscale strip club with the name Tandi printed on it.
    Hmm.
    I counted a hundred and thirty dol ars in cash. I didn't find any pictures, or condoms, or any of my hair, but I did find a piece of folded paper that
    looked promising. I careful y unfolded the paper. Written in Kyle's handwriting was the address of the bar he found me at, my bar. I owned the bar. I
    bought it just after my 25th birthday. It wasn't common knowledge that the bar was mine. My family knew, my best friend Donya knew, and Lil y the
    bartender knew. The rest of my employees didn't even know the woman who occupies the same stool a couple of nights a week was their boss. So,
    why did Kyle have it written down and when did he write it down?
    I didn't have time to think about it. I heard my mom coming up the stairs and it was almost time to leave. I slipped the wal et into my tote bag just
    as my mom barged into my room.
    "I was wonderin' if you were awake or not. What time did that boss of yours leave? He's a good looking man. Too bad he's with that Venner
    woman." She had started making my bed.
    "What? You don't like Luke?"
    "I think he's great, but I like that Kyle, too."
    "Kyle can be a dick," I said, edging toward the door.
    "Wel , honey, you're no angel."
    "It doesn't matter. As you just pointed out, Kyle's with that Venner woman."
    "Yes. Wel ." She stood upright, fluffed a pil ow and put it back on the bed. "Since he is with that Venner woman and you are with Luke, he
    should probably be more careful how he looks at you when you're surrounded by two hundred and some other people."
    "What are you talking about?"
    "He couldn't keep his eyes off of you last night, and I saw his face when you didn't want to dance to that slow song. If I saw al of that, then who
    else did?"
    "Maybe you're the only one who saw what you think you saw," I said, hoping to dissuade her. "I don't think it's as dramatic as you think it is."
    "Yes. Wel ." She started opening the blinds. "Maybe if it weren't for the enormous hickey on your neck that wasn't there when I left you two alone
    last night, I would be inclined to believe that I'm imagining things."
    I raced to the mirror to look at my neck.
    "Shit!" I yel ed. I didn't real y look in the mirror when I was getting ready. I don't need a mirror to brush my teeth or my hair. "Fuck!"
    "Don't let your daddy see that," Mom said before exiting my room.
    After putting on a jacket that better hid my neck, I got my parents' loaded into the car and deposited them at the airport. I went over the bridge
    and raced up 295 to Cherry Hil . I parked outside of Kyle's apartment