I stared at the message and his words hit home. I had put her through hell for so many years.
Brett: Get over yourself Mike Matthews!! Go home. Have a shower, u probably stink and sleep on it. I think things will be clearer in the morning. P.s I'm gonna start charging u for relationship advice.
At the mere suggestion of it, I lifted my arm and sniffed. I did stink. In fact, I was thirsty and my calves were in agony and I had a stitch in my side, probably exacerbated by the sprint here. I hadn't really noticed all that until now. The only bodily organ I'd been thinking about for the last hour was my heart. And that was in a lot more pain than my calves.
I jumped out of the tree and started walking home. I wondered whether I should message Maria or not. Maybe I should just take Brett's advice. I probably couldn't think straight on a dehydrated brain anyway- and I was acutely aware of my exhaustion now. I was fucked after all those matches. My walking felt totally laboured, each step like a chore.
"Don't fucking talk to me again. Just don't."
That's what I'd said to her. The words rang in my head as I continued to walk. I started to feel like one of those guys trekking through the hot desert walking towards a mirage thinking it was water. Hoping for an oasis and shaded palms. I started to feel a little delirious actually. Faint even. I just needed to make it home.
But I didn't really want to go home. I wanted to go to Maria's and throw myself on her bed and sleep there, knowing that she was there, busy on her computer- planning her world trips- or just sitting there reading a book. A tennis metaphor popped to mind, how apt.
The ball is in your court.
Except I wasn't sure whose court it was in. Maria's or mine. The more I walked the less pissed off with her I felt. I wondered how she felt. I'd never spoken to her like that before, never sworn at her. God, this was all just such a mess. And who knows what was going on with her and McKenzie right now.
I picked up speed, even though my body could barely take it and headed straight for her house, totally disregarding Brett's advice. I didn't know what I was going to say to her. I just wanted to see her. Tell her that I loved her...
It was agony climbing the trellis and I almost lost my footing twice. I squirmed my way into the window and came face-to-face with Mr. Glover.
"Hey, um... I was just..." I stuttered feeling very intimidated as he stood up and looked at me.
"I know what you're doing. You do this almost everyday. Do you really think we don't know you're playing video games here at : at night?"
"UH...." I wanted to throw myself out of the window and run for my life. I was sure I was going to be dragged out by him. But for some reason, I didn't understand, he didn't look angry.
"Sit down Mike."
"What?" Awkward.
He gestured for me to sit at Maria's desk, so I obeyed.
"Where's Maria." I asked, starting to feel nervous at the sudden formality of this event.
"She's unavailable right now. And probably will be for a while."
"Is she..."
He cut me off, "She's fine. Sort –of."
"Good!" I replied.
"We've never really had a chance to talk to each other, have we? Mano e Mano?"
"Sorry what?"
"Man to man Mike. Man to man."
I swallowed. This didn't sound good. At all.
"What do you want to talk about?" I asked tentatively. I was starting to perspire.
"I have a request. A simple one. I've never asked you for anything before, have I?" He sounded so calm and business like, it was eerie. No wonder he was a good businessman, he had the most intimidating presence and he was not the kind of guy you could say no to.
"Sure."
He paused and looked at his watch. "Okay, it's Friday : pm now."
He looked up at me as if I was meant to know where this was going. I didn't.
"Please don't contact my daughter until next week this time."
"What? I shot out of my seat. "But that's a week away, and besides, I'll see her at school."
"No you won't Mike. It seems that Maria has been suspended for a week."
"What? How?"
"I'm sure you can call your other cronie Brett and he will fill you in." he stood up and walked towards me, I wanted to take a step back. He extended his hand for me to shake.
"Deal?"
I stared at his hand, not sure what to do. "Can I ask why first?"
"Because my daughter deserves a little break. And quite frankly, so do you. You can resume your friendship next week Friday, no problem."
This sounded so strange. What break did Maria need? A break from me?
I extended my hand tentatively and shook it, but as I tried to pull away he gripped it harder. "I take hand shakes very seriously Mike. Do not disappoint me."
I nodded and so did he.
"You're a good guy Mike, I've always liked you, and I was really sorry to hear about your parents."
I shrugged. "It's life I guess."
"Life." He echoed and patted me on the shoulder before turning and walking out the room.
WTF was that? I was stunned. This was just another weird event to add to the weird weeks I had been having. I climbed out of Maria's window and walked towards my house, still trying to wrap my head around what had just happened.
I hoped Maria was okay?
Maria
What's that thing people say about silence being deafening? Not only is it deafening,
