“So, what do you want to do with that then, Josh? If that’s the truth…”
“It’s your job to tell me what to do,” I said. I stood up. “But you’re going to twist words into questions and demand that I make decisions I don’t want to make.”
“There’s no decision to be made. It’s just us here. Talking.”
“I wanted to tell you about the other dream. So now I’ve got two dreams haunting me. What the fuck is next?”
“That we don’t know, Josh.”
“Great. So this is now a waste of my fucking time.”
“I don’t think it is.”
“Thanks for nothing.”
I left without another word. I was always able to leave like that. It pissed me off because it made me want to go back in there and keep talking.
But there was no more talking.
She was dead.
She died.
She’ll never come back to life again.
But the problem…
She wasn’t the only one I lost at that time.
Chapter 30
Waved Your Hands and it’s Gone
NOW
(Josh)
I put Aaron’s arm around my shoulder and I forced him down to the couch.
He waved his hands in the air and started talking gibberish. That was his cue that he was going to throw up. I’d known him for so damn long I could predict everything he was thinking and what he was going to do next.
The first time we got drunk together was off a bottle of brandy from his father’s liquor cabinet. I had been drunk many times thanks to guys like Murph and the secret life I lived that went beyond my friendship with Aaron. But he got so drunk that he threw up. Which was maybe normal for the first time drinking too much. In my mind, I still saw it.
Him standing in the kitchen. Then out of nowhere he waved his hands and started saying ar-ga-ah-o-er-ah-ga over and over. He ran to the sink and puked. That gibberish stood for he was about to throw up. Even for something like the stomach bug. He confessed to me he was terrified of throwing up for fear of choking on it and dying.
I managed to get a trashcan from the bathroom in the basement just in time for him to roll to his right side and throw up. He growled with an angry voice as everything came back up. Food, drink, and much more.
I patted his back and wrinkled my nose at the smell.
“I’m here, big guy,” I said. “I’m here. I’m sorry.”
I started to rub his back, looking at the stairs.
I had gotten home and started painting something that I knew was going to be terrible because the inspiration wasn’t what I wanted it to be. That’s when Rae called me and told me to come deal with my drunk asshole of a best friend. The only time Aaron got torn up like that at home was when he and Rae were arguing. Well, they always argued, but for him to drink that much, it must have been bad.
My only option when I got there was to take Aaron downstairs and save him from himself. And Rae.
He rolled to his back and groaned.
“How the fuck do you do it?”
“Do what?” I asked.
“Drink the way you do.”
I laughed. “Years of practice, Aaron. You don’t have that.”
“I just have years of love.”
It sounded like I jus ha year’a love.
“What does that mean?” I asked. “What happened tonight?”
He waved a hand. “She’ll never be it. It’ll never be. I don’t even know what we’re doing.”
“You have to tell me what happened, Aaron. No bullshit drunk talk.”
I forced him to sit up and then I slapped him across the face.
“Ow!” he screamed.
“The next one will be a punch,” I said. I grabbed his face and squished his cheeks. “What happened?”
“Go over there,” he said. “To my work bag. Open the front pocket.”
He swayed when I let him go.
That was okay. He had a trashcan to throw up in if he got sick again.
I crouched in front of the bag and unzipped it.
I pulled it open and looked away when I saw the little black box.
I looked back at Aaron.
He was staring at me. He looked ready to cry.
“Did you ask her?” I asked.
He shook his head.
I took the box out of the bag and opened it.
It was a tiny diamond ring. A thin, silver band.
The perfect engagement ring.
I shut the box and put it back and zipped the bag.
I stood and rubbed my jaw. “You didn’t ask her. Now you’re dead drunk. You two are fighting. Even for me… I’m a little lost here, Aaron.”
“Me too,” he said.
He leaned forward and groaned.
He didn’t wave his hands or make any gibberish sounds, so I knew he wasn’t going to throw up.
I returned to the couch next to him. “Why didn’t you ask her?”
“It’s just crazy with her,” he said. “The ups and downs.”
“That’s who you two are,” I said. “From the day you met.”
“You hate her.”
“Me? You’re worried about me? Fuck off, Aaron. Don’t pull that weak stuff on me.”
“I’m afraid,” he said. He looked at me, suddenly clear-eyed. “I’m afraid she’ll say no to me. Then what? I can’t imagine not having my little family.”
“Ah, shit,” I whispered.
I put an arm around Aaron.
He was sixteen when his dad cheated on his mother. His perfect life and family were ripped apart. It made us closer because I got him through it, but he was facing those demons now when considering his future.
“She loves you,” I whispered. “You two are crazy. Together. Against each other. And for each other. And when that moment hits you, man, run with it. Ask her. Put yourself out there.”
“What about you?” Aaron asked.
“What? You worried she won’t want me in the wedding?”
Aaron snorted. “I’m talking about Amelia. You had her in my house. You insisted on getting a drink at her restaurant.”
“Ah, my good friend, that’s where
