Max and Abby (2)

The bar had been noisy.  Max had to excuse himself several times to take phone calls outside where he could hear himself think.  Abby didn’t seem to mind though John made a mental note each time Max left.  Something was wrong.

Obviously something was wrong and John, through an inebriated mind, pondered how long it would be before he would have to borrow Max’s phone and drop it in the toilet.  He’d all but perfected his plan when Max came back the final time.

“I’m really sorry about that guys.  I promise that’s the last one.”  He smiled at Abby.

“Good, you’re behind the curve anyway,” she joked.

Max lifted his drink, smiled and finished it.  For the rest of the evening he’d ignore everything else but his time with his old friend and his new friend.

Sometime around 11pm, the trio left the bar and made their way to Max’s apartment.  Max was relieved to be home though he was nervous about having Abby in his apartment.  Abby was different to him now.  She wasn’t just a beautiful and friendly waitress.  She was the oldest of 3 sisters.  She was an aunt.  Her parents had retired and spent their time traveling around the country.

She liked dogs but didn’t have one.  She chose pie over cake and had a very difficult time quitting smoking but is very proud of doing so.  She was a part-time student studying law and theater because she had passion for both.    She’d traveled a lot as a child and adored her coworkers.

She didn’t know who Lou was either.

John was in rare form this evening having somehow convinced Abby that coming back to Max’s place would be a good idea.

“Hey asshole, you wanna get us a couple of drinks?  Some of us are trying to keep the party going.”  John was slurring his words slightly but was still in control… mostly.

“Cut him some slack, John.  He is our host you know.”

“Some host.  No music.  No drinks.  No snacks…”

“No class,” Max chimed in.

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you!”

Abby laughed.  She hadn’t had nearly the amount of alcohol John had.  Neither had Max.  Neither had most of the bar for the matter.

“Seriously though, help yourself to the fridge.  There’s beer in there and… not much else.  Maybe some liquor in the cabinet above it?”

John had planned for this.  “Poor guy, every time he tries to go to the grocery store I call him for a favor.  Don’t worry buddy, you can live off of beer and water for weeks.”

Max shook his head.  “Sure John, whatever you say.  You know where everything is, get the lady a drink.  I need to take care of something.”

John motioned for Abby to get closer.  He whispered loud enough for Max to hear, “I think that means he has to pee.”  Abby laughed again.

Max shook his head.  “Finishing school, Abby.  That’s how you get ahead in this world.”   With that he stuck his middle finger in the air towards John’s sweating face, now filled with pride.  “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

Max went into his bedroom and opened his closet door.  On the floor was a pile of books, ties, belts and a Boston Red Sox cap sitting atop a large steamer trunk.  He carefully moved the items to the floor, not wanting to make too much noise and attract attention, especially John’s.  When the trunk had been cleared, he dragged it out of the closet and opened it.  A gust of stale air wafted up from the yellowing pages and musty artifacts in the trunk.  Max thought of his mother’s basement, playing under the stairs as a child and the stack of loose cinder blocks in the corner.

The trunk had been one of the few things Max had removed his mother’s home.  She didn’t have much and Max wasn’t sure what was in the trunk.  That may have been the only reason he took it.  He remembered being told to stay out of it when he was little.

Mommy’s private things.

Given the circumstances of her death, Max had decided his mother’s privacy was a non-issue and that there might be something in there that somebody would want some day.  When he had brought it home he had left it in his living room.  He walked past it when he went to the bathroom.  He walked past it when he went to the kitchen.  He walked past it when he went to bed.  It made him uncomfortable.  And while he couldn’t bring himself to open it, he was haunted by what could be in the trunk.

Maybe some answers, maybe more questions.  It was the latter that made him most uncomfortable and so it had only taken a day for him to hide the trunk in his closet.

But while he was the bar with his old friend and his new friend, someone had called.  Someone had called, was called back, called again and after they had called again, Max felt less haunted by the prospect of opening the trunk.

He started rifling around the trunk.  For a moment he felt like a kid again, sneaking around his parents’ bedroom looking for dirty magazines and other things he shouldn’t see.

There were many things in the trunk.  It would take more than the few moments he’d allowed himself to survey the contents completely.  However, Max was compelled to spend just a little more time looking.

Loose pictures, clothing, small boxes, medium boxes, ribbons, thread, buttons, an old metal key chain with a popular cigarette slogan, photo albums, large envelopes and a book.

It was the book that got his attention.  The cover was worn, had no title nor author listed.  It looked like a journal.  He had nearly opened it when-

“What are you doing?”

Max jumped.

Abby had surprised him.

“I’m just looking for something.  You guys having a good time?”

“We were.  What are you looking for Max?”

Max hadn’t turned around.  “Really good question.  I don’t know yet.”

“That’s going to be tough find.”  She smiled.  “Any chance you’re going to spend any time with me tonight, Max?  I did let you trick me into coming into your apartment you know.”

Max took his hand away from the journal and turned around.  He smiled.

“I’m sorry.  I’m not much of a host.  But in my defense, John tricked you into coming here.  I just didn’t argue.”

“Yeah well, John just left.  Said he had to feed his cat.”

God dammit John.  Max sighed and shook his head.  He looked up at Abby who was just now understanding the situation.

“He doesn’t have a cat, does he?”  Abby had her hand on her brow and was shaking her head.

“I’m sorry Abby, I swear I had nothing to do with it.”

“Yeah I know.  Between the two of you, I always figured him for the sneaky one.”

“He’s a big dumb animal, but he means well.”

“He’s very loyal, I’ll give him that.  And I’m not complaining, for the record.  I liked hanging out with you guys tonight.  You two are hilarious.  Then you disappeared.”  She frowned.  Max just stared at her.  “I was looking for you but you were outside on the phone.  Looked pretty serious.  Everything alright?”

“Yeah I’m good.”  Max had enjoyed being at the bar.  Then his phone rang.  More questions.  More headaches.

Abby rolled her eyes, “Real convincing Max.”

Max got up from the trunk.  I’ll find it later.  “Sorry.  Everything is alright.  Or at least everything is as alright as it’s going to be for now.”  Abby looked puzzled and motioned for him to continue.  He sighed.  “Ok here’s the thing Abby… It’s been kind of a rough time.  I’m dealing with some stuff.  John was actually the first person I’d seen in a while.  I’ve been kind of hiding out.  He practically dragged me out of my apartment tonight.”

He looked at Abby suddenly realizing he may have offended her.  “I’m glad he did, really, but it was a tough habit to break… hiding.”

Abby walked over to Max, looking sympathetic.  “I had a feeling.  I hadn’t seen you at the diner for a while and honestly the last time I saw you, you looked like hell.”  She smiled and stepped closer, looking into his eyes.  “I kinda missed you, you know?”  She touched his shoulder.

Max flinched and then immediately relaxed.  He felt warm.  I like when she touches me.  Max had been operating as no more than an animated corpse for a long time now.  Maybe it was the shower, the meal, or the company but for a moment, with the force and subtlety of a Mack truck, Max suddenly felt an instant of genuine joy.  It was as if her fingertips were pumping energy directly into him, reviving him, calling him… reminding him that living was more than being alive.

“I kinda missed you too.  I’m glad you’re here.  I like seeing you away from the diner.  I wish I had been the one to ask you out.  I’ve always wanted to.”  He paused.  “But John’s a good guy, you two will be very happy together”  The intensity of his honesty gave way to his anxiety and he levied some jokes to balance the scales.  “And meatloaf.  I really missed the meatloaf.”

Abby laughed.  “Well I’m glad you decided to come out of hiding.”

“Actually…”  Max wrinkled his nose, looked around his apartment, and scratched the back of his head.

“Oh yeah, I forgot.  John made you”  She let out a small sigh.

Almost in protest Max declared, “I picked the restaurant!”  Well, I agreed to the restaurant anyway.  What’s the difference?

Abby laughed and playfully shoved him and looked at the trunk.  “So you have me here, the least I could do is help you.  What are we looking for?”  She turned and knelt beside the trunk.  Max frowned, shook his head again and knelt next to her.

“The call at the bar was from an insurance company.  A recording actually.”  Max closed his eyes and shook his head.  “Mom just passed away and I was trying to get her life insurance worked out to pay for her burial and stuff.  The robot on the phone told me my claim had been denied.”

Abby looked up, shocked.  “Max… I… I didn’t know.  I’m so sorry Max.”

“It’s alright.  It was a suicide.”

Abby looked more shocked and had no words.  Inside her heart ached and all she wanted to do was give him comfort.

Max closed his eyes and shook his head.  “Sorry, that came out wrong.”  Max tried to chuckle and put Abby at ease  “I know this is pretty out of left field.  But really, I’m ok.  It’s just a pain dealing with insurance companies.”

“Did they deny it because it was a suicide?  They shouldn’t be able to do that if she had the policy for a few years.”

“That’s what I thought too.  The guy I talked to said that wasn’t why the claim was denied.  He told me it was because there was reason to believe she had falsified her application… in 1982.”

Abby looked annoyed.  “Fucking insurance companies.”

“If it had been a heart attack or something I probably would agree with you.  But according to that guy, she had a history of mental illness, suicidal behavior, institutionalization… and she left it off the application.  It sucks, but if it’s true…”

“Still… it seems wrong.”

“That’s the nice thing about America, we’re very anti-dead-people-just-kinda-laying-around.  It’s taken care of and I can pay them in installments.  There wasn’t much of a service and she was cremated anyway.”

Abby was put off guard by how matter of fact Max was being.  “So this trunk…?”

“It was hers.  One of the few things she kept when she sold her house.  I moved her out here when she started having trouble getting around.  Spinal issues.  She didn’t really understand her disability benefits and I couldn’t help her much when she lived back east.”

Abby smiled softly.  “Back east?”

“Maryland.  Eastern shore.  It was the house I grew up in.  Some shit town that nobody ever heard of until the highway was built and we became the best place to take a piss on the way to the beach.”

Abby laughed.

“This is actually the first time I’ve ever seen the inside of this trunk.  I was never allowed in it when I was a kid and never thought about it until she died.  And even then I couldn’t bring myself to open it.”

“Seems like as good a time as any.  I can’t even imagine…”  Abby thought of her own parents and how happy they’ve been.  How “normal” they’ve been.  She looked at Max.

He met her gaze and quickly looked back to the trunk.  “I thought I could find something in here that could help me make sense of all this.  Medical files maybe?  I don’t know.”  He was moving things around the trunk again.  It was large, cluttered and unorganized.  It was also very heavy.  The bottom was scratched from Max dragging it from his mother’s basement to his truck.  The descent up to his apartment hadn’t been easy, for Max or the trunk.

“There’s a lot in here.  You think she would keep medical files?”  Abby slowly and gently moved a few things in the trunk as if waiting for permission.

“Maybe.  Look for something that says ‘Shore Health Day Treatment’ on the front.  Something like that.  The insurance guy said she’d spent time there before I was born.  If it exists, it’s from the 70’s so I guess it’ll look old.”  Max stopped, furrowed his brow and looked into the trunk, suddenly seeing it as a whole and not just the sum of it’s parts.  “Ok all of this shit is old.  It will look old and officialI guess.”  He offered a crooked smile and a shrug.

Abby chuckled.  “Ok, that narrows it down.”  She settled onto the floor and slowly began looking through the other end of the trunk.  “Day Treatment… what’s that?”

“It’s the psych ward I guess.  One of those big rooms where people hang out in their pajamas all day.  I don’t know.”  Max shrugged and the paused a moment.  He didn’t look up.  Abby didn’t say anything but she wasn’t looking through the trunk anymore.  She looked confused and sad… sad for Max.  Max stopped and looked up at Abby who by now was looking very concerned, maybe close to tears.

“Not bad for a first date, huh?”  Max tried for a joke but inside his heart was pounding.  Smooth Max.  Real smooth.  On the left you’ll see Friendzone, on our non-stop trip to Creeperburg.

Abby had no interest in either destination.  Keeping a serious tone she blinked and questioned Max.  “Who said this was a date?  If anything, it was my first date with John.  He was the one who asked me out you know.”  She was smiling again.  Max felt a wave of relief.

“Yeah but he didn’t even buy you flowers.”

Abby put a hand on her hip.  “Neither did you.”

“Yeah but I wasn’t the one who asked you out, remember?”

Her tone changed.  “So you want me to leave?”  She was faking a pout and sticking out her bottom lip.

“Hell no!  I have free labor willingly digging through my emotional baggage.  Why would I give that up just to drive you home?”

“Aww, you’d drive me home?”  Abby’s face brightened.

Max wasn’t oblivious to the flirting and he was thoroughly enjoying it.  “Well I’d have to.”  Max was going through files again, though not paying very much attention.

“You’d have to?”  Abby started going through files again too.

“Your date ditched you, remember?”  He looked up and smiled at her.  Abby smiled back.

“Well if this were a date, I’d have to say it was unique… but I’m having a good time… I think.”

Max’s smile widened becoming somewhat sinister.  “I think you wanted that to be romantic, but considering what we’re sitting here doing… I’m not sure I want this to be a date anymore.  I mean, I only had one mom so I’m not sure I could top this without losing more family.”

Abby didn’t miss a beat.  “You could kill John.”

“Nothing can kill John.  Nothing can penetrate that personality.”  He sighed.

“Agreed.  And even if you could, who else would trick women into dating you?”  Abby smiled.

“He’s a necessary evil.  Clearly I’m in pain and need all the help I can get.”  He grinned.  “Besides, I thought this wasn’t a date.”

Abby shrugged.  Max chuckled.  For the next few minutes there were no words, just the sound of shuffling papers.  Then Abby stopped.  She had her hand on something.

“What about this?”  Abby was holding a folder with gold letters printed on the cover.   “Shore Health.”  It was brown and very heavy.  A large blue rubber band bound the file together, crumbling ancient frayed pages not Max took it from her and sat back.

“I don’t know, maybe.”  He opened the file and began to read.   For a long while he was lost in the file, nearly forgetting that the waitress he’d been ogling for years was willingly sitting next to him, in his apartment because of some unexplained interest in him.

…patient made numerous requests to transition to voluntary status.  Supervising ward nurses documented continued instances of denial.  Recommend maintenance of current treatment plan.  Revisit 3 months.  Max frowned.

“What is it?”

“Mom was nuts.”

“Oh.”  Abby’s voice was low.  She wanted to be comforting.  She wanted to understand.  But the truth was, she didn’t understand.  She couldn’t understand.  Here she was in the apartment of “that guy from the diner,” and despite the chemistry and mutual attraction between them, there was no history, no familiarity.  Abby found herself not knowing what to do and that made her uncomfortable.  She wanted to hug Max.  She wanted to go home.  She wanted to escape.  She wanted to stay.

Max chuckled.  “I already knew she was nuts.”  He closed the file and set it down.  I don’t know what I thought I’d find.  “It’s alright.  There’s a lot to go through here.  I’m not even really sure what I’m looking for.”

“What can I do?”  The question left her lips and while Max appreciated her concern, Abby was only half-asking Max.  The other half was for herself.

Max sighed and stood up.  He reached down for Abby and helped her stand.  She rose to her feet and Max continued to hold her hands, keeping her at arms-length.  “Tell you what.  Let’s work on ‘Operation: Too Serious For a First Date’ another time.  Wanna take a walk?  There’s a coffee shop down the street that’s open late.  Unless you’d rather I take you home now.”  Max looked into her eyes, hopefully.  “I mean, that’s cool too.  But I figured I at least owe you a cup of coffee… maybe even a muffin for putting up with John and I tonight.”

“We’ll start with a muffin, but I’d rather have tea.”

“God, you’re needy.”  Max smiled.

“This is the best first date ever, don’t you think?”  She squeezed Max’s hands a little then relaxed.  Max let her go, not wanting to but also not wanting to hold on too long.

“So this is a date…”

“It’s a little out of order, what with John buying our drinks, getting us to your apartment and then going out for coffee… but yeah.  This is a date.”

“That neither of us planned or agreed to.”  God dammit John, you’re like a matchmaking ninja.  

“Makes it more special, don’t you think?”

“All things considered?  Definitely.  Come on.”  He reached out for her hand and walked her to his door.  “You know technically this is like starting our second date.”

“You’re smothering me.  I need my space.”

“Fine, we’ll get separate muffins.”

“That’s better.”  She laughed and they left the apartment.  Max felt his cell phone buzz in his pocket again.  He ignored it.  Get a life John, we’ll find a new diner tomorrow.

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Dan Jenkins

Dan Jenkins

I'm just like every other parent only you can't blame my genetics.

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