Acts of Desperation Read Free Page A

ring.
    “Liz,” I said.
    “Who else would it be dawling?” She laughed.
    “Can I come over?” I asked.
    “Of course you can,” she said. “What’s wrong? You sound upset.”
    “I just caught John having sex with some blubbery slut in my living room.”
    “What!” She gasped. “Ok. Wait. What happened now?” she asked then I told her everything that had happened. Without hesitating, she told me to grab my things and move in with her. She’d inherited an old house from her aunt years ago in the Hyde Park area just east of the city and had plenty of room. “I can go back later and get more of your stuff if you can’t fit it all in your car. Ugh, what a prick,” she mumbled under her breath. “You get out of there as quick as you can, and we’ll talk more when you get here,” she said.
    “Ok,” I said, and I thanked God that she offered to let me move in with her. My parents are great people, but there are two things you need to know about them. One, they loved girl’s names that began with S’s—my sister being named after our grandmother and me being named after my mother’s favorite month. And two, they are the most loving and generous people you’ll ever meet. That being said, I really didn’t want to have to move back in with them at my age. I crammed all my things into my car, and an hour later, I shut the door to John’s condo and broke my key off in the lock.
    I drove along as “Good Life” by O NE R EPUBLIC played on the radio. I grunted under my breath. “Good life my ass.” The February sky was gray and filled with thick rolling clouds. The weathermen warned of an impending winter storm, but they never seem to get it right anyway. All of us locals called it “white death”. You’d think it was the apocalypse the way people rushed to the stores and emptied the shelves. “Just perfect ,” I said as tears leaked from my eyes. “Doom and gloom are all around me.”
    Twenty minutes later, I pulled into Liz’s driveway. She ran out and greeted me with a hug. “Let’s get this stuff inside then I’ll pour us drink. Sound good?" she asked.
    “Yeah, I think getting drunk is my only option right now,” I said.
    We dropped my things on the kitchen floor then Liz filled two very large glasses with red wine. We sat on the couch, and I wrapped myself in my favorite red velvet throw. The wind howled outside as I relived each painful detail, and Liz’s mouth hung open in shock.
    “I want to go punch that little weasel. You want me to call Michael? He’s got friends that can rearrange his face if you want. Just say the word.” Liz came from a big Irish Catholic family. She’s petite, blonde, and has the bluest eyes you’ll ever see. She has five siblings, and her oldest big brother Michael is her protector. I considered Liz’s brothers and sisters my second family, and I knew Michael would gladly rearrange John’s face if I asked him. But, the last thing I needed was for him to get thrown in jail over someone who wasn’t worth my time.
    “It’s a sweet offer, but no thank you.” I chuckled. “I just can’t believe he threw everything away on some cheap lay though—and believe me, she looked cheap,” I said, blowing my nose.
    “I don’t doubt that,” she said.
    “He didn’t even apologize. He was more annoyed that I caught him.”
    “Typical. Men can be such douchebags. They do something wrong then twist it around like it was your fault. Remember Jason? He did that all the time. Been there. Done that.”
    “Me too…sadly, ” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t believe I thought he was the one. What a waste.”
    “Well, I never thought he was the one for you,” she said, taking a sip of her wine.
    “You didn’t?” I smirked. “You never say anything.”
    “I was waiting to see what you saw in him. I figured there had to be something special about him if you liked him so much, but it never happened. Every time I was around him, he rubbed me the wrong