Garbage

In the mean time, I'd been scouring the park every day but I hadn't seen my dream woman again. As a matter of fact my disappointment over not seeing her was beginning to depress me. Finally, I let Dahlia talk me into agreeing to meet her old granny. I figured we'd go out to dinner or something and afterwards I'd tell her or maybe granny could tell her that we each thought that the other was very nice but there was no chemistry.

I had to go through with it though because this dinner with granny was all Dahlia wanted for her birthday.

I made reservations at a very nice restaurant and got ready. The funny thing about it was that I was feeling a little down that day because the following day would have been the anniversary of my marriage to Linda. At least I didn't have to buy that cow a present this year. It was also hard for me to come to terms with the fact that nine months had passed since I divorced her and almost 11 months since the day I'd caught her fucking Dino by the garbage dump. I didn't often think about those days. I didn't know if it was because I'd put them out of my mind to avoid the pain or because I simply enjoyed my life more now.

I drove Dahlia to the restaurant in my Mustang. Her granny was meeting us there. I was well prepared for the meeting. I was ready to be polite and cordial. I did want granny to like me because I'd come to really consider Dahlia as my daughter. And granny was important to her. I didn't want granny to dislike me because I really wanted for Dahlia to continue to be a part of my life.

Dahlia and I had sat down and had already ordered appetizers. She'd called her granny and found out, that granny was running late. Dahlia told me that the old girl's mind was still as sharp as a tack, but she had reached an age where she just didn't give a damn. She didn't rush. She just did things at her own pace. Today for instance, she'd been helping some people plant flowers and had simply lost track of the time.

In my mind I was imagining some doddering, drooling old woman in the early stages of Alzheimer's. But I was determined to make a great impression on the old girl for Dahlia. Then the worst possible thing that could have happened...did.

I was looking for the waiter so I could order a drink and I saw her out of the corner of my eye. There was no mistaking her. It was the woman from the park. I had obsessed over her for weeks and now she shows up at the worst possible time and place. What would Dahlia think if I abandoned her and granny? The woman walked over to the other side of the restaurant. Well at least I wouldn't have to sit here and stare at her while I tried to concentrate on Dahlia and granny.

After only a few seconds though, I realized that I had a problem. I was dying to find out who she was here with. Was she married? Was she here with a guy? I had to find out. So I excused myself and went to the other side of the restaurant. I could always pretend that I'd gone looking for the bathrooms even though they were on our side of the room.

I looked all around the room and didn't see her. I looked at every table. I was at the point of looking foolish so I went back to my table. I almost had a heart attack when I got there. The woman from the park was sitting in my chair talking to Dahlia.

"Uhm, excuse me," I said. "You're in my seat."

She looked up at me and it happened all over again. Her eyes were some weird combination of differing shades of blue. I almost missed what she said because I was so busy looking at her.

She was smiling back at me too. The next thing I remember was Dahlia snapping her fingers.

"Is this going to be a problem?" she asked. "It's only a chair for crying out loud."

Granny and I both looked at her strangely. "What?" I asked.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Dahlia.

"Language "D," said Granny smiling.

"Sorry," said Dahlia. "But you two were acting weird and I want this night to be good. It's my f...it's my birthday."

"Stanley, you came over and told my granny that she was sitting in your seat. She said that you'd moved your feet so you lost your seat. Then the two of you just sat or stood there looking at each other. I should have realized that this was never going to work out."

"Run into any good trees lately?" asked Granny smiling.

"I haven't seen anyone pretty enough to make me, since then," I snapped right back at her.

"Ooh Boy," she said. "You're smooth aren't you?"

"Okay what the hell is going on here?" asked Dahlia. I sat down in the chair next to Dahlia letting her grandmother have my chair.

"That's better," said Granny. "Now I can get a look at the man my granddaughter keeps gushing over."

"Now I see why you've all but charmed the pants off of her," she said.

"Granny," hissed Dahlia. "It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?" smiled Granny. No doubt about it there was something special about this woman. She had a knack for broadcasting her emotions so the person she intended to get them understood them totally. Her smile spoke volumes and it was intended just for me.

"What the hell are the two of you smiling about?" asked Dahlia again. She was confused.

"Dahlia, Honey," I began. "Do you remember the woman from the park that I told you about?"

"The skanky bitch that you went gaga over after only seeing her once?" asked Dahlia. "I thought you'd forgotten about her."

"Nope," I said. "I couldn't get her out of my mind. I've gone back to the park every day since then hoping to see her again."

"Oh shit," said Dahlia. "Stanley, why didn't you tell me it was that serious? I didn't know that she made that big an impression on you. If I did I never would have tried to arrange this."

"He made a big impression on her too," said Granny. "Although not as big of an impression as the one he made on that tree." She started laughing again and I just stared at her. Her smile and the way her eyes sparkled were just captivating.

"She'd have gone back to that park every day too if she lived in this city. She was only there that day to drop off a check and look in on her favorite granddaughter. But she found out that there was no need to worry because someone else was taking good care of her granddaughter. Someone had looked out for her and got her another job and even cheered her up when she needed it."

"Are we all having the same God damned conversation here?" asked Dahlia.

"Dahlia, your grandmother was the woman I saw in the park," I said. Dahlia looked at both of us over and over like she was trying to follow the ball at a tennis match.

"So you two..." she began.

"Like each other?" replied her granny, who was still smiling at me.

"A lot," I supplied. The rest of the evening was magical. Dahlia's grandmother, Margaret and I got acquainted. We talked about everything we could think of while Dahlia just watched and smiled. I wondered how she could be a grandmother when she looked so young and she just smiled again.

Linda at forty-nine is five years younger than I am and Margaret had to be much younger than Linda. Then I found out that Margaret at fifty six is two years older than I am. She told me the entire story of her life. She was married very young and had a child at twenty. Dahlia's mom had been a wild child and had gotten into trouble at a very early age. She'd given birth to Dahlia and had quickly run off and no one had heard of her since then. Dahlia had been raised by her grandparents. Six years ago, Dahlia's Grandfather had been killed in a construction site accident. Granny had been alone for all of that time since. She hadn't been out on a single date or even looked at anyone. She simply hadn't wanted to. Dahlia had been filling her head with stories about me and Margaret had decided that for Dahlia's birthday she'd at least come and meet me.

Dahlia and I told her the story about my divorce and the reasons for it. By that time, the waiters were politely letting us know that the restaurant would be closing soon. Margaret and I were leaning across the table holding hands and Dahlia was grinning from ear to ear.

"But we didn't even get to dance," I said.

"We have plenty of time for that," said Margaret. "That is if you wouldn't mind being seen with an old lady."

"If I had my way, I'd never be seen with any other woman for the rest of my life," I said. That brought on another of Margaret's incredible smiles.

"Uhm Stanley, what about me?" asked Dahlia.

Over the next few weeks Margaret began to travel back and forth between her home state of Tennessee and Arizona so often that she finally just moved in with Dahlia. Within a few weeks of that it was obvious that she wasn't spending hardly any time at Dahlia's place, so she moved in with me.

If I'd thought that I was happy with my life after getting rid of Linda, it was nothing compared to waking up every morning with Margaret in my arms. I walked around so happy that I could have exploded at any second because my body simply wasn't designed to contain that much happiness.

So you know what happened of course. Fate just decided it needed to shit deeply and largely into my cornflakes.

Margaret and I were walking hand in hand down the aisle of our neighborhood Kroger. We'd just moved into a small but cozy house on the outskirts of the desert. The area was perfect. We were only ten miles away from Dahlia by freeway. We'd been able to decorate the house exactly the way we wanted with a small pool and a deck out back where we could sit together and watch the sunrises and sunsets. We also had a big comfortable two person covered hammock back there for long comfortable afternoon naps. Life was good.

So anyway there we were at Kroger. We were getting some things together for a barbecue. I'd grabbed a big selection of steaks and meats. Margaret had grabbed some salmon and also enough fruit for us to make a nice big fruit salad either as a side dish or just in case. Dahlia was bringing yet another guy home to meet us. We'd met a few guys over the past several months. Perhaps seeing how happy we were had spurred Dahlia to try to find some happiness of her own.

She'd been telling us about this guy for a few weeks and she was sure that this guy might be the one.

A couple of hours later, with the grill already started we heard Dahlia's excited voice as a car pulled up next to my Mustang GT and Margaret's Mustang convertible. Dahlia ran back onto the deck and launched herself at me, all long legs and hair. Her grandmother's amused look was rewarded with a quick, "Sorry Granny, I just miss him sometimes."

"Oh," said Dahlia. "Stanley, Granny this is..."

"Carl Thomas," I said.

"Uhm, Hi Mr. Laurel," said Carl. "I love your house. And I think I love your uhm...daughter." He let out a big gulp.

"You guys already know each other?" asked Dahlia.

"Yep," I said. "I watched him grow up. His older brother is married to my daughter Amber."

"Oh shit," said Dahlia.

"Language D," said Margaret. "Well...regardless of how anyone knows anyone else let's just have a good time and eat, okay." We all agreed. Later on as we sat back and enjoyed the evening. We watched the nearly indescribable beauty of the sky changing colors over the desert as the moon came up.

"Mr. Laurel what happened?" asked Carl. "I remember growing up. You were one of the coolest fathers we knew. Now, years later, you're still that same guy. But my brother and Amber don't talk about you, ever. And Amber gets so angry whenever someone mentions you. My brother doesn't have anything against you. He remembers you the same way that I do. But Amber cuts his nuts off anytime he disagrees with her, so he doesn't say a word."

I let out a sigh. I hadn't thought about my family in a long time. "Anytime anyone does mention the old days or things that we all used to do Amber launches into her "After what he did to my mother riff," and we just don't bring it up anymore. I don't spend very much time with them anymore because of that. It just seems like my brother is slowly dying, but he loves Amber so much that he has no choice, especially since she's pregnant now."

I just shook my head. The good mood of the evening was gone.

"Carl," I said. "I hope that things do work out with you and Dahlia. Dahlia is a much nicer, much better girl than Amber. Amber seems to be influenced by her mother already and as bad as it sounds for me to say this. The best thing for your brother might be to get him the fuck out of there. Sorry, Honey,"

Margaret came over and held my hand. She nodded at me.

"Amber sounds like she's becoming her mother all over again," I said. "If something doesn't stop this, she'll become a vindictive controlling bitch, just like her mother and your brother will slowly die just like I was in the process of doing. They'll argue over everything and nothing and he'll slowly lose every shred of his self-respect. She'll use everything she can to get her way and control him until their whole existence together will be one long fucking series of battles in a never ending war."

"You think I seem happy now? Well you're right, I am. I'm far happier than I ever could have been if I'd stayed with Linda. Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter and I miss her but she made her own choice. I tried to stay in contact with her. She took her mother's side and forced me out of her life, not the other way around. And Linda has apparently never told anyone the truth of why we got divorced. It sounds just like her to try to poison my daughter against me and let me take the blame for what she did."

"Carl," I said. "Do you want to try to save your brother from a life of hell?"

"Hell, yes," he said.

"Okay, next weekend I think that you should invite Danny and Amber out here for a barbecue. I think it's time that everyone knew what really happened. Don't tell them whose house they're coming to. You can just tell them that you want them to meet your girlfriend's family."

During the week that followed, Margaret and I prepared emotionally for what was going to be a very stressful time. We had several long talks about what might possibly happen and what it would mean for us.

In the end we both knew that it wouldn't mean shit. Not for us anyway. No matter how things ended, I was happy with Margaret in my life. So happy in fact, that I dragged her into town and married her on the spot that Wednesday. There were only the two of us and Dahlia there. It wouldn't change anything because we'd been married in all but formality all along anyway. Of course, she did try to kill me with sex that night but she usually did anyway.

The purpose of the whole barbecue was to try to save Danny from going through what I had. If it also served as a lesson in what not to do for Carl and Dahlia that would be even better. Finally, if it got Amber's head out of her mother's ass and allowed me to have my daughter back and maybe even be a part of my grandchild's life when he or she was born, that would be even better. There were only wins possible here because no matter how the evening ended, I'd still have Margaret and Dahlia.

The morning of the barbecue, we got a frantic call from Carl. Everything was going according to plan, but there was a wrinkle. Amber had insisted on bringing Linda along too. If Linda couldn't come then Amber wouldn't come and she'd probably guilt trip Danny into not coming as well.

I told Carl that it was fine. Go ahead and bring Linda along too. This whole thing was far overdue.

We'd arranged it so that Margaret and I wouldn't be there when they arrived. Carl would be in the house with Dahlia. Amber and Dahlia had never met. Danny had never met Dahlia either. Linda knew Dahlia though, but we hoped that she wouldn't associate Dahlia with me.

Everything went according to plan. Carl and Dahlia got everyone situated and started getting them comfortable.

They were all sitting out on the deck when Margaret pulled into the drive way and went over to meet them. She apologized for my late arrival by saying that I'd had to stop off at a liquor store to get beer and other drinks.

Danny asked about her Mustang and told her how much he liked it. She told him that he'd probably love her husband's car even more. Amber snorted and told him not to get his hopes up because they needed something far more practical.

Linda, who had barely spoken asked Margaret about her bracelet. At that point I was just pulling up. No one noticed me as I got out of my car and started walking towards the group.

"I had a bracelet just like that one," whined Linda.

"No you didn't mother," said Amber icily. "One of your friends told you that daddy had bought you one, but he never gave it to you. I think your friend was mistaken."

"Amber, your father did buy me that fucking bracelet," hissed Linda. "He left the receipt when he left me. I think he just went crazy from all of the drinking and gambling."

"Mother, what difference does it make?" asked Amber. "He ran out on you for no reason and left you alone. He was a selfish bastard."

"I seriously doubt that," said Margaret calmly.

"Just how the hell would you know that?" asked Amber. "Were you there?"

"No I wasn't there," said Margaret. "But your mother was right. And Amber you need to look past your hate for a second. How do you really remember your father? Was he selfish when you were growing up?"

"Well, he was great when I was a kid but maybe I just remember it wrong. If he was so fucking great why did he run out on my mom for no good reason? And what do you mean my mother was right?" asked Amber.

"Because this was your mother's bracelet," said Margaret. She took off the bracelet and flipped it over. Amber read the inscription. "Linda after all of the years and all of the tears, love Stan."

Linda had been battling depression for a long time. She was already on medication but hearing the inscription flipped her switch. "My bracelet, my bracelet," she started yelling.

"How the hell did you get this?" asked Amber.

"I gave it to her," I said. "I was going to have the inscription polished out and changed..."

"But I asked him not to," said Margaret. "I wanted it as a remembrance of a very foolish woman who lost everything for nothing."

"My bracelet," hissed Linda. "I want my bracelet."

"Why the hell are you here Daddy?" asked Amber. "After the way you ran out on us you shouldn't ever show your face anywhere."

"Amber, I never ran out on anyone, especially not you," I said. "I tried to stay in contact with you after and even during the divorce but you kept bringing up your mother and what she was going through. I finally told you that I didn't want to hear about her and YOU told me that if we couldn't talk about it then maybe we shouldn't talk. I kept calling you even then but you always hung up on me."

"Daddy, Mom was so hurt," said Amber. "And you just disappeared on her. You never even told her why. And you left her broke and without even a place to stay. That was wrong. There was no reason for it. She loved you." Amber had tears running down her face. I held out my arms and just like a little girl she ran to me and hugged me.

"You're still wrong for what you did Daddy," she said after a few moments.

"Amber," I said. "We all need to sit down and talk. Carl, start the steaks. Dahlia, Honey you cut up the fruit and make some drinks while the four of us talk."

"What about Mom?" asked Amber.

"I think maybe she should just lie down in the hammock," I said. Amber went and got her mother who was just standing there staring at me saying, "My bracelet." Her eyes were huge and unfocused. She looked like a fat version of Gollum.