Things We Do in the Dark(93)
“For fuck’s sake,” Ruby said, starting the engine. “This relationship is more important than a stupid movie, okay? Look at his house. If I play my cards right, it could be us living here. He admitted he made a mistake breaking up with me. He only did it because he doesn’t want his wife to have half of everything if they get divorced. But he’s decided it’s worth it if it means he and I can be together.”
Joey was skeptical. She had heard this story before; Charles wasn’t the first man to promise Ruby he was leaving his wife, only to not do it.
“I can take the bus home,” Joey said.
“You are staying with me.” Ruby’s tone left no room for argument. “Charles is looking forward to seeing you, and we’re spending the night. He’s got a giant TV in the basement and about a hundred movies. That’s better than sitting in a cold theater with everyone kicking the back of your seat.”
No, it isn’t. “But I don’t have pajamas or a toothbrush.”
“Charles has everything,” her mother said. “Literally everything. Go on inside. I’ll be right back after I move the car.”
Joey put her hand on the door, then hesitated.
“Stop being a brat.” Ruby’s voice hardened. “Charles is waiting for you.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
The court was eerily silent, both the judge and the jury hanging on Joey’s every word. Her throat dry, she turned her face away from the microphone and coughed, then reached for the small bottle of water beside her.
“What happened when you and your mother went back to Charles Baxter’s house?” Duffy asked.
“Charles showed me around,” Joey said, her voice echoing through the speakers above her. “He said it was nice to have a little girl in the house again. His daughter was away at school, and she rarely came home anymore. And then we all went down to the basement.”
* * *
Joey hadn’t realized that houses could have basements like this, with furniture and carpet and different rooms. It was a kids’ paradise.
The Baxters had a billiards table, a Ping-Pong table, two pinball machines, and an original Galaga arcade cabinet, a game that Joey had only ever played at the supermarket when her mother remembered to go grocery shopping. Charles seemed genuinely delighted to see her, and he explained that she didn’t need quarters to play any of the games.
“All you have to do is press this red button, and the game will start,” he said. “And you can play as many times as you want. Let’s see if you can beat my scores.”
On the Galaga screen, Joey could see the names of the other players. Someone named Brian had the top score; that must be Charles’s son. The second highest belonged to Lexi, who must be Charles’s daughter. What a nice name, Lexi. Upstairs on the fireplace mantel, Joey had seen a portrait of the whole family, which looked like it was taken by a professional photographer. The Baxters seemed like a completely normal family, except that Charles had a mistress named Ruby.
The video games kept Joey occupied for a while, as did Father of the Bride, the movie she selected from the extensive VHS collection. She was tired when the movie finally ended, so she wandered upstairs to see where she was supposed to sleep.
There was laughter coming from the second floor, and she found her mom and Charles propped up in his bed, feeding each other fruit and cheese, with some black-and-white movie playing on the TV. The master bedroom was almost as large as their apartment, with double doors and huge closets and an enormous bathroom. Charles was cutting the cheese into cubes with a long, thin knife, and feeding them to Ruby like it was a barbecue skewer.
“Hey, baby,” her mother said. Her face was flushed, her hair mussed. Her dress was hiked up, her long legs bare and exposed. Charles’s free hand was caressing her thigh. “Going to bed?”
“I’m not sure where I should sleep.”
Charles popped a piece of cheese into his mouth and grinned. “At the very end of the hall is a guest bedroom, the one with the white bedspread. You’ll find toothpaste and toothbrushes in the bathroom, along with soap and shampoo and all that good stuff.”
“I, um, don’t have any pajamas.”
“I’ll lend you one of my T-shirts.” Charles pointed to the dresser, which was beside the entrance to the bathroom. “Second drawer from the top. Choose anything you want. You’re so small, it’ll be a nightgown for you.” He laughed, and Ruby laughed too as she played with his hair.
Joey headed for the dresser and pulled open the second drawer to find a row of neatly folded shirts. She took the first one she saw, which turned out to be a T-shirt from the University of Toronto.
“That’s my alma mater,” Charles said. “Be careful with it, okay? I’ve had that shirt longer than your mother’s been alive, and it’s not in nearly as good shape as she is.”
Ruby laughed again. “You’re so silly, my darling.”
Joey said good night to both of them and trudged down the hallway. She passed a bedroom filled with sports paraphernalia—signed basketballs, footballs, hockey sticks, two framed jerseys. Brian’s room.
She kept going, then stopped at a bedroom where the walls were painted pink. It had to be Lexi’s room. Curious, she stepped inside, and instantly, she was awestruck. There were posters on the walls of Jason Priestley, Luke Perry, and Brian Austin Green; Charles’s daughter was clearly a 90210 fan. There were also posters of Madonna, Mariah Carey, and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Her mother had once mentioned that Lexi was a student at Dalhousie University in Halifax, and that she almost never came home to visit.