This Close to Okay(61)

“Shit,” Emmett said to himself. He finished his last bite of food and put his plate in the kitchen before walking outside and standing against the door.

“Hey, man,” Lionel said, stepping next to Emmett and putting his Bigfoot mask on the ground. Zora had spun across the patio and was dancing with a group of women, all of them dressed like Greek goddesses. Emmett saw Gandalf and the hobbits Tallie had told him about in the grass. Gandalf was tromping through the leaves, holding his staff to the sky, pretending to cast a spell. A couple of the hobbits cartwheeled.

“Your house is truly out of this world,” Emmett said. Tallie looked over, and he gave her an I’m okay smile.

“Thank you. It’s extra, I know. But I couldn’t help myself.” Lionel laughed lightly. Emmett’s own laugh caught him by surprise, and he leaned into it. “So you and Lulah…how’s that going? My mom said you make delicious eggs…biscuits, too,” Lionel said, playfully leaning, knocking Emmett’s shoulder with his own.

“Your sister is unlike anyone I’ve ever met. She outshines everything,” Emmett said to Lionel, looking right at him.

Lionel was finishing up a piece of the pumpkin spice cake Tallie had brought for him. He was only a couple of inches taller than Emmett but seemed to tower over him in his Bigfoot costume.

“Where’d you two meet?”

“At the coffee shop on Rose,” Emmett said. He’d fill Tallie in later. In all her talking, that was a question Judith hadn’t asked over breakfast.

“Gotcha. That’s her favorite one.”

Tallie flashed past them like a butterfly, holding on to the hand of a woman dressed as a unicorn. The two of them stopped not far from Emmett and Lionel. Tallie and the unicorn wiggled their hips, dancing to the New Wave sound track piping up and out into the October night sky with its half-full moon. That moon Emmett thought he’d never see again, whether it was blocked by concrete or clouds or rain or his life, ending.

A tight circle of people across the patio lit a joint, and the wind carried the smell over. The good-stink of weed smoke reminded him of camping trips. High school and trees. The afterglow of sore feet and burning eyes, late nights at the lake restaurant, the moonlight on the glassy black water. All the moons he’d lived under. Seeing the consistently ever-changing moon felt like a gift. He gazed up at it like he was seeing it for the first time as Lionel began talking about some businesses he’d invested in downtown, near the coffee shop.

When Emmett noticed Tallie looking at him again, he winked at her. He knew they were pretending; he hadn’t forgotten. He thought he’d heard someone say his real name when they were on the third floor, and his face flushed. A guy in a Han Solo costume was staring at him in the kitchen, and he imagined him pointing, asking him what he was doing there. But Tallie could almost make him think what they were pretending was real. She’d ramped up her flirting, barely stood beside him for more than thirty seconds without touching him or holding his hand. He watched her dance, his cross hanging around her neck.

“Dancing Queen” by ABBA came on, and Lionel hollered, “This is for you, Lulah!” before turning to Emmett and adding, “You know this is her jam.” Tallie—the dancing queen—blew Lionel a kiss through the air. “Maybe I’ve seen you there…at the coffee shop on Rose. I know I’ve seen you somewhere,” Lionel said.

“You seem familiar to me, too,” Emmett lied. He waited a moment before asking Lionel about the house. What year it was built, how long it took. He was relieved when Lionel launched into the details. Emmett pulled a cigarette from his inside pocket, offered one to Lionel, who took it. They lit them, smoked. Emmett leaned, watching Tallie dance to Pet Shop Boys, Donna Summer, Oingo Boingo. Zora reappeared with the other goddesses, and Tallie got lost somewhere in the middle. People popped up to talk to Lionel, to remark on his costume. People asked Emmett who he was dressed as before they saw his X-Files badge. One guy said nothing, only whistled the first six notes of the spooky theme song as he passed. Lionel introduced him to a couple more of his and Tallie’s cousins, usually opting to call him Tallie’s boyfriend, at which Emmett just smiled.

(Lionel is handsome, charming, and hilarious. Possibly the most confident man on earth, as if he’s never been told no. Not even once.)

“Joel was my friend. They met through me. So I still have some guilt about how that went down,” Lionel said when it was just the two of them. Emmett could’ve blown his mind and repeated what Joel had confessed in the email, but instead he blinked. Nodded.

“Well, she has nothing but glowing things to say about you. She’s proud of you. It’s not your fault Joel’s a dick.”

Lionel laughed. “I’m glad she’s back out there. I’m glad she brought you tonight. Your chemistry is more than obvious.”

“I’m crazy about her,” Emmett said, spotting Tallie in the crowd.

Slow and intoxicating: “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House soared from the speakers as she walked toward him. When she got there, she threw her head back and held out her hand, pulled him toward her. They walked next to the pool, where everyone was dancing. When Emmett looked at Lionel again, Lionel lifted his cake plate to them in cheers.

“I love this song so much,” Tallie said, putting her arms around his neck.