11.

One hundred percent of divorces are caused by marriage.

Dice

D ICE

When Cydney asked me that question, I wasn’t ready to answer her even though I’d known it was inevitable. I needed her to get to know me a little better first, maybe give me five or fifty years to wow her with my charming personality and funny wit . . . not just three days in with our future as co-parents and possibly even a permanent relationship hanging in the balance.

I must have waited too long to answer because she said, “It’s something that I’m going to have to know, Kenny, so why not get it out of the way now?”

I blew out a long breath and nodded before I said, “I was hoping that would come along later, like in fifty years or so.”

“I could probably find out on the internet.”

“I’m sure you could, but you’ll get a completely different story if you read about it than if I tell you what happened.”

“So, tell me.”

“I have never been more ashamed of my past as I am right now,” I admitted with a sad smile. “This really sucks.”

“We’ve all done things we regret, Kenny.”

“I don’t regret what I did, but I do regret the decisions that put me there to do it.”

“Start at the beginning.”

“That could take a while,” I told her with an awkward laugh. “Why don’t I start with the events that led up to that night and added time to my sentence.”

“That works.”

“My dad took off when I was about sixteen. He left me with one of his girlfriends, a call girl who worked the Strip and liked to hang out in his favorite bar.” I cleared my throat and turned to look out the window so I didn’t have to see the disgust on Cydney’s face. She waited patiently until I finally started talking again. “Dad never really made me go to school, so by the time I was sixteen, I’d pretty much quit. I only went when I was hungry because I knew they had to feed me lunch. Anyway, he took off, and I didn’t have any money. The woman he left me with suggested that I start working the streets like she did, but I was not going down like that, so I started breaking into cars and stealing whatever I could find. After a while, I began breaking into houses and taking anything of value so I could pawn it.”

“Just so you know, I think I understand, but I’ve never been in a situation like that, so I have no idea what it’s like.”

“You’ve got a good support system, Cyd. You’ll never have to find out.”

“You’re right. Go on.”

“I ran into a guy who was friends with my dad, and we started casing houses together and working as a team. We hit five or six in this really good neighborhood - not too affluent because we didn’t want to deal with security patrols or alarms. We found a house that had been standing empty for a few days and decided to hit it that night. We broke in and snuck around, not even being quiet because we thought it was empty. Suddenly, this little girl came around the corner and screamed bloody murder. She scared the shit out of me, and I hightailed it out of there before we got busted. I got about two blocks and realized he wasn’t behind me, so I went back.” I cleared my throat and then took a sip of my coffee before I asked, “Are you sure you want to know?”

“I think I have to know if there’s any chance of a future here, don’t you?”

I nodded and then took a deep breath before I started again. “I went back in the way we came, through a back window that we pried the screen off of. Anyway, it was really quiet except for the sound of that little girl crying, but then I heard another voice. This one was a woman, and she was begging my friend to let them go. I ran upstairs thinking that he was just gonna tie them up so we could make our getaway and realized that he had other things in mind.”

I was quiet for so long that Cydney asked, “And then what happened?”

“He already had two of the girls . . .”

“There was more than one?”

“Three girls and their mom. He had two of them tied up and one of them, the oldest, was unconscious. She had tried to fight him, and he’d knocked her out. When I walked in, he was tying up the mom while she begged for mercy. I realized what he was going to do when he asked me which one I wanted and called dibs on the unconscious one because she was a ‘spitfire who seemed like a lot of fun.’ I told him to leave them alone and just come with me, and the woman started making promises that they wouldn’t tell anyone we’d been there. He refused and told me to quit being a little bitch. I knew that I couldn’t stop him, but I just couldn’t let it happen, you know?”

“Yeah,” Cydney whispered.

“I started grappling with him, trying to get him out of there, and he picked up the knife he’d held the women with. He stabbed me in the side, but I didn’t even feel it. I started beating on him, trying to get him away from the girls, and he fought me so hard I thought for sure I was going to die but I couldn’t stop trying. I finally got the knife from him and turned it around. I stabbed him in the chest, and he bled out almost instantly because I nicked an artery or something.”

“Good.” I raised my eyebrows in question, and she shrugged. “Good riddance to bad rubbish. So, you went to prison for the burglaries?”

“No. I went to prison for the death of a person during the commission of a felony.”

“You’re fucking kidding.”

“Nope. Didn’t matter that I killed the bad guy. I did it while we were in the process of robbing the joint, so they got me on that charge along with all of the other burglaries.”

“But the . . . How could the jury . . . Who in the hell would fault you for killing a rapist scumbag?” I raised my hands and shrugged at the same time, and Cydney just stared at me in shock. “You’re fucking joking!”

“No, I’m definitely not. I spent fourteen years in prison, and then I was on parole for six. As a matter of fact, my parole ended just last year. I’m free and clear now, except for my record, of course.”

“That is bullshit! ”

“I kind of thought so, too, but it’s water under the bridge now, and there’s no changing it.”

“You could hire an attorney and get it expunged, right? I know a few and . . .”

I shook my head. “I pled guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter because I was terrified that they’d get me for murder and I’d end up spending the rest of my life in prison.”

“And since you took a plea, there’s no way to take it back.”

“Exactly. But, like I said, that’s water under the bridge. I turned my life around in prison, got an education, found a skill that’s profitable, and even made some lifelong friends.” I laughed for a second and said, “That makes it sound like I’m talking about summer camp or something.”

“For the record, I am incensed on your behalf.”

“Well, thank you. That actually means more than you know.” I saw Cydney look up at the clock and said, “It’s been almost two hours since you ate that first half. Are you ready to risk the second half? I can heat it up for you.”

“No. I don’t want to push it. I really need to pee, but I’m afraid to stand up and upset the balance of things and risk getting sick again.”

“I guess if you get too desperate, I could find you a cup or something,” I joked. She frowned at me, so I asked, “Do you think it might help if I carried you in there? I could take the whole chair so you don’t even have to stand up. We’ll just slide you over onto the toilet.”

“I’m not that desperate yet, but if it comes to that, we may try it.” Cydney laughed before she said, “Thanks for the offer.”

“Well, I am half of the reason you’re in this position, so it’s the least I could do.”

“What was your first thought when you found out I was pregnant?” Cydney asked quietly. When I bit my lip, trying to figure out exactly what to say she insisted, “Be honest.”

“That I’m in no way qualified to be a parent, I have no fucking idea what I’m doing, and I don’t want to fuck up some poor kid like my dad fucked me up.”

“Fortunately, parenting is one of the most important jobs in the world and doesn’t require any special skills or experience.”

“I’ve never even changed a diaper.”

“Oh, buddy, you’ll learn how to do that!”

“Damn right, I will.”

“Does what we’re considering scare you at all?”

I burst out laughing and admitted, “It terrifies me! What if I fuck this up, and you cut me out completely? I’d lose any chance to even try to be a good dad to this kid.”

“I won’t cut you out, Kenny. I promise.”

“You say that, but you really don’t know me. What if you decide that you can’t stand me and don’t want to have anything to do with me?”

“You’d still be this kid’s father whether I wanted you to be or not, but I don’t see that happening. I like you. I’ve liked you since we met . . . well, except for that time you called me a prostitute.”

“Hey! It was an honest mistake. It’s not uncommon to run into those in Vegas, especially considering where you were.”

“I was at a fancy hotel,” Cydney scoffed.

“And that’s where the fancy escorts entertain their fancy clients.”

“That’s good to know. Every time I walk around in Las Vegas now, I’m going to be wondering if that’s a prostitute with her sugar daddy or just a regular couple enjoying the sights.”

“When you walk around Vegas? Does that mean you’re considering my suggestion?”

“Obviously, I am since I agreed to let you stay in my house while you’re here.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re willing to spend time at my place, it just means you’re entertaining the idea of having me close to you for this week.”

“To be fair, I’m still not sure how to swing it, but I’m going to come spend at least a week with you.”

“Right now, flying is the very last thing you need to do,” I said firmly. I winced before I said, “And a long car trip isn’t really a good idea either.”

“Exactly.”

“Do they think this is going to last until the baby comes or . . .” I let my voice trail off when Cydney shook her head and then asked, “Is there an end date?”

“Most of the time, it doesn’t last very long, but even if it does, most women start to feel human again by the fifth month of pregnancy.”

“Four months usually doesn’t really seem like a long time, but if this is how you feel every day until then, that’s going to be an eternity.”

“I know,” Cydney said sadly, and I could see tears well up in her eyes.

“I know that I don’t know you very well, but I can tell that you’re a strong woman, Cydney, and that’s going to really come into play here. I know it’s not much, but I’ll be by your side as much as I can, and if I’m not here, I’ll just be a phone call away. Even if you just need to vent, you can call me and scream and yell - call me every name in the book, and I’ll take it. If I could take away the sick part, I’d do that too.”

“Thank you,” she said as she wiped away a tear that had started trailing down her cheek. “You know, Kenny, this might sound cheesy, but out of all the people in Las Vegas, I’m glad it was you I met by the pool that day.”

“I’m glad, too, Cyd. It’s a fucked-up way to start the next phase of our lives, but I have a feeling that no one else would make this adventure quite as awesome as you will.”

“Adventure?Really?”

“Hey, it could be worse, right?”

Cydney burst out laughing and asked, “How?”

“Well, I could be a total deadbeat, and you could be alone,” I answered with a shrug. “Luckily, neither of those things are true.”

“You’re right.”

“So, you’ve got me for a week. What are you going to do with me?”

“I have no idea.”