Love Language

Stacy’s phone rested between her left shoulder and bright red cheek. Pulling and twisting strands of hair she growled into the phone. “Tom, I don’t need to hear about your problems right now. I called you to explain the situation between me an yer brother.” She rolled her eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh. “No Tom, I don’t.” Her half-smoked cigarette rested between her pursed lips. The glow of its end lit up and revealed a two inch long strand of ash just before it fell. “Please just stop. I’m sorry. No, that’s not what I want.”

The wail from the horn of an approaching semi-truck reverberated through her half open window. Stacy jerked the wheel and brought her dirty gray ‘82 Firebird back into her lane. “Nothing Tom, it was just a stupid truck.” She shook her head and took another drag on her cigarette. “Yes, I know, I hurt you. You don’t think I realize that? If you’d just shut up for half a second and let me explain, then I promise you…” A single headlight from her Firebird flashed across a green road sign. FORT PECK 14 GLASGOW 31. “Hello? Tom?”

Her yellow nicotine stained fingers grabbed the phone and it thudded against the passenger door. Her voice cracked like she was twelve again. “He hung up on me? Why can’t he listen for three seconds, I didn’t do anything.”

An ill shaved man, with a hair line that receded all the way to the tip of his scalp, sat behind the passenger seat. He rubbed his forehead with his left hand. “You don’t think running off with his brother is doing anything wrong?”

She turned her head and continued her screeching. “Seriously Job? You needed my help and I jeopardized my relationship with your brother and this is the thanks I get?” She slammed on the brakes and the car drifted into the left lane then drifted back past her lane and onto the shoulder. Dust, dirt, and rocks shot in all directions. She shoved open her door and jumped out of the car. The coffee she had been babysitting between her legs flew to the floorboard of the car and black liquid poured onto the carpet. She plucked the cigarette from her lips, flicked it into the street, and slammed her door. She marched to the passenger side of the car, flung open the door, pushed the seat forward, and grabbed her passenger by the shirt collar. “Job, get out of my car and walk to your precious Debbie. I’ll go back to my fiancé and explain to him. He cannot hang up on me if he has to face me like a man.”

The balding man rolled his neck and stepped out of the car. “Stacy, I need you to calm down. Please?” Her eyes squinted further and she growled at him and he held up in hands in defense. “No, no, I don’t mean…listen…I mean…” His voice dropped rose an octave. “It’s not like that. Come on, I need you right now. I can’t say right what I’m trying to say. It’s not what you think.” A silver semi sped past them and a gush of wind brought the distinct scent of animal manure into their nostrils. Stacy stood stoic in front of Job as he wafted his hand in front of his nose.

Job reached up to grab Stacy’s hand and tugged her closer to him. She smacked him and left a faint outline of four fingers on his left cheek. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing but I love your brother and there’s no chance that whatever you’re trying to pull will change that.” He rubbed his cheek, pulled a wrinkled photo from his back pocket, and held it out. She stared into his face without looking at the photo. “What are you doing Job? What’s your game?”

“Will you please just look at the photo?”

She moved her face within inches of his. “Why?”

He moved his face away as the scent of stale cigarettes and old coffee accosted his nostrils. He brought the picture up in front of her face and she smacked it out of his hand. It flew across the road. A red pickup drove over it and it sailed into the air and fluttered back, settling next to Stacy’s feet. She instinctively bent down and picked it up. The scratched, torn, and faded young woman had hard to distinguish features. “What am I looking at? Who is this chick?”

“That’s your fiancé’s last fiancée.”

She cocked her head and brought the picture closer to her face. “I don’t get it. Why would showing a picture of a supposed fiancée mean anything to me? Do you think I care if Tom was engaged before?”

“Did he ever tell you that he was engaged before?”

“No, but I’m not sure…”

“What else is he hiding from you?”

Stacy threw the picture toward the man’s oversized feet. “He isn’t hiding anything from me, he loves me and I love him. He knows how you are. Have fun walking the last fifteen miles to meet Debbie. I hope she’s still there by the time you make it there.” She let out a shrill laugh and turned back toward the car.

Job grabbed her arm and turned her back to face him. Then he ducked to avoid getting slapped a second time. “Listen Stacy, seriously, that picture is Debbie and she really wants to talk to you.”

She held her hands up toward Job. “Woah, wait… So your girlfriend is your brother’s ex-fiancée? Do you steal all of his fiancées? What is wrong with you?”

“You got it all wrong”

She scoffed. “Ha. Figures. That’s all you do is lie. Everything you say is just another lie packed on top of another lie.”

“Come with me to meet Debbie, talk to her, then make up your mind. I won’t bother you ever again, I won’t even come to your wedding.”

Stacy brought a new cigarette to her lips, lit it up, took an exaggerated drag, and blew the smoke right into Job’s face. “If your brother still wants you to come to our wedding, then by all means show up. I could care less.”

Job coughed and failed to wave the smoke out of his face as Stacy blew a second plume at him. “Couldn’t.”

“Couldn’t what?”

“You couldn’t care less.”

“No, I couldn’t and you better start walking or you won’t make it to whoever this Debbie person is, if there even is a Debbie.”

Job bolted for the driver’s door, yanked open the door, leaned into the car, and pulled the keys from the ignition. Stacy caught him by the waist and pulled him from the car. The keys flew from his hands across the road. He rolled over and half crawled half ran toward the keys and landed on top of them just before Stacy was able to grab them. She fell forward on top of him and they grunted in pain.

The short burst of a police siren and horn sounded behind them followed by flashing red and blue lights. Both of them looked up and a slender female state trooper stepped out of the car. “I’m not sure what you two think you’re doing, but having a lover’s quarrel in the middle of my highway is not happening on my watch. Do you any idea how close you came to being run over while you rolled around on my road? I’ve never had to scrape anyone’s body from the pavement and I’m not about to let you two clowns ruin my record. Get on your feet and you better have a great story or I’m taking you both in for disturbing the peace and endangering the public.”

Stacy stood up and smoothed her yellow skirt and pulled her top down. “Sorry officer. This man tried to steal my keys and I was just getting them back.”

The trooper raised her eyebrow toward Job and asked, “Is that true?” Then she looked back toward Stacy. “Unfortunately for you, I know for a fact that he was in the car with you and unless you had picked him up earlier and he only just now was trying to steal your keys, then I have my doubts you’re telling me the truth.”

Job handed the keys back to Stacy. “Debbie, I thought you were going to wait for us to come to you.”

A smirk spread across Debbie’s face. “Yeah, that was the plan, but when I got a call over the radio that there were two people arguing on the side of my highway matching your description I figured that our plan must not have been going as we’d hoped.”

Stacy stepped toward Debbie. “Were you really engaged to my fiancé?”

Debbie nodded. “This isn’t a safe road to be having any sort of discussion, especially not the type of discussion I’m hoping to have with you. Get back in your car and head to our original planned meeting spot.”

Stacy nodded and walked back to her vehicle as Job followed behind her.

Debbie grabbed Job’s elbow. “You come in my car and give her a little time to collect her thoughts on the way?”

Job nodded and turned toward Debbie’s cruiser.

Debbie turned back toward Stacy and called out to her. “Don’t even think of driving off. I’ll have no problem arresting you.”

Stacy turned toward Debbie. “You don’t intimidate me. I didn’t do anything illegal and you have no grounds to arrest me.”

Debbie smirked. “Hey Job, don’t you smell weed? I think Stacy might have been driving under the influence.”

Stacy walked back toward Debbie as the blue and red lights flashed across her face. “You have no right. I’m not high and you know it.”

“I’m not so sure. Maybe I need to take you in to the station and run some tests to be sure.”

Stacy’s shoulders slumped. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“I’ll tell you all about it, but not out here. Head toward the hotel and we’ll talk there.”

Stacy growled and trudged back to her car.

Job sat in the passenger seat of the cruiser and gazed out the window as they followed Stacy.

***

A large log cabin with dozens of windows and a large red porch grew on the horizon. The old Firebird and shiny police cruiser pulled into the parking lot as two woman and a man exited and walked up to the front porch. They walked through the large double doors. A crowd of men and women were drinking, talking, and laughing. A large gray haired woman greeted the trio. She bellowed in an over-friendly Midwestern accent, “Debbie! How’ve you been?”

Debbie took off her hat. “Sheila, I talked with Jason and he reserved the main suite for us. Can you escort these two up there?”

“Any friends of Debbie’s are friends of mine. If you two follow me I’ll show you to your room. Are you on some sort of special honeymoon or something?”

Stacy laughed and Job answered with a chuckle, “She wishes.”

“Oh please, you’re the one who dragged me out here.”

Sheila put her large hands on each of their shoulders. “Don’t worry. Whatever Debbie brought you here to work out she’s the best at it. She’ll have you two dancing in the rain in no time.”

Stacy rolled her eyes. “The only thing I’m wanting to do is get this over with and head home.”

“I’ve only known Debbie for five years, but during that time I’ve seen her fix more friendships than anyone I’ve ever known. You’d think she was a social worker instead of a state trooper. You know, in the past five years I don’t think she’s arrested more than a few people. She’s the fix the problem type rather than a give them what they deserve kind.”

Stacy rolled her shoulders in an attempt to dislodge Shelia’s hand and moved away from her. “If you could just show us to whatever room we’re supposed to be headed toward that’d be amazing.”

Job smiled toward Sheila. “You have to excuse Stacy, she’s had a terrible… She’s not usually this…well, I guess she’s not usually very agreeable, but maybe not quite as cranky?”

Shelia laughed. “Oh yeah, I know some people just haven’t been able to find what makes them happy…”

“Wrong. I’ve found what’s made me happy. These two wanna be shrinks are trying to destroy it. If you can just show us to our room then they’ll get over whatever issue they think I need to deal with and I can get back to my fiancé.”

Shelia removed her hand from Job. “Alright. Follow me and you’ll be to your room in a spiffy.”

***

Stacy sat on the edge of a king sized bed as the coffee pot brewed a pot of coffee. Job glanced back and forth from the pot and the bed. After the pot spat out the last of its amber liquid, he grabbed two plain white mugs, filled them half-way, and then sat on the bed next to Stacy. She took one of the mugs from him and moved to the other bed. Job shook his head. “I wish you’d trust me. Debbie and I are just trying to help you.”

Stacy crossed her right leg over her left and pulled down her hem. “I just want to get this over with and get back to Tom. He’s never been anything but kind and loving.”

“Are you kidding me? He’s never been loving or kind in his entire life.”

Stacy jumped off the bed and pointed her finger in Job’s face. “Shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve always been jealous of us and you’re just trying to steal me for yourself.”

Job’s shoulders slumped and he shook his head.

The door to the room beeped and Debbie walked in with an older blonde woman. Stacy dashed from in front of Job to confront the lady and shoved her backward. “How dare you come here? You’ve lost any right to be in my life.” Her voice rose to a loud pitch. “Get out!”

She gave her one last shove and Debbie stepped between them. “She’s here to help. You have to listen to what we have to say.”

“I don’t care. I don’t care what you and Job have to say and I absolutely have no…”

Debbie’s fist shot up. “Shut up! You will listen to what we have to say. All three of us.”

The older blonde lady’s voice, laden with a heavy Italian accent, cracked with age. “If my daughter doesn’t want to talk with me I’ll just leave. She’s right. I failed her.”

Debbie placed her hand on the older lady’s shoulder. “No, Nancy. You and I are the two people who have the most authority on the matter. We would be doing a great disservice if we didn’t warn her of the danger she’s in.” Debbie turned toward Stacy and held out the same picture that Job had shown her earlier. Except this picture was pristine and the bruised and broken face of a younger emaciated Debbie was clear and left no doubt as to what Job was claiming earlier. “Stacy. This is me, when I was Tom’s fiancée.”

Stacy’s gaunt face matched the face in the picture, except for not having a broken lip nor bruised eye. Her hands trembled as she took the picture and looked between it and Debbie. “How do I know this is you? And if it is you, how do I know that Tom had anything to do with it?”

Nancy stepped forward holding out a picture to Stacy. The lady in the picture was Stacy, except she had a beautiful shapely face and was wearing a Miss Montana Teen sash and a tiara. “Do you remember how beautiful and healthy you used to look? When did that change?”

Stacy threw Debbie’s picture to the ground and shoved her mom’s hand out of her face. “After you married that abusive idiot who beat the crap out of both of us.”

Job tapped Stacy on the shoulder and held in his hands a picture of Stacy and Tom in front of the Montana’s Devil’s tower. Stacy looked the same as the picture her mother had shown her, except a few years older. “Then why did you still look as beautiful in this picture? You’d already moved out of your parent’s house and were living on your own.”

Stacy’s face and voice quivered. “You all just want to steal my happiness. Tom has made me happier than I’ve ever been. It’s not his fault that I’ve gotten sick. It’ll pass and I’ll heal and I’ll look as beautiful as I’d ever been.”

Stacy’s mom gently turned her to face her and pulled her into a hug. “Oh Stacy. You know what we’re telling you is true. Please save yourself before you do to me what I did to us with another abusive man.”

Stacy shoved her mother away from her and exploded in rage. “Don’t you dare compare your ex-husband to my Tom.” Then she ran from the room, down to her car, and sped from the hotel screeching her tires out of the parking lot.

***

Debbie’s patrol car sat on the side of the road, next to an ambulance and a firetruck. Their lights flashed red and blue as a plume of smoke rose from the field next to the road. The smell of burning rubber and flesh mingled with the faint scent of skunk. Three telephone poles lay on top of an old gray overturned car while three men mingled around a sheet covered body a few yards from the car. Job hugged Nancy nearby the wreck as tears streamed down her cheeks.