“It’s not my doing, Mac. Dell only wanted you to work a couple of hours so he can use you for the rest of the week.”
“You mean to tell me I gave up a weekend at the shore with my girlfriend just so I could work two lousy hours?”
“I’m sorry, Mac, what can I say?”
“Well, I know what I say. This place sucks!”
“That’s not the right attitude to take, Mac.”
“Screw attitude! And screw you too, Hank!”
“Watch it, son.”
“You watch it, goddamn it! I won’t be treated this way, you bastard! I’m a Vietnam vet! Two hours? You destroyed my whole weekend because of two measly hours? You know what you can do, Hank? You can take this mail and shove it!”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk to me that way, Mac.”
“I don’t care what you’d appreciate, you asshole!”
“That’s enough! You’re heading for termination, mister!”
I was one second away from grabbing Hank’s shirt with one hand and beating him senseless with the other. But it wasn’t really Hank I was mad at, it was Mr. Dell, the prick. Hank was actually the nicest supervisor we had. I felt because he was so easy going I could abuse him without fear of reprimand. Hank would never tell the Postmaster or another supervisor what went on between us. I should have felt guilty about the way I talked to Hank, but hell! I was pissed!
I punched my time card, threw it in Hank’s general direction, and walked out in a huff, slamming the swinging metal doors against the walls.
I was so angry I don’t remember the drive to O’Leary’s. It was too late for me to drive to the shore. It was at least a ninety minute ride. It was too late to rub lotion on Nancy’s back. Bill probably already took care of that pleasure. The bastard! He probably had his hands all over her. He wasn’t satisfied having only Susan, he wanted Nancy as well. I could just see him laying on the blanket between Nancy and Susan, his body touching theirs, his hands stroking their thighs. He thinks he’s so cool. He thinks he’s so great with girls. I’ll kill him!
I sat in O’Leary’s at the end of the bar so I could see everybody who walked in. I was in the proper mood to kick ass and take names. I wanted someone, I didn’t care what age, to say something to me and make me mad. I would trounce them good.
Mr. O’Leary served me a beer and I asked him if Ugly was around. He shook his head and said, “He went to the beach with Rita.”
Damn! Everybody was at the goddamn beach! But not me! I was stuck in Orange with a bunch of old crones while my best friend is screwing around with the girl I’m supposed to marry. And does she care? No! She’s enjoying her day at the beach. If she loved me at all she never would have gone with Bill and Susan. I don’t care if I said it was all right. She’s supposed to be with me.
I stayed at O’Leary’s until 5:30, then drove home. My mom had told me in the morning that she was having dinner at 6:00. I wasn’t at all hungry. In fact, I was so full of beer, all I wanted to do was lie down. It wasn’t very often that I admitted to myself I had had too much to drink. Drunkenness was a term used to describe people other than myself, who couldn’t hold their booze. But this time I was drunk.
As I pulled into my driveway I could see somebody sitting on the front steps, but my eyes were a little out of focus and it wasn’t until I had gotten out of the car that I could see it was Nancy. She ran to me, throwing her arms around my neck.
“Oh, Mackenzie, I missed you so much. I convinced Bill and Susan to leave the beach early to beat the traffic. I just couldn’t wait another minute to see you. I just had to hold you, and kiss you. You feel so good…You smell like beer, though. Are you allowed to have beer at the Post Office?”
“I wasn’t at the Post Office. I was at O’Leary’s.”
“Since when?”
“Since all day.”
“But what about work? I thought you had to work today.”
“I worked. Two lousy hours I worked. They only needed me for two lousy hours.”
“That’s terrible.”
“You’re goddamn right it is! I was pissed! I still am pissed!”
“That doesn’t seem fair, Mackenzie. I bet that ruined your whole day. But I’m here now. We’re together now.”
“Big deal. I was alone all weekend while you were having fun at the beach.”
“I wasn’t having fun. I was miserable without you.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Mackenzie, I was. What’s wrong?”
“Who put suntan lotion on you, that’s what I want to know.”
“Well, Bill did.”
“I knew it!”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“What else did you do with Bill?”
“What are you getting at, Mackenzie?”
“You slept with him, didn’t you?”
Nancy was silent for several seconds. She turned to walk away, but came right back at me.
“You’re drunk.”
“Am not either.”
“Let me take you inside. You need a strong cup of coffee.”
“Get your hands off me! I want to know what happened. Bill had his hands all over you, didn’t he?”
“I can’t talk to you when you’re in this condition.”
“Did you take a shower with him too?”
“This is a side of you I never knew existed, Mackenzie. I know everyone has a dark side, but it usually doesn’t show as badly as yours.”
“Don’t pull that Psyche One crap on me! The three of you were together in one motel room. Don’t you think I know what was going on?”
Nancy folded her arms in front of her. “Okay, tell me what went on.”
“You were ballin’ you brains out, that’s what!”
Nancy held her stance in front of me, her arms folded, her lips drawn tight. She stood like that for what seemed minutes while I swayed back and forth. I was afraid she was going to punch me in the stomach, then all the money I had spent on beer during the day would be wasted.
Finally, she turned and walked toward her car.
“Where are you going?” I said angrily.
When she turned to face me I saw tears running down her cheeks. “I’m going to see Bill. I want to take up where we left off. I want him. I need him. You know why, Mackenzie Peck? Because he’s a real man, not a jerk like you!”
Nancy started her car and pulled away from the curb as fast as a four-cylinder Opel could go.
I stumbled out into the street after her and yelled at the quickly disappearing car, “Wait a minute! Which bathing suit were you wearing?”
The next afternoon at two thirty, Mr. Dell was waiting for me by the time clock. He seemed none too happy.
“Bit of a problem yesterday, Mr. Peck?”
I was still in a sour mood. Not only were the beer demons using my lower intestinal tract for a trampoline, but I was also heartsick over the way I had treated Nancy. I had tried calling her at work before I left the house, but Mr. Skinner said she was busy with a customer.
“So