Beyond Denver

Chapter 54

TJ invites me over to a baby shower in the Dells. I'm surprised he is invited for this type of event, which mostly includes women. "Don't you have to work tonight?" I ask him. He is never home on the weekends.

"Nah, Dells is dead after Labor Day. I'm taking some time off since you know..."

"Oh, the woman with four children," I mentioned. I'd almost forgotten about it.

"Yes, she works with me as a server."

"How does she look like?" I can't deny I'm curious to know TJ's type.

"She is a Ho-Chunk. Native."

"Oh, interesting. What does it mean Ho-Chunk anyway?" I know there is a Cassino here in Madison and one in Baraboo with this name, but I didn't know much about it.

"It means Sacred Voice or People of the Big Voice. Sometimes they refer themselves as Sacred voice people of the Pines."

"Oh, that's beautiful," I say while grabbing my bag to accompany TJ to this baby shower. TJ is happy his car is working again, and he is free to go anywhere he wants without taking the bus. He also said the problem wasn't the radiator as Denver suspected, but the battery was bad and needed a replacement. Finally, he bought a new one and had someone doing the service at the car shop.

"It looks like your boyfriend doesn't understand too much about cars," TJ says with a grin.

"Neither do you; otherwise, you'd have solved the problem in the first place. I hope we don't get stuck in the middle of the interstate this time."

"Right," TJ laughs.

"I was hoping you were going to say yes about going to this baby shower with me. It is a friend of mine. Usually, baby showers are for females, so I feel a little stupid."

"You shouldn't feel stupid. Maybe they invited you because the baby is yours."

"Stop, Cassidy." We both laugh as he turns the car, and we head to the Dells. All I know is that after the baby shower, I don't need to come back to Madison and return to the Dells with Maroney for the sunset boat. He can meet me there downtown. Then I can come back with him.

"So, how is your mother feeling?"

"She has food poisoning. Something she ate in downtown." I tell him. I've visited her in the hotel room early in the morning, but she couldn't get up from the bed, so my dad stayed with her. She insisted that I'd go home and do something with Maroney." I tell TJ. My mother never pushed me like that toward any guy. I'm surprised by her reaction, especially after telling her he invited me over for a sunset boat.

"So, it looks like things are working for you and Maroney this time?"

"I guess so."

"But?"

"There is no but...despite that my parents seem to love him."

"He is good at convincing people, but let me ask you this. I want you to be honest. Promise?"

"Yeah."

"Have you invited him over yesterday?"

"No." I am honest with TJ. "I met him at the school. We have three classes together I had no idea. Economics, Literature and Selling Techniques, which he doesn't need this last class."

"Humm." TJ thinks for a moment. "And he showed up unannounced with flowers?"

"It looks like, right?"

"That's not okay, though. Showing up like that is not always a good sign. I know I shouldn't tell you that, but be careful. He is nice and everything, but he has proved to you he is unstable."

As much as I agree with TJ, I don't share with him about Maroney's personal life.

***

It is my first time going to Wisconsin Dells. The house is somewhere far in the middle of the woods, surrounded by pine trees. The living room is very spacious with a glass room with a pine view from the huge back yard. We head down to the large balcony one some guys are grilling.

"What's up, Taylor."

"This is the father of the year," he introduces me to the guy. The girl with a long dress and a big belly approaches, and TJ introduces me to her. Olga from Lithuania. Other girls follow her in the house with games, and I do my best to participate. TJ, Olga's husband, and her brother-in-law are the only men in the house, and I know why he has been invited over. He is good enough to help out with the grill. All the girls are from a different country. Mostly from Russia, Poland, and other European countries. Most of them speak English pretty well, while a few try to communicate.

"I like your outfit." One of them tells me.

I expect to hear from Maroney the rest of the afternoon, but as the hours pass slowly, my excitement about going to the boat with him fades away. I finally get a text from him around two-thirty.

"Hi, honey. I'm too busy with work, but I will do my best to leave on time, so I don't miss the boat."

"Hi. I'm actually in the Dells. Long story. Baby shower. Ah ah."

"Oh, great! Is it fun?"

"Yes. But if you're too busy, that's fine. We can do something else another time."

"Oh babe, I confess I'm tired, but I want to see you."

"My mom got sick with food poisoning, so maybe it is a good idea for me to go back home and visit her in the hotel."

"Oh, I had no idea your mom got sick. Tell her I hope she gets better if you're saying so. Let's skip the boat. Maybe I can stop by tomorrow to take you to the church in the morning. What about 9:30 am.

The idea of going to church doesn't make me excited, either. I don't want to remember the years I got confined in that boarding school, attending the mess and other religion classes. I want to be what I want to be. I want to go to church when I want to go to church, not because my parents say otherwise. Not because Maroney decided now it is good to take me there.

"Sounds good." I text back. "9:30 am works."

***

I arrive home late afternoon, and it is almost evening. The food had been great, and also the cake from the baby shower. Olga is waiting for a boy, and she is almost eight months pregnant.

"I'm running to the shower before you get the chance to go out. I'm going on a date with that chic from the frat house."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"How come? It is not because Maroney canceled the plans with you tonight that your Saturday is over."

"I'm going to visit my mom at the hotel."

"Great idea. What about Danika? She was looking forward to doing something tonight."

"Nope. I don't think she likes me that much."

"Why would say something like that? It is just Danika being Danika."

"I think we are different..." I am not done with my sentence when I hear my phone ringing.

"Oh-oh," says TJ when he sees the name Denver on the screen.