If At First

Part 16 - Chapter 15

15

Andy didn't reappear until well into the following day. He entered the house clearly agitated. My grandmother happened to be watering the plants in the windows near the side door where he entered, and took full advantage of the opportunity to study him from head to foot.

Normally they would make every attempt to avoid one another, but she managed to greet him with the fond, cold formality I'd grown accustomed to. And despite her disapproval of nearly everything about him, she was able to tell him civilly that his room was finally ready. He had been staying in the room Beverly and I put together, but Nana's pride wouldn't permit a guest staying in any version of ad hoc space, and spent the last few days hastening the refurbishment of another room to completion.

"Thanks," he answered at the same time I entered, and Andy eyed me expressively. "That'll help."

She glared at him, not even trying to comprehend his meaning. "You're an odd duck, you know that?"

"So I've heard." He answered indifferently, clearly distracted. He blinked back to me, and with what looked like a tic in his neck, signaled toward the staircase.

"What's wrong with you?" I frowned.

"You're down the hall from Tabitha," Nana continued, looking back and forth between us with an expression of mixed disinterestedness and perplexity.

"Marvelous. Tabby-Kat, you wanna show me?"

"Why are you twitching, did you sleep on a bench?" He grabbed my arm, pulling me urgently up the stairs. "Ow!" I said as he practically threw me into the room and slammed the door. "What is your problem?" He didn't look around, didn't appreciate any of the detail in the décor, or that this room had an actual bed rather than a mattress on the floor.

"I'm in trouble." He said, panic written all over him.

"Andy, you showed up in trouble, what else could you have accomplished in four days?" I rubbed my arm. "Oh God, is this like when you kidnapped the mascot from M.U. and posted pictures of it doing obscene things?"

"Way worse. I was hanging out with Doug, right? And he's cool and all, so we went to a party last night and I met a bunch of his friends. They were cool too, and we started playing poker, and before I knew what was happening, I was writing I.O.U.'s like I was a Rockefeller. I kept thinking I'd come around again in the next hand, and it just. wouldn't. happen."

"Are you serious?"

"No, I'm making this up because it's hilarious. See how I'm laughing?" He said, letting his hands fall. "I was winning at first. And then I lost track of how much I had won, so when I started losing I figured I would just break even in the end. And then I started going deeper and deeper." He sat down on the edge of the bed, hanging his head and wringing his hands. "I'm so screwed, Tab. All I wanted to do was win enough to fly out to Vegas and get Thumper to bring her home."

I stood in the middle of the room still unconsciously rubbing my arm. "This can't be right, they weren't playing for real money, were they?"

"You know of a lot of wealthy people who play for Monopoly money?"

"What are we going to do?" I said, trying to think of the fastest, easiest solution, "You'll have to borrow it from Nana."

"Are you insane? I'm not borrowing anything from Nana. I'd have my hands lopped off first."

"They might arrange that." I inhaled, "Maybe they'll forget!"

"Who are you?"

He was right. I don't know what I was thinking. "How much?" I asked.