Tomorrow Never Knows

Chapter Three

        By the time I reached my own front door I had composed myself enough to deal with my father, who was no doubt waiting inside, drunk as a pig and passed out somewhere. Or, maybe he was planning for the next of his famous soirees. I thought I’d overheard him mention something about that on the phone a few days ago. As usual, I would have to make most of the arrangements (to his approval) and do most of the heavy lifting, including paying for everything.

        I let myself in and attempted to get up to my room without having a run in with him. He was passed out on the sofa in the foyer as expected; papers, catalogs, address books, and cans of cheap beer scattered all around him. His head lolled to the side as a thin trail of drool spilled from his gaping mouth. Beads of perspiration were forming on his forehead, where now-graying hair was matted with dampness and dirt. When he snored, his beer belly shook.

        I took in the scene with both pity and disgust. I felt bad for my father, I really did, but his everyday behavior made it hard to sympathize with him. Dad didn’t deserve to be treated the way my mother had treated him, but then again, no one does.

        It’s amazing just how much of a difference seven years can make. In school I once read that the ancient Greeks believed that seven years was a representation of a lifetime. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. Now I considered it nearly day in and day out. Seven years ago, dad was at the top of his game. He was handsome and vibrant, with a beautiful and loving wife, a steady job, living in a gorgeous location with two great kids who looked up to him. When I was young, I’d always believed that ‘Daddy’ could make no mistakes. Boy, was I off on that one. Now he was just Leonard Sinclair, reluctant divorcee, barely making living wage, living in a subpar location in a house he couldn’t afford, now with only one child who would speak to him.

        I tiptoed past my father and over to the staircase. I’d nearly made it, when an exceptionally loud creak of the steps jolted him awake.

        “Wha..? Huh?” he mumbled, “Who’s there? Evelyn?”

        “No, Dad. It’s just me. Cora.” I breathed with sadness. He hadn’t seen Mom in a lifetime, and yet he still waited for her and hoped for her return. It broke my heart.

        “Huh,” he remarked when he saw me, readjusting himself and wiping the drool from his chin, “ So it is. C’mere Cora, I need your help with somethin’”

        I reluctantly made my way back across the room and sat down on the couch. Feigning as much concern as I could muster, I asked him what it was he needed help with.

        “Well, it’s been nearly ten months since the last time we had a dinner party, so I figure it’s about time for another, don’t you think?”

        I nodded slowly.

        “Alright then. Now that we’re on the same page about this, why don’t you see if you can’t make me a new style of jacket with the fabric from one of my old ones? You could do that, couldn’t you?” he pleaded.

        “Yes, Dad.”

        “I knew I could count on you, girl,” He stumbled up from his spot and into the kitchen, probably to get another beer. “Lemme know when you got something ready for me!”

        “Dad?” I asked meekly.

        “Yeah?"

        “Dad, if Kevin calls, could you tell him I’m not home?” My father looked slightly confused at the request, but not too concerned.

        “Sure, honey.” he slurred. I bit my lip and gave him a weak smile.

        I couldn’t keep myself together much longer. I ran up the three flights of stairs to my bedroom and slammed the door behind me, collapsing on my bed in ugly, heaving sobs.

        Once I felt I must have dried up every tear inside me, I laid motionless, just now comprehending how painfully real the situation was. Kevin was cheating on me. Whether what I saw was a one time ‘mistake’ or a repeated occurrence I didn’t know, but I did know that there would be no more “us”. There couldn’t be. There would be no more ‘dinner and a movie’, no more beach holidays, no one to stay up all night talking to, no one to spend my future with. I was essentially completely alone. I felt empty, like my insides were hollowed out.

        I dragged myself up from my bed and sat down at my vanity. My naturally tanned skin was looking sallower than usual from crying, and my green eyes were red and blotchy. Mascara was smeared all down my cheeks and my long blonde hair was all in knots. I looked a fright.

        Just then the phone rang, and my father picked it up. I pressed my ear up against the door in order to hear the conversation a little better.

        “Nope, sorry kid. She’s not home. She’s out looking for a gift for you, I imagine.” he lied. After a bit of silence, he garbled in a reply, “Yep. Well, I’m sure she’s gotten you something great. You two have fun tonight, now.” The phone clicked when he hung up, and I layed back down on my bed.

        As I sat thinking, I realized that I’d taken care of the first part of his gift by smashing it against the wall, but not the second. That part would be a bit more tricky. I felt  a sudden twinge of deep anger towards Kevin, and with that anger came an idea.

       With my newfound anger clouding my anguish and fueling my inspiration, I ran to have a quick bath and to wash and dry my hair. When I’d finished, I put my hair up in hot curlers, which I’d never had an occasion to use until now. After putting on red lipstick, which I’d also never used, I applied mascara and all the other usual beauty products. Now all there was left to do was pick out a dress- something more scandalous than I usually wore, something that would attract attention. I decided on a sleeveless green dress with a plunging neckline (figure hugging up to the waist and flaring out to just below the knee), pearl earrings, a brooch my mother had left behind, and short black kitten heels.

        I let down my hair and looked in the mirror. I barely recognized the face staring back at me, I seemed so much older and infinitely more mature than just a few hours ago.

        ‘I’ll show him. Then he’ll know what it feels like to have the one you love betray you.’ I thought with a smirk.

        After fluffing my hair and taking one last look in the mirror, i removed my shoes and cracked open my bedroom door. Seeing no sign of my father, I then inched my way downstairs, taking care to skip the creaky steps. Miraculously, I made it out the door, into my car, and away from my house without waking him.

        I drove with both hands on the wheel, only ever removing one to wipe my eye of the tears that threatened to fall. I kept a steely focus on the road ahead of me and tried as hard as I could to not let my mind wander to anything other than where I was going and the night ahead of me, and I particularly made an effort not to think about Kevin in any sort of fondness.

        I’d seen an ad earlier when I was buying cologne for tonight’s opening of a new club called ‘The Casbah Coffee Club’, and I decided that that was where I’d go. I didn’t know if they’d play jazz or rock and roll or country, and quite frankly I didn’t really care. Since it was a hot new club, there was bound to be one of Kevin’s college friends there. As long as there were boys, Kevin’s friends, and maybe a little bit of booze, everything would go just perfectly.

AN: The attatched photo of Elizabeth Taylor shows what Cora would be wearing :))