Have A Little Faith In Me
Chapter 26: The Best Laid Plans…
So, they practiced.
Lewis didn’t want anybody else to see, so he and Drew would take off early a couple of times a week and head home to once again go through the drill of maneuvering him down to one knee and back up again.
He fell a lot. Sometimes Drew would miss a cue or drop him, sometimes his arms would just give out after hours of trying to hold some kind of awkward angle for too long and he’d crash to the ground swearing and getting more and more frustrated. Yet somehow, Carlie’s voice had found its way into Drew’s throat, and he would cheer and encourage as Lewis struggled, but miraculously, didn’t give up.
About a week before the proposal date Lewis had decided on, Oswald happened to casually walk into Drew’s back yard just in time to hear another crash followed by lots of swearing.
“Ow, my fucking elbow!”
“I’m sorry, Lewis! I didn’t know you were gonna fall that way.”
“Yeah, neither did I.” The tall man grumbled, slamming a crutch down on the floor. “…goddamn gravity.”
Drew bent to grab him around the chest and lift him up again, but Lewis waved him off.
“No… Just lemme stay here a minute. You’ve picked me up so many times today, my ribs are killing me.”
“Ahem!”
Startled, both men swiveled around to see Oswald standing in the doorway holding a box full of hockey equipment from Drew’s basement. Before either of them could start explaining what they were doing or why (as well as why they hadn’t told him what they were up to), the curly-headed man strode into the room and dumped the entire contents of the box onto the floor. They stared, completely at a loss for words as he rummaged through the pile, coming up with an armload of things and shaking a finger at both of them.
“If you two are gonna do this kind of crazy stuff, at least be reasonable about it!” He chucked a pair of knee pads at Drew, and bent to strap a pad onto Lewis’ elbow.
Drew and Lewis turned their flabbergasted looks toward each other and said at the same time, “Why didn’t we think of that?!”
* * * * *
With the three of them working together, they had it down to a science in no time.
Click click, lift. Balance. Yank, sink, bend.
Click click, lift. Balance, Yank, sink, bend.
Finally, when they all felt that everything was as good as it could get and the date was upon them, Lewis laid out the plan: When they were all done with work that day, he and Drew would go home to change. Oswald would head for the restaurant directly from the brewery and start getting things ready there. Back at the house, Lewis would ask Kate to dinner at Mario’s and they would go - with her none the wiser - until Drew and Oswald would come out dressed as waiters to help him perform the maneuver.
They called the maitre’d at Mario’s and explained everything. Once he understood the circumstances, the head waiter had consented happily. Everything seemed to be going according to plan.
However, something was waiting for them at the house that they didn’t expect….
* * * * *
When Drew and Lewis arrived home that evening there were two other cars in the driveway besides Kate’s. Two very familiar cars.
One was Kate’s mom’s car. The other…
Lewis nervously switched his gaze between Drew and the greenish Volvo with a bumper sticker that read “Taxidermy is my life”.
Drew squinted at the car. “Um…Is that…what I think it is?”
“Oh, crap.” She was bound to find out sooner or later…
“Er…You want me to talk to her first?”
Lewis jammed the car into ‘park’ and huffed.
“No. Let’s just go in and get this over with.”
* * * * *
Lewis’ mom was standing in the kitchen, leaning up against the counter and smoking a cigarette - something that Drew certainly disliked inside his house. He opened the kitchen door, scowling at her as Lewis rolled in behind him and the old woman just stood there with her arms crossed and glared at her son from across the room.
“So, it’s true, huh?”
Lewis’ shoulders slumped. “Hi, Mom.”
“Mrs. Kiniski…If you wouldn’t mind taking that outside…”
She glared that perfectly stone-faced glare of hers back at Drew. “Alright, alright.” She griped, heading toward the door. “But if my son can follow me?” She spat out the word son.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m right behind you.”
“C’mon, Speedy.” Drew called, patting his leg. “Let’s get outta here and go for a walk.”
Unseen by his mother, Lewis shot a quick glance to Drew, mimed holding a telephone and mouthed call the restaurant - then pulled a finger across his throat in the classic “kill” gesture - indicating that at least for tonight, the whole thing was off. Drew sighed and nodded.
On the way out, through the doorway of the kitchen, Lewis caught a brief glimpse of Kate and her mom on the couch…talking.
* * * * *
Lynn O’Brien threw her hands up.
“Of all the people…Why would you want to date him?! The creepy crippled ex-janitor?!”
“I love him, okay? He’s sweet! He’s good to me! He - - -“
“He’s damaged goods, Honey!” She put on a smile that was so full of false sympathy and smarmyness, it almost made Kate’s stomach turn. “Don’t you realize that you’re going to end up taking care of him forever? How long until that gets old, huh? We both know that you’re only with him because you feel sorry for him.”
“Mom!!! That’s not true!!!”
* * * * *
Out in the back yard, Lewis pulled his brakes and glared at this tiny woman who’d given birth to him - the one who’d missed half the important things that had ever happened in his life and then managed to ruin the other half. She stood there with her arms folded and her cigarette aglow, glaring right back. For all the distance between them, they were closer than they’d been in years due to the simple fact that, sitting down, he was just short of eye-level to her.
“So…how did you hear about it?”
“Your niece kept referring to “Uncle Lewis’ “go-kart.” I finally grilled your sister into telling me about…this.”
“So do you believe it at least?”
“Not for a second.” She replied spitefully and threw the cigarette butt in the grass, grinding it out with her foot. “It wouldn’t surprise me to hear that you managed to hurt yourself while doing something stupid, but I’d guess you probably just figured out a way to get sympathy from your friends. Do you really think if you keep up this charade that some stupid girl is going to come along and feel sorry enough to actually marry you? That’s never going to happen - not with that face, anyway. You’re a failure, Lewis, and there’s too much of your father in you for anything you do to be a hundred percent.”
Lewis scowled. “Don’t say that! Dad was a good guy and a good cop until you drove him crazy. I was eight. I remember all that stuff!”
“You weren’t eight when he left me barefoot and pregnant at the Mexican border with nothing but a bottle of tequila!”
* * * * *
“Katey, sweetheart…I’m just trying to keep you from making another mistake! You don’t want to be saddled with someone who’s going to need you to be his nursemaid for the rest of your life! You need somebody stable who can take care of you and give you children- - ”
“He doesn’t need me to be his nursemaid, Mom! He can take care of himself! And I don’t want kids! That’s why it didn’t work out with Drew!”
“You’re supposed to have babies, Honey! That’s what women do! What do you think you’ve got a womb for in the first place? It’s not too late to get back together with Drew!”
“Mom! You never listen to me, but listen to me now!”
* * * * *
“It’s true, alright? Every damned word of it! I wish it wasn’t, but here - look.”
Lewis swiveled his chair around and leaned forward, angrily yanking up his shirt to reveal the twisted, ugly scar on his back. He craned his neck over his shoulder just in time to see his mother’s expression drop and…miracle of miracles, a shadow of concern cross her face.
She stared at it. It was real.
She raised her eyes to see the hard look in his. He was telling the truth.
She reached out a hand toward him.
He flinched away.
Too little, too late, old lady…way too late.
“I fell off a roof and broke my goddamned back. Okay? I’m paralyzed from the waist down and they say I’ll never walk again, okay? I’m crippled forever - is that what you wanted to hear?”
Just for emphasis he flipped his brakes and crawled out of his chair, down onto the grass.
She stood there, looking at him with her mouth hanging open, watching her only son’s legs flop limply behind him.
“Lewis…I…”
“Yeah, what.”
“I - I never wanted that.”
“Oh yeah? Well, you could’ve fooled me! I’m not surprised, really. You’ve ALWAYS told me that nobody would ever want me and I’d never amount to anything, but you know what, Ma? I’ve got a girl who loves me, the same great bunch of friends and a business that’s coming along quite nicely. I don’t need you, or your approval, OR your sympathy, OR YOUR PITY, so why don’t you just LEAVE ME ALONE?!”
“Lewis…”
“I mean it, Mom. I don’t want to see you again.”
Still stunned, Misty Kiniski turned and walked - more like staggered - out of Drew’s back yard.
Lewis watched his mother leave - not for the first time in his life - and pounded the ground next to him with his fist until it was just dirt. He saw her cigarette butt in the grass and threw it as hard as he could after her…then, sick inside and sick of her and sick of looking at the empty piece of wheeled machinery in front of him, he flopped back onto the grass to look at the stars.
So, they practiced.
Lewis didn’t want anybody else to see, so he and Drew would take off early a couple of times a week and head home to once again go through the drill of maneuvering him down to one knee and back up again.
He fell a lot. Sometimes Drew would miss a cue or drop him, sometimes his arms would just give out after hours of trying to hold some kind of awkward angle for too long and he’d crash to the ground swearing and getting more and more frustrated. Yet somehow, Carlie’s voice had found its way into Drew’s throat, and he would cheer and encourage as Lewis struggled, but miraculously, didn’t give up.
About a week before the proposal date Lewis had decided on, Oswald happened to casually walk into Drew’s back yard just in time to hear another crash followed by lots of swearing.
“Ow, my fucking elbow!”
“I’m sorry, Lewis! I didn’t know you were gonna fall that way.”
“Yeah, neither did I.” The tall man grumbled, slamming a crutch down on the floor. “…goddamn gravity.”
Drew bent to grab him around the chest and lift him up again, but Lewis waved him off.
“No… Just lemme stay here a minute. You’ve picked me up so many times today, my ribs are killing me.”
“Ahem!”
Startled, both men swiveled around to see Oswald standing in the doorway holding a box full of hockey equipment from Drew’s basement. Before either of them could start explaining what they were doing or why (as well as why they hadn’t told him what they were up to), the curly-headed man strode into the room and dumped the entire contents of the box onto the floor. They stared, completely at a loss for words as he rummaged through the pile, coming up with an armload of things and shaking a finger at both of them.
“If you two are gonna do this kind of crazy stuff, at least be reasonable about it!” He chucked a pair of knee pads at Drew, and bent to strap a pad onto Lewis’ elbow.
Drew and Lewis turned their flabbergasted looks toward each other and said at the same time, “Why didn’t we think of that?!”
* * * * *
With the three of them working together, they had it down to a science in no time.
Click click, lift. Balance. Yank, sink, bend.
Click click, lift. Balance, Yank, sink, bend.
Finally, when they all felt that everything was as good as it could get and the date was upon them, Lewis laid out the plan: When they were all done with work that day, he and Drew would go home to change. Oswald would head for the restaurant directly from the brewery and start getting things ready there. Back at the house, Lewis would ask Kate to dinner at Mario’s and they would go - with her none the wiser - until Drew and Oswald would come out dressed as waiters to help him perform the maneuver.
They called the maitre’d at Mario’s and explained everything. Once he understood the circumstances, the head waiter had consented happily. Everything seemed to be going according to plan.
However, something was waiting for them at the house that they didn’t expect….
* * * * *
When Drew and Lewis arrived home that evening there were two other cars in the driveway besides Kate’s. Two very familiar cars.
One was Kate’s mom’s car. The other…
Lewis nervously switched his gaze between Drew and the greenish Volvo with a bumper sticker that read “Taxidermy is my life”.
Drew squinted at the car. “Um…Is that…what I think it is?”
“Oh, crap.” She was bound to find out sooner or later…
“Er…You want me to talk to her first?”
Lewis jammed the car into ‘park’ and huffed.
“No. Let’s just go in and get this over with.”
* * * * *
Lewis’ mom was standing in the kitchen, leaning up against the counter and smoking a cigarette - something that Drew certainly disliked inside his house. He opened the kitchen door, scowling at her as Lewis rolled in behind him and the old woman just stood there with her arms crossed and glared at her son from across the room.
“So, it’s true, huh?”
Lewis’ shoulders slumped. “Hi, Mom.”
“Mrs. Kiniski…If you wouldn’t mind taking that outside…”
She glared that perfectly stone-faced glare of hers back at Drew. “Alright, alright.” She griped, heading toward the door. “But if my son can follow me?” She spat out the word son.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m right behind you.”
“C’mon, Speedy.” Drew called, patting his leg. “Let’s get outta here and go for a walk.”
Unseen by his mother, Lewis shot a quick glance to Drew, mimed holding a telephone and mouthed call the restaurant - then pulled a finger across his throat in the classic “kill” gesture - indicating that at least for tonight, the whole thing was off. Drew sighed and nodded.
On the way out, through the doorway of the kitchen, Lewis caught a brief glimpse of Kate and her mom on the couch…talking.
* * * * *
Lynn O’Brien threw her hands up.
“Of all the people…Why would you want to date him?! The creepy crippled ex-janitor?!”
“I love him, okay? He’s sweet! He’s good to me! He - - -“
“He’s damaged goods, Honey!” She put on a smile that was so full of false sympathy and smarmyness, it almost made Kate’s stomach turn. “Don’t you realize that you’re going to end up taking care of him forever? How long until that gets old, huh? We both know that you’re only with him because you feel sorry for him.”
“Mom!!! That’s not true!!!”
* * * * *
Out in the back yard, Lewis pulled his brakes and glared at this tiny woman who’d given birth to him - the one who’d missed half the important things that had ever happened in his life and then managed to ruin the other half. She stood there with her arms folded and her cigarette aglow, glaring right back. For all the distance between them, they were closer than they’d been in years due to the simple fact that, sitting down, he was just short of eye-level to her.
“So…how did you hear about it?”
“Your niece kept referring to “Uncle Lewis’ “go-kart.” I finally grilled your sister into telling me about…this.”
“So do you believe it at least?”
“Not for a second.” She replied spitefully and threw the cigarette butt in the grass, grinding it out with her foot. “It wouldn’t surprise me to hear that you managed to hurt yourself while doing something stupid, but I’d guess you probably just figured out a way to get sympathy from your friends. Do you really think if you keep up this charade that some stupid girl is going to come along and feel sorry enough to actually marry you? That’s never going to happen - not with that face, anyway. You’re a failure, Lewis, and there’s too much of your father in you for anything you do to be a hundred percent.”
Lewis scowled. “Don’t say that! Dad was a good guy and a good cop until you drove him crazy. I was eight. I remember all that stuff!”
“You weren’t eight when he left me barefoot and pregnant at the Mexican border with nothing but a bottle of tequila!”
* * * * *
“Katey, sweetheart…I’m just trying to keep you from making another mistake! You don’t want to be saddled with someone who’s going to need you to be his nursemaid for the rest of your life! You need somebody stable who can take care of you and give you children- - ”
“He doesn’t need me to be his nursemaid, Mom! He can take care of himself! And I don’t want kids! That’s why it didn’t work out with Drew!”
“You’re supposed to have babies, Honey! That’s what women do! What do you think you’ve got a womb for in the first place? It’s not too late to get back together with Drew!”
“Mom! You never listen to me, but listen to me now!”
* * * * *
“It’s true, alright? Every damned word of it! I wish it wasn’t, but here - look.”
Lewis swiveled his chair around and leaned forward, angrily yanking up his shirt to reveal the twisted, ugly scar on his back. He craned his neck over his shoulder just in time to see his mother’s expression drop and…miracle of miracles, a shadow of concern cross her face.
She stared at it. It was real.
She raised her eyes to see the hard look in his. He was telling the truth.
She reached out a hand toward him.
He flinched away.
Too little, too late, old lady…way too late.
“I fell off a roof and broke my goddamned back. Okay? I’m paralyzed from the waist down and they say I’ll never walk again, okay? I’m crippled forever - is that what you wanted to hear?”
Just for emphasis he flipped his brakes and crawled out of his chair, down onto the grass.
She stood there, looking at him with her mouth hanging open, watching her only son’s legs flop limply behind him.
“Lewis…I…”
“Yeah, what.”
“I - I never wanted that.”
“Oh yeah? Well, you could’ve fooled me! I’m not surprised, really. You’ve ALWAYS told me that nobody would ever want me and I’d never amount to anything, but you know what, Ma? I’ve got a girl who loves me, the same great bunch of friends and a business that’s coming along quite nicely. I don’t need you, or your approval, OR your sympathy, OR YOUR PITY, so why don’t you just LEAVE ME ALONE?!”
“Lewis…”
“I mean it, Mom. I don’t want to see you again.”
Still stunned, Misty Kiniski turned and walked - more like staggered - out of Drew’s back yard.
Lewis watched his mother leave - not for the first time in his life - and pounded the ground next to him with his fist until it was just dirt. He saw her cigarette butt in the grass and threw it as hard as he could after her…then, sick inside and sick of her and sick of looking at the empty piece of wheeled machinery in front of him, he flopped back onto the grass to look at the stars.