Darla’s number appeared on her phone as it rang. “Hello?”
“Hey there, gettin’ ready to move.”
Darla’s voice never failed to amuse Josie. After years of living in Boston, she was accused of having a Boston accent whenever she went home. Once in a while she would slip and call “Ant” Cathy “Ont” Cathy, which led to a ripple of giggles and laughs among the family. God forbid she say “rahther” and not “rather.” A host of little things, including the word “wicked” being used as an adjective, had separated her from her beginnings. Good.
“So, I’m gettin’ ready to come,” Darla said, “and I have a few questions.”
“What’s that?” Josie said.
“How big is the bedroom that I’m gonna have?”
“I don’t know…about ten by ten?” Josie was terrible with space and guesstimates.
“Wow, that’s downright luxurious,” Darla cracked.
“It’s what you get in Cambridge, and it’s probably bigger than your room back home.”
“Fair enough. That’s another question—I keep saying I’m moving to Boston, but I’m not…”
“No, you’re moving to Cambridge.”
“So, Cambridge is where Harvard is?”
“Yes.”
“All the snotty people live there?” Darla asked.
“Not all of them, but plenty of them.”
“And what do I need to bring with me?”
“We can get you a bed when you move here, Darla,” Josie said. “I can buy it, it’s not a problem.”
“No, I’ve got some money saved up,” Darla replied.
“You do?” Darla was notorious for spending whatever was in her pocket about as fast as she made it.
“Yes, I do.”
The defensive tone set Josie’s stomach on edge. This was the last thing she needed on a day like this, and it made her need an outlet. Darla could be the unwitting target. Laura couldn’t anymore—she was off living house, not playing it, with Mike and Dylan and the baby.
“I got some money.”
“You didn’t do anything illegal…”
“I don’t do anything illegal, Josie, you know that.”
Josie thought for a moment. “It’s the two guys, isn’t it?”
Darla could never lie to her. Finally with a big sigh, she said, “Yeeeees.”
“They left you money?” Josie was a bit incredulous.
“It’s a long story.”
“You have a lot of long stories, Darla.”
“Well, you’re gonna get to hear ’em all now that I’ll be be your roommate.”
Josie laughed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m in a bad mood.”
“Why?”
“Oh…stuff.”
“Work stuff? Or dick stuff?”
“Dick stuff.”
“You have a new man?”
Have. Have? Do I have a new man? she wondered. She had. Why did verb tense suddenly mean so much? “I have been dating someone.”
“Is he a doctor?”
Not this again, she thought. “Yes, he happens to be a doctor.”
“Same guy as before?”
“Yes.”
“Hot damn! It’s about time. You keep telling us that you’ll never date a doctor because they suck.”
“I’ve never said that doctors suck.”
“Yes you have,” Darla argued. “You’ve said it a million times—they all have God complexes, and they all have egos bigger than the state of Ohio. Josie, you’ve been saying that for years.”
Darla was right. She had been saying that for years and now she was caught in her own snare. “Yes, he’s a doctor. No, he’s not an ass. If anybody’s the ass, it’s me.”
“Why are you the ass, Josie?”
“Because I’m stupid.”
Darla laughed. “Anybody can be an ass when they’re stupid. The question is are you being stupid and turning somebody away you really like?”
Josie had to think about that for a few minutes; it filled her brain with too much chaos and she realized that she didn’t have to think about it, she could just defer and deflect. “Darla, I am not gonna talk about this right now,” she said with a weary sigh, “so let’s talk about you moving here. When are you coming?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!” Josie shouted. “Tomorrow?” She walked into the spare bedroom and looked around. All of her extra shit was crammed in there. About half the floor was covered with boxes and a stray guitar from years ago, and some UMass-logoed stadium blanket a guy she had dated a few times had left. “Tomorrow?”
“Well, it turns out Uncle Mike has a run and can get me as far as some city in Massachusetts called…Stur…bridge.”
“Sturbridge, yeah.”
“Yeah, well, Mike can get me there and I was hoping maybe you could come and get me? It looks pretty close on a map.”
“Darla, Sturbridge is about…an hour and a half outside of Cambridge.”
“Aw, shit! Well, everything in New England on a map looks like it’s close together.”
Josie shook her head and wisely kept her mouth shut.
“Is there a bus I can take?”
“You could always hitchhike.”
A loud snort came through the phone. “I’ve had enough of hitchhiking, trust me,” she said.
Then Josie remembered, “Oh, that’s right, the na**d guy.”
“And the other na**d guy.”
“They’re both na**d hitchhikers?”
“It’s a long story,” Darla rasped.
“Look, I’ll find a way to get somebody to come to Sturbridge to pick you up. Won’t you have a bunch of stuff that you need to put in a car? I mean, my car is pretty tiny.”
“No,” Darla said, “I decided to leave it all behind. All I need are some clothes, a couple of favorite books, my junky old computer, my phone. If I’m gonna start a whole new life and a whole new relationship, then why not start it clean? Why carry my baggage from my past around?” she said quietly.
If Darla had kicked her in the gut, she couldn’t have knocked the wind out of Josie any harder. “That makes sense,” she choked out. “So, tomorrow…”
“Yeah, tomorrow!”
Darla’s excitement was just a little bit contagious, and it picked Josie’s spirits up. “All right then, we’ll see you tomorrow, and I’m so glad you made this leap.”