Restless Chapter 17

  Thomas, Chris and Marie met up a couple of days later for a late lunch 

 "You people think too much," Thomas chastised.

"What do you mean, YOU people?" Marie asked.

"I mean you, Chris, all y’all. You’re over thinking this shit," Thomas answered, directing his eyes to Chris. "Look man, you handled the Angela thing OK, but it sounds like she’s diggin’ you my man...just like I said the other night.  You DO know you can’t be friends with this girl right?"

"No, Thomas, I don’t know that; I think I can. There’s no reason why I can’t be a decent person to her.  The past is the past. Plus, I think she could use a friend right now. I used to enjoy talkin’ with her and the other night was like old times. I can handle this.

"The way you did before?" Marie chimed in.

"Thank you girl!" Thomas interjected.

"C’mon, you guys can't be serious; this isn’t the same," Chris defended his position.

"It’s shapin’ up that way C," Thomas warned.

"How so??" Chris demanded.

"Well, I may not be as educated as you but, as I see it, you got a past with both of these ladies, Thomas began.

"Yeah? So what?" Chris dismissed.

"It’s reversed now," Thomas explained. You finally got in with Erin and that’s what you wanted. Now, this Angela girl is becoming a friend, only she doesn’t see it that way because you still haven’t taken a stand with her and headed that shit off. She’s not gonna stop. You cant be friends with this girl bro; you gotta choose at some point Chris," Thomas reasoned.

"This isn’t the fucking Price is Right," Chris lectured.  "I don’t have to choose anything other than to be with Erin as her boyfriend and to be friends with Angela...End of story. We’re all adults," Chris assured, feeling as though he were being ambushed by Thomas and Marie.

"Says the captain of the Titanic," Thomas quickly added.
"Look, Chris, not always but, typically, guys and girls can’t be just friends," Marie tactfully offered.

"What? Wait, that’s not what my ex told me," Chris shot back. 

"Which one?" Thomas asked, "Wife or girlfriend?"

"Both," Chris quickly replied.


  Marie and Thomas exchanged a gloating glance.

"Marie, you wanna take this one?" Thomas nonchalantly asked.

"Baby, that’s something someone usually says when they don’t want you to know that they like someone else.  They'll tell you that they just need some time," Marie advised, matter of factly.

"Are you both trying to give me a fuckin’ stroke?" Chris barked, pushing away his plate.

"Listen here, there are exceptions," Thomas interrupted.

  Chris’ eyes perked up, anticipating a sliver of hope and justification to his argument. Finally, he thought, my boy is stickin’ with me on this one.

"How so?" Chris eagerly asked.

  Thomas stared at the ceiling fan, rubbing his chin before answering.

"Nah, now that I think about it, there ain't no exceptions my man, " Thomas laughed to the point of nearly falling out of his chair. "That's why divorce lawyers make bank!" He continued, slapping Chris on the shoulder.

"Oh C’mon!! Bullshit!" Chris snapped. "This isn’t funny!"

  Marie desperately tried to hold her laughter. "Well…"she began, "let’s see..."

"What?" Chris snapped again.

"The guy your ex wife was with for a while, you know, her friend, what did he look like?" she coyly asked.

"I suppose he was good looking; he was a fucking model back in the day," Chris answered.

"Uh huh," Thomas interrupted, "OK, how bout’ the guy your ex girlfriend was just friends with?"

  Chris stared at Thomas and Marie for a few seconds, his expression conveyed an escalating level of frustration.

"Fuck both of you!" Chris snapped, throwing his napkin in his plate as he got up to go to the restroom.

  Thomas and Marie composed themselves while Chris was away, making small talk.

"So, what do you think about our boy?" Thomas matter of factly asked.

"He means well; it’s gotta be hard to keep his distance from Angela. He’s got his head in the right place with Erin at least, he just doesn’t know how to handle the other thing. I’m sure it’s tough Thomas."

"Yeah, but didn’t this girl Angela screw his shit up?"

"Yeah, so did Erin; he screwed them up too for that matter. You gotta remember, he’s trying so hard to be better to everyone and fix these things with Erin. I don't know...Somehow he thinks that this is his chance to leave things on better terms with Angela; that’s what I think anyway.  His heart’s in the right place, he’s just a bit naïve about some things. He’s always been that way though," Marie explained.

"Well, they can’t be friends.  If she was attracted to him before she will be again," Thomas resolved.

"God! Now that I think about it, some of the best sex I ever had was with a friend... Friends with benefits," Marie sighed.

  Thomas laughed.

"What?" Marie demanded.

"White people the only people I know that can make a “hook up” sound like a 401k package," Thomas laughed, slapping the table repeatedly.

"Real funny Thomas."

"C'mon girl...It’s a booty call baby," he laughed.

  Thomas and Marie sat silently for a moment, when Thomas shifted to a more serious tone.

"You didn’t like me too much when you met me huh?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I didn’t," Marie confessed. But, you’re kinda growin on me," she smiled. "I knew you and your crowd; they’re bad news you know?"

"Yeah, but you didn’t know the full story," Thomas interrupted.

"Yeah, I know the story," she dismissed. "Runnin’ with your boys feels good, they don’t judge you, it’s a brotherhood, blah, blah, blah. It’s the easy way out and you know it. Chris told me you’ve pushed them away a lot; is that true?"

"Yeah, I’m tryin’ to get shit straight Marie."

"And that’s why I like you; after a while I could sense that you didn’t really belong with those assholes. Be strong Thomas."

  Thomas and Marie silently sat for a few seconds, staring toward the men's room door.

"So, you consider me a friend now, huh?" Thomas sheepishly asked.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Marie replied.

"You wanna see the benefits package?" Thomas laughed, clapping his hands loudly.

  Marie tried her best to keep a straight face until she could no longer hold her composure.


"Shut the fuck up Thomas!"

  In the restroom, Chris looked in the mirror for a moment. He splashed water on his face, pouring through tough decisions.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked, looking to the ceiling, then back to the mirror.

  His cell phone rang, it was Angela.

"Hey Angela. No, I don’t think so, why? Yeah, uh, I can do that, sounds like it could be fun. You think I can bring my buddy Thomas? Oh, uh, sure, OK, I understand. I’ll come by Friday at, say…7? Alright, see ya’ then."


  Angela called to inform Chris that she had VIP tickets to a street festival on Fulton Street downtown and invited him to be her guest.  He wanted to keep it friendly and bring Thomas but Angela had only two tickets.

  Looking back to his reflection in the mirror; "Shit! OK," he thought, "I gotta make sure I lay out some ground rules, fast," he resolved.

Back at the table, Thomas and Marie continued.

"That thing about guys and girls not being able to be just friends," Thomas carefully began.

"Yeah? What about it?" Marie asked.

"Well, you and Chris are friends."

"Yeah? We are," Marie wondered where this was headed.

"Kinda of proves us wrong, don’tcha’ think?"  Thomas affirmed.

"Uh, there are exceptions to the rule," Marie dismissed.

"Uh huh," Thomas interjected with skepticism.

"Oh please!" Marie laughed. "He’s my best friend Thomas; he‘s like a brother!"

"Hey, I believe you, just checkin’ girl."

  Chris returned from the restroom.

"Damn boy, you drop a deuce in there or what?" Thomas jabbed.

"Yeah, Thomas, that’s exactly what I did.  I needed to be away from you two assholes for a minute," Chris retorted.  "If you must know, Angela called." Chris sighed as he took a seat. 

"What did she want?" Marie asked.

"She wants to go to the shrimp fest on Fulton this weekend."

  Thomas smacked his hand against the table top, "There’s your chance boy!  Have fun but set that shit straight when you see her," Thomas suggested.

"Have you told her that you and Erin have been goin’ out?" Marie pried.

"No, Marie, it hasn’t come up in conversation and it’s not relevant.  Look, I gotta go," Chris quickly rose from the table. "I’m meeting Erin for a movie; you two sit here and continue to solve my problems."

"Not enough time," Marie laughed.

  After Chris left, Thomas looked Marie squarely in the eyes.

"Girl, this shit is gonna get interesting from here on out…real fast."