Thirty Two

I could lie and say that Lisa came over last night and stayed over, but nothing happened. Or I could lie and say she came over early this morning. Although it was riskier to admit she stayed overnight, I decided to follow the first rule of lying; make the lie as close to the truth as possible - there's less to remember that way.

'She came over last night. She was real upset.'

'And you didn't call me?'

'I could have done, but she might have left if I had done, and then where would she go?'

Mike folded his arms, suspicion still firm on his face. 'Why didn't she go to a friends - Nina's?'

I shrugged, it really was a mystery to me. 'Maybe 'cause Nina lives with her parents.'

Mike gave a slight nod, seeing the logic in my golden spins.

I pre-empted the next logical place his mind would go. 'We talked for quite a while, till she calmed down. Man, you owe me, you know how crappy my couch is. I'm buggered now.' I looked at my watch. 'And I was supposed to meet Nina this morning.'

Mike gave a half-hearted grunt, but his arms dropped and I was winning him away from angry suspicion towards anguish. Did I know his dirty little secret? There was no way for Mike to ask.

Thirty Three