16.
Marie and I got the cake together and Bev kept knocking her heels against the cabinet door under the counter she was sitting on. The radio was on and early 90's punk streamed out of it. I was starting in on the box of wine and then the girls were finishing their beers as I slid the cake pan into the oven.
"Forty minutes," I said.
"What time is it now?" Marie asked.
I checked my phone. "Three forty two."
"So... Four twenty two?" Marie asked.
"Yep."
"What the hell can we do for forty minutes?" Bev asked.
"Presents?" I asked.
"Nope," Marie said. "Still haven't wrapped it."
"Well go wrap it, you've got almost an hour."
"Ugh. First," she finished her beer. "Let's open the tequila up. Just a shot now."
"You sure?" I asked. "You're going to want more than a shot."
"No, one now. I'll go up and wrap your gift, then another one then, then the cake will be baked, and we'll eat and the cake will reset me back to sober."
"We have to wait for it to cool and frost it," Bev said. "That's another twenty minutes."
"Well, three shots then. One every twenty minutes," Marie said.
"Okay," I said. "Just don't get too shitty that you're out for the night."
"You have plans for the night?" Marie asked as she poured two shots for her and Bev.
"No, but you never know."
The girls threw back their shots and Marie kissed me, smiling, and went to the bedroom.
"She's going to be shitfaced before the cake is done," Bev said.
"Maybe, we'll see. I don't think she will, but we'll see."
I re-filled my glass with wine. "What'd she get me?"
"No fucking idea. I didn't even know it was your birthday until she told me this morning. Otherwise I would have picked you up something."
"Well, thanks, but I don't need anything. I was just fucking with her about presents anyway."
"You wanna do a shot with me?"
"How about after this glass?"
"Okay," she said. "I'm going to go check on her, see if she needs help."
"All right."
Bev scurried off to the bedroom and I went into the living room and sat down with my wine. I could still hear the music from the kitchen. I stared out the front window at the street and the nobody in it and the leaves on the tree in front of the house swayed gently with the breeze. I put my feet up on the coffee table and thought it may have been my favorite birthday so far, for no particular reason.
17.
I had finished the glass and got up to pour another. I finished that one at the kitchen table with my feet on a chair and the timer went off. The cake was done. I took it out and set it on the stove to cool. There was only one tequila bottle now and I figured Bev took the other. I poured another glass of wine and waited for my gift. An hour had passed.
I turned the music down, pored another glass, went in the living room again and the house was quiet. I heard Bev laugh.
"Shut up," Marie said, muffled through the walls and door.
Bev laughed again, though quieter. I heard the door open and both of them laughing as they came down the short hallway.
Bev was in the living room first. She was in her underwear again and dancing with a half empty tequila bottle.
"What happened to your clothes?" I asked.
"We lost them," Marie said as she turned the corner. Marie also was in her underwear and had a large box wrapped messily in red Christmas wrapping paper. "We didn't need them. You don't either," she said as she set the box onto the table in front of me. "Lose 'em cowboy."
"Cowboy?" I asked.
"You heard the lady," Bev said. "Lose 'em. We got a cake to frost."
Marie nodded. "Best be lost by the time we get back. Also, I had a bit more tequila."
"I can tell."
She smiled, bent over and kissed me. "You don't mind though, do you."
"Not at all."
"Of course he doesn't," Bev said. "Best birthday ever." The girls both cat-walked into the kitchen.
"Can I open the present?" I asked loudly. I finished my wine and set my glass down.
"Not until after cake," Marie said.
I sat back and let my head swim with warmth and my skin buzzed. I laid back on the couch with my head on one armrest and my feet on the other. I thought I could fall asleep. I was relaxed and I felt calm and nice and protected. I felt dreams bubbling up from some lost pocket and I felt no desire to write them. I felt my head exhale and soften and I could hear the girls in the kitchen talking and laughing.
I fell a little asleep and was awoken with a jolt. I opened my eyes to see Bev and Marie, each with one of my pant legs pulling backward.
"We told you to lose'em," Marie said.
"Jesus Christ, alright, alright," I said. "Let me get my fucking belt undone." I lifted myself up a little and undid my belt. My pants slid off and Bev threw them in the corner. I heard my wallet land somewhere in the hallway and tried to note that.
Marie climbed over the arm of the couch slow on her knees, kissing my legs as she went.
"The view right now," Bev said.
Marie laughed and stared at me. "Sit up."
I did and she backed up a little on me and lifted my shirt over my head, pulled it off and threw it somewhere else. I was wearing black boxer briefs and shameless. The wine had stolen it from me.
Marie pushed me back down and began to kiss me. She ran her hands down my chest and torso and gripped at me through my underwear.
"Hey, guys," Bev said.
I kissed Marie back and pulled at her ass and thighs and ran my fingers down her.
Marie pulled up. "Time for cake."
I sat up as Marie climbed off of me, walked toward the kitchen and kissed Bev on the way.
"I get one too?" Bev asked, smiling.
"James gets a kiss, Bev gets a kiss, everybody gets a kiss. It's a birthday," Marie said from the kitchen. "Now, come get cake!"
"She's mine, Bev," I said, climbing off the couch. "Don't make me fight you."
"She's ours and you know it. Besides, you couldn't take me."
Bev kissed me on the cheek when I walked by her and followed me into the kitchen.
"Sit," Marie said and Bev and I took seats at the table. Marie was lighting candles and when they were lit she lifted the cake up and began to carry it over, singing the song.
Bev joined in the singing and I thought again that it may have been my best birthday so far and I was smiling and the girls were singing, beautiful and for me and I had nothing to worry about and nowhere to be.
Marie set the cake on the table. I blew the candles out. The cake was good. Rich, thick. The frosting was, well, the icing on the cake. I decided it was my new favorite cake. We each had some and washed it down with wine and the girls took pictures with their phones and I sat at the head of the table with one on each side and they both kissed a cheek and Marie took the picture. My girls.
18.
After cake Marie and Bev cleaned up and Marie brought the large gift to the table. "Happy birthday, honey." She smiled and I loved her.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's a gift. Open it."
I had to stand to open from the top and I tried to remove the paper neatly, peeling back the tape and trying not to rip it, but some of it ripped and under it all was a large cardboard box, sealed with packaging tape. "Hand me a knife, or keys."
Bev handed me a butter knife from the counter and I pressed against the tape until it popped and I pulled back on the knife, sliding down through the tape and savored the moment. I opened the box and what looked like a suitcase was inside it.
"It's not a suitcase," Marie said.
I pulled it out and I knew then what it was. I had seen it a few weeks back at a garage sale and hemmed and hawed over whether or not I should buy it. I set it flat against the table and pressed the releases on the case. It popped up a bit and I opened it all the way and inside sat the beautiful baby blue Smith Corona. Immediately I thought of sitting on the porch and the typing away, of carting it's hard plastic shell around town and setting up under a tree and I'd wear a panama hat and smoke a joint and poetry would pour out. Vibrant and alive, and people would note to themselves if they noticed me "that man, that man writing away, he certainly looks the part. He certainly must be the real deal. He's a writer all right. Best to just admire him from afar."
It was beautiful.
I kissed Marie. "Thank you."
"Do you like it?" she asked.
"It's beautiful. I love it."
"Man, she wouldn't shut up about it," Bev said.
"I couldn't," Marie said. "I don't know how I kept it secret."
I ran my fingers across the keys. Smooth, indented, and clean. "When did you get it?"
"The day we saw it. When we were there I told the lady to put it aside. That it was for your birthday. Then you and Bev went to get drinks, remember?"
"Oh, yes."
"See, I helped," Bev said. "So, it's not like I didn't get you anything."
"Thank you Bev," I said.
I kissed Marie again. "Thank you, my love."
"Happy birthday," she said.
"Happy birthday James," Bev said.
We had a few more drinks and Bev and Marie danced and they asked me to dance but I never thought dancing was a good idea but I enjoyed watching them, moving with and against each other and I wouldn't be telling you the truth if I said my mind didn't wander. It was my birthday and sometimes things happen. The girls killed the first bottle of tequila and I was well into the Franzia.
"Put your shoes on," I said to them after a little while. "I want to explore."
"Explore!" they said together.
I put my pants on and shoes and shirt. I thought it probably would be nice to have a panama hat.
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