Page 33 of A Straight Line

“Bang Bang always shows up, one way or another. She’s just known for being fashionably late. She likes to make an entrance,” Denny said, his mouth full of whatever he had yanked off one of the trays.

I couldn’t help but grin over at Denny. He hadn’t even looked over at us when he injected himself into the conversation; he had just continued chewing and picking at the food on the trays. Denny might have been one of the most talkative people I knew, but he was also one of the sunniest people I’d met in a while. Besides, people who enjoy food are the best people.

“You think?” Katie glanced over at him and then back to me.

I shrugged. “Probably. I just can’t speak for her is all.”

“Okay,” She said, looking slightly unsure. “It’s just, I don’t want to leave, but…well, sitters, you know?”

I didn’t know, but I nodded and smiled as if I did.

“It’s just,” She continued, “your uncles and Bang Bang mean so much to me is all. I didn’t want to leave without saying a few words to your uncles—and if I could see Bang Bang perform once more, it would be perfect.”

My first thought was to just reassure Katie that Bang Bang would eventually show up if she could just be patient—and solve the problem with her sitter. It really wasn’t in my nature to pry in the personal business of a stranger. However, after the dalliance with Denny in the garage and the fireworks display, I felt like maybe I should start acting out of character more often. It couldn’t make my situation worse.

Could it?

“Oh?” It was the only way I knew how to dig further into her business without sounding downright nosy.

“Bang Bang and your uncles are why I’m here today,” Katie said, grinning from ear to ear.

“At—at the party?”

Denny snorted with laughter. Katie chuckled along.

“Well,” She said, “that too, I suppose. They did invite me. But no. I meant standing here alive and healthy.”

“How so?” I was getting to be an expert at minding other people’s business.

“Well,” Katie glanced around, as though making sure no one else besides me was being nosy, “a few years ago, I…well, I was in the shelter. The women’s shelter. My ex-husband…it wasn’t a good situation. And I had two little ones. Still do, I guess. They’re not much taller than my hip now.”

“Okay,” I said to show I was following along.

“Well,” She continued, “I couldn’t just live at the shelter forever with two little ones, right?”

“Right.”

“So, Katie said, “I was out looking for jobs, and the library was one of the places hiring. Well, when I showed up to apply for a job, I guess I didn’t look too professional. I didn’t have much with me at the shelter. The clothes I’d been able to get from the house before I took off weren’t really professional or anything. I didn’t have any makeup. I probably looked a hot mess and like I had no business showing up anywhere looking for a job, let alone a library.”

Katie laughed at this, so I did, too.

“They weren’t as mean as they could have been about it,” Katie continued, “but they made it clear I wasn’t what they looking for.”

“Ouch.”

“Ouch is right,” Katie said. “I was completely lost. I was sitting outside of the library on one of the benches, wondering what to do next, then suddenly, there was this man in a dress sitting next to me!”

Katie’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked up at me. Then she seemed to have a thought.

“Sorry,” She said, “that probably sounded homophobic, or, or—”

I waved her off with a smile.

“Well,” Katie continued nervously, “it was Bang Bang. I guess he—she?”

I nodded.

“She had seen what had happened,” Katie said. “She had been there doing one of her Drag Queen Reading Hours? Well, she talked to me for a minute, told me a few jokes—that I could never repeat—listened to my story—held my hand as I cried—then she told me she could help. I don’t know why I agreed—I just felt like I had known her all my life. Bang Bang just…well, she felt like an old friend. So, I decided to trust her.”