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passed and not one word from her mouth.
    Then I thought, Enough of this bullshit. I was nice enough to call her and apologize, and she can’t be bothered to call back.
    So I called her again. Only this time, she picked up the phone.
    â€œYes?” she said, all entitledlike. Almost like a British person or something, with a little accent. She could be snooty when she wanted to.
    â€œIt’s Rich.” I was shocked that she had picked up.
    â€œI know.”
    Then the phone went silent for a few seconds. I couldn’t believe how she was acting.
    â€œI called you.”
    â€œYes, I got the message.”
    â€œAnd . . . ?”
    â€œAnd I was thinking.”
    â€œAbout what?”
    Then she sighed into the phone.
    â€œIf I was going to call you back or not, dummy.”
    â€œOh.”
    Then she went silent again.
    â€œWell, were you?”
    â€œI don’t know. I hadn’t decided yet.” She said that real casual.
    â€œOh, come on, Maggie. I know I fucked up.”
    â€œYes, you did.”
    I didn’t know what more to say.
    â€œI’m sorry, kid.”
    I could hear her breathing. I thought she might hang up. I sat there listening to her breathing for a good two minutes. I didn’t want to say anything in case she hung up.
    Then finally she said, “Okay.”
    â€œOkay, what?”
    â€œOkay, I forgive you.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œYes. You know why?”
    â€œNo, why?”
    â€œBecause I know you won’t let me down again, Rich.”
    Then she hung up the phone.
    We never talked about what happened ever again after that conversation.
    She came to the bar that night. Things weren’t normal, but we pretended they were. That’s how things get back to normal. You just got to pretend until you forget you are pretending, and then things are normal again. That’s how it works.
    She’s twenty-two now.
    Around six months ago, she moved. Met some guy when he was here visiting, and they fell in love real fast, and she moved her ass on up there to Vancouver as soon as he asked, typical Maggie fashion. I told her not to, warned her about getting serious, but she didn’t listen. She never does.
    I guess it’s not all that bad. The guy is half decent. A little short but okay. Has a steady job at a bank and everything so they’re all right for money. I guess I’m happy. Yeah, I’m happy for her. In some ways, I am definitely happy for her.
    We still keep in touch. We talk on the phone sometimes, but the long distance is expensive for her, and I’m not good on the phone. So we usually stick to e-mails.
    She’s pregnant. Found out last week. I couldn’t believe it. I was the first person she told, after her guy, of course. She is really just out of her damn mind.
    Pregnant at her age! But she was so damn happy, I could tell in the e-mail. So I didn’t tell her how crazy she was. I just keep thinking, Christ, Maggie and her own little baby.
    It’s due at the end of the year, so I figure I’ll make a trip up there to meet the little thing. Maybe stick around for Christmas. She said that I can be the baby’s granddaddy. I don’t want to be, particularly, but it was nice of her to offer.
    I know it’s crazy of me, but I keep thinking I see her walking into the bar. I’ll see someone with red hair out of the corner of my eye, and I’ll think it’s Maggie, come to surprise me, that she’s back to visit. But it’s never been her. I just go back to my book and my beer, and try to enjoy the quiet. A part of me thinks that maybe one day she will surprise me. It’d be a real Maggie thing to do.
    So, yeah, some nights, I do get to missing her.
    Some nights.

Sweetieface

    Sam sits alone in the bar. Grace is twenty minutes late.
    Looking out into the frosty dark, Sam sees John, a guy he used to play pickup baseball with. As he raises his arm to wave, he realizes