You Can't Hide

A player, that’s what he was. Her eyes narrowed. “Just leave me alone.”
“Sure,” he said with a shrug, “but if you want, I’m performing at the Rat Rogue tonight at 8:00.” With that, he turned and jogged off.
MJ, she mused, deep in thought, must stand for ‘Major Jerk.’
An on-campus open-mike, at the Rat, anybody could say literally anything they wanted to say. She’d been there a few times. The students that got up usually were there to vent—politically. Most of it was pretty interesting, some of it was outlandish, but all of it was entertaining. Half of the students read poetry—their own or someone else’s, and a few students brought their guitars and sang. That was the part she liked. She decided to go to the Rat for that, not to see MJ, really, but for all the other entertainment. And this time, she was not alone, but had finagled Mary to come along with her, figuring there was safety in numbers.
She sat way in the back, close to the exit. Glancing down at her watch, she realized she had about thirty minutes to change her mind and leave. She looked around, but couldn’t see MJ anywhere. He’s probably backstage, she thought.
Mary nudged her. “I can’t see from way back here. Let’s move up closer.”
“Um, no, let’s not.”
Mary stood. “You can stay here if you want, but I’m moving up there.” She pointed to an open table in the front.
“Oh, alright.” Karen grumbled all the way to the front, and sat with her back to the stage, but the acts were so good, that she turned her chair to watch, forgetting all about MJ. The guy onstage at the moment was hilarious, and he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Mary. In all fairness, Mary was cute—super short, but cute. When his act was over, he came right down to their table, and that was it for Karen’s night out with Mary. After a few minutes, Mary left with him.
Great, thought Karen. And this is where I leave. But before she could stand up, the lights went down, and MJ stepped onto the stage.
He held a guitar in his hands and seemed nervous. It was endearing, in a weird sort of way. Who didn’t have a soft spot for scared performers? He sat on the stool and stared out into the audience—like a deer in the headlights. Oh dang, now I’m really going to feel sorry for him.
Finally, he spoke. “Um, this is for . . . well, let me back up, first. My mother recently passed on.” There wasn’t a sound in the room. “And, uh, this song, is for her.” He hefted the guitar closer and strummed, soft at first, but with each stroke, stronger and more determined, and then he began to hum and finally to sing.
The words filled the lounge with deep resonance. Students clapped and swayed to his alluring melody and mesmerizing lyrics about a mother who had left her son long ago, his anguish, then bitterness, and finally resolution. It was a crowd pleaser and a show stopper—the students stood and applauded for minutes after, while in complete and utter shock, Karen sat in a daze.
Was this library boy? Annoying, library boy? Which just goes to show that you can’t judge a boy, by his, uh, books, she thought amused. Okay, maybe she could at least be his friend.
And they did become friends. Karen discovered he was actually a lot of fun, but when Todd returned from the wedding—everything went south. He seemed really distant. “What’s going on with you, Todd?”
He pulled her near. “Nothing.” Still there was a strange look in his eye—a look that she couldn’t tie down.
A few months later, MJ took her aside. “Hey, friends help friends, right?” He seemed troubled about something.
“Yes, what are you talking about MJ?”
He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “Uh, never mind.”
This ‘game’ went on for weeks, until finally, MJ came clean. “Look, Karen, I think you should know that Todd is,” he made a face, “well, he’s cheating on you.”
“Yeah, right, MJ,” she said. She trusted Todd with her life and her heart. When MJ didn’t take back what he said, she frowned. “Cut it out.”
MJ paced the room. “I tried really hard to forget about it, but I just couldn’t.”
“Forget about what?”
“Well,” he began. “I was at the Rat a few weeks ago, and he was there with someone else.”
She shrugged. She and Todd were not glued at the hip. They often went places without the other. “So?”
“No, Karen, it wasn’t like that. They were sitting kind of close.”
She made a face. “Yeah, right.” He must have seen it all wrong.
He pursed his lips. “Okay, I thought you wouldn’t believe me, so I did this.” He unfolded a picture and pushed it toward her.
She shook her head. What kind of lame game was MJ playing? She and Todd were close to marriage, as close as any couple on campus.
Marriage was a significant commitment, and one they would take soon enough. He wanted to finish his doctorate first and that was fine by her. She had no doubt about Todd’s love.
She reached forward and took the picture. Though the room was dark, the picture was clear. Todd’s lips were pressed against the lips of someone else, and it wasn’t Karen. The picture slipped from her fingers, and she ran from the room.
Karen snapped back to the present, a dull ache gnawing at her insides. In a way, MJ had saved her a lot of heartache by taking that picture and showing it to her. It explained Todd’s cooled-off attitude toward her, but shattered her heart in the process. She guessed that’s why she got so angry at MJ, too. If she hadn’t known about it and went on like everything was alright, maybe Todd would have come around. But who was she kidding? She lost him a long time ago, right