Weaver

"Well I believe her," Arlene stubbornly avowed.

Bob sighed. "I don't know. I wish I could talk to Weaver about it; get his side of the story but I don't dare bring it up. He's come so far. We're really getting to be good friends. For the first time in ten years he's happy. I hate to do anything to destroy that."

The next two weeks were down right torturous for Bob. He had too much on his mind. He was constantly nervous, his stomach was tied in knots so he had trouble eating and at night he couldn't stop the wheels from turning long enough to get to sleep.

He was still pissed at Arlene for lying to him. He was in love with her and was hoping for a life-time commitment, but now he wasn't sure. Yes, he thought, it was a small lie but it was still a lie and now look at the trouble caused in the wake of it.

That was the other thing, what to do about Kristyna? She had a point, Weaver should know he has a son...but is it his son? Charlie had Weaver's features but how could he be sure? Was her story true or was it the fantasies of a disturbed mind. Or, worse yet, did she have an agenda of some kind?

On top of everything else, he was given a big, important project at work. He was about at his wit's end and it was starting to show.

"Hey coach, can you help me with that 1-2-3-2 combination?...Coach? Coach!"

"Huh, oh I'm sorry Tommy. What did you say?"

"I asked if you could help me work on that 1-2-3-2 combination. Are you okay, coach? I can get Weaver to help me if you can't."

"No, no, Tommy. I'm sorry; I just have a lot on my mind. Give me a minute to get a drink of water and I'll meet you by the heavy bag."

"Okay coach," responded the young man.

Weaver was not more than ten feet away, helping another young man tie the laces on his gloves and witnessed the exchange between Bob and Tommy. It didn't take a psychoanalyst to see something was bothering his one and only friend. He had never seen Bob give the kids anything but a hundred and ten percent. Later that night Weaver and Bob sat opposite each other at a table in Zale's.

"Here you go, boys," a waitress said as she sat two beers down in front of them.

Maybe Weaver wasn't the surly, grief stricken man he was a few months prior, but he was still not one to mince words. "What the hell's wrong with you, Bob? Lately you've been acting like a kid who's lost his dog. What's the problem?"

At first Bob didn't want to say anything, but quickly gave it a second thought and wondered if it just might be the opportunity he was looking for. He knew he'd have to proceed with caution, though.

"Ah, woman problems," he said. He could almost hear the lump form in Weaver's throat.

It had been a while since Weaver had given any real thought to his past but just his friend's mention of having woman troubles stirred up some of the hurt again. He took a deep breath. The last several months had helped him in more ways than even he had realized. "The pretty lady who thinks you can see the future in a whiskey glass?" he asked.

Bob just slowly nodded.

"What happened? She dump you?"

"No, no, nothing like that...it's, well, actually I'm thinking of dumping her. She lied to me about something and if there's one thing I hate, it's to be lied to."

"I see," commented Weaver. "Of course I don't know anything about the situation or what the lie was about, but everybody lies now and then. You have to look at it from all sides, the components that went into it, the reasons behind it. Was the lie told to benefit her selfishness, or was it to spare you discomfort in some way? Yeah, lying is a bad thing but nothing is black and white, Bob."

He took a swig from his beer bottle before proceeding. "Do you love her?"

Again, Bob nodded. "Yeah, Weaver, I do. I...it's just that trust is so important to me and now I'm not sure I can trust her."

Weaver chuckled. "Hell, when it comes to trust there are no guarantees, my friend. Trust me when I say that," he chuckled again. "Shit, I would have trusted Kris with my life and look what happened there." His voice drifted off in a sad monotone as he sighed and stared down at the table. It was the first time he'd spoken her name out loud since it all happened.

Bob was also surprised when he heard his friend speak her name. Just looking, it was obvious the wounds he bore where still there.

After a few seconds of silence, the ex-middle weight looked back up at his friend. "Look Pal, when it comes to being hard hearted about women you're looking at the king. Don't be like me. Part of love is forgiveness...within reason, of course," he qualified after a brief moment of thought.

"Life can be a lonely place when you don't have anyone to share it with. If you love her and she loves you, don't let a little lie come between you. Go get her. Tell her you love her. Don't spend your life alone like me. I do it because I have no choice, but if you throw her away, you're a bigger fool than I ever was," he said staring at Bob while he took another hit of brew.

Bob still wasn't sure he should say anything further but he didn't know if he'd ever get another chance; and since Weaver was the one to bring up her name...he was going to go for it.

"Weaver, if Kris walked in here right now, what would you say to her?"

"I'd ask her why," he replied without a second's thought. "That's all, just why."

That night Bob didn't sleep a wink. He could give Weaver the opportunity to ask his question, but could he handle the answer? Could he handle seeing her again? From their conversation, it was clear that Weaver was not happy being a solitary man. If only he could look into Kristyna's soul...

Shortly after nine the next morning Arlene looked up from her desk. "Bob," she uttered with surprise. She hadn't seen or heard from him since they'd come back from Peoria.

"I don't know if I'm doing the right thing or not, but why don't you call Kristyna and see if she can make arrangements to come up."

"Bob, you mean it? That's great! What changed you mind?" she eagerly asked.

"I had a talk with Weaver last night. I asked what he'd say to Kristyna if he had the chance. He said he'd ask her one question...why. You could still see his pain as he spoke about her, but I think he deserves the chance to ask her that question."

Since he had mellowed about Kris she couldn't help but wonder... "Does this mean you forgive me?"

"No, Arlene, it doesn't mean that at all. You went behind my back to do something you knew I didn't approve of, then lied to cover it up."

The hopeful look on her face lost its radiance and was replaced with a look of sadness again.

Her expression was not lost on Bob. He saw the sorrow in her eyes and the slump of her shoulders. He could almost feel her anguish from where he was standing but he had to impress upon her how he felt about her deceit...still, he wasn't made of stone, and his own heart was breaking as well. He walked over and sat in a chair opposite her desk.

"Look, I know your intentions were good," he told her. "But if I'm going to give my heart to someone, I have to know that person will be honest and loyal to me. It might sound like something out of a Boy Scout manual but when I devote my life to someone I expect the same in return."

"Bob, I...I understand. I let you down."

"Yes you did, Arlene..."

"Give me another chance...please? I...I know I shouldn't have lied to you. We were getting along so well and I didn't want to take a chance on getting into our first argument..."

"I would have preferred an argument to a lie," he said, breaking in.

"I know. Derrick told me the same thing. I should have never lied to you and I promise never to do it again. Please give me another chance."

"We'll talk about it," he said with a sigh. "In the meantime, why don't you call Kristyna and see if she can make arrangements to come to Chicago for a day or two. See if she can bring Charlie too. I'll spring for a motel room for them."

"You don't have to do that. I have a spare bedroom. They can stay with me," Arlene told him.

"Okay," he said, standing up again and heading toward the door. "Tell me when they're coming."

Two hours later Bob's secretary told him Ms. Reynolds was on line one.

"Hello."

"Bob, she'll be here tonight."

"Wow, she's not wasting any time, is she."

"No. You should have heard her. She literally broke out in tears when I told her. How are we going to do this? How are we going to get them together...where and when?"

Bob told her his plan.

The next night everything was in place. After a good night at the gym, Bob and Weaver sat in Zale's bar casually talking over a beer. Outside, in the parking lot, Arlene and an extremely nervous Kristyna sat waiting for the signal. Arlene had arranged for a friend to stay with Charlie.

Bob took advantage of a brief lull in the conversation. "Weaver, the other night you said, if you could talk to your wife you'd ask her why." He took a deep breath to gather his courage. "What if I could arrange that for you?"

Weaver looked into the worried face of his friend. He had no idea why he would ask such a question but he'd answer it anyway.

"I'd be in your debt forever, my friend," he said with sadness.

Bob hit the 'send' button on his phone and the one word text was sent. "Okay."

"I sure hope you mean that because you're going to get the chance," Bob apprehensively explained.

A moment later Weaver's eyes filled with tears and his heart beat like a drum as he looked into the face of the woman who had left him a shattered mess ten years prior. "Kristyna," he whispered.

Her legs were almost too weak to hold her up. Her entire body trembled. She never thought she'd see him again. It was like staring into the face of a ghost. "Oh, Chuck," she replied, barely able to speak.

Arlene wrapped her arms around the traumatized woman to help hold her up.

For a second the two just stared at one another.

Bob stood and offered Kristyna his chair. Arlene helped her sit down.

"Arlene and I are going to be right over here," Bob said alluding to another table in the corner. "I believe you two have a lot to talk about. Take your time."

The waitress, seeing someone else sit down, came over to get their drink orders. To Kristyna, it felt like she was lost in a dream. She had no idea the waitress was even standing there. When the woman finally got her attention she ordered only a glass of water. Bob picked his beer up from the table, ordered a white wine for Arlene, and showed the waitress where they would be sitting.

As soon as they were alone Weaver started the conversation, but got off to a rocky start. "Kris, wh...why...I...I thought you loved me. I mean...how...how could you leave me like that? Did you love him more than me?"

No matter how many times throughout the years, she told herself to give up hope, in the back of her mind she never really did. She always left room for the slightest chance of seeing him again. Even after Arlene's first visit, she dared not build her hopes up too high for fear it would not really be him. Before answering, she reached out and lightly touched his cheek to make sure he was real.

"There was no other man, Chuck. I don't know why Eric told you those lies but there was never anyone but you." Her voice trembled with emotion. She picked up a napkin and wiped the moisture from her eyes. "I...I don't understand how you could believe the things he said about me? How could you even think I'd leave you for another man? I'd never do such a thing...never."

"What do you mean, how could I believe it," he said, his voice now getting stronger and showing anger. "You disappeared. You left without a word. Eric said you had been cheating on me. He said you got pregnant with another man's kid and took off with him. If it wasn't true, why did you leave? Where did you go?"

"Chuck, I WAS pregnant but with YOUR child," she cried, "no one else'...yours." She was trying her best to control her emotions but she was losing the battle.

"I had just come from the doctor's. I was so happy. I couldn't wait to tell you but somehow Eric found out I was pregnant. He begged me not to tell you before the fight. He said having me at the training camp was bad enough but if I told you about the baby you'd never be able to concentrate on the match. He said you could even get hurt in the ring. He was your manager. I knew how much you loved and respected him. You trusted him, so I trusted him too, and agreed to wait."

Kristyna stopped to wipe her eyes again. Her hand still shook as she took a sip of water. Her breathing was ragged so she inhaled deeply, trying to steady her nerves before going on.

"A couple days later Eric came to see me in the cabin while you were sparring. He gave me an envelope with five thousand dollars in it. He told me it was an advance on your guarantee. He said I was a distraction and he wanted me to go home. At first I refused. I said my place was with you. We argued. I finally told him I would talk to you and see what you wanted, but he said you would insist on me staying even if it meant losing the fight. He reminded me you were fighting for the title, the most important fight of your career. I didn't know what to do. There was also a train ticket to Chicago, in with the money. Eric said he'd tell you I got bored and wanted to go back home. He told me it was the only way you'd be able to concentrate on training. Then, after the fight you'd come home like a conquering hero; the new middleweight champion and then I could tell you that you were also a father.

He made it sound so perfect, and I didn't want to cause you to lose the fight so I gave in. Eric helped me pack and had one of the guys give me a lift to the train station."

"But you weren't there," Weaver interjected. "I was there...at the apartment. When Eric told me you left with another guy, I didn't believe him. I got in the car and drove home. It was the only place I could think of to look for you. I drove straight through but when I got there, you weren't there. Most of your clothes were gone. There was no note, no nothing. What the hell was I supposed to think? If it's not true what happened? Where'd you go? Why did you disappear?" he asked for the second time.

"It was you," she said coming to a sudden realization. "You were the one who broke the lamp and threw everything around."

"I was pissed and hurt," he admitted. "Yeah, I had a temper tantrum, I guess. I just couldn't believe you'd leave me like that. I waited for you all night but you never came home. The next morning I got back into my car and just drove."

"All this time I thought somebody broke in while we were at the camp," she explained. "I wasn't there because I was in the hospital. I started feeling light headed on the train. I thought it might be because I hadn't eaten in a while so I got up and headed toward the dinner car, but on the way there, I passed out and hit my head on the way down. The train stopped in the next town and an ambulance took me to the ER. It turned out I was anemic. It happens a lot with pregnant woman. I also had a slight concussion from the fall. Because of the pregnancy, they insisted I stayed there a couple days. I had no idea you had left the camp and gone back to the apartment. As far as I knew, the fight was still three days away. By that time I'd be out of the hospital and back home waiting for you."

Weaver was shaking his head. For ten years he had been tortured by the thought of his wife running off with another man. As painful as it was, he almost preferred it to knowing ten years had been wasted for nothing.

"Why would Eric tell me you ran off if it wasn't true? We were like father and son. Why would he want to ruin my life? It doesn't make sense."

He could hear the anguish in her voice as she responded.

"I don't know. I don't know," she sniveled. "I got home the day of the fight. When I saw everything thrown around I thought someone broke in and was almost afraid to stay there but I didn't want to miss your call. I waited all night by the phone. I got scared when I didn't hear from you. I thought sure something had happened. I was afraid you got hurt. I tried calling Eric but I couldn't get ahold of him. The newspapers said the fight had been cancelled. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Nobody seemed to know why or anything else. Somebody told me they read that you got sick. I was in a panic. After a couple of weeks of not hearing from you I started to have cramps and got scared for the baby. I wound up back in the hospital. The doctors told me if I didn't take it easy I'd lose our child. I didn't know what to do, who to call. I was so alone," she said finally breaking down in tears.

Weaver's heart was breaking. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry," he told her, reaching over the table and taking one of her hands in his. "I...I don't know what to say. I was going through hell. You never complained but I knew you were always scared before a fight, and all the time I spent training; I figured that's why you had found someone else, why you left. I blamed boxing for losing you and vowed never to step foot into the ring again. I wandered around taking whatever odd jobs I could get. I...I went to California and worked in the crops during picking season. I spent some time on an oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico; I even worked on a shrimp boat in the Florida Keys for a while. A couple years ago I came back to Chicago. The first thing I did was go by our old apartment. I stood on the sidewalk in front and remembered some of the good times."

Now it was his turn to wipe away the tears.

A few tables away, two very interested parties were trying to look nonchalant as they strained to hear.

"I wish I knew what they were saying," said Arlene.

"Well Weaver hasn't run out the door yet. I guess that's a good sign," Bob commented with a nervous chuckle.

Weaver was almost afraid to ask about the child. If something happened to it, if it didn't survive...it took every ounce of courage he could muster. "Kris, what happened to the baby?"

She wiped the moisture from her eyes again and put a broad smile on her face. "I named him Charles but I call him Charlie," she said with pride. "God, Chuck, he's the spitting image of you. He's strong and brave just like his father. He's the only thing that's kept me going all these years."

Weaver's insides turned to mush as he suddenly realized...

"You...you mean I...I have a son?" he choked out.

"Oh yes, yes you sure do," she said through a wide grin.

"I...I'm a father," he bellowed while standing and almost knocking his chair over.

Every eye in the place turned toward the excited ex-boxer. Several, "congratulations," were mumbled from various places around the bar. Kristyna stood as Weaver approached. He threw his arms around her and pulled their bodies together in a tightly wrapped embrace. Their tears poured like a waterfall while he smothered her in kisses.

"When...when can I meet him? When can I see my son?" Weaver managed to ask.

"Yeah," said Bob under his breath.

Arlene looked across the table with a optimistic expression. "Well?" she remarked with a grin after witnessing the two lovebirds.

Bob looked at her and smiled. "Okay, maybe it worked out this time, but don't you ever lie to me again."

Arlene couldn't hold his stare. Her heart beat with eagerness. Did that mean he forgave her?

"Bob, I've never said this to any man before; I love you. Hopefully you'll give me another chance to prove it to you. The last few months have been the loneliest of my life. If you give me another chance, you can bet I will never ever lie to you again," she said with sincerity.

Just then Weaver and Kristyna approached their table. Both tear stained faces beamed with joy.