“Wait,”Dad interjected. “There’ssomethin’ else we needed totalk about.”
“O-kay,”I muttered, settling deeper into my chair.
Mamasmiled and laid her hands in her lap. “Well, as you know, your father and Iaren’t getting any younger. We’ve spent along timetakin’ care of you—”
“That’sfor damn sure,” Dad grumbled from beside her, and Mama gave him a hefty swatagainst his arm.
Realizationswept over me as I narrowed my eyes. “Arey’allkickin’ me out?”
Mama’seyes widened and her mouth fell open. “No! Of course not, we would never dosomethin’ like that. Baby, we lovehavin’you here with us. It’s not like you’re some freeloader, like, oh,what’s-her-name’s boy.” She shook her head and pinched her brow. “You went toschool with him. What was his name?”
“Yougottagive me a little more than that,” I laughed.
“Oh!”Her hands clapped and a finger pointed at me. “I remember. It was that TravisCharles. Remember him? You went to high school with him. He’s beenlivin’ in his mama’s basement since he dropped out ofcollege years ago. I’m not even sure he has a job anymore.”
Immediatelykarmic satisfaction settled over me, leaving me weightless and unable to fightmy shit-eating grin. “Nokiddin’.”
Sheshook her head. “Cross my heart. And then, there was that other boy you hungout with—”
“Brendon,”I reminded her.
“That’sthe one. You know what he’s been up to?”
“Ihaven’t a clue, but I hope you’regonnatell me.”
Dadlet loose a weighted sigh. “That poor kid’s been on and off the wagon so manytimes. His wife finally took the kids and went down to Houston to be with herfolks, and he just used that as an excuse to drink even more instead ofgettin’ himself better.”
“Ican’t say I’m surprised,” Mama added somberly. “With that daddy of his, alwaysdrinkin’ andpickin’ on thoseboys ...”
I’dbeen too greedy. The initial stroke of gratification I’d felt was wiped awayand my face fell with a lesson I felt I was too old to be learning. Every singleone of us walks through life carrying a closed book. A tragedy, a sickness, ortrauma, and each of us copes differently. Maybe they binge on food, to fill theempty void made by an absent parent. Maybe they insist they’re fine, while theybite back against internal pain. And maybe they feel the need to bully theweak, in order to feel stronger, because they’re someone else’s proverbialpunching bag.
“Hm,”I grunted, nodding thoughtfully and wondering how many of those peoplevictimizing us online were victims themselves.
“Anyway,”Mama hurried, brushing the harsh truth away with another flutter of her hand,“like I said, you could’ve turned out a lot worse. And honestly, we hardlynotice you here most of the time.”
“Then,what’s this about?” I asked, giving her my full attention.
“Well,Dad and I startedtalkin’ while you were gone, and werealized that this is a lot of house for just the two of us.” She looked to myfather for back-up, and he nodded in corroboration.
“It’sa big house,” he continued, “and we got tothinkin’that, since we’regettin’ older, we just don’twannahandle the upkeep anymore. Wecan’t. It’s sucha big undertaking, with the lawn, landscaping—”
“Anddon’t forget the pool,” Mama threw in, finishing with a tired sigh.
Dadhummed his agreement, his eyes settling on mine. “We haven’t been able tohandle it for a while, and wedefinitelycan’t handle it now. I mean,sooner rather than later, we’regonnaretire andwe’re notgonnawannaspendall our timecleanin’ this old place.”
Inodded, furrowing my brow. “I understand. But what’s thisgottado with me?” In truth, I think I already knew. I just needed them to say it,before I jumped to my own conclusions.
“Well…” Mama took a deep breath, smiling warily. “Since you and Molly are obviouslygetting married and having babies soon—”
“Jesus,Connie,” Dad guffawed incredulously and turned to me. “Chad, we’rethinkin’ aboutgettin’ a smallerplace for ourselves. And we wanted to ask if you wanted this house.”
Andthere it was. I couldn’t believe my trembling hands as they clasped and pulsedaround each other. I hadn’t expected this yet, not so soon, and I struggled topull together the words I wanted to say.
“Uh…” The one-syllabled sound stuck in my throat and I coughed to dislodge it. “I,uh … I can’t just take it fromy’all. I’mgonnaneed to buy it.”
Mamanodded adamantly, her abundant happiness crinkling at the corners of her mistyeyes. “Of course, baby. Whether you buy this place from us or you help us buyour next home, we’ll figuresomethin’ out.”
“Igottatalk to Molly,” I told them, almost as awarning. We’d only been together for a few months—who knew if she’d think itwas too soon? Who knew where her head was at right now, with everything thatwas going on? Hell, maybe she’d decide this whole thing was just too much forher, with the public and the scrutiny. Maybe she’d decide this wasn’t a goodidea after all, and we’d go our separate ways—again.
