“Howabout some music to rock out to?”Isay in the direction of the front seat.Icould really use something to drown out theJace-related melancholy.
“Goodidea,”Rowansays from the passenger’s seat and starts looking for a song on his phone.
Amoment later,Head,Shoulders,Knees, andToescomes through the car’s speakers.Ishould have seen this coming and asked for adult songs.Thereis only so much rocking out you can do to songs written for little kids.
MaggieandRowanboth join in singing, “Eyes, ears, mouth andnose,” putting heavy emphasis on “nose.”
Okay,thatIshould’ve seen coming.
“Haha, funny, guys.Canwe maybe get some different music?”
Thatrequest first gets meRudolphtheRed-nosedReindeer, thenIfYou’reHappyandYouKnowItTouchYourNose, then another kids’ song— oneIhaven’t heard before— calledWhereIsMyNose.AndsinceIbroke the nose while withJace, it doesn’t really help the whole not thinking about him thing.
Iassure my sister and her partner-in-crime that they are indeed funny but wouldn’t it be great to hear some music meant for us?Iam rewarded with some music for adults.
Specifically, the songs titledBloodyNose,NoseDive, andUnderMyNose.WhichIalso should’ve seen coming.Andbeyond the “nose” theme, they just happen to be songs about 1) a breakup, 2) a relationship on the rocks, and 3) trying to figure out what’s wrong with a relationship.Notexactly whatI’mhoping for at this moment.Plus, they are all rap andR&B, and sinceIshare a wall withMaggieandRowan’shouse,Iknow for a fact that those aren’t genres of music they generally listen to.
Iam saved byAdelaide, thankfully.She’sapparently not a fan of rap andR&Band shows her displeasure by wailing until they change the music back to her favorites.
Ilean in close to my niece to thank her, and she grabs my nose.
* * *
Westep out of the car at my parents’ house— the house that my sisters andIgrew up in— and there are two green balloons (my dad’s favorite color) tied to the old wood railing, and each of them has the number 5 written on them in black sharpie.
Wedon’t make it all the way to the door before my oldest sisterMari’sthree- and five-year-old boys come bursting out of the house.I’mpretty sure the word “rambunctious” was invented for their sake.
Inside, my mom is bustling around the kitchen, where a string of letters spelling “Happybirthday” is taped just above the door to the deck.I’mguessing my mom had my dad help because one side of the banner is six inches lower than the other side, which is just about the difference between their heights.
Mari’shusband,Silas, is heading past us to go wrangle his boys back into the house, and my younger sister,Mayis standing by her boyfriend,Braxton.SoI’mofficially the only one here without a significant other.Thedoor to the deck is open, andIbeeline it outside to tell my dad hello and happy birthday.
“Hey, it’s myMacSquared!”Hegives me a hug, being mercifully careful not to bump my nose when he does, and says, “It’sso nice to see that you’re embracing your dream of becoming a rhinoceros.”
“Ha, ha,Dad,”Isay. “It’sgood to see you’re not too over the hill to make jokes.”
“Hey, that’s whatI’mhere for— to be supportive of my girls and show interest in their lives.Sotell me, have you been able to pick up radio signals with that thing yet?”
Mybrother-in-law,Silascomes around the back with a son under each arm and sets them on the deck just in time to hear my dad’s comment.
“Don’tmake fun of her nose,”Silassays. “Therearen’t many noses that famous enough to require their own bodyguard.”
Igive them a courtesy laugh, then say, “I’mgoing in to say hi toMom.”
Mymom is at the kitchen counter, pulling lettuce pieces off a head of iceberg lettuce for the burgers my dad is grilling. “So, where is the boy you were going to bring?”
“Mom,Itexted you.Hecan’t come.”
“Iknow you did, butIwant to hear about it in person.Kindof like howIwant to see that nose in person.Howdoes it feel?”
“Goodenough.AndJacehad to work.”
“OnaFridaynight?”
Inod and pick up a piece of lettuce. “Hehas some high-end business clients with an urgent problem that had to be dealt with right away, but he wanted to come.”
Itake a bite of the lettuce and marvel at how easily the lie came.Probablypartly becauseIknow how important it is thatIkeep the covert agency and its covert operatives actually covert.Andprobably partly because it’s not that far from the truth.Thegovernment is the high-end client and that mission he’s on is obviously an urgent problem.Plus, their cover is the business solutions company, so it’s fine.
Sheglances at me. “Willthis always be the case?Willhe always be the one who has to drop everything to deal with problematic clients?Orwill he move up in the company and they’ll have the new guy take the less desirable jobs?”