Dad’s looked shocked and Greg gave me a look, but that didn’t stop me.
“I’m thinking Cindy may be the best dating coach ever. She taught me how to kiss.”
Greg shot water out of his nose and Dad burst out laughing. Dad was enjoying this conversation.
“Please tell me about the kiss.”
I sat up a little straighter.
“You know I can’t talk to you about that. A gentleman never gives details.”
“That’s sound advice. May I ask two questions?” Dad asked.
“If I can answer them, I will.”
“Okay, fair enough. First, was Cindy a willing participant?”
I nodded my head ‘yes.’
“Second, is your brother a dumbass?”
“Yes, sir, he is. I would never let my girlfriend kiss another guy like that, even if he was my brother.”
That got them both laughing.
“The little shit put a lip-lock on her that I swear weakened her knees. We found out pretty quick he knows how to kiss. He’ll have them lining up, once word gets out.”
“Oh lord, I thought one Casanova was enough.”
Greg stuck his tongue out at Dad. Dinner was done, so I helped clean up. Dad told Greg to go do his homework. I wanted to talk to Dad about some more serious matters, specifically Lily, Tami, and Mom. I didn’t really know what to think of Tami and Bert. I could also not figure out why Mom had been so mad at me, and still seemed to be leery.
“You remember the girl I helped in the spring, the one I gave CPR to?”
I could see my dad stiffen, but he just nodded.
“She told me someone spiked her drink with a date-rape drug. How dangerous is that?”
Dad thought for a minute before he answered. I could tell he didn’t expect this line of questioning.
“I would suspect if she had a high enough alcohol level, the drug could cause serious problems. Especially if it depresses her system, it could potentially cause problems with her breathing.”
Dad had become serious at this point and followed up with a question.
“Are you telling me kids your age have access to date-rape drugs?”
“Yeah, it kind of freaks me out to think something like that was going on. My concern is it’ll happen to someone else.”
Dad just nodded. I could tell we would talk about this some more, but not now.
“I have a problem with Tami.”
That got Dad’s attention.
“I thought you were working things out,” Dad said.
“She doesn’t want me to call her tonight because she’s meeting another guy. She also doesn’t want a ride tomorrow.”
“I think if this other guy was anything serious you’d have heard about it from Jeff or Alan.”
My dad had a point. If there were any gossip to be had, Alan would have told me. I just nodded.
“Honestly, David, I would wait and see. This could be a lot of nothing. Something else was on your mind; what is it?”
Dad could read me like a book. There was no hiding anything from him.
“Mom and I are going to talk when she gets home.”
My dad got a serious look.
“I think you need to know something before you have your talk. She has her reasons for being as mad as she is about what happened, but not all the reasons have to do with you. You need to talk to her about this and listen. Don’t get mad. I want you to listen and try to understand.”
I think I got the same advice from Beth just a few hours earlier concerning Tami.
“Can’t you tell me what’s going on?”
“I love you both and I know you can work this out, but you’re going to have to come more than halfway with her or we’re going to have some serious problems as a family.”
I was now a little scared. Was Dad telling me if I didn’t shape up, I was out of here? I’d just gotten home. What was I going to have to do to make amends?
“Okay, Dad.”
“Why don’t you go to your room, and when your mother’s ready, I’ll come and get you.”
I went up to my room to wait. We lived in an old Victorian three-story home. Greg and I have our rooms on the third floor. The heating system has old ducts that made it possible to hear conversations from the first floor. I could hear Mom and Dad, but it only sounded like a mumble. I was tempted to eavesdrop but thought better of it. A few minutes later, I heard the stairs creak as Dad came up. There was a light knock on the door.
“Your mom’s ready for you.”
I followed Dad down the stairs. When we got to the second floor, he went into the master bedroom. I found Mom in the kitchen, eating a salad at the breakfast bar. I got onto the stool next to her. She gave me a look I couldn’t read. I just assumed the worst and started babbling.
“Mom, I’m sorry if this isn’t working out. I’ll call Uncle John and see if I can go live with him. I know I’ve disappointed you and you’re not ready for me to be back.”
Mom was one of those people who just says whatever is on her mind. There was no filter. I sometimes wonder if what they say about opposites attracting was true. Mom’s sharp tongue tended to push people away. Dad jokes if she wasn’t so good looking he would never put up with her. The truth of the matter was Mom was stop-traffic good looking. I also knew they loved each other. I had to remember she loved me too.
“You are maybe the stupidest kid I’ve ever known. Why would you ever think I wanted you to move out?”
It sounds like she’s been talking to Tami with the ‘stupid’ comment.
“Before I went to Uncle John’s you said you didn’t want me in your home. When I got back you just seemed like you don’t want me here.”
“Like I said, you’re stupid.”
Okay, I hadn’t listened to my dad. He said listen to my mom. I was doing way too much talking and I now knew my mom thought I was stupid. That was what happened I when I didn’t pay attention. To my credit, that wasn’t the worst thing she had ever called me, so I figured it was time to shut up.
“David, last spring you broke my heart. You’d become someone I no longer recognized. Even your best friends didn’t want anything to do with you. The final straw was when you almost killed that girl.”
I could feel all the old emotions come back. I felt my chest get tight and I knew I was about to start to cry. I think Mom saw it in my eyes.
“I’ve never told you about my dad.”
The story we were told was Grandpa had died when Mom was in her early teens. No one ever talked about it much, so I was never curious.
“He was an alcoholic. By the time I was thirteen, Mom kicked him out. When he was sober, I loved him to death, but he was a mean drunk. I won’t go into details, but it was the best thing for all of us. When I saw you at the police station all those memories came flooding back. I knew I had to do something.”
“Going to Uncle John’s was for the best. Will I ever drink again? I have no idea, but I don’t intend to go back to that lifestyle. I’ll only promise to try and make better decisions.”
“I know. I’ve had several talks with John. He says you did a lot of growing up this summer. David, I love you and you’ll always be my baby. I know I’m not the easiest person to live with, but you and I are going to be okay. Just give me some time.”
“Okay, Mom. I love you too.”
After that, we had a long conversation and caught up on everything that went on since I had been gone. It was nice just to talk to my mom. I really missed her. We both realized it was getting late and we went up to bed. I felt much better about things now that we’d talked.
Chapter 4 – Health and Human Services
Saturday August 31
Cindy showed up around 10 a.m. Greg had something going on, so it was just the two of us. The plan was to check out my clothes and figure out what would work. We would then go to the mall and pick out some clothes, and I would get a haircut.
I’d cleaned my room like a madman the night before. Mom was suspicious because I hadn’t cleaned my room in over six months. The last time she threatened not to let me go to spring break at our church youth camp. Greg told her what Cindy was doing, and Mom just smiled and said it was nice to see me growing up.