Authors: Suzanne Jenkins
Big Ed pulled the Buick down the tree-lined path to his son’s house. They both admired what their son had accomplished, and this grand house was just one of the things he did that made them proud. They had no idea about trust fund money and allowances. His venture into the priesthood and the later exodus was simply a misguided step he had to take toward manhood. If he’d stayed, there’d be no Megan, and Gladys couldn’t imagine life without her precious granddaughter.
“Every time we pull up to this house, it makes me so proud,” Big Ed said, choking back tears.
Gladys grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. “We are really snobs in disguise,” she said, and Ed laughed.
“I’m living vicariously through my son’s material success.”
“It’s because he married a rich girl, Eddie. Don’t get carried away,” Gladys warned.
He pulled the key out of the ignition. “Let’s get this over with. I hope it’s nothing bad.”
“Me, too,” she said, acid indigestion flaring up.
Lisa was watching them come up the walk to the front door. It irritated her to no end; they were visitors enough times that they should know she hated anyone coming through the front door.
“Your parents are here,” she announced.
Ed was sick to his stomach and confused; why he had to deal with them now was baffling him. He didn’t care if they found out about it by watching the evening news.
“Come on, Ed, you have to face up to it.” She walked into the kitchen where he was hiding, and pulled his arm. “Come on.”
He resisted stamping his foot. The whole thing was ridiculous. “What am I going to say to them? And why? It might never come out and then upsetting them would have been for nothing.”
Lisa didn’t know if he had a valid argument, but thought the sooner they started the dialogue about him having psychological problems, the better for her. She didn’t want to deal with his issues alone.
“Tell them the truth, Ed. We need help, and no one else is going to care enough to give it.”
His father knocked on the front door again, and Ed reluctantly went to answer it, Lisa getting Megan out of her high chair.
“Hi, Dad,” Ed said. “Sorry to bring you away from the party.”
Lisa walked out with the baby and handed her over to Gladys. “Do you want coffee?”
They shook their heads. Gladys went to the rocking chair and sat down.
“What’s going on with you two? Why’d you leave the beach last night?” Big Ed asked.
Ed looked at Lisa, pleading with his eyes.
“Dad,” she said, and then to Gladys, “Mom, did you ever notice anything unusual about Ed?”
Big Ed looked over at his wife with his lips set. “Like what?” he asked. But he knew, and he looked from Lisa to Gladys, who was trying to send her husband a telepathic message to shut the hell up.
“Dad, I think there’s something wrong with me,” Ed cut in.
“Like what?” he repeated, stalling.
“Something mental.”
“We thought you might be retarded,” Big Ed said finally, but Gladys struggled to get up, the baby adding to her weight.
“That’s a goddamned lie,” she said, startling everyone in the room, including Megan, who began to cry.
Lisa went to her and took the crying baby from Gladys, offering an arm to pull on. When she was on her feet, Lisa left with Megan. She didn’t need to hear the rest of the conversation, which was clear. It was bad enough that they’d hidden their concerns so that she’d end up being responsible for their childish son.
What was she going to do?
She’d let them fight it out, and when some resolution was reached, she would rejoin them. They didn’t even notice she left the room.
“What did you think, Mom?” Ed asked.
“I knew you weren’t retarded. You did too well in academics. There was something about you that was so innocent and unsophisticated. That was all it was. Everyone expected more from you. It wasn’t enough that you were polite and quiet. They wanted you to be outgoing and popular, too. Dad was upset because you didn’t do well in sports.”
“Gladys, think back. Is that really true?”
“Yes! You may have expressed concern, but you were disappointed. Your first-born son couldn’t play football. God knew Ryan wasn’t going to play. All of his hopes rested on you.”
“Is that true, Dad?” Ed asked, more interested in this disconnected conversation about him, as if he wasn’t even in the room. “I mean, it had to be more than just sports, didn’t it?”
“It did. You hated being with the other children,” Big Ed said. “You were such a loner, even your own brothers and sisters couldn’t be around you.”
“And you were obsessively neat as a little boy,” Gladys piped in. “Also, the way you ate was weird. You would only eat two things: apples and bologna. And the apples had to be whole, not cut. You went from drinking milk from a baby bottle to only drinking apple juice. The doctor said you would get rickets if we didn’t find a way to get more variety into your diet, so Daddy dissolved a multivitamin in your juice and a tablespoon or two of orange juice every time you drank it. The dentist had a fit because of all the sugar you were getting.
“I was so worried about you that when you said you wanted to be an altar boy, I thought we’d found the answer. You could live a cloistered life in the monastery. But that backfired. When you met Lisa and got married, we thought that might be the final solution. And it has worked out, hasn’t it? You’re happy; you have a wonderful life with her and that gorgeous baby. We were just saying how proud we are of you. Oh my God, a parent couldn’t be prouder than we are of what you’ve done with your life.”
Ed plopped into an upholstered chair. “What have I done with it?” he asked, frowning. “I hid in a monastery for eight years and got a girl I didn’t know pregnant. What’s so great about that?”
“You made something of yourself,” Gladys said. “That’s what so great about it.”
“Because of your worry I’d live with you for the rest of my life instead? Was that a concern?”
Big Ed put his hand up to Gladys when she started to speak. “Yes, it was. I didn’t think you’d be able to support yourself. Tell him Gladys. Even the priest asked if there was something wrong with you when Mom took you to sign up for altar boy training.”
“Why are you asking us these things?” Gladys asked.
Ed started to laugh. It was ludicrous that his parents may have suspected all along that there was something wrong with him and never addressed it with the right experts.
“I’m pretty sure I’m autistic. Lisa will tell you I probably definitely am. And now I’m in so deep, with a teaching license and a wife and baby that I really don’t know if I can take responsibility for.”
“That’s bullshit,” Big Ed roared. “You
take
responsibility for it! You don’t have a choice. What are you going to do now? Maybe things are a little tough so you’re going to use some bullshit mental diagnosis to worm your way out of it? I don’t think so, by golly. I won’t let you do it.”
“It might be done for me. I’m in trouble.”
When Big Ed hollered, Lisa returned. She lurked outside a set of walnut sliding doors that led from the living room to the library. She’d let Ed do the job, and if she thought he needed help, she’d come in at that time. But he was doing okay. He was hanging in there.
“What’s wrong?” Gladys said. She walked to Big Ed, and they grabbed hands.
“Are you ill?”
“Did you lose your job?” Big Ed asked.
Ed shook his head and stood up from where he was perched on the chair. He hated the chair; it was one of a pair of expensive linen-upholstered armchairs that Lisa just had to have. He’d discovered she paid a small fortune for something that looked like a wrinkled shirt after he sat in it. He paced in front of the fireplace, wanting to cry but controlling it. Years of talking to Big Ed in times of stress had served its purpose.
“I was arrested,” he said. “I could lose my job because of it.”
Big Ed frowned again, his eyebrows squished together. He looked up at Ed. “For what?”
“Masturbating in public.”
Gladys screamed and fell back on the matching linen-covered chair. Neither man went to her assistance. Big Ed grimaced and shook his head.
“Eddie, boy, you need to keep your Johnson hidden away at all times. That’s the rule, you know that.”
“Dad, I know. I just wasn’t thinking. Now I’m in trouble. I won’t know what’s going to happen until Tuesday when the courthouse opens again.”
“Why couldn’t this be what I was worried it might be, that you were going to announce you were returning to the priesthood,” Gladys said wistfully. “I was dreaming you were going to leave Lisa and Megan and go to Chicago and join your group again. That’s what I was hoping this would be.”
“I thought you were going to tell us Lisa was pregnant,” Big Ed said sadly. They heard the squealing of tires, and Ed moved the drapery fabric over to look out the window just as Lisa sped away in her car. He hoped she’d taken Megan with her, wherever she was going.
Chapter 9
Ashton walked the two blocks to the car, carrying four plastic grocery bags, cutting off the circulation to his fingers, seething. Zach came into the store to tell him about the accident but didn’t stay to shop.
“I’ve got to get back to give information for the police report because I was driving,” he explained.
Ashton texted Natalie to say he was finished shopping and could they come to pick him up, but she never answered. It appeared the police were gone. Zach didn’t see him coming and didn’t get out of the car to help him with the bags. He leaned over the seat to open the door for Ashton, but that was the extent of his help.
“Where’s Natalie?” he asked querulously, tossing the bags in the back seat. “I’ve texted her twice for you to come and get me.” He slammed the door and reached for his seat belt.
“She’s having coffee with the village chief of police,” Zach said, smiling.
Ashton frowned, shocked. “How in heaven’s name did that come about?”
“He’s the one that hit us,” Zach explained.
“Oh, so he’s probably doing damage control,” Ashton said smugly.
“I don’t think so. He seemed smitten with her. I think you’ve been replaced already, Ashton.” Zach pulled out from the curb, looking at Ashton out of the corner of his eyes. Ashton was pissed off, but he didn’t say anything more.
“Let’s just get home,” he said.
Zach pulled the big car around, and they drove through town again, and there, at an outdoor café, was Natalie with her wild hair blowing around her face, and a middle-aged guy with his elbows on the table, giving her his undivided attention while she spoke, laughing. Ashton swiveled his neck around to watch them until they were out of sight.
“Looks like someone is captivated,” Zach said happily. “He’s really lapping her up.”
“Shut up, Zach, that’s disgusting,” Ashton said.
“With his eyes, Ashton. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Even the thought of that guy touching her makes me sick. Are you sure he’s who he says he is? What if he kidnaps her?”
Zach looked at him out of the corner of his eye again. “Hold it together, Ashton. Nobody’s getting kidnapped. And yes, I’m sure he’s the chief of police. At least the police officer called him ‘chief’. It’s amazing that less than two hours after she tells us she wants to meet someone
she meets someone
!”
“A little too amazing if you ask me. Are you sure you didn’t have something to do with this, Zach?” Ashton frowned, looking at him with eyebrows down and a sneer on his face. But Zach just laughed out loud.
“What? Set up the guy to sideswipe me so I could hook up my future mother-in-law? You’re crazy.”
“It’s plausible, Zach.” Ashton looked out the window, pouting, and they drove the rest of the way back to the cabin in silence.
By the time they got home, Deborah and Ted were curled up at opposite ends of the couch, sleeping. “Must be nice,” Ashton said, grumbling. “Of course, nothing’s put away in the kitchen.” After he put the groceries away, Ashton began organizing the kitchen equipment he brought from the city. Since they would be coming back all the time, it didn’t make sense to have to haul a lot of stuff back and forth. He was sitting on the floor, organizing the corner lazy Susan when Ted woke up.
“I’m starving. Do you have anything in mind for dinner?”
Ashton tried not to give him a dirty look. They’d just had a huge lunch two hours earlier. “I do have something in mind. Pizza from Gordola’s. Zach said he’d run back into town later tonight.”
“Where’s Natalie?” Ted asked, looking around the room. “Did she lie down?”
Ashton put the electric mixer he was making room for down on the floor. “You know that thug that sideswiped us? Zach said he texted you about it. She’s having coffee with him!”
Ted thought he heard a sob emitted after that last word but thought,
I’m
not going there with Ashton. No way.
“Wow, what a coincidence,” Ted said, smiling. He would be thrilled if she found someone who cared about her.
Deborah woke up and came into the kitchen. “Is there any of that veggie dip left over from lunch?”
Ashton pointed to the refrigerator.
“Where’s my mother?”
“She’s having coffee with an admirer,” Ted said, smiling.
“Stop making more out of it than it is,” Ashton yelled. “This jerk ran into our $80,000 rental car, and he’s sucking up to Nats. That’s all it is.”
“I don’t think so, Ash. I think our girl is finding a replacement for us,” Ted said, winking.
Deborah guffawed. “Yay for my mom! I can’t wait for her to get home now. She needs someone. It would be wonderful. Stop being a spoilsport, Ashton. You should be sending positive vibes her way instead of being jealous of him. Who is it, anyway?”
“Ask Zach if you want anymore information,” Ashton said. “I’m not talking about it anymore.”
Ted shook his head.
Ashton could be so unreasonable, most of the time
.
Deborah took her bagel with vegetable cream cheese back to the room she shared with Zach, who was sitting in a rocker, reading, and clicked the TV remote on. “I hope this won’t bother you,” she said. She was watching a fashion contest marathon for the rest of the afternoon.