for that."
He hugged her from behind. “Thank you for being there for me. You know I’m marrying you the second you’re out of law school. Any kind of wedding you want.”
“I’d rather not have a big ceremony and just have a courthouse wedding. I hate the idea of fitting into a dress and making my friends rent dresses. The family can celebrate by doing something else together somewhere fun. The pressure will be off and the booze will be flowing.”
“You can leave me in charge of that aspect of the wedding.” Billy thought of Jessica’s mother, Anna. “Anna will kill you. She’s already got wedding photo albums and baby photo albums. Your mom’s ready for the baby machine to be baking on high.”
“Christ.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “She can have them for me if she’s so ready. All I want is a career, not a whining, shitting brat.”
He was relieved his future wife was hesitant to have children. Billy could go either way. There was no hurry to get on with the rest of his life. And he couldn’t sleep last night. After watching his father helpless in bed, he realized time was wasting. He could die any day without having accomplished anything.
“I’ve decided what I want to do for a career,” he said.
She spun around, leaving the doughy side of the pancake to cook, at hearing this.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the Field Museum of Natural History, I want to be a curator at a museum. I’ll go back to school during the summer. I’ll get student loans, grants, whatever I have to. I’m sick of being a meter man. Somebody else can put up with Chicago’s bad parkers.”
Jessica kissed him. “I’m so proud of you. I know you’ve been struggling with what to do with your life. A lot of people can’t figure it out. Not everybody gets to be a cowboy or an astronaut.”
She handed him the plate of pancakes. “I have to get running to work early. I’m sorry.”
“No problem. Thanks for breakfast. I was going to stop by the hospital and visit Dad. Victor traded shifts with me. I won’t get home until about six o’clock.”
“Maybe I’ll bring take-out home tonight. We’ll celebrate your decision. Then we can check out the courses at Chicago University.”
He smiled. “It’s a date.”
Nelson knocked on the door shortly after Billy finished his pancakes and orange juice. He was wearing a T-shirt showing a pair of peanuts dancing with a caption that read: “Like My Salty Nuts?” Nelson helped himself to two leftover pancakes. “Hey man, I figured you’d be up by now. I didn’t have anything in the cupboard, so I thought I’d play the mooch today.”
“Moochaholic,” Billy accused. “No, help yourself.”
“Is Jessica still upset?”
“No, she’s cool. She went to work.”
“I guess I can get carried away teasing her. It’s a high school thing, I hope she understands that.”
“She does, so don't stop making fun of her. She was mad at me more than anything. Me watching that movie, she thought I was acting out my grief in an unhealthy way. I guess she doesn’t want me going crazy.”
“ Death Reject is a cool movie. This dude can do just about anything with his body. If he wanted to urinate a quart, he could. Of all the special powers I could want, pissing a quart is high up there. If I was still in school, I’d be able to vomit at will to get out of tests.”
Billy laughed. “I’d poop money.”
“I’d poop bricks of gold bullion.”
Billy changed the subject. “So what are you doing today?”
Nelson shrugged. “It’s my day off. I might work on my video game idea with Brice. We’re so close to having a demo to market. It’s about Egyptian pyramids and explorers finding secret passages in search of riches, and they find mummies, ancient spirits, zombies, and release a flesh-eating bacterial disease. It’s pretty involved, but it’s awesome. You’re not off of work today, are you?”
“Nope. I’m going in about three hours. I was going to
He hugged her from behind. “Thank you for being there for me. You know I’m marrying you the second you’re out of law school. Any kind of wedding you want.”
“I’d rather not have a big ceremony and just have a courthouse wedding. I hate the idea of fitting into a dress and making my friends rent dresses. The family can celebrate by doing something else together somewhere fun. The pressure will be off and the booze will be flowing.”
“You can leave me in charge of that aspect of the wedding.” Billy thought of Jessica’s mother, Anna. “Anna will kill you. She’s already got wedding photo albums and baby photo albums. Your mom’s ready for the baby machine to be baking on high.”
“Christ.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “She can have them for me if she’s so ready. All I want is a career, not a whining, shitting brat.”
He was relieved his future wife was hesitant to have children. Billy could go either way. There was no hurry to get on with the rest of his life. And he couldn’t sleep last night. After watching his father helpless in bed, he realized time was wasting. He could die any day without having accomplished anything.
“I’ve decided what I want to do for a career,” he said.
She spun around, leaving the doughy side of the pancake to cook, at hearing this.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the Field Museum of Natural History, I want to be a curator at a museum. I’ll go back to school during the summer. I’ll get student loans, grants, whatever I have to. I’m sick of being a meter man. Somebody else can put up with Chicago’s bad parkers.”
Jessica kissed him. “I’m so proud of you. I know you’ve been struggling with what to do with your life. A lot of people can’t figure it out. Not everybody gets to be a cowboy or an astronaut.”
She handed him the plate of pancakes. “I have to get running to work early. I’m sorry.”
“No problem. Thanks for breakfast. I was going to stop by the hospital and visit Dad. Victor traded shifts with me. I won’t get home until about six o’clock.”
“Maybe I’ll bring take-out home tonight. We’ll celebrate your decision. Then we can check out the courses at Chicago University.”
He smiled. “It’s a date.”
Nelson knocked on the door shortly after Billy finished his pancakes and orange juice. He was wearing a T-shirt showing a pair of peanuts dancing with a caption that read: “Like My Salty Nuts?” Nelson helped himself to two leftover pancakes. “Hey man, I figured you’d be up by now. I didn’t have anything in the cupboard, so I thought I’d play the mooch today.”
“Moochaholic,” Billy accused. “No, help yourself.”
“Is Jessica still upset?”
“No, she’s cool. She went to work.”
“I guess I can get carried away teasing her. It’s a high school thing, I hope she understands that.”
“She does, so don't stop making fun of her. She was mad at me more than anything. Me watching that movie, she thought I was acting out my grief in an unhealthy way. I guess she doesn’t want me going crazy.”
“ Death Reject is a cool movie. This dude can do just about anything with his body. If he wanted to urinate a quart, he could. Of all the special powers I could want, pissing a quart is high up there. If I was still in school, I’d be able to vomit at will to get out of tests.”
Billy laughed. “I’d poop money.”
“I’d poop bricks of gold bullion.”
Billy changed the subject. “So what are you doing today?”
Nelson shrugged. “It’s my day off. I might work on my video game idea with Brice. We’re so close to having a demo to market. It’s about Egyptian pyramids and explorers finding secret passages in search of riches, and they find mummies, ancient spirits, zombies, and release a flesh-eating bacterial disease. It’s pretty involved, but it’s awesome. You’re not off of work today, are you?”
“Nope. I’m going in about three hours. I was going to
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