chocolate chip pancake. And remains is all there was, two measly crumbs drowning in an ocean of syrup. I swirled one of the crumbs as if it were a forkful, and waited for the bomb to drop.
“I think all this acting out is a result of me dating Armando. You’re not a rebellious child.” She reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “I know you said it doesn’t bother you, but I think on the inside maybe it does. Just a little.”
Wait a minute! Wait one darn minute! Is she apologizing to me because she thinks kissing a boy and wanting to have a boyfriend is acting out?
Sure, I don’t want her dating Armando. But that’s for her own good. What girl wants her mother dating a con artist, or a gun runner, or whatever he was?
I wanted to feel outraged. I wanted to scream
“kissing a cute boy is not acting out!”
But another, more rational, part of my brain was looking at the bright side. It was sounding an awful lot like my grounding was coming to an end. And while I love my room, being confined there with no phone, no computer, and no TV was like being confined to Toyland without any toys. A girl needs her toys.
“Maybe you’re right,” I said with a soft sigh. “Sorry if I overreacted. Kissing a boy on the back of the bus, what
was
I thinking?” I shook my head. Of course I know exactly what I was thinking—
Yipeee!
But I wasn’t going to tell
her
that.
“I should have been more sensitive,” she went on, “but I promise you, no one will ever come between us. In a few weeks I’ll be turning forty… Ugh! It hurts just to say it.”
“You’re young, Mom. You don’t look a day over… thirty-nine.”
Sunshine spread across her face. “Always the funny one. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She squeezed my hand again, her tone turning serious. “But sometimes a woman needs to know she’s still desirable.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” I comforted. Of course the desirable woman I was referring to was me. “I’m lucky to have a mother like you,” I said, piling it on. More sunshine.
“The Two Musketeers?”
“You bet.”
We never made it to Murphy Park. Twenty minutes later we were kicking it in a vat of therapeutic mud. It was there she broached the subject of going out to dinner with Armando.
“You go,” I said trying to deflect the invitation. I was buried in mud up to my neck. It felt strange, but good.
“You have to come along. He may be in our lives for a while, and I want you to feel comfortable around him. I know it’s too much to ask for you to be friends...”
You got that right!
“…But maybe in time.”
Or maybe in time I’ll expose him for the phony I know he is.
“Okay. Let’s do it,” I said. “It’s a date.”
A look of delight came over her, as she settled back into the mud.
“Can I bring someone along?” The delight vanished.
“Who?”
“Matt. Who else?” Sure, I could think of someone else I’d rather go to dinner with, a certain someone who just might be the world’s greatest kisser. But I knew it was wrong for me to be thinking of myself just then.
Suze had too many stars in her eyes to see the truth. I needed Matt by my side, someone she knows and trusts to help convince her that her
boyfriend
was not who she thought he was.
Chapter Fifteen
His name was Danny Tambor, and he was my first childhood crush.
I was a ten-year-old fifth grader, and Danny was fourteen. He was in high school—an older man.
He lived on our block and occasionally came by to throw the football with Matt. Even then Matt was a standout athlete. Older boys were always dropping by to check out his arm.
It was a crisp Saturday afternoon with the faint smell of wood-burning fireplaces in the air—the fragrance of fall. Danny and Matt were throwing the ball back and forth in front of Matt’s house. I was patiently waiting on the sidelines for them to get bored, so Matt and I could do something exciting—such as have tea with
“I think all this acting out is a result of me dating Armando. You’re not a rebellious child.” She reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “I know you said it doesn’t bother you, but I think on the inside maybe it does. Just a little.”
Wait a minute! Wait one darn minute! Is she apologizing to me because she thinks kissing a boy and wanting to have a boyfriend is acting out?
Sure, I don’t want her dating Armando. But that’s for her own good. What girl wants her mother dating a con artist, or a gun runner, or whatever he was?
I wanted to feel outraged. I wanted to scream
“kissing a cute boy is not acting out!”
But another, more rational, part of my brain was looking at the bright side. It was sounding an awful lot like my grounding was coming to an end. And while I love my room, being confined there with no phone, no computer, and no TV was like being confined to Toyland without any toys. A girl needs her toys.
“Maybe you’re right,” I said with a soft sigh. “Sorry if I overreacted. Kissing a boy on the back of the bus, what
was
I thinking?” I shook my head. Of course I know exactly what I was thinking—
Yipeee!
But I wasn’t going to tell
her
that.
“I should have been more sensitive,” she went on, “but I promise you, no one will ever come between us. In a few weeks I’ll be turning forty… Ugh! It hurts just to say it.”
“You’re young, Mom. You don’t look a day over… thirty-nine.”
Sunshine spread across her face. “Always the funny one. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She squeezed my hand again, her tone turning serious. “But sometimes a woman needs to know she’s still desirable.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” I comforted. Of course the desirable woman I was referring to was me. “I’m lucky to have a mother like you,” I said, piling it on. More sunshine.
“The Two Musketeers?”
“You bet.”
We never made it to Murphy Park. Twenty minutes later we were kicking it in a vat of therapeutic mud. It was there she broached the subject of going out to dinner with Armando.
“You go,” I said trying to deflect the invitation. I was buried in mud up to my neck. It felt strange, but good.
“You have to come along. He may be in our lives for a while, and I want you to feel comfortable around him. I know it’s too much to ask for you to be friends...”
You got that right!
“…But maybe in time.”
Or maybe in time I’ll expose him for the phony I know he is.
“Okay. Let’s do it,” I said. “It’s a date.”
A look of delight came over her, as she settled back into the mud.
“Can I bring someone along?” The delight vanished.
“Who?”
“Matt. Who else?” Sure, I could think of someone else I’d rather go to dinner with, a certain someone who just might be the world’s greatest kisser. But I knew it was wrong for me to be thinking of myself just then.
Suze had too many stars in her eyes to see the truth. I needed Matt by my side, someone she knows and trusts to help convince her that her
boyfriend
was not who she thought he was.
Chapter Fifteen
His name was Danny Tambor, and he was my first childhood crush.
I was a ten-year-old fifth grader, and Danny was fourteen. He was in high school—an older man.
He lived on our block and occasionally came by to throw the football with Matt. Even then Matt was a standout athlete. Older boys were always dropping by to check out his arm.
It was a crisp Saturday afternoon with the faint smell of wood-burning fireplaces in the air—the fragrance of fall. Danny and Matt were throwing the ball back and forth in front of Matt’s house. I was patiently waiting on the sidelines for them to get bored, so Matt and I could do something exciting—such as have tea with
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