loveseat was
fitted with a giant picture window. The pond sat at what was
probably the end of his property line. Behind the pond was an
expanse of open land that ended in a line of trees. The view was
breath taking.
He let me stare for a minute before asking,
“Pasta, wine, beer? What can I get you?”
“ What kind of
wine?”
“ Red.”
“ What kind of red?” I
asked.
“ Picky much,” he said
smiling at me. “I think it’s a Merlot. Someone gave it to me. I’m a
beer kind of guy.”
“ Merlot sounds great.” I
followed him into the kitchen as he opened the wine and grabbed a
wine glass. “Can you put it in a rocks glass?”
“ You mean not in a wine
glass?”
I smiled sheepishly. “Although I’m impressed
with your stemware, I’m a spiller.” I’d learned the hard way after
ruining a few dozen shirts with red wine stains.
J turned from the cabinets to look at me. “A
spiller?”
“ I spill shit on myself a
lot.”
“ Rocks glass it is.” He
poured some Merlot into a glass that read ‘World’s Greatest Dad’
and passed it to me.
“ You have kids?” I asked.
Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.
“ No.” Yes! “I got it for my
dad when I was a kid. I kept it after he passed.”
“ Were you guys
close?”
“ Yeah, sorta. My mom left us
when I was nine. So my dad and grandpa raised me. Gramps was full
blooded Lakota. What about you? Your parents still
around?”
“ Unfortunately,” I
groaned.
J was lifting his beer to take a sip when I
said this. He stopped mid-way and gave me the eye brow arch. “You
don’t seem happy about that. Shitty childhood?”
“ No. And Yes. My parents are
still around and surprisingly still married. I think my dad
would’ve left her a long time ago had he not been raised Catholic.
My mom is, how shall I say, a handful.”
J continued his eyebrow arch
as if urging me to continue. “Things were great when I was a little
kid. I don’t know when they got bad. I guess it was slow process.
She’s controlling, and expected the moon from me and my sister. It
didn’t matter what I did, it wasn’t ever good enough. And she made
sure to let me know every single
time that I wasn’t good enough. It was a
constant mind fuck. Bring home second place in science fair and
she’d ask why I didn’t get first. Come back with an A and she’d ask
why it wasn’t an A+. I gave up trying. And the more she tried to
control me, the more I rebelled. There wasn’t one big event that
fucked me up. It was a slow fuck up. I was pretty much running the
streets 24/7 by the time I was sixteen, squatting at friends’
houses most of the time. I left my parents’ house for good when I
was seventeen.”
J leaned against the kitchen counter and
took a drink of his beer. “The streets can be rough.”
“ Indeed.”
“ What kind of stuff were you
into on the streets?”
Yep, that was it. Sharing time was over.
“Crazy shit. Stupid shit. It’s the past. Let’s enjoy the
present.”
As if taking my hint, J topped off my glass
and grabbed another beer. He led me into the sun porch. The sun was
just starting to set over the pond. It truly was a beautiful sight.
I could watch this every evening. Sometimes it seemed the world was
so full of hate and ugliness. It had dominated my life for so long,
and it seemed like I was just starting to make it out of a hole I
didn’t know I had been in. In that moment, I realized changes were
happening in my life. I don’t know when it started, but things
didn’t seem quite as ugly as they were five years ago. That
realization made the moment all the more beautiful.
We sat on the love seat, forced to be
pressed up against one another. J grabbed my legs and twirled them
around to set on his lap. “Nice Jordans,” he said as he removed
them. “Oh, nice dinosaur socks too,” he laughed.
“ Don’t hate the T-Rex with
his little arms. He’ll bust your—ooooh that feels good.” I closed
my eyes as J rubbed my feet.
fitted with a giant picture window. The pond sat at what was
probably the end of his property line. Behind the pond was an
expanse of open land that ended in a line of trees. The view was
breath taking.
He let me stare for a minute before asking,
“Pasta, wine, beer? What can I get you?”
“ What kind of
wine?”
“ Red.”
“ What kind of red?” I
asked.
“ Picky much,” he said
smiling at me. “I think it’s a Merlot. Someone gave it to me. I’m a
beer kind of guy.”
“ Merlot sounds great.” I
followed him into the kitchen as he opened the wine and grabbed a
wine glass. “Can you put it in a rocks glass?”
“ You mean not in a wine
glass?”
I smiled sheepishly. “Although I’m impressed
with your stemware, I’m a spiller.” I’d learned the hard way after
ruining a few dozen shirts with red wine stains.
J turned from the cabinets to look at me. “A
spiller?”
“ I spill shit on myself a
lot.”
“ Rocks glass it is.” He
poured some Merlot into a glass that read ‘World’s Greatest Dad’
and passed it to me.
“ You have kids?” I asked.
Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.
“ No.” Yes! “I got it for my
dad when I was a kid. I kept it after he passed.”
“ Were you guys
close?”
“ Yeah, sorta. My mom left us
when I was nine. So my dad and grandpa raised me. Gramps was full
blooded Lakota. What about you? Your parents still
around?”
“ Unfortunately,” I
groaned.
J was lifting his beer to take a sip when I
said this. He stopped mid-way and gave me the eye brow arch. “You
don’t seem happy about that. Shitty childhood?”
“ No. And Yes. My parents are
still around and surprisingly still married. I think my dad
would’ve left her a long time ago had he not been raised Catholic.
My mom is, how shall I say, a handful.”
J continued his eyebrow arch
as if urging me to continue. “Things were great when I was a little
kid. I don’t know when they got bad. I guess it was slow process.
She’s controlling, and expected the moon from me and my sister. It
didn’t matter what I did, it wasn’t ever good enough. And she made
sure to let me know every single
time that I wasn’t good enough. It was a
constant mind fuck. Bring home second place in science fair and
she’d ask why I didn’t get first. Come back with an A and she’d ask
why it wasn’t an A+. I gave up trying. And the more she tried to
control me, the more I rebelled. There wasn’t one big event that
fucked me up. It was a slow fuck up. I was pretty much running the
streets 24/7 by the time I was sixteen, squatting at friends’
houses most of the time. I left my parents’ house for good when I
was seventeen.”
J leaned against the kitchen counter and
took a drink of his beer. “The streets can be rough.”
“ Indeed.”
“ What kind of stuff were you
into on the streets?”
Yep, that was it. Sharing time was over.
“Crazy shit. Stupid shit. It’s the past. Let’s enjoy the
present.”
As if taking my hint, J topped off my glass
and grabbed another beer. He led me into the sun porch. The sun was
just starting to set over the pond. It truly was a beautiful sight.
I could watch this every evening. Sometimes it seemed the world was
so full of hate and ugliness. It had dominated my life for so long,
and it seemed like I was just starting to make it out of a hole I
didn’t know I had been in. In that moment, I realized changes were
happening in my life. I don’t know when it started, but things
didn’t seem quite as ugly as they were five years ago. That
realization made the moment all the more beautiful.
We sat on the love seat, forced to be
pressed up against one another. J grabbed my legs and twirled them
around to set on his lap. “Nice Jordans,” he said as he removed
them. “Oh, nice dinosaur socks too,” he laughed.
“ Don’t hate the T-Rex with
his little arms. He’ll bust your—ooooh that feels good.” I closed
my eyes as J rubbed my feet.
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