I sighed. “I heard him talking about me AJ. I didn’t catch the whole conversation, but I heard enough to know that your father is a bigot and he hates me.”
He watched me huffing and puffing in anger for a few seconds and then his eyes drifted to the ground. There was no point in him sugarcoating his father’s words for me. Mr. Hahn meant every bit of what he said exactly the way he said it. They were meant to be hurtful and he was successful in that task.
AJ’s voice was near a whisper when he responded. “Do you want me to take you home?” He asked as he continued to watch the floor.
I assessed the hurt in his face and in that instant I decided to stick it out……for him. He wanted so badly for tonight to go well, but it fell apart pretty early in the evening. I had to do whatever was in my power to salvage the night even if the disaster wasn’t my fault. “No, I’ll try to behave, but that depends on his behavior too.” AJ’s eyes lifted as he met my gaze, pleased that I wasn’t ready to bail at the first sign of trouble. “I wouldn’t want to run out like that when your mom went through the trouble of making dinner and everything.”
“You’re amazing. You know that?” He kissed me passionately for a few brief seconds before opening the door to his bedroom. It was nothing like I imagined it would be. I thought the walls would be blue and it would have that funny smell that boy’s rooms typically have. But it was nothing like that. There were no girly pictures on the walls, and no clothes all over the floor. Instead the walls were painted a deep shade of red. There were framed autographed photos of famous sports icons hung in an even row around the room. His bed was neat and there wasn’t a wrinkle to be found on his black bed spread. His matching glossy black dresser and chest of drawers were clear and uncluttered. There was nothing on top of them except for a few bottles of cologne, a lamp and a basketball. I was tempted to check under the bed for the clothes he’d hidden underneath it, but I had he strange feeling that I wouldn’t find anything. I sat on his bed and continued to look around. His room was almost as large as my parent’s master suite. He sat down next to me quietly and reached for my hand. I glanced over at him and saw that he was still stressing about the situation with his father.
Mrs. Hahn’s voice floated up the stairs as she called us down for dinner. AJ and I both took a deep breath and walked downstairs and into the dining room. AJ pulled out my chair and then sat beside me. His father glared for a second and shifted in his seat uncomfortably. It was obvious that he disapproved of AJ being chivalrous, probably because he didn’t think I deserved it. His eyes narrowed slightly when I turned to look at him.
Mrs. Hahn brought in the last few side dishes and then took her seat at the opposite end of the table from AJ’s father. Everyone sat still in silence until she spoke up. “Well, I guess we can eat as soon as you carve the turkey honey.” She said nervously to her husband. Mr. Hahn stood from his seat and moved toward the platter that was directly at my side, making him way too close for comfort.