“Only son,” I say. “I’ll call you later, Mom. Thanks for reminding me.”
The phone clicks as my mother hangs up. I pull it away from my ear and stare at it for a few seconds before putting it into my pocket. I look up at Jessie, who offers me an expression of deep sympathy.
“My dad’s birthday is in a couple of days.”
“I kinda overheard that.” Jessie nods. “I guess he’s having one of those big mansion-parties again?”
“Yep. Although calling them ‘parties’ is a little generous. Though I guess they don’t have an official term for ‘annual family in-fighting and score-settling as scantily-clad wannabe actresses splash around in the pool’ day.”
Jessie laughs softly.
“That sounds about right. Do you have to go?”
I sigh a little. “He’s still my dad. And my mom wants moral support. I think the reason she still goes to these is to be reminded of why she left in the first place.”
Jessie smiles sympathetically. “Sounds about right. I guess everyone will be there?”
“Yeah. All three of his ex-wives. All seven of his step-children. All his current gold-digging girlfriends that he’ll parade around like it’s something to be proud of. Probably a few ‘surprise’ guests to add some spice to the mix.”
I can sense Jessie’s awkwardness, her conflicting emotions fixing her in place, unsure of what to say, however much she’d like to console me.
“Anyway,” I go on, putting a little freshness into my voice and opening the door, “I guess I’ll see you soon.”
I step out of her apartment.
“Wait,” Jessie says, striding quickly up to me. I turn around in the hallway to face her. She looks at her feet for a second, curling her tongue around her lip like she’s stoking up courage. “Why don’t I come with you?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, wondering if I heard right.
“I could come with you, to the birthday party.”
I let out a quick laugh.
“Why would you do that? I always go alone. Every year.”
“Right. And you always come back and talk about how amazingly horrible it was.”
“That’s the tradition.”
“Well, what if you had some moral support? What if I came with you, helped deflect some of that horrible-ness? It’s not like I haven’t seen your family at its worst. No offense.”
I cross my arms and shake my head. “No way. You’ve already bailed me out of one gathering of old folks, I can’t ask you to bail me out of this ten times more insane version.”
Jessie smiles softly.
“Maybe it’s turning into a habit.”
“Jessie, come on. You don’t want to do this. I wouldn’t wish my dad’s parties on anyone.”
“Will it be embarrassing?”
“Definitely.”
“Funny?”
“If you like black humor.”
“Then I’m there. It’ll be quite entertaining to see your family go all bacchanalian.”
I smile at Jessie while I roll the idea over in my head.
“I don’t know. You already came to the retreat with me – as far as I’m concerned, we’re even now. I couldn’t ask you to suffer through this party as well. I’d feel so guilty.”
“The retreat was fine. Hell, I ended up meeting one of my heroines, making some amazing contacts, and I got the weekend off work. I should be thanking you for that.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to. Look, you hate those birthday parties, don’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
“And part of it is because you’re on your own there, right?”
“Kind of.”
“So having someone there who has your back, someone who you can talk to like a normal human being, should make it easier. Plus I can always get ‘sick’ and need you to drive me home in a hurry.”
I look around as if wondering where on earth all this blindsiding is coming from, then turn my eyes back to Jessie and shrug.
“I guess that could work.”
“Okay then!” Jessie says, as if the decision has been made. “Let me know when you’re going to pick me up.”
I watch Jessie’s smile broaden and start laughing a little.
“When did you get kinda awesome?” I ask, flippantly.
“I’ve always been awesome, Nate. It just took you a while to notice.”
12
Nate
When people ask me about my past, my childhood, my upbringing, I smile and tell them it was alright. I tell them my father was a producer, my mother was an actress, and I grew up in a really big mansion. That’s when they usually smile in admiration and tell me it sounds great, that I’m really lucky, and I bow my head humbly say I really do know I’m lucky, I really do.