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“I hope you don’t plan on being on your phone this entire trip.” My mom gives me one of her classic chiding stares she used all through my childhood.
When I was a kid, they’d fill me with guilt, but now, I just give her my most innocent grin.
“Who me? I was just checking the time.”
“That’s what watches are for.” She reaches across the table to tap my wrist.
I’ve got on the chunky silver one my parents gave me for my last birthday. It’s probably expensive. Mom said something about it being Swiss-made when I pulled it out of the box, but I’ve never looked it up. The thing that makes it priceless to me is the inscription on the back side.
Our best times are with you. Love, Mom & Dad
“Oh, right! Watches tell time. Totally forgot.”
She shakes her head at me, but I notice the corner of her mouth twitch.
“Told you we should have spanked him as a child. Then, he wouldn’t have such a smart mouth.” This comment comes from my dad as he returns from the bar, carrying glasses of water for my mom and me and a measure of scotch for himself.
He’s not a big drinker, but flying makes him nervous. Over his shoulder, a window looks out on the tarmac. In the distance, I can see a plane gracefully lifting off the runway.
“You might be right, honey. We were too soft on him.” She continues to fight a smile as she takes a sip of water.
“Spank me? Can’t believe you even considered it. I mean, just imagine the effect that would’ve had on my ass.” Dad snorts into his scotch, but I keep going, targets set on my mom, “Probably flattened it right out. Then, how’d you expect me to get a girlfriend? The minute I turned around, she’d see I had nothing to grab on to and kick me out the door. Kick me right on my flat ass.”
Mom’s teeth bite into her lower lip, and she glares at me, but I can see her just about to crack. So, I turn around and glance over my shoulder, and with the most horrified expression I can muster, I grandly gesture at my butt.
That does it. She slams her glass on the table and uses both her hands to cover her face as she lets out the most ridiculous-sounding laughter that ever existed. It’s like a donkey with hiccups, braying and snorting so loud that people at other tables glance toward us, probably concerned we’re murdering an innocent farm animal.
Dad raises his drink to me, a silent cheers to my success. My mom hates her laugh, but the two of us love it. We constantly try to make her break.
“You are the devil!” She wipes at her eyes with a napkin and tries to glare at me as chuckles continue to sneak out.
I shrug and grin. “I am what you made me.”
“Stop trying to embarrass me and tell me what’s going on in your life. How are your classes?”
“They’re fine. Finals are in a couple of weeks, so lots of studying and papers.”
I don’t tell them how mind-numbing I find my schoolwork. That it takes me twice as long to write my essays because all the facts get pushed out of my head by beautiful images I want to create. My notes from class are more doodles than words.
Not that I don’t do the work. My GPA has never fallen below a 3.5. But the subjects bore me to tears. I’m surrounded by people who enjoy the classes while I’m just wishing I were somewhere else.
Holly probably would’ve latched on to my vague answer and pushed for more, but my parents let it pass.
“I’m sure you’ll do great. You always do.” Mom smiles reassuringly while Dad watches me over the rim of his drink.
After one last swallow, he finishes. “Gonna grab another, and then we can head to the gate.”
As he turns toward the bar, my mom gives him a sympathetic pat on the back.
Because of my dad’s fear, we normally keep our family trips to places within driving distance of Philadelphia. Even more so now that I need my treatments every other day. But my aunt Carol decided she wanted to visit her son—my cousin, Fred—out in Colorado and figured Thanksgiving would be a good time to go. Slowly, it turned into a whole family thing with my dad agreeing to fly and me finding a dialysis treatment center in Denver that had appointment times I could use while there.
All the plans were finalized months ago. Before I met Holly.
A trip I was originally looking forward to is now a week that I have to spend away from her. I’m doing my best not to turn into a dark storm cloud and ruin this family vacation.
As if she could read my mind, my mom starts up her questioning again. “What about dating? Ever since you broke up with that self-centered Anna girl, you haven’t mentioned anyone.”
“Her name was Annabelle, and I thought you liked her.”
