“You’re joking, right?”
He looks back at me. “My mom doesn’t live here. It’s a long flight to come for just the weekend. I’m sure she’ll show up. She just hasn’t told me yet.”
His mom doesn’t live here? I didn’t know that.
“Where does she live?”
“Rome.” He waves at the waitress. “Can we get a check?”
She smiles and nods.
“Rome, Italy?” I ask.
“Yeah. You didn’t know that?” He takes a drink of his soda.
“No. When did she move?”
“Last year.”
“So your parents are divorced?”
“No, they’re still married. They just don’t live together.”
That’s odd. I’ve never heard of married people living in different countries. My dad said he used to not like it when my mom would go away for just a few days. He missed her like crazy and couldn’t wait for her to come back.
“There’s no way your mom’s going to miss graduation.”
“We’ll see,” he says, like he really doesn’t think she’ll show up.
I can’t believe she’d even consider not showing up. He’s her only child. What mom doesn’t want to be at her kid’s graduation?
“You’re having a party, right?” I ask as the waitress stops by with the check.
“It’s not really a grad party. It’s more of a party for clients of the firm. My dad hired someone to plan it.” Briggs drops some cash on the table.
“I can pay for mine,” I say, getting my wallet out.
“Don’t worry about it. I can pay for your drink.”
“I also had fries.”
“They were mine. I just shared.”
“Thanks.” I put my money away.
He doesn’t rush to get up, so I decide to ask him more.
“So it’s just you and your dad? Living in that big house?”
“It’s not that big.”
“Are you kidding? It’s huge! It looks like a hotel.”
“Yeah, I guess it kinda does.” He takes a sip of his drink. “I hate it. I liked our old house better but my dad wanted something new when my mom moved out. He has clients over sometimes and he wanted a house that had more of a masculine look.”
“So nothing warm and cozy?”
“Hell no. He hates that shit. He likes cold and uncomfortable.” He looks up at the TVs lining the wall. “So how about you? You having a grad party?”
