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“It sounds to me like your father is the one who sucks. Maybe he’s trying to live vicariously through you.”
“Oh, definitely. He had been a running back, but a nasty hit caused him to tear his MCL and ACL, and he was never the same again. And he had gone to Ohio State, but it was only his second game as a starter, and all of his NFL aspirations went down the toilet. He tried to come back, but Ohio State had too much depth, and they didn’t need him. They released him, and he might’ve been able to transfer to another school, but he didn’t want to go to a lesser school. I’m good, but I’m not good enough to be the starter at those elite schools, and I wanted to start, so I came here. It’s not just because all of my friends came here, no matter what he says.”
“You are free to go to whichever college you want,” I assure him.
“Not according to my father,” he grumbles. “I got a full ride for athletics, which is a blessing because my father refused to give me a single penny for it, even though he had saved up fifty grand. At least that’s what he said he saved up and would’ve been willing to pay toward my education at one of the schools he approved up, but Juniper College? He thinks I compromised my talent for a paycheck, and maybe I could’ve gone elsewhere, at a better college in terms of football, but I might not have started, and my friends… We’re tight.”
“I noticed,” I say softly.
Ace stares at me hard. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this.”
“Sometimes you need to talk. I can listen.”
“I don’t need your judgment.”
“If I’m judging anyone, it’s your asshole father.” I wince. “Sorry.”
“Oh, he’s an asshole all right. You don’t need to apologize for calling a spade a spade.”
“I do have a habit of speaking my mind.”
“That’s not always a bad thing.”
“It might’ve gotten me in trouble once or twice. Maybe even three times.”
He chuckles. “My mom can’t even smile anymore, and her laugh is so fake.”
“She can’t smile? Or she won’t?”
“Can’t. Probably doesn’t want to, but she’s been having Botox injections for a few years now, and she’s not even forty yet. She had me when she was nineteen.”
“That’s crazy. And I assume that’s because your father convinced her she needed the injections?”
“You got it.” He sadly shakes his head. “I don’t even remember what she used to look like, before all of the surgeries. She’s gone under the knife… I lost count how many surgeries she had, all cosmetic.”
“All for him?”
“Yes. I asked her once if she was happy with her body, and she just ignored me and took another swig of her wine.”
I flinch. I want to reach out and touch his arm, but that’s something a girlfriend would do, which reminds me about his study date.
“I don’t want to keep you,” I say softly. “I’m so sorry you have such a terrible father. We… We have that in common.”
A shadow passes over his face. “Maybe we should form a club. Descendants of Asshole Fathers.”
“I have a feeling that club would have far too many members.”
“Unfortunately, but you’re right. I should get going.”
He starts to walk away.
“Ace?” I call.
He turns around. “Yeah?”
“Take care.”
He gives me a look. Then the ghost of a smile passes over his lips, and he nods, points at me, and walks away toward the library.
