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“You were seventeen, Kay. She definitely had a reason.”
“Whatever. I’m just glad you dropped her before she moved in… with her box of toenail clippings.
I shuddered, remembering the horror I felt when I’d stayed overnight at her house, and accidentally knocked over the box she kept on her dresser.
I’d dealt with someinterestingwomen in my lifetime.
“Please don’t remind me of that shit,” I told Kay, shaking my head. “Just be glad I recognized the crazy before the feelings got too deep.”
“Oh, I am,” she nodded. “But, I thought that dealing with her had scared you off bringing anybody home. Apparently not though.”
“In my defense, Monica was already here. But… I’m not really sure why you care baby girl.”
“I mean, it’s not that I care about you… doing whatever, it’s just… it’s different, is all. Just makes me wonder.”
I frowned. “Makes you wonder what?”
“If… if she’s like mom.” As soon as those words left her lips, she shook her head. “Wait, I mean… I don’t know how to express it, not really, but… you’d told me about her already, you know? Back when she was “Sandy”, your friend from online. And, I’m not stupid, I know you dated the whole time I was growing up, all of that. But you never talked to me about them. Not even Diana, not really. But just… in conversation, you would tell me a funny story you’d heard fromSandy, tell meSandyhad recommended a movie, or a show, or… whatever. And your face would kinda light up, and all of that. Like you liked her.”
My mouth opened a little, struck by what was honestly a revelation to me. I’d never mentioned Kayla to Monica, because I was purposely keeping the details minimal. But I didn’t realize that talking to Kay about Monica, even innocuously, had been such a natural, normal thing.
“Anyway,” Kay went on, “When I was younger, I made up this whole narrative in my head, that you hadn’t gotten married, or settled down with anybody, because you were pining away after my mother. And I know that’s not true, but still. It’s what I wanted to believe. Relationships were inconsequential to you, because that’s how you were trained… except for me and… Sandy. So… my narrative shifted. And Sandy, to me, was like a stepmom that I’d never meet, or see, but… you hadsomeonein your life that made you happy. So I never felt bad about you not having a girlfriend or anything, because you had Sandy. And I filled in details for her. Details… from my mother. So then now, here we are, and Sandy is actually Monica, and at first you were mad, but then you weren’t, and then you left in the middle of the night because she was hurt, and I saw how you looked at her at the gym that day when you were talking, and now… she’s in your bed. And I know it’s childish, and silly, but… if she’s taking that place as a woman in your lifefor realnow, I just… I want to know if those details I filled in are right. I want to know if she’s like my mother.”
Ah shit.
I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat and pushed my plate away, reaching forward to grab Kay’s hands. “Baby girl… you don’t know how much I wish I could tell you yes, Monica is like Lisa. But… she’s not. I’ve tried to be age-appropriately transparent with you about the relationship between your mother and me, but since we haven’t really talked about it since you became an adult, let me put it this way… your mother used me for my body, Kayla.”
“Oh myGod, Dad!” she whined, sounding disgusted as I laughed.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but that’s just the real deal. She was an older woman with a certain sex drive, and I was a young man that could handle it. Your mother was, as you kids would call it today,a savage.”
Kay giggled at that. “Goals,” she laughed, a little too hard.
“I don’t know about all that, young lady,” I scolded, trying to keep a straight face, but I couldn’t. “But nah, seriously… your mother was an amazing woman. It’s unfair that she was taken away from you so soon, but you consider yourself lucky for the years you got to spend with her.”
She nodded. “I do. I just… I wish I could’ve had them with both of you.”
“Yeah, I do too. But… that’s not the way it went, and… all we can do is make the best of it now, right?”
“Right,” she said, and smiled. “So… I’m guessing that means Monica isnota “savage”.”
I chuckled. “Nah, I don’t think so. With business, maybe, but on a personal level… no. I think you’d like her a lot though. She’s smart, she’s sweet, she’s funny, she—”
“Always has a bomb mani-pedi,” Kay mused.
“How do you know?”
She wrinkled her nose, looking at me like I was crazy. “Duh, because I follow her on Instagram. Her nails, hair, clothes, skin, life, are all goals. Well… maybe not her life right now.”
“Ah, damn. Come on, Kay…”
“What?! I’m just saying, her life isn’t exactly enviable rightnow. Maybe it will be, like… later though.”
“How about, instead of talking aboutherlife, you tell me about yours. Come on. What’s up with you, besides ol’ boy?”
“Daddy, we talk every day. Not much has changed since yesterday. Oh! Wait, actually – I might be getting moved up on the stage! Anais has a crazy stalker ex, so the director is considering pulling her from the show to keep her safe. But… I don’t know. As much as I’d love to have that spot, I don’t want it to be because Ana is being threatened, you know?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I get that. Has she talked to the police?”
