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“Yeah, of course. Smart. I was just teasing, anyway. This shit is bad for you. Just say no.” He snickered. “So what’s new with you? If I knew you were back in town, I would’ve swung by to hang out sooner.” That was a lie, but whatever. He was the kind of person who lied so much that he believed his own falsehoods. “I saw some articles online about how you had yourself a girl?”
“Yeah, Hailee.”
“Oh, no shit? How did you guys meet?”
I stared at him blankly. “It’s Hailee. My best friend, Hailee. You’ve met her at most holidays and—”
His phone started ringing, and he looked down at it as he pulled up to the diner. “Oh, shit,” he muttered as he held a silencing finger up toward me. He hopped out of the car and answered his phone quickly.
As I climbed out of the car, he was talking hush-hush on the phone. When he hung up, his mood had shifted a bit, but he gave me a half grin and opened the door to the diner. “Ready, buddy?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Being around Jake felt like being around a stranger. I didn’t know why there was a part of me that longed for a connection with him in some way. I had wonderful parents. There was no reason I should’ve even thought about Jake, let alone, my biological mother. I didn’t even know her name, but she still crossed my mind every now and again. I hated that, too. It felt like I was betraying my own mother in some odd way.
We sat with our wings and talked for a while as Jake’s phone kept going off. He grumbled a bit after one message and sat back in the booth. “Hey, I just got called into work. So I might have to dip out earlier than planned. Like, now.”
“I thought you had the interview today. I didn’t know you got the job already.”
“Right, yeah. I mean, it’s like a done deal. I am getting the job. It’s just all the bullshit paperwork and stuff, you know? They need me to come in earlier than planned.” He brushed his thumb against his nose and leaned in. “Listen, kid, this is embarrassing, but things have been a bit tight. I was wondering if I could get a loan from you for a short period. Just until I can get up and on my feet. Things are turning around. I know they are. You know, I ran into a psychic last week, and she said things were going to start slow, and then boom! I’m on a rocket ship toward win after win. But, for the time being, if you could help me out, that would mean a lot to me.”
That hope that still showed up within my gut? It was slowly being ripped to shreds.
“I, uh, I didn’t bring cash.”
“That’s fine. They’ve got an ATM right over there. You can take out cash right now.” He gestured behind him and then gave me a smile that looked like mine. I hated that. I hated how we had the same smiles. Unlike mine, though, his felt sleazy. I couldn’t believe that I thought Jake was any different than before. It was embarrassing how I thought that this time would be different all because he showed up. Turned out, he only showed up so he could get something out from me.
I brushed my hand through my hair. “How much do you need?”
“I don’t know. An Emmy-winning boy like you? Maybe you can get by with giving your old man like eight hundred or a thousand?”
He didn’t see my heart break at that moment, but of course he missed it happening. He knew nothing about me. How would he know how to notice my pain?
I slid out of the booth and headed to the ATM to get the money out. The second I handed it to him, he took a twenty and put it down on the table. “You can find a ride home, yeah? Lunch is on me,” he said. I wasn’t sure if he was being ironic or not. He then collected his things and headed out, leaving me stranded.
I sat there for an hour longer, too embarrassed to call my parents that early on to come get me. After that time passed, I called Mom to pick me up. She pulled up within ten minutes.
I climbed into the passenger seat and didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to tell her anything, though, because Mom was too good at reading me.
“Hey, look at me,” she urged, shoving me in the arm.
“I’m fine,” I swore, staring out my window.
“Aiden, look at me right now,” she ordered.
I sighed and turned toward her. She locked her eyes with mine. I wished my eyes looked like my mother’s. I guessed that was too much to ask for.
She placed her hands against my cheeks and cradled my face as if I was still that little boy waiting on the front porch for Jake to love me. “You are remarkable, Aiden Scott Walters. You are a great person with an extraordinary heart. You are kind, and good, and true. Don’t let anyone else’s bullshit steal your joy from you. It’s yours. You own it. No one else gets to have the rights to it. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She tapped my cheek before leaning in to kiss it. “Okay. Let’s get you home.”
That night,Mom and Dad got into the biggest argument over Jake. I listened from my bedroom. My mother was the calmest of souls. She never raised her voice or cussed until someone pushed one of her triggers. I was her biggest trigger, and that afternoon, it had been pushed.
“And you didn’t think I deserved to know you were handing Jake a car, Samuel? I mean, are you shitting me?” Mom blasted. Cuss words from Mom meant she was pissed.
“It was a loan. He said he’ll pay it back,” Dad argued.
