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“You’re sure you’re okay with Karina coming with us tomorrow?” I ask one more time as Caleb and I sit in front of the TV that night, watching a TV show we both like on Netflix.
“Yes, Dad, I’m fine with it. How many times do I have to tell you?”
I can tell he’s getting irritated, but I’ve never pushed a woman on him before, and this is making me slightly nervous. He’s never really seen me around a woman before, either. I kept all of my booty calls (as few of them as there were) far away from him, and the two women I’d seen in the past, we’d done minimal things together as a family. Something tells me, I won’t be able to keep my hands off of Rina, and I don’t want to embarrass him, me, or her.
I watch as he lifts his cell phone up, frowning as he starts furiously texting the other person on the other end of the phone. “Just checking.” I watch as he continues to punch with unnecessary force. “Is something wrong?”
He continues texting, and then throws his phone on the table in front of him. “Jess is at a party with a friend. You know that’s not my scene, especially not anymore. I didn’t want her to go, but it’s her friend’s birthday. Now she’s telling me she’s not feeling comfortable there.”
“Why not?” I’m immediately on alert. “What do you not want to tell me?”
“They’ve got moonshine,” he whispers as he looks up at me. “I don’t want you to go in there guns blazing, arresting everyone in the place. I don’t need that on my conscience.” He runs a hand over his stubbled face. “But I don’t want her to stay there either. She wants to leave.”
It takes everything I have to trust my son, to utter these words I hope like hell I don’t end up regretting. “Then go get her.”
“What? Dad are you sure? Her mom isn’t home, and she doesn’t want to stay by herself, that’s one of the reasons she went out with them tonight. I don’t want to take her home alone to an empty house. It sucks,” he mumbles.
There’s a pain in my chest at that mumble. I’ve left him alone more times than I care to count. I’ve had to let him take care of himself for a lot of years, not just because it was hard to find childcare, but also because the job I’ve been able to do as an officer offered us a lot more than a factory job would have. It killed me in certain circumstances to leave him by himself and for me to go do what I had to do, but it’s the way the world has worked for us.
“Go get her and bring her back here. She can go with us tomorrow too, if you want.”
He stares at me like I’ve grown an alien head, or like I spoke to him in a different language.
“What?”
“Who are you and what have you done with my dad?”
I don’t miss the fact he’s already getting up and walking toward his room. When he comes back he’s wearing a pair of jeans, a hoodie, and he’s going to the door to grab his shoes.
“I haven’t done anything with your dad, I’m trying to make the best decision I can with the circumstances that have been laid out for us. If going to get her and bringing her back here is what needs to be done, then do it. I’m trusting you though, Caleb. Don’t you have sex with that girl in this house.” He gives me a shit-eating grin as I point to him. “I’m serious.”
“Not even a little fuckin’ around?” His smile is huge as he continues to needle at me.
“I swear to God, Caleb. I’ll make you sleep on the couch, and I’ll sleep on the floor in your bedroom while she sleeps in the bed. I’m not playing with you.”
“Yes, sir.” He stands up after putting on his shoes and grabs his truck keys. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Be careful, and if you need help, don’t hesitate to call me. I know there are things you like to take care of on your own, since you’re an adult and all, but you’re my son. I’ll severely injure anyone who touches you.”
His look is serious as he walks across the living room, leaning down to give me a hug. “I know you will, that’s why you’re a great dad. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I watch his taillights in the drive until I can’t see them anymore, before I pull out my cell phone and text Karina.
M: I think we’re gonna have someone join us for the outing to Birmingham tomorrow.
It doesn’t take her long to respond, which makes me smile. Maybe she was sitting by her phone, waiting to hear from me.
K: Oh really? Boy or girl?
M: Girl. Caleb’s been seeing this cheerleader named Jess. She’s at some party that he didn’t want to go to, and I guess it’s gotten out of hand for her. She’s coming back here to spend the night.
K: You’re letting two teenagers spend the night together in your house? I know Jess, she’s cute.
M: I trust him.
It’s hard for me to explain to someone who hasn’t lived the life I have, why I trust him and why I give him so much freedom. Getting up as I wait for her to text me back, I switch out laundry, before going to clean up the kitchen.
