Like Grownups Do by Nathan Roden Read Free Book Online Page A

nodding.
     
    “I was pissed off, picked on, and I hated that junior high school with a passion. My grades sucked and I couldn’t stand the way Mom and Rick were acting about that. That landed me in Boston at Faraday Prep School, alma mater of the famous Rick Richmond. I’m sure it looked like he was providing me with ‘opportunity’, while keeping me away from his precious career.
    “Dad, do you realize that if Rick had been divorced instead of a widower he would never have married Mom? Because that’s the way politics works. Your wife dies in a car wreck, you can remarry. Wife dies from cancer, thumbs down. Not okay. A widower gets the voters’ sympathy but a divorcee is a skirt-chasing son-of-a-bitch. But a widower is allowed to marry a divorced woman as long as there is no scandal waiting to be discovered—because the polls say so.
    “Jesus H. Christ. Who wrote these rules? I have no doubt that I ended up at Faraday’s because that’s where you send your unwashed step-children to have them whipped and scrubbed into respectable shape and worthy of a seat at the children’s table behind some Ken-doll asshole. Yes sir, I have been taken care of.”
     
    Robbie rocked in his chair and stared into the fire.
    “I’m sorry for not being around more, Josh. I was in a bad place for a long time after your mother left and took you away. But it looked like both of you were getting an upgrade. I’m sure not going to tell you what to say or what to feel. But I want you to know that I’m proud of you, and that I’ve missed you. It kills me to see you hurting and I wish I could take it away. I hope we can be friends.”
    Babe nodded and reached to take hold of his father’s hand.
     
    Robbie retired to his RV. Babe put out the fire and then followed Joe into the back yard while the puppy relieved himself for the night. Babe thought that Joe would go back to his pillow but he went to the door leading to the rest of the house. He sat down and waited. Babe picked up the pillow and carried it to his bedroom. He laid it down beside his bed. Joe curled up on the pillow and was asleep immediately.
    Babe lay down and as soon as his body come to rest, the grief that had been at bay for most of the day flooded his mind. But he had expected that.
    He rolled onto his side and stared at Joe, who was snoring softly in the moonlight after rolling onto his back. Babe felt some of the sadness pull way, as if the sleeping puppy was leeching it from him. He began to drift toward sleep.
    I don’t believe in coincidence, Josh; might be a good thing for you, right now.
     
    Babe woke to the sound of whimpering. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was three-thirty in the morning. Joe was whimpering—still lying on his back with his eyes closed, the apparent victim of a bad dream. Babe sat up and placed a hand on Joe’s chest. Joe woke up, rolled over and shook his head, creating a ‘wap, wap, wap’ with his ears.
    “Just a bad dream, buddy. You’re safe here.”
    Babe picked Joe up and put him on his bed, where he fell asleep with his head across Babe’s arm.
     
    Babe dreamed that he had fallen asleep on the beach and woke to waves lapping at his face. A moment later he woke for real, being licked across the eyes and nose. The sun peeked into the room. Joe had jumped down from the bed—his front paws now on the edge of the mattress apparently asking to go outside. Babe was happy to find that he wouldn’t have to start from scratch with housebreaking. He swung his feet around to the floor and noticed a small puddle by the door.
    Oh well, he thought, so what did I expect? Babe reached for his slippers but they were not there. He found them a minute later under his desk— chewed to pieces.
     
    Babe picked up the shoes and pointed them at Joe.
    “ No, no, no .”
     
    Joe tried to turn and run at the same time. His over-sized feet slipped on the wood floor. At one point all four feet splayed out and his chin hit the floor, hard.