17. Dean - The Plan is out, Sort of

Dean - The Plan is out, Sort of

Chapter seventeen

It's still storming when I wake up the following morning, but much less so than last night. Now, only a light rain is rapping above me. It was strange sleeping in that house, but the weather made it impossible for us to drive back to the city.

Nevertheless, I get up to make a pot of coffee, and in the process, I manage to wake Coral up, who was sleeping in the living room on a pile of blankets she got from the trunk of her car.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Oh, you know. I've had worse beds."

"You're kidding."

"I wish. The beds at camp are like literally sleeping on wooden slabs."

"Ah, camp. I see. I was wondering if after all of these years I was going to learn that you had a stint in prison or something."

I laugh but note that there is not even a smile on her face.

"Uh…"

"Well, I have spent a night in jail."

"What? There's no way."

"Yeah huh."

"For what? Walking in the street or something dumb like that?" I can't imagine the sweet, nurturing mother before me doing anything wrong to anybody.

"I was protesting in college and refused to leave when the cops demanded us to."

I sigh in relief. "That's not so bad."

"Maybe not. But it was still traumatic."

"I'm sure. I'm not discounting that. I was just a little terrified for a second there that you did something more violent."

"Of course not."

"That's what I figured. That's why I was so surprised. Did they end up charging you with anything?"

"Disturbing the peace."

"What were you protesting about, anyway?"

"The medical testing of animals at UCLA."

I nod but then remember that she is an avid meat-eater.

"Animal rights? Really?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I just—I don't know. I didn't see that for you…with all of that cheesesteak you eat and whatnot."

"You really need to let go of this whole notion that everyone from Philadelphia eats one thing, and one thing only. But fair point. However, I don't think animals should unduly suffer."

"I see. I would have to agree with that."

"Yeah."

Soon, the rain picks up again.

"Come on!" Coral expresses in anger, after hearing it and looking outside. "I'm never going to make it home, am I?"

"Sorry, Cor."

"Nothing we can do about it. Do you have any food to make for breakfast?"

I check my fridge even though I know the answer. "No."

"Do you think we could ask Mae for some extra eggs?"

I'm still not sure where she and I stand, so I advise against it. However, I do offer to walk to the local market right down the road.

"You'll get soaked."

"I don't mind. It isn't that far. Make a list of what you want me to get."

She does, and I practically run over there to collect the items. And as I'm sprinting back with my arms full, I see Mae in her backyard struggling with something amid the falling rain. I want to go over and help her, but I'm worried she'll just chew me out or ask even more questions about buying her house that I don't have honest answers for. So, I try to dodge her detection and go back inside as quickly as possible.

You coward, I scold myself, after closing the door behind me.

"Wow. That was fast."

"Yeah." I hand everything over to Coral and then hop in the shower as I'm dripping from the falling drops and my own sweat.

I don't think I take that long, but when I get out, she has an entire meal ready for us.

"Thank you so much, Cor."

"No problem. If I wasn't here, I'd be cooking for my own babies."

"Dyl! Come get some breakfast!"

"It kind of seems like he's been in a mood today," Coral offers, after we don't hear anything.

"What do you mean? Just his normal teenage stuff."

"Well, that. But I'm sure it's also hard on him to be isolated here with limited access to his technology. The internet has been in and out."

"Seriously? It's been two days."

"I know. But kids these days are glued to their screens."

I shake my head, although I'm responsible for allowing my son to become so dependent on his devices in the first place. There were plenty of nights when I probably should've talked with him, but I instead let him watch the television while I finished up some work.

"Dylan!" I yell again.

"What?" he screams back through his squeaky voice.

"Come down here, please. Coral made breakfast."

"I'm not hungry!"

I look at Coral, and she says that she'll pack some up for him to have later.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry."

"Hey, I've raised teenage boys, too. It isn't for the faint of heart. And you have to do it on your own. I can't imagine that."

"At least he's not a she. I'd have no idea what I was doing in that case."

She nods her head. "Oh, yeah. Girls are hard, too. Sometimes, even more so."

"Yeah. When you have a boy, you only have one thing to worry about—if you know what I mean."

"Mhm."

"But with girls—"

"You don't have to tell me twice. I'm living that reality right now."

"How do you do it?" I ask, after collecting several pieces of bacon on my fork.

"You just try to raise someone who respects herself and her body."

"That's a good way to put it. I feel like both genders could benefit from that."

"For sure. And who knows? Maybe you'll have a daughter someday. She already has one of them, right?"

I pause to think about who she is referring to.

"Oh, Mae?"

"Duh."

This again?

"Speaking of which, I found another plot that looks promising. I'll show you after breakfast."

We continue talking until our bellies are full. And after we've worked together to put the food away and clean the dishes, she brings my laptop back over to me.

"Here. What do you think of this?"

I read the details and see that it's entirely too small.

"That's only like half of my property alone."

"Really?" She puts her glasses on and reviews the information.

"Yeah."

"Oh."

I close the screen, put my hands behind my head, and lean back a little in my chair. "I'm telling you. This is the best option."

"Not when it comes to the future you could have with Mae."

"But it is when it comes to my future bank account."

She scoffs. "Yeah, yeah. You've already made it clear where your priorities are."

"What can I say? Dylan has to go to college someday, doesn't he?"

"Dean, I'm going to clobber you the next time you use that one on me. You know full well that you personally have tens of millions, or more, not to mention 90% of Cornel Condominiums!" she nearly shouts at me. "So cut it out with the ‘I've got to make this money or I can't send my son to college.' crap." Coral gives me an angry look before opening the computer again.

No one can say that I don't know when to keep my mouth shut. And this is one of those times.

With her busy in her pointless search, I go talk to my son to find out what's bothering him.

"Dylan? Dylan!" I have to scream loudly to be heard over his music.

He turns it off and opens the door a crack.

"What?"

"Can we talk for a second?"

"About what?"

"About you."

"Me?"

"Yeah."

I step into his room and sit on his bed.

"Come here." I pat the quilt next to me.

He rolls his eyes but does as I suggest. "Coral seems to think you're in some kind of mood. What do you think, Dyl?"

"I'm just bored."

"Why don't you draw some more?"

"I don't want to."

"Do you miss Mina?" I take a stab in the dark.

He's quiet for several seconds, but then he says, "Yeah."

"I figured."

"What about you, Dad?"

"What do you mean?"

"Mae, do you miss her?"

"Oh. I, uh—"

"You don't have to play stupid with me, Dad. I know you like her."

"As a friend maybe."

He gives me a look, and I can't help but crack.

"Fine. Yes. I do—or did."

"Until I told Mina about your plan to buy their house, right?" Dylan murmurs.

"Well, yeah. That didn't exactly help things. Why did you do that, by the way?"

"I…I guess I was just getting overwhelmed with my feelings for her."

"So, you felt like the only thing to do was push her away?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, buddy." I hug him from the side. "I remember being your age. Girls are really tricky."

"You got nervous around them, too?"

"Of course! I still do. And your first real crush can be a doozy. Mine was on the prettiest girl at Marina Middle School. Well, that is until your mother moved into town."

"Did you ever go out with her?"

I brush my dark hair out of my face. "I wish. She wouldn't give me the time of day."

"Really? I always kind of assumed that since you were on the football team, you were popular with girls."

"If only that's all it took. No, I was kind of a nerd—despite being a somewhat decent athlete. And I was only on the team to please my brother."

"So, what happened with the girl?"

"I asked her to the homecoming dance and made a complete jerk of myself in front of several other students."

"She said no?"

I laugh. "Yep."

"That must have stung."

"It was embarrassing, for sure."

"Then what?"

"I got over it—and her."

"You think I'll get over Mina?"

"Maybe. But I also think you should go for it if you like her."

"But we're not really going to live here. And who knows where her family is going to go after you buy their house."

"Nobody knows what will happen in the future. That's why all that matters is today and now."

It's not lost on me that I'm simultaneously giving myself advice about my love life. And if Coral is listening in on our conversation, I bet she's dying with laughter at the irony.