“Alright. Here’s what you’re gonna do. First, you give Ava her fucking birthday money back. That leaves you with the twelve-thousand dollars in cash you pocketed. Deposit nine-thousand of that cash in your bank account to stay under the threshold that gets yourself reported to the IRS. Take the other ten-thousand dollars you need for Golden Boy’s tuition from my bank account. NOT a DAMN penny more! That’ll leave me with just enough to pay my rent and utility bills next month, since I don’t get paid until the fifteenth. Use the remaining three-thousand dollars in cash for the mortgage, Christmas, and whatever else comes up. And lastly: Your favorite child will have to get a job. Tell him it builds character. It would do him some good.”
“Thank you, Son!” he said, and I was surprised to see his eyes getting somewhat glassy. I was not surprised about now being his son again. “But ... Why are you helping me?”
“You mean, apart from the fact that you would just take the money anyway, and didn’t plan on asking, so I have to work with you in order to not have my credit score fucked?”
As far as I was concerned, I was done with him. It didn’t matter to me if he regretted it anymore, because now I knew that, no matter what, I would always be just an afterthought for him. This was the last fucking time I got my hopes up and entertained the idea of maybe trusting him again. That made four people out of my family that I had completely written off, since I would never forget Logan’s smile as I was beaten by his friends, and the grandparents had tried to force me home, completely ignoring the damage it would do. But if I made that clear right then, and thereby also made it clear that there was no hope for reconciliation anymore, he no longer had any reason to not just take everything from me to give it to his preferred children while he still could. I decided to appease him. But I needed to go about it in a way that didn’t seem too obvious or desperate.
“First, if I don’t help you out with Logan’s tuition, he’ll be here instead of a three-hour drive away. Second, your argument about him losing his scholarship does make sense.” I said, and then took a deep breath. “And third ... I’ve been talking with Danny a lot lately. She keeps telling me how you’re all actually trying to find a way to prove your sincerity to me. Shit like this doesn’t exactly help that cause, but I will admit that you’re in a shitty situation you obviously weren’t equipped to handle. So, I’ll help you fix this. Again. And then we’ll see what you do when we get a break from dealing with this constant string of existential threats.”
The car was silent for a few seconds, before Aaron spoke again.
“God. I keep screwing up, don’t I?” I assumed that was a rhetorical question and refrained from answering. “I’m really sorry, Son. I want you to know, I will make this right. At least ... as soon as I figured out this crap right now.”
“Uh-huh. You know, this was nice. I think, as a family, we bonded. Next time we should do this with a couple of beers. Maybe make it our regular father-son-thing.” He heard the sarcasm in my voice, but I think he was still happy that I was prepared to give him yet another chance. Or he was just happy about the money. I honestly couldn’t tell.
I didn’t feel like acknowledging his promise about repaying me, so I simply got out of the car. As soon as I turned to slam the car door shut, I saw rapid movements in the kitchen window. When Aaron and I stepped into the house, we both heard the furniture squeak like people just jumped onto it. That caused Aaron and me to share a knowing look before I rolled my eyes. And when we stepped into the living room, we were greeted by a multitude of tense faces, trying to figure out what we had talked about. I also noticed that, while Claire was back, Ava had not joined them.
I watched Aaron walk past me into the kitchen, open the fridge, and pull out two beers. He opened one, handed me the other with a wry smile, and sat next to his wife.
All of the people watching us noticed the change in the way he carried himself as he sat on the sofa next to his wife, took Claire’s hand, and gave her a happy and reassuring smile. Her eyes got wide as she immediately understood why Aaron was suddenly so relaxed, and I could literally see the tension leave her body as well.
“So...” I said to Danielle as I sat in the armchair Aaron had vacated earlier, and opened my own beer. “ ... sorry for the wait. What was it you wanted to talk about?”
“Well ... we ... What just happened?” Danielle stammered as her eyes kept jumping between me and Aaron, trying to interpret his behavior. I was in no mood to entertain her curiosity.
“Don’t be nosy, Danny. Let’s try again. What did you want to talk about?” I rejected her question. Danny immediately picked up on my bad mood. The rest of them didn’t. So, while Danny immediately backed off, Granny tried next.
“No, I think we all would like to know. What just happened between you two?” she asked.
“We bonded over making up mean nicknames for the people who called social services on my ass.” I crudely rebuffed Granny’s insistent demand. She didn’t like it, but I didn’t care. “Listen, can we please just get on with this? I have about seven hours before my alarm is going to wake me up for work. But before I can get to sleep, I still have to make the hour-long drive home and haven’t had a chance to eat since breakfast. So, either Danielle starts talking, or I’ll leave.”
“Why haven’t you eaten yet!?” Claire asked as she jumped up and rushed into the kitchen.
“Oh. Well. Okay.” Danielle started, visibly gathering her thoughts. “You just mentioned social services. Yesterday, Ms. Potts did her interviews with Aaron, Claire and your siblings. It went well. For the most part. They are obviously not thrilled with the idea of a minor living alone, and it’s possible she will show up again to check on you ... and us. So...” She paused to take a deep breath. “ ... we thought it would be best if you no longer lived alone.”
“I just finished turning the place into my home, I’m not moving out again.” I answered straight away, right as Claire showed up and presented me with a plate full of sandwiches. “Ouuh, nice! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, Baby!” she smiled while squeezing my shoulder, and sat back next to her husband. “And we’re not asking you to move back here. Even though I’d like to. We were thinking that ... maybe ... if you’re Okay with it...”
At that moment, I heard a dull thump in the hallway, and turned to see Ava standing right next to an almost bursting travel bag she had dropped to the floor.
“Oh.” was all I could say.
“She is eighteen now.” Danielle quickly supplied. “If she moved in with you, social services wouldn’t have any reason to worry about you being on your own. At the same time, she would be removed from the house, so even if they had any suspicions about our ... relationships ... that would become a non-issue as well.”
“And you’re fine with this?” I asked Ava.
“Yes.” was all she cared to comment on. So, I turned to the parents.
“And you’re fine with this?” I asked, looking at Claire and Aaron.
“Well, I don’t like the idea of all my children being hours-long drives away from home so suddenly, to be honest.” Claire explained. “But ... it’s only temporary, right? Maybe we’re lucky and they’ll check on you even before Christmas.”