snarls, “Stop being a rude dick and listening in on all your customer’s conversations. Maybe then your tips will pick up. Otherwise”—he gives a negligent shrug—“I suspect more people than my mother and father will be complaining to your management. Oh, and for the record, I’d like pancakes.”
If I’m bursting with pride, I can only imagine what Kara’s feeling. This boy/man she raised from the time he was mere cells in her body didn’t hide he wasn’t down with what was going on. He also, with a few words, showed his mother she had his support and love.
Less than a half hour in his presence, and I’m already falling for him.
Then Kara pipes in with, “I’d like waffles with blueberries on the side.” She leans forward and hands her menu to the waiter, who hasn’t made a move to take it.
I lift it from her hands, not letting her hold on to any more burden than she has to, not anymore. “And I’ll take the manager’s special. Plus I’ll take the manager,” I tack on.
That seems to startle the kid out of his trance. Quickly he pulls out his pad, writes everything down, snatches the menus from my hands, and darts toward the kitchen.
Kevin painstakingly draws a line through another question on his list. Then he asks me, “So, are the bodies dead?”
And despite the fact I know I’ll continue to be interrogated for the rest of the meal, Kevin’s question snaps the tension between all of us. Somehow we all manage to stop laughing before the manager arrives at our table to profusely apologize before we have to say a word.
Jennings
“So, what happens now,” Kevin asks after we make our way out of the cafe. “Is this ‘see you until I graduate’ or something? Or do we make plans for actually getting to know one another?”
I’m exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. I don’t know if I’ve ever talked so much about myself as I was answering the list of questions my son threw at me.
Except maybe when I was getting to know his mother.
Knowing he’s part Kara’s, I should have expected he’d ask anything that came to mind. But his questions took me all over the place. But when the simple “What’s your favorite color?” which I easily answered, “Blue,” segued to, “Do you believe using a nuclear energy—the kind that makes bombs—could propel a spaceship faster than chemical rockets, thereby accelerating the space program into a new generation of exploration?” I thought I was going to need the Heimlich maneuver.
Fortunately, while I recovered, Kara intervened. “Stop trying to interview people for your AP Physics project without giving them any context. We’ve talked about that. You need to give them an introduction and ask their permission to use the question in the results, otherwise it doesn’t count.”
“I wasn’t going to use his answer,” Kevin argued.
Kara just raised a brow.
“Well, unless it was a really good one. I mean, come on, Mom. Jennings is a pilot. He might have some insight into the topic.”
“Maybe if I understood half of what you asked, I might have an opinion on it,” I muttered.
Kevin’s dimple popped out before he presented an explanation about the kind of energy it takes to launch a rocket into space. During that time, I sipped coffee and openly admired the young man, while secretly admiring the woman who raised him.
How did she do it? I want to ask her, but it obviously wasn’t the time.
Now, we’re outside awkwardly blocking the narrow sidewalk. And I have to explain what happens in the immediate future. I have no idea how it’s going to be received. “Well, I have to fly back,” I start.
Kevin’s face closes up, and Kara’s face pales even as her lips compress together. I hurriedly continue. “I only packed enough clothes for the weekend. I need to get enough stuff to last me for the summer, a work computer, things like that. I can run my business from here, but I need time to prepare.” Seeing the relief Kevin’s trying to hide, I dare to lift a hand to his shoulder and squeeze. “I’ll only be gone three days tops.”
“Oh…okay. Sorry, it was just… Sorry.”
“We’re all dealing with something new here, Kevin. And I think I’ve proven there’s nothing you can’t ask me.” I hold his eyes as I speak the truth. I don’t look at Kara because right now, this is about regaining the altitude I might have lost with my son. It’s not