would’ve found the scene idyllic. Two acres of grassy lawn bordered by his mother’s flower garden, and a kidney-shaped pool with a corkscrew water slide the twins loved and a hot tub nobody used, now that the novelty had worn off. His father was on the riding mower on the far side of the yard, and his brother, Jason, was skimming the pool in his Ray-Bans and gym shorts.
“Jase, I did that already,” David said, walking over. It had become his Saturday chore to clean the pool, after his parents let go of the pool guys.
“I figured.” Jason shrugged. “Dad told me to do it again.”
“Why?” David looked at the water, squinting hard. “It’s perfect.”
“I know. He asked me to do it.”
“What’s his mood?” David and his brother routinely shared intel on their father. If he was in a good mood, they tried to keep him happy. If he was in a bad one, they stayed out of his way. David wondered how well he really knew his father, after what Julian told him.
“Honestly, he’s happy as shit. God knows why.” Jason shrugged.
David knew why, but didn’t tell Jason because his father was already looking over.
“Here, let me do that.” He held out his hand for the skimmer. “You’re, like, rowing. It’s not an oar, it’s a skimmer.”
“Dude, thanks. This is so boring.” Jason handed over the skimmer, and in the background, their father cut the ignition, then got off and walked toward David with a smile.
“How was tennis?” his father called out, and David and Jason exchanged glances, since how was tennis wasn’t his father’s typical greeting.
“Great.” David smiled, and his father took off his sunglasses and wiped his face with a meaty hand. Little pieces of dirt, what his mother called schmutz, were stuck to the sweat on his father’s face.
“David, you don’t have to clean the pool. Jason can do it.” His father gestured at the skimmer. “Give it back to your brother.”
“That’s okay, but I already did it. Did you know that?”
“Yeah, but I got clippings in it from the mower.”
“I’ll do it again.”
“No, Jason can. Jason, you do it.” His father grabbed the skimmer from David and handed it to Jason. “Jase, why did you give it to David to do? I asked you to do it.”
“I didn’t give it to him. He offered to do it.”
“I asked you to do it. So you do it.”
“Fine.” Jason started skimming the pool.
David’s mouth went dry. “Dad, I can do it. It’s my job.”
“It doesn’t always have to be your job. Jason can help out around here.”
“I don’t mind.” Jason kept skimming.
David couldn’t let it go, for some reason. “Dad, I don’t mind, either. It’s my job. I’ll clean it.”
His father pursed his lips. “I said, let Jason do it. He can help out around here.”
“He does,” David said defensively.
“You do it every morning. You do the recycling and trash. What does he do?”
“He works, he has to work.”
“He lives under my roof, so he can pull his own weight.”
Jason shot David a warning glance behind their father’s back.
“Anyway, David, I have plans.” His father wiped his hand on his chest. He had on a white Lacoste shirt, and his fingers left a faintly grim print. “I got three tickets to the Phils next week. Wanna go?”
“Really?” David didn’t get it. His father had never asked him to go to a Phillies game before. The Hybrinskis didn’t do things together. His mother did things with the girls, like a separate family. The boys didn’t do anything.
“What’s your problem? Your father bought tickets for the game. You wanna go or not?”
“Sure.” David turned to Jason. “Jase?”
His father interjected, “No, it’s just us. You and me, David.”
“Oh.” David couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone anywhere alone with his father. Jason looked away.
“Yes, but you can ask Julian.”
“Julian?” David asked, now entirely confused. “But you don’t like Julian.”
“I never said that.”
Jason burst into laughter. “Dad, you hate Julian. You say it all the time.”
“Who asked you?” David’s father snapped, whirling angrily around. “Because I didn’t hear it if they did.”
“Dad, chill.” Jason put up both hands, edging away with the skimmer hooked under his thumb.
“David, as I was saying, I thought it might be fun to take you and Julian.”
David didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know if Julian is free that night. He might have plans.”
“Give him a call. Ask him.”
“Okay, I will.”
His father gestured at the house. “Go ask him.”
“Right now?”
“There’s no time like the present.