After a quick shower, I was going through my closet to find a pair of jeans and a shirt when I came across something I’d forgotten about.
Shoved toward the back was an old navy suit, the one my dad wore to marry my mom. She gave it to me when I was about sixteen or seventeen, telling me it was the only thing of my dad’s she kept. To her, it represented the union that resulted in me.
I didn’t tell her that to me it represented the man I didn’t want to become.
Clenching my fist, I took a deep breath. Violence wasn’t a behavior I engaged in. Mental warfare was my weapon of choice. Although I used my mental prowess to win wars in business, but not life. In life, I tried to be true to who I was and wanted to be.
Running my palm over the sleeve of the jacket, I took in the cheap fabric, some type of poly blend. I’m sure it was all my dad could afford at the time, but it didn’t make up for his poor choices when it came to my mom. He could have worn shorts and a T-shirt if he’d just held his temper in check.
Over the last week, I’d visited Margo and Priscilla twice, both times bringing food and dessert.
Margo denied it, but she walked around with a giant weight of guilt and fear on her shoulder. She’d told me in late-night whispers how she was upset with herself over our inappropriateness, but more disappointed in how long she’d made her daughter suffer. Then she would smile like the world was rainbows and unicorns when Priscilla was around. I reminded her that her soon-to-be ex-husband was the inappropriate one.
“I know, but I stayed,” was always her response.
Pulling on my jeans, I made a mental note to tell Priscilla about the suit. How it loomed in my closet, reminding me never to be like that guy. She’d probably find it fascinating and derive a million hidden meanings from the story.
I liked Priscilla, and I believe she liked me too, which was why I was getting dressed to take Margo out for a drink. When Margo asked Priscilla if she minded having Penny back for a girls’ night, so she could join me, Priscilla tapped out a text faster than someone calling an Uber after the Celtics game.
I didn’t want to pressure Margo, but I also wanted to take her out and give her some happy moments. Of course, I asked if she’d prefer to come toward the Back Bay or stay in Brookline. She wanted to stay closer to home, so I made a reservation at a place called Barcelona. Neither of us had ever been there, so it seemed like a good choice for a fresh start.
“Hey, Mick,” Priscilla called to me from the couch as her mother let me inside their house.
“You look hot,” I whispered in Margo’s ear as I gave her a kiss on her cheek. Moving away from her, I took in her black leather tank and dark jeans. “Smoking hot.”
“Thanks.”
“But the more important girl is calling for me,” I said, winking.
“You know, you don’t have to be so nice. She’s so taken with you.”
“We’ve discussed this ...”
Another one of our late-night chats was about Priscilla and her fast feelings for me. Margo said she was always talking aboutMick thisandMick that.
I told Margo that Priscilla was taken with our similar stories, and it was only natural. I didn’t really know for sure, but it was what I suspected.
“Hey, look at you, downstairs,” I said to Priscilla.
“Mom said Penny and I could hang down here as long as I don’t fidget.”
“Mom knows best ... that I know. My mom always did,” I told her, knowing Margo was in earshot.
“I can hear you laying it on thick,” she said, walking into the room.
Priscilla rolled her eyes. “Thank you, Mick, for getting her out of my hair.”
“I heard that too,” Margo called out.
“Seriously,” Priscilla said, lowering her voice. “She’s checking on me every second. I’m fine. I knew when I met you in Nike that I was going to be like you. You’re strong.”
If I could have saidoh shit, I would have.
“I mean, I didn’t know about this.” She waved her hand between her mom and me. “But that night, I thought about it and said to myself, ‘That guy knows something I don’t.’”
“Maybe we shouldn’t go,” Margo said, looking at her daughter. “Maybe we should stay and chat.”
“Mom!”
