“Hi, Zade. You don’t know the effort it took to call you. Appreciate me.” She sighed into the phone, but I’d bet a million bucks she had a smile on her face. “Tell me everything. Classes. Workouts. The girl your sister mentioned.”
“Aw, hell. I’m going to kill Zaria. No girl yet.” I put headphones in and decided to stroll home. It had been a while since my mom and I talked. “Classes are interesting. I’m only taking five to balance the workouts.”
“I’m debating what I want to know more about. Start with throwing. You started last week, right?” She yelled at someone in the background and I chuckled. She was a boss, in all senses of the term. She was strong and independent as hell, found comfort in telling others what to do and she was right almost every time. “Well?”
“Geez, Mom. You called me, remember?” I laughed and decided to answer with the truth. “I’m tight. It’s been pinching a bit, but I’m starting a new workout that focuses on body strength. Nicole is kicking my ass and her new Pilates instructor is her on steroids.”
“Pinching? Have you talked to Christopher? You should bring that up to him.”
“I follow Nicole’s orders. She says I’m fine, I’m fine. That’s what I’m going with.” Some girls grouped up and all pointed and smiled at me. I waved at them, causing them to squeal. I bit back a smile. They were insane.Fucking Zwillows Pillows.
“She is a tough cookie, that Nicole. I love her. I’ll need to have my assistant send her a fruit basket. Does she like fruit? A trainer wouldn’t want a thing of chocolate. Probably a sin or something. Hmm. What do you think?” She spoke without breathing in between her sentences.
“Mom, you’re a nut. I miss you.” I was a full-fledged momma’s boy and had no problem admitting it. I loved my mom. “I think she’ll love a fruit basket.”
“Good. I already put it in my to-do list. Now, dish it on the girl.”
“Don’t you want to hear about my classes? I’m a student first, athlete second.”
“Yeah, fine. Sure. You’re going to be fine. You work hard, study hard and I’ll ground you if you don’t remain a good student. Enough about that.”
“How will you ground me? You live an ocean away!”
“Uh, I have my ways. No more phone bill paid. I’ll plant spies in your life you won’t know who’re real or fake.”
“You’re terrifying.”
“You’re avoiding the topic.”
“Damn. Okay. She intrigued me but she wants nothing to do with me besides being friends. That’s really it.” I sighed. “Also, it’s weird talking to you about this.”
“I love it. Finally, a girl who isn’t jumping to jump into your bed.”
“Mom. Awkward.” I blushed, like crazy. “Ew.”
“I am a very forward-minded person. I can handle it. You better be being safe or I’m going to send you STD pamphlets in the mail. Every week. To the house. You hear that?”
“Good lord, mom. Super glad we had such a happy talk.”
“We aren’t done, son.”
“Yes. I’m done. We’ll talk this weekend with Zaria. Love you.” I didn’t wait to hear her response and hung up. I shook my head. My mom had to be the best and craziest person I knew. She texted me, as I knew she would, and I laughed.
Mom: Love you too. Be safe. I can still ruin your life.
The uneventful and silent walk back irked me. Everyone should have been home.Where are they?I checked my phone and saw a text that I’d overlooked from Aaron. They were at Cam’s. Callie and Greta were there. That answered my next question of what I was going to do. I threw my laptop onto the table and headed straight there.
* * * *
“Z-man, good to see ya? How’s your summer going?” Jake, the long-time bouncer at Cam’s, shook my hand. He’d always been a good dude and I liked him. His neck tattoo might be too intense with the skulls, but I wasn’t one to judge.
“Real nice, yours?” I cared to know but also tried to spot my friends and Callie in the distance. It was more crowded than normal, the excitement of the new year bringing out everyone and their mother. I saw no signs of my overbearing friends or Callie’s long dark hair. Her hair stood out anywhere, the brunette waves a goddamn weakness of mine. He spoke about his trip and I said the appropriate things. I excused myself to go search for my friends and spied them in one of the back booths with two or three empty pitchers and a wild game of quarters going on.
Instead of approaching them right away, I watched them. Callie and Greta were cheering, their lazy smiles probably fueled by the beer. Aaron laughed and jealousy coursed through me. They rarely got that animated around me unless we were on the field. Once again, I questioned myself and I hated it. Jeff saw me and motioned for me to join them. I waved like a fucking dork and strode over. Callie met my eyes and bit her lip. That was new.
“Look who it is! Z-man, Zwillows!” Jeff yelled, a little too loudly, and a couple of others around us clapped. I shook them off, not wanting the attention right then. “Join us, bro. I thought you’d be hooking up with some girl with nice knockers.”
“Not today, no. I got home to an empty house. It sucked,” I admitted and stood at the end of the table. It smelled like beer and although I didn’t drink a lot, I wanted to. I saw Callie’s twitch of her face at Jeff’s words and I wanted to erase that. “My mom called me. Nothing too exciting.”
