“You know how he gets treated,” Dad said. “You really want that for him?”
“No. But how is making him ashamed of everything going to fix it?”
“I don’t want him to be ashamed,” Dad said. “But he’s got enough going on with his depression, he doesn’t need to be bullied all the time too. He wouldn’t be such a target if he fit in more. If he could just, you know, act a little more normal.”
Mom glared at Dad as soon as she saw me. “Here,” she said, pulling out a seat for me. “You sure you don’t want something? We can go somewhere else.”
“I’m okay. Thanks.”
“You feeling all right?” Mom pressed the back of her hand against my forehead. It was greasy from being on the stuffy plane for so long.
“Yeah. I’m fine. Sorry.”
Dad wouldn’t look at me. He kept studying his hands, wiping at them with his white Subway-brand napkin, though I doubted they were dirty, since he’d eaten a salad.
Stephen Kellner always ordered salad at Subway.
“I’ll be right back. Anybody need anything?”
Mom shook her head. Dad grabbed his empty water cup and took it back for a refill.
Once he was out of earshot, Mom said, “Darius...”
“It’s fine,” I said.
“Don’t be mad.” She squeezed my hand. “He just...”
Laleh chose that moment to let out a huge, resonant burp.
Unlike Javaneh Esfahani, Laleh was perfectly capable of burping.
I laughed, but Mom was appalled.
“Laleh!”
“Sorry,” she said, but at least she was smiling again.
Thankfully, the meatball sub had averted the impending Laleh-clysm.
She was still giggling when Dad sat back down. He dipped his napkin in his ice water and handed it to Laleh for her to clean off her mouth, but it was a lost cause.
“Here,” Mom said, standing. “Let’s go to the bathroom, Laleh. Come on.”
A Level Six Awkward Silence descended upon us, despite the bustle of the terminal all around.
Awkward Silences were powerful like that.
“Hey.” Dad cleared his throat. “About earlier.”
I glanced up at Dad, but he was staring at his hands.
Stephen Kellner had angular, powerful hands. Exactly what you’d expect from an Übermensch.
“Let’s try to get along. Okay? I want you to enjoy this trip.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry.”
