Party. It was almost noon, and I wasn’t sure what Velvet still needed me to do to help her get ready for that besides fetch shampoo. Guess it was my job to know. Maybe if Eddie’s family would stop accosting me in record shops.
“How’s your noggin?” Mad Dog asked as the car turned off the Strip.
Bad. Messy. In a tizzy. And it was all Fen Sarafian’s fault. I know he saw me tapping my finger on the counter. I had to do something, or I wouldn’t have been able to speak full sentences. It’s easier when there’s a rhythm; my word-pixie falls asleep and leaves me alone.
But talking about the current state of My Brain was another uncomfortable subject when it came to Mad Dog. Because our health insurance didn’t cover the doctors I saw after my accident. And months later, when some enormous hospital bill came, my dad almost had a couple nervous breakdowns—first when he thought he owed it, then when he owed nothing.
NowIfelt like I owed Mad Dog. Some honesty. Not all, but a little. So I answered, “Been struggling a little since yesterday. Might be stress. Returning here after being gone.”
He nodded. “You need to settle in. The lake is a pure place. You bled in its waters, so now you need to make peace with it. Forgive each other,” he said in a very Zen-like manner.
“Uh…”
“Go to the dam and see where you fell.”
Dad coughed in the front seat. “I don’t know about that, M.D. Not right away.”
“I didn’t say today.” Mad Dog shrugged. “But soon. Make peace with the lake so your brain can finish healing. Then you can enjoy the festival in a few weeks with your cheesecake boy, if that makes you happy for the summer.”
Cheesecake boy? What the hell…?
Mad Dog flicked me a look. “Don’t act surprised. I know about you and Serj’s kid.”
Okay, so this conversation was happening. Anxious, I shifted in my seat to stop my restless leg from bouncing while the unspoken piece hung between us: domestic girl dating semi-famous business associate’s son was crossing class lines. But as I told my father when I first broke the news about Eddie, it wasn’t as if Dad and I were working for some 1950s old-money billionaire. Mad Dogwasrock and roll, rule-breaking and whatnot.
Modern times: get with them.
“Serj Sarafian and I go way back,” Mad Dog said, watching the scenery out his window. “We’re partners. I have opinions about our business… business in which your cheesecake is unfortunately at the center. It clouds my feeling about him. I wanted Serj to go to the Philippines, but he was too busy with the festival.”
“Oh?” I hadn’t heard this part from Eddie. Then again, after everything Fen said in the record shop, it made me wonder what else Eddie wasn’t telling me.
“If Serj’s kid doesn’t fuck up the amphitheater lease renewalin the Philippines, then Leo and I will bless the two of you like the Pope and welcome him into the Family with open arms,” Mad Dog said. “Right, Leo?”
“With all due respect, speak for yourself, boss,” Dad muttered from the front seat.
Mad Dog laughed. “Hey. I tried,kattekat.”
“Yes, sir.” I feigned a chuckle, pretending that none of this talk was affecting me. But it was. It felt as if Mad Dog was saying that he was attaching performance-based conditions to my dating Eddie. If Eddie did good, then Mad Dog would… what? What did his approval entail? I didn’t know, and I didn’t like him involved in my personal life. But I felt too small to tell him that, and my head was too full of Fen Sarafian’s accusations.
No one believed in Eddie. Not Fen. Not my dad. Not Mad Dog. All of this negativity was creating doubt in my head, and I needed to sort it out. Figure out what was real and true.
“For the time being,” Mad Dog suggested, “let’s just all try to put on a good face for Velvet’s surprise party.”
“I don’t think it’s a surprise for anyone at this point,” I told him. “Exie’s got it in hand.”
“When Velvet’s planning a party, there’salwaysa surprise,” he said enigmatically, scratching Frida behind the ear. “Right, little one?”
Frida rolled over on the seat between us. I wondered if Dad and I were rolling over too.
We just hadn’t realized it.
NORMA’S COMMANDMENTS
BE PROFESSIONAL
Wear your uniform from 8AM until 8PM.
Knock/ask permission before entering private spaces.
