Sebastian and I locked eyes. His pupils were dilated, and I couldn’t tell if he was afraid to tell them about the music or about us. Either way, this would only get worse if he kept hiding everything.
I looked at Dany. “He did study for his exams,” which was true if we counted the two hours he spent on that accounting assignment while I shoveled cow dung.“But he’s also here because of me. During the family reunion, we started talking about my music. I asked him if he’d sing some parts?—”
“That’s not true. Don’t listen to him,” Sebastian cut in. “Italked him into it. After hearing his songs, I suggested we record vocals, andImade him promise not to tell you, because I knew exactly how you’d react.”
“So, you really are making music again?” Laura asked.
“I knew you were up to something,” Dany grunted. “Goddamn it.”
“See? This is what I meant. Of course,youwouldn’t understand.”
“Oh, I understand,” Dany’s voice sharpened. “My own son doesn’t trust me enough to tell me what he’s doing. He waited for us to leave so he could sneak around behind our backs. I bet if we hadn’t come home a day early, you never would have said anything.” Dany looked at me. “Did he make you promise not to tell us anything?”
“Leave him out of this,” Sebastian shot back.
“How am I supposed to do that, huh?Youpulled him into it.” Dany turned back to me. “Alex, I’m not harboring any resentment toward you. You’ve proven yourself to be loyal and trustworthy, which is why I know that if you were asked not to tell us, you’d be conflicted, but you’d still keep your word. And at least you told us the truth now. So, I don’t blame you.”
“But you blame me?” Sebastian barked.
Although it seemed like I wouldn’t be thrown out of the house immediately, the way the conversation was going was no less worrying.
“That’s why I didn’t want you to know about it,” Sebastian shouted. “If you’d known I was even thinking about singing professionally again, you would’ve tried to talk me out of it the second you found out.”
“Professionally? What are you talking about?” Dany yelled, frowning so hard he looked ten years older.
“Alex is the most talented musician I’ve ever met,” Sebastian said. “His music made me want to sing again. It’s good enough to shake up the entire industry. That’s why I’m here. So what if we spent a week recording an album without telling you? I tried to preventthisfrom happening. I didn’t want to argue with you beforehand, because you don’t understand how fragile art canbe. What a soul-crushing experience it is when your ideas and plans get trampled before they have a chance to fully blossom. But that’s what you would’ve done, because you don’t think any of this is worth pursuing.”
Dany’s face turned redder, his neck practically swelling.
But Laura stepped between them. “Could you two please stop fighting?”
It was only the second time I’d heard her raise her voice like that—aside from the reunion, when they’d had a similar clash—but it seemed to help, because both of them dropped their gaze to the floor. They probably wouldn’t want to hear it, but the way they reacted, they looked like father and son after all.
“Thank you,” she sighed. “So…Sebastian. You two,” she pointed at him and me, “are making music together? Is that why you’re really here?”
“Yes,” Sebastian replied, annoyed but quiet.
“This issucha bad idea,” Dany bellowed.
Sebastian rolled his eyes and groaned. “And why is that?”
“Because we know what happened last time.” Dany jumped up and jabbed his index finger into the table so hard it turned red. “And because you’re in the middle of getting a degree that’s supposed to provide for you and put a roof over your head. You can’t chase castles in the sky this close to the finish line. Once you have a respectable job and a stable income, then you can think about taking it up as a hobby if you want to. But you can’t waste all that time right now. Nothing’s going to come of this.”
Seb cleared his throat and replied, calmly but firmly, “Is that so?”
“Yes, it is.” Dany turned to Laura, who glared at him. “What?Someonehas to tell him. He can’t waste his life on a hobby.”
Sebastian shook his head. “I’m at a loss for words.”
“Because there’s nothing left to say.”
“You always treat me like I’m an asshole. The only asshole here is you.”
“You little?—”
“It’s just like last time… Did you even hear what you just said?” Sebastian barked back. “Wasting his life on a hobby?Is that what you think I’m doing? Because then that’s what you think Alex is doing, too. Why doesn’t he get berated like that? Is it because when he does it, it’s not a waste of time? Or is it because he’s not your son and how he ‘wastes his life’ doesn’t matter?”
“That’s not what I said.”
