“It’s good to hear your voice, too, Ma. Are you at work?”
“I stepped out. They’ll survive.”
Ben smiled, unsure if they actually would. Iris Caravalho objectively ran the East Nashville High main office.
He noticed Alexei had broughtAlannaout of his pack.
“Hey.” He covered the bottom of his phone with his palm. “You better not be reading about what that bastard Ralon is up to without me.”
Alexei looked up, his face indecipherable.
“And how is Faraj?” His mother was asking. “Ryan and Leon? That jackass one?”
Alexei putAlannaback in his pack. Brought out his journal instead.
“Tanner.” Ben almost added, out of an inherent need for harmony, that Tanner wasn’tthatbig of a jackass. But he’d heard Tanner say some pretty sexist shit. So he kept his mouth shut and filled Ma in on the rest.
“I assume they’re good, but I’m actually not hiking with them anymore. I have a new trail family now. His name’s Alexei.”
A beat of silence on the other end of the line.
“Alexei and…”
“That’s it.”
Another beat of silence, somehow more suspicious this time.
“A trail family can be one person, Ma.”
Alexei wasn’t looking at him. But Ben noticed his pen pause, hovering over his journal.
“Tell me, Bento, how good looking is this new trail family of yours?”
“Ma.”
“Is he nice? He better be nice. You’ve dated some real stinkers, you know.”
“Ma.”
“And you’re already calling him your family, before he’s even met your mother! I don’t know how I feel about this.”
“It’s not—” Ben sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. “Ma, please stop.”
“You better send some photos so I can assess his suitability for you. I know they say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes, you can.”
“I literally just uploaded some photos on Instagram. You can look at them later. And you don’t have to assess—” But he couldn’t finish the sentence with Alexei sitting right across from him. Could Alexei hear this whole thing? Ma was loud. Ben definitely should have stepped outside first.
“Ack, I’ll have to get Lina to show me later. I think someone’s hacked my Facebook again, and aren’t they connected now?”
“Ma, you always think someone’s hacking your Facebook.”
“Because they are! Someone really needs to give that Zuckerberg a talking to; he’s made a real mess of things. Although even he’s probably not as bad as that Bezos these days. His mother cannot be proud of what he’s become.”
“Being one of the world’s most successful businessmen? I bet she can, Ma.”
A cluck of Iris’s tongue. “That is not success.”
“Anyway,” Ben said pointedly, “what else is happening at home that I’ve missed?”
