“I wonder, actually, if we should move to the bar, open up this table,” Ben mused. The restaurant had indeed filled up, with more newcomers waiting by the door. Ben waved Izzy over, and soon their plates were cleared and they were moving. It was only when Alexei stood, on two legs thatshould have been strong from over a hundred miles of hiking but instead felt wobbly and strange, that he truly processed the effects of tequila and rum.
“Huh,” he said to himself, standing still for a moment, taking stock of the tingling in his skull, until Ben gave him a powerful, knowing clap on the shoulder. Refusing to be embarrassed—he felt good, he was acknowledging his desires and trying new things, totally on the road to Alexei 2.0, nothing to be embarrassed about here—Alexei grabbed his Malibu Bay Breeze and slid onto the brown leather stool next to Ben in the corner of the room. He shifted his hips, twirling the stool, back, forth, back.
Fun.
Stools were fun.
“Oh myGod,” Ben groaned, taking his buzzing phone out of his pocket. “I swear, it’s like sheheardme say ‘no more family talk’ and wanted to hound me.”
“Ma?” Alexei smiled, feeling light. He loved saying it. It didn’t always pinch, when Ben talked about her.Ma.Such an affectionate word, so much love in two little letters.
“Yeah.” Ben grimaced. “I’ll make it quick, promise.”
“Ben.” Alexei laughed. “I don’t care. Talk to her for an hour; I’m good.”
Ben brought the phone to his cheek. His smooth, freshly shaven cheek, slightly hidden behind his free-falling hair.
Alexei faced forward as Ben talked. Stared at the bottles of liquor along the back wall, the twinkle of Christmas lights that hung haphazardly above them. He nibbled absently on the bowl of chips Izzy had placed in front of them, his mind feeling sort of floaty, in a hazy, happily empty kind of way.
Until the moment when, an indeterminate number of minutes later, he heard Ben say his name.
He glanced over to see Ben looking at him, a palm cupped over his phone, his mouth twisted in what appeared to be a half laugh, half grimace.
“She wants to talk to you.”
“Me?”
“You can say no.”
But strangely, Alexei did want to talk to Ma.
He had learned so much about Ben tonight. It felt like a good final puzzle piece, getting to talk to Ma.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll say hi.”
Ben stared at him for a beat, one skeptical eyebrow half raised, before he removed his palm. “Okay, Ma, one second. And be nice.”
He handed over the phone.
“Just tell her you’re taking care of me or whatever and she’ll be happy.”
Alexei held the phone in his hand for a moment before raising it to his ear.
Just tell her you’re taking care of me.
Christmas lights reflected through the glass of his Malibu Bay Breeze, a distorted rainbow, and Alexei thought about snow, and coyotes, and how sometimes, when they walked through particularly hazardous stretches of trail, he liked Ben in the lead, so Alexei could lag behind him and keep watch, make sure he didn’t fall.
“Hello, Mrs. Caravalho.”
A peal of laughter invaded Alexei’s eardrums. It was different from what he’d expected. It wasn’t until he actually heard Ben’s mother’s voice, high pitched and breezy, that he realized he had expected it to be lower, rumbly, like whatyou’dexpect from someone who gives really strong hugs.
“So polite! Please, call me Iris. Or if you want to be like my kids at school, Miss C.”
“Um. Okay. Miss C.”
Another bloom of laughter.
“I just wanted to talk to the boy who’s keeping my son company, make sure Ben’s taking care of himself out there.”
