My Track Record

[Context: read the previous part or start at the beginning. TW: bad amateur fiction!]

It was Spring Break at Conley College. Gerald headed to the airport, checked in, and boarded his flight to LAX.

“What brings you to Southern California?” asked his perky middle-aged seat-mate, smiling hopefully.

“Oh, I’m visiting my son,” he replied. “How about you?”

“Just heading home after a realtor conference!” she said. “How old is your son?”

“He’s, uh, nine.”

“Oh boy!” she said. “So he doesn’t live with you?”

“Not anymore. My ex basically took him with her when she moved to Thousand Oaks.” This sounded overly dramatic, Gerald thought, as if the divorce had been horribly acrimonious. But maybe it would stop the flow of questions.

“Oh!” she said with a tight-lipped smile. “Well…I hope you enjoy your visit!”

“Thanks,” he said.

She fiddled with her purse and brought out a small book: The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.

“I’m so excited to finally read this!” she explained. “All my friends love it!”

Gerald was happy to ease her exit from the conversation. “Please feel free to dig in,” he said, gesturing to the book. “It’s, uh, quite a ride.”

She nodded and smiled at Gerald one more time.

For the rest of the flight, seats 23A and 23B were quiet.

* * * * * * * *

Driving a rental car, Gerald pulled up to the faintly familiar address in his rental car and observed the house’s towering edifice. Oh, yeah, he thought — Laura’s second husband was some sort of hotshot surgeon.

He knocked on the door and Laura answered. “Come on in,” she said a bit awkwardly. “I’ll take you to the guest room.” She led him down the hall and opened a door, and he rolled his suitcase into a well-outfitted bedroom while she waited in the hall.

“Jimmy will be home from school in a few minutes,” she said. “And Josie is napping at the moment.” They walked back past the kitchen. “Do you want something to drink?” she asked.

“I’ll take Diet Coke if you have it.”

“Yup, OK.” She handed him a can from the fridge.

“Thanks. So,” Gerald began tentatively, “is there anything new in Jimmy’s world that I should be aware of?”

“Let me see…” said Laura.

“AAAAAAA!” screamed Josie from the second floor.

“Um, I don’t think so,” Laura concluded hastily as she headed upstairs.

Gerald heard getting-up-from-nap sounds above him as he braced himself for Jimmy’s arrival. Rule 1: stay positive. Rule 2: stay calm.

In a moment Jimmy burst through the front door, taller than Gerald remembered, hair longer than Gerald remembered. He noticed Gerald peering out from the kitchen, and stiffened.

“Hey, Jimmy!” said Gerald, trying to sound warm and enthusiastic. He put down the Diet Coke, walked to Jimmy, and hugged him.

Jimmy did not return the hug. “Why are you here?” he said, as if suspicious.

Gerald dropped his arms and sighed. “Did you forget I was coming?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, then, I’m sorry to surprise you … but you and your mom and I worked this out together last month. Remember how, last year, you visited me up in Washington during your spring break, but since I was working during your visit, it wasn’t that fun for you?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t fun at al.”

“So based on that, we thought we’d try the opposite approach this time, where you’re still in school but I’m on break. Right?”

“Yeah….”

“So after school this week I can take you to the zoo, or … you could show me your school, or we could go to a basketball game, or…”

“I don’t want to go to the zoo!”

“That’s OK, that’s just an example.”

“I don’t want to go to a basketball game either. I like hockey now!”

“OK, OK.” Gerald was trying to follow Rules 1 and 2, but possibly failing already. “The specific activities that we choose are not especially important to me. The point is just for us to get to spend some time together.”

Jimmy stared at him coldly. “I don’t WANT to spend time together,” he said.

Laura emerged at the bottom of the stairs with Josie in her arms. “James Yamamoto Cutler! Your father traveled a long way –“

“It’s — it’s OK,” Gerald cut in, aiming for a tone of decisive calmness. “So, Jimmy…” Where could he go with this? “So, Jimmy, are you saying that, right at this moment, you can’t think of anything that you’d like to do with me while I’m here?”

“Yeah. Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry.

Gerald, responding instinctively, walked down the hallway, grabbed his suitcase, and came right back. He took a breath.

“OK,” he said to Jimmy after a glance at Laura, “here’s what I think we should do. I’m going to give you a bit of space, Jimmy. I will go find a hotel and unpack there. Meanwhile, I want you to brainstorm with your mom and think of at least one or two things that you are willing to do with me while I’m in town.” He emphasized the word willing, trying to distinguish it from, say, delighted. “OK?”

“OK,” said Jimmy, sounding unenthusiastic but less defiant than before.

“OK?” said Gerald to Laura.

“OK,” said Laura.

“Good,” said Gerald. He walked out the front door, loaded the suitcase into his rental car, got in, and sat crouched in the driver’s seat, staring at the odometer and breathing heavily.

[to be continued]

Thanks to Matt Atwood for his ideas on a draft of this part.