At this point my sister was having a full-blown fit on the front porch for me to come inside.
“Uh, yes, sir. That sounds fine.”
After the call ended, I had to admit to being a little disappointed I didn’t meet their sponsorship criteria. I daydreamed of making enough money to put a down payment on a piece of property. I fantasized about having the latest tech from one of the best power tool companies around. And being able to get my hands on a new drone for taking aerial shots? Man, that would have been tempting. But even then, I couldn’t really stomach the idea of performing for others, and I was sure they’d probably have rules about what I could and couldn’t post. Just the thought of that made me uncomfortable and nervous, and I wasn’t even in the running for their sponsorship.
I climbed out of the truck and made my way into my family’s sprawling ranch house. My mother needed some help in the kitchen, and then we were all taking our seats around the giant dining room table and beginning to pass dishes. She’d made several large pans of lasagne, and one of my sisters had made the special garlic bread that went with it. After letting out a contented sigh, I reached for the bread basket. This was one of my favorite meals, and if I had to put up with my family’s chaos to enjoy it, I would do it happily.
After a few minutes of plates clinking and murmured please and thankyous as we all served ourselves, my mother led a prayer blessing. I bowed my head and did what I always did: took a slow, deep breath and centered myself. I wasn’t much for Jesus anymore, but I still loved to take a minute to calm down when everyone else around me was saying their prayers at the table or when I got roped into joining Mom and Dad at church. It was kind of like the shower I took every night before bed—gave me a chance to wash off the day’s dirt and start again fresh.
Finally it was time to eat, and we dug in like animals. Lord only knew how my mom had kept us all fed all these years. It always amazed me when I saw how much food the twelve of us ate. Only now the table was over twice as full with spouses and kids. My nieces and nephews mostly ate in the kitchen at the big table in there, but a handful were old enough to join us at the adult table now. Sometimes I couldn’t believe I had nieces and nephews almost old enough to graduate from high school when I myself still felt like I’d just gotten out.
“You given anymore thought to college, Nolan?” My mom’s face lit up the way it always did when she focused on her favorite grandson. “If you stay here and go to UW, Grandpa and I are willing to chip in half the tuition.”
She was desperate to keep him local, and I got that. I did. Only, she’d never bothered to send me, her own son, to college with that kind of offer, not that I’d really wanted to go or anything. Most everyone I knew agreed I wasn’t exactly college material. Instead, she and my dad had made it very clear that the only two people they could afford to help with college were my two oldest brothers. One was expected to study agriculture and return home to help on the farm, and the other was expected to become a doctor because my mother was batshit crazy. Colt was never, ever going to be doctor material. Quite frankly, we were lucky he was car mechanic material. My sister Beth, on the other hand, was definitely doctor material. But since Mom didn’t believe in “lady doctors,” Beth had contented herself with becoming a nurse which was probably for the best because she loved her job and her patients adored her.
As everyone chattered around me, I thought back to my conversation with the corporate guy. He’d asked if I could recommend a vlogger like me who was LGBT. Hell, I only knew one gay person in real life, and to be honest, he and I didn’t get along all that well. But I remembered he was doing something with social media these days, so maybe he’d know who I could talk to.
“Hey, Eli,” I said, leaning forward to find my brother midbite.
“Ngh?”
“What’s Cooper up to these days?”
He swallowed and crinkled his forehead at me. “Same old. Why you asking?”
My brother’s best friend from college had moved out to LA after graduation to become an actor. It hadn’t worked, and I wasn’t really surprised. The guy was a total know-it-all with opinions for days. Now he was trying to become an Instagram star or something. I only knew because my niece had mentioned it, not because I stalked him or anything.