Cuff Me

He laughed, “Well your brother is always a good subject to talk about. He’s going to play lacrosse in the spring; hopefully that will give him something to do. He needs to put his energies toward something positive.”

I was guessing that my father didn’t find my brother’s drinking a positive avenue for all of his excess energy. “Is he still going out with that girl? You know the girlfriend that he was planning on taking to prom?”

?

??No, she broke up with him at a basketball game. I guess it was some sort of big scandal. Turns out your brother likes to kiss other girls while he has a girlfriend. Now I doubt he’ll have any date to prom.”

“Serves him right. You and Mom certainly taught him better than that. I bet she was livid.”

He laughed again. “Your mother grounded him for three weeks. Including taking the phone. She gave in on the phone though after only a week, because she got sick of him hanging around us all the time. But she monitored him closely. The woman makes an impression, you got to give her that.”

I smiled to myself. I was lucky to have parents still involved in my life. Just like Dillon’s mother was, but in only slightly different ways. My parents had raised me with morals and the will to work hard. Dillon’s mother had obviously tried to do the same.

I sighed. I needed to bite the bullet and just tell him. “On the girlfriend note, I’m seeing someone. I don’t need you to freak out, but he’s not my typical type of guy. I mean, he’s definitely not Jake.”

“Well that’s a relief. I wouldn’t want you seeing someone like him again. The way he treated you, Berkley…”

“I don’t want to talk about him. But anyway, when you tell Mom I called, I want you to tell her that I’m seeing someone and I don’t know if anything’s going to come of it, but I like him. He makes me feel… alive.”

My father didn’t say anything for a minute and then finally cleared his throat and said, “Whatever makes you happy.”

“He does Daddy, I promise.” I arrived to class so I cut our conversation short. “I gotta go. I’m at class, don’t want to miss the beginning of the lecture. I’ll call Mom later this week, I promise. I love you.”

“Love you too, baby.”

FIFTEEN

BERKLEY

It was another few days before Dillon came home. I’d wanted to be at the hospital as much as possible, but I had so much schoolwork to catch up on. Luckily Dillon’s mother had gotten my phone number and had been sending text updates. I ran to his apartment right after class as soon as he was home. When I got there she was just settling him into bed, with Leo at her side.

“Now remember, you are on bed rest for another two weeks. And I’ll take you to your doctor’s appointment at the end of the week to make sure all your incisions are healing properly. Do not do anything dumb, Dillon,” she said sternly. For such a small woman she certainly put the fear of God into her son.

“Of course, Mama. And again, thank you for all of your help.”

She smiled at him dearly, “All of your medicines are on your bedside table, and I’ve already poured a glass of water for you. When you get hungry, you call me. I’ll bring you some soup later. But for now you need to rest.”

I waited by the door as I looked around at the very small studio apartment and saw mostly what I expected: bare walls, and just one picture of him, Leo and his mom.

His bed was along one wall with a recliner sitting next to it and a small table between them. His TV was on the other wall right next to a small kitchenette that had a washer and dryer attached. The bathroom was on the right side of the wall near the hallway. It wasn’t much, but it was his.

Leo sat down in the recliner and started clicking through television channels, and Dillon noticed my presence. “You’re here.”

I gave him an encouraging smile. “So are you.”

“Finally.”

“Yeah, it took you long enough. You know, I’ve wanted to see your apartment for a few weeks now. It would’ve been nice if you could’ve shown me around, instead of being so lazy.”

He smiled at my joke but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. His mother gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I have to go to work. Leo will be with you today, and I’ll be back later with dinner. You three behave.”

I nodded to her, “Yes ma’am. I promise I’ll keep an eye on these rascals.”

She smiled at me and squeezed my arm as she walked past, closing the door behind her. There wasn’t really anywhere else to sit but Dillon scooted over in his bed just enough that I could perch myself on the edge. He started whispering to me almost as soon as I sat down. “I feel like I’m in high school again.” He turned his eyes towards Leo. “I haven’t had a chaperone on a date in a long time.”

“Is that what this is? A date? I mean, usually I don’t get into some guy’s bed for quite a while. I’m a classy lady after all.”

He moved his hand over to my thigh and squeezed it. “I remember. Don’t you worry, it’s one of the things I’ve been thinking about an awful lot. One of the reasons I need to get better so quickly.”