“Nice to meet you, too,” Jake said, barely suppressing a smile.
I was glad he was enjoying this because I certainly wasn’t. My father headed back to the living room. I pushed past Jake, walked outside, and closed the door.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“You quit and then disappeared, so I looked you up.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t sure if you’d still want to see me once I got rid of Tony.”
“What happened with that fool? He didn’t do anything, did he?”
“No,” I said. “Not really. He wanted to send me to another client, which was not part
of the deal. I just had enough, so I pretended to like him and kicked him out of his chair. What’d he say?”
“That you tried to seduce him and he kicked you to the curb.”
“Gross,” I said. “He fucking wishes.”
“I’m so glad to be done with that moron,” he said. “It’s easier this way.”
A yellow station wagon pulled into the driveway. It was Mom. She took one look at the red convertible sitting out front and stared right at me.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go inside.”
Before I could get in the house, my mother called out, “Well, hello. Who is this?”
I turned around. “This is my friend.”
“I’m Jake,” he said and shook my mother’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Jake. Are you staying for dinner?”
“No, he’s not,” I said and pulled Jake inside.
My mom pushed past us. My father waved at us from his spot on the couch. “You guys wanna take a seat? The show is getting really good.”
“No, we’re fine.” I pulled Jake into the kitchen.
“So how do you guys know each other?” My mom lit a cigarette at the kitchen table. She motioned to two empty seats across from her.
My bedroom door was wide open. I was tempted to make a dive for it, but Jake was already sitting down, so I sat down next to him.
“We work with each other,” he lied seamlessly.
“Really? So you deliver packages all day? Is it hard?” My mom took a puff of her cigarette.
“No, not really, and we make good money in tips,” Jake said. He was a genius.
“Tell me she’s not straining herself too much, is she?”
“Please,” he said. “Our job is easy.”
“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” she asked. “I thought we’d make something nice and do it together.”
“I was thinking of taking Mercedes out this evening,” Jake said.
“We’re going out,” I announced and stood up.