Chapter 10

Saturday morning was blessedly quiet. Mom and Dane had taken Mrs. Edris to the airport by the time I was up. I laughed at myself for looking out at the pool and wishing it were warm enough to go for a swim. I had no real reason or motivation to lift. I’d already run a couple of times with Kim that week. I made an omelet with the works, then settled down to read An Enquiry into Human Understanding. One chapter in and I changed my mind. Not what I was in the mood for at all.

I walked around the house looking for something to occupy me. My homework was done. The kitchen was clean. The house was as tidy as it always was. Ah. I went to the guestroom and pulled the sheets. I put them in the wash and made the bed with fresh sheets. Kim had forgotten Prolegomena so I put it in the car. Back in the house I made a close inspection and discovered I could probably go one more day without shaving.

I left for Kim’s house a few minutes early. We were supposed to go to Mel’s house for goofy game day, whatever that was. Kim’s mom greeted me at the door. “Hey, sweetheart. She’s getting ready. I’ll bet you’ve had breakfast. Need something to drink? Come in and say hi to Pat.”

I walked into the sunroom. “Hey, Sir. How are you?”

“Just trying to stay out of trouble. Have you been in any trouble lately?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask Kim,” I said, laughing.

“You sound married already. Whenever I messed up,” he said quietly and craned his neck to see if Mrs. McTighe was nearby. “I used to stop by Grover’s Florist and pick up flowers. As soon as I showed up with flowers, Mary knew I was about to apologize. For a while, it was a once-a-week routine. Bill Grover would see my car pull into the driveway and start putting together my order. One day, I came home with two large bouquets. I didn’t say a word. I just put them in a vase. She couldn’t stand it. I must have done something wrong and it must have been a doozy, whatever it was. I wasn’t talking, and she didn’t want to ask.”

“What had you done wrong?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to mess with her. I don’t think she slept that night. Probably tossed and turned all night, trying to remember what she was supposed to be mad about.”

“I think that’s mean. It is, right?”

“Probably. Long story short, she didn’t expect flowers when I messed up, and I didn’t buy them as often. If you figure women out, let me know. You can write a book and I’ll be first in line to buy it.”

“I think you should write the book, Sir. I’m sort of making it up as I go.”

“Aren’t we all? Aren’t we all!”

Kim was ready. Mr. McTighe gave me a wry smile and nodded. I smiled back and walked out to the car with Kim. “What were you two conspiring about?” Kim asked.

“We might write a book together.” She could tell that was all I was going to give her. We drove the short distance to Mel’s house.

Apparently, we’d kept them waiting. Mel and Bobby had paired up against Vince and Lani for a game of lawn darts. The clear message was, ‘we’ve been waiting.’ Hint, hint. I got it. Kim looked especially beautiful so it was worth the wait. We couldn’t all fit in one car and debated how to split up. Vince and Bobby came with me and the girls all went in Mel’s car. This was different.

“So, Vince, what’s new?”

“This is. Coastal isn’t the school Notre Dame is but I can come home on weekends. There’s no substitute for that.”

“Lani pretty happy about it?”

“Ecstatic. It’s not just that I’m closer but that I chose to be closer and gave up Notre Dame to do it.”

“Vince, you’re going to do well no matter where you go to school,” Bobby said.

“Thanks. I guess we’ll find out. I feel like a giant weight has been lifted. That ought to tell you something.”

That was good. “I’m happy for you, Vince. Any idea where you’re going to go next year?”

“We’ve talked. Lani wants to pursue a career in music and the top ten music schools in the country are all in New York, Massachusetts, or someplace just as cold.”

“What about USC or Clemson?” Bobby asked.

“USC is good but not so much for vocalists. Clemson has a music program. Neither are really appealing to Lani. The best music program anywhere near us is at Emory, over in Atlanta. Vanderbilt in Tennessee is supposed to be pretty good, too.”

“Emory? That’s where we think Kim is going for undergraduate studies.”

“Yeah. Lani and Kim have been talking. What’s crazy is that Georgia Tech has a pretty good neuroscience program.”

“So, there’s a chance you and Lani could end up going to the same two colleges as Kim and me.”

“It’s a possibility. We still have a lot of research to do and Lani would love to go to Juilliard in New York. They have a really low acceptance rate. I think it’s down around five percent for vocal majors. I have to research and see if there’s a college up there with a program I’m interested in. New York, though. Ugh.”

“Is it actually in New York City or is it maybe in a suburb or something?”

“It is as close to downtown as you can get. I’ve seen where it is on a map. It’s between the Hudson River and Central Park and you can probably walk to the Empire State Building from there. Carnegie Hall, Times Square, and all that are right there in the middle of seven million people.”

“Would you be okay with that?” Bobby asked from the back seat. “You gave up Notre Dame and that was top of your stack. I don’t think Coastal Carolina would have made your top ten list if it wasn’t close to home.”

“Juilliard is such a prestigious school and so hard to get into that I think if they accepted her, I’d try to figure out a way to make it work. I’d much rather have her decide on Emory, though. Atlanta is plenty big enough.”

I pulled into the parking lot at Starlight Lanes Bowling Alley and killed the engine. “Wait,” Vince said, stopping us from getting out. “I don’t want to put a damper on Lani’s hopes. There’s only one Juilliard, you know what I mean. I don’t really want to go to New York but if that’s what it takes, then I’m in.”

“I got it. Keep this conversation in this car,” I said.

“Exactly.”

We’d all been hilariously inept at bowling when we tried before. While some people took bowling seriously, we didn’t, and we thought our lack of skill made it perfect for goofy games day.

The parking lot was full. On a Saturday morning? We all thought bowling would be an evening activity, especially at a place named Starlight Lanes. We walked to the desk and were told there wouldn’t be a lane open until three that afternoon. It was only ten.

“Is this normal?” Mel asked.

“Leagues. Saturdays are the busiest time of the week.”

“Who knew?” I asked, sort of under my breath.

“Anyone who bowls regularly,” the counter guy answered. I was certain he was right.

“When’s the best time? When is the least busy?” Vince asked.

“Weekdays. Early morning league play is done by nine so anytime between about ten and two on weekdays.”

We thanked him and walked out to the parking lot. None of us had any idea bowling was so popular. “Frankie’s?” Kim asked. Why not?

We loaded up to continue the trip. “What about you and Mel?” Vince asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know. There are recruiters coming to school next week and we’re going to see what they have to say.”

“Any ideas what you want to major in?” I asked. I couldn’t believe we’ve never really talked about it.

“Yes, and no. Mel can’t believe that she would gladly take her mom’s job, teaching English at a high school. Her mom loves it and that’s what Mel sees. I think she likes high school too much to leave it. Maybe that’s good enough. I don’t think she cares where she goes to school. College of Charleston would probably be her first choice. Why not? It’s a good school.”

“What about you? I can’t believe we’ve never talked about it.”

“I don’t know. Accounting, maybe.”

“Accounting? Really?” I never would have guessed. “Why, Bobby? What’s the attraction?”

“You get to deal with numbers rather than people all day.”

Vince couldn’t believe it either. “You really don’t want a people job?”

“Do you have any idea how exhausting it can be to spend time with Mel?” We both laughed at that.

“Ouch. Does she realize it?” I asked.

“She knows. It’s not like she can choose to be someone different and it’s worth it to me.”

“You’re willing to spend all that energy to be with her? How long have you been dating?”

“Are you kidding? Dating Mel is the most entertaining thing anyone could ever do. Who do you think came up with goofy game day, or got us playing lawn darts at nine this morning? She’s like the energizer bunny.”

“She does seem perpetually hyper, doesn’t she? I’m glad you two get along,” Vince said.

“Yeah, well, it’s taken a bit of adjustment. Still not sure if I’m up to it.”

“Do you love her?” Vince asked.

“Yeah. I can’t help it.”

“You should talk to Angela,” I said as we started to walk in.

“Who’s Angela?”

“Karen’s mom. Long story. She’s Franklin’s mother-in-law and she just moved here from San Diego. She’s an accountant. She could probably tell you the good and bad. I think she started for Bosch this week.”

“Talking with someone who already does it is probably a good idea. Can you let her know and ask for me?”

Unlike Starlight Lanes, Frankie’s Fun Park wasn’t very busy. It’s the opposite of what I’d thought. We asked at the counter about what part of Frankie’s got busy first. She gave us her sequence if we wanted to minimize crowds.

We started indoors with Whac-a-Mole. Kim started and we watched her try to hammer little stuffed animals as they popped up out of holes. They’d stick their head up out of a hole for a second then back down and you were supposed to clobber it before it disappeared. Kim beat the crap out of the top of the game but she only nailed a couple of moles. Bobby, then Vince, tried to show us how it was done. Vince did okay. Bobby wasn’t so good.

“Hit them with your big flipper feet!” I said and he completely lost concentration, laughing. Lani gave it a shot without much success. I’d been trying to figure out if there was some sort of sequence they followed. The nine critters seemed to pop up randomly, then disappear in a frustrating game of peek-a-boo. I did about the same as everyone else.

When it was Mel’s turn, she got serious. The first one came up and, bop, she got it. Bop, bop, bop. She hardly missed, bopping mole after mole. When she finished, the machine spit out a stream of tickets. When you saved enough, you could redeem them for a silly toy at the counter.

“How did you do that?” Vince asked.

“I’m closer,” she said with a smile. Mel was the shortest of us but that’s not why she did so well. She’d played it before. She’d played most of the arcade games before but Whac-a-Mole was one of her favorites.

We shot zombies and ducks, tested our strength by trying to ring a bell with a mallet, and ate dots with a Pac-Man while avoiding colored ghosts. Mel was the undisputed arcade champion, although Bobby seemed to have the hang of killing zombies with his green stickman in the Berzerk game.

When the arcade started to get busy, we went outside to play miniature golf. “They call it goofy golf in Michigan, and Putt-putt somewhere else, but I don’t remember where,” Mel said.

“What’s the difference or is it the same?” Kim asked.

“I think putt-putt is more like a real golf course only smaller. They have tournaments and you can win money.”

We didn’t care. We decided to play as three sets of partners. “Sorry, Baby. You’re doomed,” I said quietly. She just laughed. We joked and laughed our way around the course with the team of Claire and Middleton, leading until the very end, when Delinger and Newsome closed the gap. Kim and I were close, but last. We made a go of it and were within a stroke of second place when we reached the dreaded windmill hole.

“And here we are,” I said. Kim and I had won the previous hole so we were first up. Great.

Kim watched the windmill for a few moments, then squared up and hit her ball through on the first try. The last time I’d tried this, I’d bounced my ball off one of the windmill blades a dozen times before Kim helped me time it. “Same as last time, Baby,” she said.

“That was a year ago!” Holy crap. Had it been a year? I was suddenly very distracted by that. A year. Wow. The time had just flown past.

“Earth to Aquaman. Earth to Aquaman,” Vince said, and I came back to reality.

I stepped up to the putting mat, put my ball down, and practiced a couple of strokes while Kim tried to figure out the timing. “Do a practice stroke when I say ‘now’ and we’ll see how it goes.” I did, she nodded and I stepped forward. “Now,” she said and I hit the ball. It got to the windmill just at the right time for the windmill blade to knock it through instead of back.

“First shot. Whoo hoo.”

“I can’t believe you, Aquaman. Is this that tough?” Vince asked. Lani knocked hers through on the first putt and it was Vince’s turn. He figured the timing and stroked the ball. A second later, it came back to him, having bounced off the windmill blade. “Huh.” Vince hit the blade three more times before he knocked it through. He looked at me and laughed.

Mel knocked hers through on the first try and it was Bobby’s turn. He stepped up to the ball and I said, “Miss it, Noonan,” using a line from Caddyshack.

“Hit it, Baby,” Mel said. “Do you want that scholarship?”

“Miss, miss, miss,” the rest of us chanted.

“Well, Noonan, are you my friend?” Mel asked. We were in the swing of it now. “If you make this shot, I’ll make it worth your while.” That got some oohs and ahs and Noonan changed color, then hit the ball directly into a blade.

“No cookies for you, Noonan,” I said and walked to the other side of the hole with Kim. “Teamwork, Baby.”

“How can you hit ninety mile an hour-fastballs and not be able to knock the ball between the blades without help?”

“It’s a mystery.”

We went through the arcade to turn in our clubs and buy some more tokens. Then, out to the batting cages. I thought it was good that Frankie’s had batting cages but they weren’t at the same level as Ruger’s. Each lane at Frankie’s had a set speed. You could hit softballs at forty, fifty, or fifty-five miles an hour, and you could hit baseballs from fifty to seventy. I’d been hitting baseballs from eighty to ninety miles per hour so the fastest lane Frankie’s had would seem slow for me. It’s still fun to hit things.

I gave a few general tips and then we picked our lanes. Kim started with softballs at forty. They were so big and traveling so slowly, they seemed like beach balls to me. Kim did pretty well and we moved over to the fifty lane. She hit about half of them and her hands were sore so she was done. I understood that, completely.

Mel and Lani were finished as well. Vince had moved up to seventy and Bobby was hitting sixty mile per hour balls fairly well. I saw a bunch of room for improvement for each of them but I didn’t think they really cared. If they wanted my opinion or advice, they’d ask for it.

“Hey, Aquaman. What am I doing wrong?” Vince hollered. That dilemma didn’t last long.

I walked down to his lane as he put more tokens in the machine. I watched him take a few pitches. He had enough right to hit the ball regularly. He did enough wrong to keep us busy for a week. He’s not trying out for the Coastal Carolina baseball team, I thought. He took his dozen pitches and the machine stopped. I went into the cage with him, took the bat, and stood at the plate.

“Open up your hips. That’s where your power comes from. Watch,” I said and gave him a before and after demonstration. “If you keep your hands closer to you, you can get them around quicker. You’re basically spinning the same way a figure skater would. When she wants to spin fast, she tucks everything in tight. To slow down, she extends her arms. You’re swinging with your arms extended too much.”

“Is that it?” he asked and I laughed.

“That’s a really good start. Oh, and keep your eyes on the point of impact, even after the ball has left the bat.”

He tried a couple of swings. I positioned his hands better and showed him my foot movement compared to his and he did it again. Good enough. I stepped out, he put more tokens in, and I watched him knock the cover off seventy mile per hour fastballs. Vince was an athlete. I didn’t think the sport mattered too much.

He finished and it was time to race go carts. “Show us,” Jack. “Show us how it’s done,” Kim said.

I knew that unless I messed up royally, I could hit twelve out of twelve pitches at seventy. It wouldn’t be a challenge. On the other hand, I was already there, I’d just given Vince a short tutorial and I was fresh. Why not? I took Vince’s bat, put on a helmet, and stuffed tokens into the machine. I hit the first six pitches hard and directly over the pitching machine. “Right,” I said and hit three to the right, then “Left,” and hit the last three to the left.

“Pretty sweet, Aquaman,” Vince said.

“That’s the result of a lot of coaching and hitting about a thousand pitches since I started last spring. I don’t really get to punch anyone at kung fu lessons so I have to hit something and this is it. And you have more practice driving a go kart than me so I expect to be trounced.”

“Are you calling my MG a go-kart?” he asked, laughing as we walked toward the go-kart track.

When we got to the track, Bobby made a big deal of making sure Mel was tall enough. There was a bar by the entrance and if you could walk under it, you had to be a passenger. Mel was easily tall enough but it was funny.

We took seats in our individual cars. There were two lanes and we were stuck waiting, bumper to bumper. “You’ve driven a go-kart before, right, Jack?” Kim asked.

“Just Vince’s MG. About the same.”

“I’m going to lap you, Aquaman.”

“Ha. Loser has to shave his mustache,” I hollered and we were off. The course was actually pretty cool. The track was wide enough to pass another kart and it had lots of turns and there was even an overpass. It took a lap or two to realize I didn’t need to use the brakes if I eased off on the gas just before a sharp turn. I was zinging along, having a wonderful time, right until I realized everyone else was ahead of me. Not only that, I was losing ground.

I kept my foot on the gas, cut the corners as close as I could, and even ducked down to reduce drag and I still couldn’t catch up. On my third lap, I hollered at the guys working there. “Hey, this car is really slow.” I thought maybe they would have a solution or suggestion. Nope.

“It’s the number six car. It’s always slow,” one of them hollered back. Thanks a lot, guys. At least it wasn’t my driving. A little kid passed me. The best I could do was stay out of everyone’s way. That is, until Vince came close to lapping me. I tried to block him by weaving back and forth but he swung wide on a turn and scooted past, with Mel right behind him. Fine.

Of course, I got a ribbing as we left the track. Everyone pretended they didn’t believe me when I told them the number six car was the slowest. They called me ‘Pokey’ for a while. It was sort of funny.

Kim consoled me. “Poor baby didn’t win at go-karts.” She patted my head.

I suggested we return to the batting cages but they weren’t having it. Done with Frankie’s, we stood together in the parking lot, deciding what to do for lunch. Kim suggested we pick up a bucket of chicken and have a picnic lunch at The Wappoo Cut. They had picnic benches and it was close. They all thought it was weird to have lunch at a boat launch but agreed.

We picked up a bucket of chicken and plenty of sides from KFC, while the girls stopped by Mel’s house for some supplies. Thirty minutes later, we had a tablecloth spread on my favorite picnic table and were passing out food.

“This is one of Jack’s favorite places,” Kim said.

Everyone looked around to evaluate. It was a beautiful day, the parking lot was pretty full, and there was a fairly steady stream of people either launching or landing a boat. It was perfect.

“What makes this place special?” Lani asked.

“Short version or long?”

“Medium.”

“Do you know how they always use doors and windows to represent opportunity in movies and plays? If you see an actor standing at a door, looking out, it represents a transition to a new opportunity. Sometimes there’s a bird landing on a windowsill or something like that. This is the same. It’s like...” I thought a minute. “When we’re swimming a race, there are two parts of the race that are the most interesting; the start and the finish. At the start, everyone takes off and you don’t know how it’s going to end but it’s exciting to see everyone have the same opportunity. What they do with it is up to them. Then, the finish lets everyone see who did what with the opportunity.

“So, this boat launch is like that. Everyone shows up with a boat and expectations. They’re each ready to set out on an adventure. You get to watch their faces. You can tell if they’re hopeful, or determined or what. When they land the boat, you can’t always tell if they had a good day or not. They’re usually pooped. I like that. Plus, no one ever bothers me here, it’s outdoors, sometimes dolphins go by, there are always water birds, and in the evening, there are fireflies.”

“Dang, Jack. You should sell tickets,” Vince said.

“Hardly anyone ever stops and enjoys this place. They’re always too busy to get out on the water, or to get the boat home. We met Dane here.”

“Your mom’s fiancé? Here?”

“Yeah. He was landing his boat and I helped him. He asked about my sister.”

“Oh, that is smooth,” Vince said. “I get it. I mean, I can see why you like it. I’ve sort of been watching people launch boats and they’re all different.”

We all watched for a while. There was almost no breeze, the water was smooth, and that brought out the smaller boats. I answered a couple of questions and described how dolphins like to come for dinner. It was nice to have friends appreciate The Cut the way I do.

Kim broke the silence by asking, “Mel, what’s the best thing about Bobby?”

She laughed. “That’s easy. He’s really patient and tolerant of me, even when I’m crazy.”

“Bobby?”

“The best thing about Mel? She’s crazy. She’s really good for me. I know it and so does everyone else. It’s impossible for Mel to enter a room quietly. Mel never ever needs to say, ‘hi, everyone, I’m here’ because they’ll all know it. So, everyone looks at Mel, and then they see that I’m with her and you can see their face go, ‘You? With her? Huh.” Kim pulled more out of each of them and it was nice. They smooched a little.

“Lani, what about Vince?” Kim asked.

“Well, when we were on the same team for It’s Academic, I thought he was a simple-minded jock who had memorized a few things.”

“And now?”

“And now I realize he’s memorized a lot of things.”

“Ouch. Harsh. You put up with that?” I asked.

“I have memorized quite a few things.”

“You were both on the school team for It’s Academic?” Mel asked.

“Yeah. That was three years ago. I was a freshman and Vince was a sophomore. We went to Asheville and lost in the first round. You have to hit that button fast or the other team gets the chance.”

“But you two didn’t start dating then,” Mel said.

“No. I don’t date simple-minded jocks,” she said with a straight face.

“I had to convince her that a simple mind is open to the power of suggestion.”

“Bark like a dog, Vince,” Lani said.

“Woof, woof, woof. See how this works?”

“Yeah. You’re both simple-minded,” I said and everyone laughed.

“Vince is focused. He asked me out and I said, ‘no’ so he asked again. After about twenty times I decided it would be easier to go out with him once than to keep saying ‘no.’ What a mistake that was.”

“I impressed her with my charm and simple-mindedness.”

“That’s it, alright. I thought that all the girls wanted to go out with him because he was the football team quarterback. He wanted to go out with me and that was a little ego boost. After we dated a couple of times, I realized that he wasn’t the team quarterback. He was the team leader. He’s always lifting others up, with encouragement and enthusiasm, I guess. I like that. It’s really positive.”

“Thanks, Baby. That’s nice,” he said giving her a squeeze.

“And you?” Kim asked.

“I’ve always liked shiny things. Lani is obviously very beautiful and that’s nice. Who wants to date ugly? But then I heard her sing. She was amazing. Then I thought, ‘maybe she has other features I don’t know anything about’ so I asked her out. She trusts me, she encourages me to do better, she appreciates me, but mainly she laughs at my lame jokes.”

“Lani, you’re the only one who does,” Mel said, and we laughed. “What about you, Kim?”

“I was desperate.” Yuk, yuk, yuk. Everyone laughed. “I essentially asked him to a football game but he was dating Sally. So, the first thing that impressed me was that he was loyal. Then, he listened. He really listened to me and he gave me some good advice. It was actually kind of life-changing.”

“What was the advice?” Vince asked.

“He said I shouldn’t do things because of what other people thought. I’d actually been doing things more for other people’s approval than because it was something I wanted to do. He gave me a lot of confidence to trust myself and what I can do. The whole thing is kind of funny when you look back at it because I only asked him out because I cared what other people thought and I needed a date for Friday night. It’s double funny because he said ‘no’. A freshman!”

“The nerve,” Lani and Mel echoed.

“He treated me right. From the very beginning. He picked me up for a basketball game in a limo. That didn’t just impress me. It impressed my parents and that’s not easy to do. Okay, then you know how all those motivational speakers say you’re supposed to have confidence in yourself? It’s a lot easier to have confidence in yourself when someone you love and trust has confidence in you. He’s not stupid. He wouldn’t have confidence in me unless there was a reason. He’s a dufus, but he’s not stupid.”

“Nice. Thanks, Baby. Way to end on an up-note,” I said and she stuck out her tongue.

“Your turn, Aquaman,” Mel said.

“It’s pretty easy, actually. My mom said I needed to find a friend with a car so she didn’t have to drive me around all the time.”

“Funny guy,” Kim said, bumping me hard with her shoulder. “I didn’t have a car when we started dating.”

“Children,” Vince said, shaking his head.

“The first thing is that having Kim be interested in me was pretty flattering. Seriously. Here was the most beautiful girl at Porter-Gaud, the most beautiful girl I’d ever met, or even been close to, and she was interested in me. That got my attention, that’s for sure. Then she did something crazy and trusted me. I think that’s one of the most important things about us is that we trust each other.”

We talked about our relationships and plans for a while and I realized I hadn’t heard from Mel what her plans were. We came to a break in the conversation and I asked her.

“I’m not sure. Not yet, at any rate. College recruiters are coming soon and I want to talk to someone at CofC about Hospitality and Tourism Management.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Vince asked. “Do you think the Wentworth Mansion would hire you to coordinate goofy games day?”

“There are so many tourist places here that need a breath of fresh air,” Lani said. “I think Mel would be great. Maybe the stuffy old Wentworth Mansion does need a goofy games day.”

“I bet Katie from Marion’s Bridal might have some thoughts about that, Mel. She knows a lot of wedding planners and they always need hotel recommendations so they’re always on top of what’s offered and stuff. But CofC ought to know, too. If the College of Charleston doesn’t understand tourism, who would?” I said, and that got her approval.

The conversation turned to college and especially the two in Atlanta we were interested in. None of us had seen either campus. We needed a road trip. Vince suggested the four of us go over Spring break and that Bobby and Mel could come too.

“I’m working and Jack’s going to Nashville over the break. I don’t even know if you’re going on the first of the week or what,” Kim said.

“What’s in Nashville, besides country music? Mel asked.

“Sally,” Kim answered and everyone stopped talking as though Kim had just suggested we commit group suicide. “What? It’s fine. It’s not like he’s sneaking off or something. It’s just a visit with a friend.”

“I guess it just seems, I don’t know, unusual,” Vince said.

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ll go.” Kim was obviously surprised by that. “Vince said it. It’s unusual and he’s being polite. If you say exactly what I’d be doing, it’s not right. You’re going to work at your parents’ firm for the week to take some of the load while your mom convalesces from hip replacement surgery. Meanwhile, I’m driving across country to visit an old girlfriend? We talk on the phone. That’s good enough.” Vince and Bobby nodded and Kim was taking in their reaction.