It came as no surprise to Miguel when Eddie called him up the next day and announced they would follow the same plan for at least another week. "Also," he added, his tone shapeshifting to something Miguel hardly recognized, "Lydia and I would like to make good on our offer to have you both over. We'll arrange for her mother to take the kids. How's this Saturday evening?"
"Saturday's fine," Miguel stammered, struggling to keep up. "Should we bring anything?"
"Just yourselves. Come at eight, after dinner. We'll have drinks."
"Okay."
They both stumbled their way through the rest of the phone call, and then Miguel hung up. He came to rest beside Gabe on the couch.
"What is it?"
"Drinks at Eddie's house Saturday night."
"Seriously?"
Miguel stared vacantly ahead. "Can't be just drinks, right?"
"Will the kids be there?"
"No, just Lydia."
"I wonder if anything's up."
"Hey, I'm just just glad we got the call, since you had the phone line tied up all morning."
"It was worth it," he said.
"You know that thing has a history function."
"A what?"
"It's like of log of every website you went to."
"So? I have nothing to hide."
"Everything you searched, too."
Gabe shrugged.
"What about law school?"
He froze. "Just mild curiosity."
"Was it?"
Gabe burrowed into the cushions of the couch. "What are you doing looking into my private business, anyway?" He didn't seem upset.
"You're embarrassed."
"Why would I be embarrassed? There's nothing embarrassing about imagining a new path for myself, for the first time in my life."
Miguel smiled and threw his arms around the kid, who failed to wrest himself from the embrace.
;-;
Saturday, August 21st, 1999
At seven o'clock on Saturday evening they transferred to an eastbound Orange Line train and rode it out to Coronet-195th station. From there, they walked fifteen minutes to Eddie and Lydia's house. The street was like an endless stucco sculpture. Odd, contrived shapes suggesting columns and archways poked from cream-colored boxes and triangle peaks. They would have missed their destination entirely were it not for a house number and the infamous black Lincoln Navigator brooding on the driveway.
Eddie met them at the door and ushered them in. It was Miguel's second visit to Eddie's home, though he remembered basically nothing of the first. Lydia lived here, too, a fact he might as well have just now realized. Miguel found himself wondering strange things as he removed his shoes, such as what her life was like in this vast quiet space. He looked to the decor for answers. Two large watercolor paintings occupied walls in the adjacent front room. An old upright piano stood beside the doorway to the kitchen.
Then Lydia herself filled that doorway, standing with a hand against the frame in a simple green dress. She said, "Drinks are in here. Please come sit down."
They followed Eddie through the kitchen and into a rather large dining area at the far end, by a bay window with a view of the backyard. Gabe and Miguel sat together on one side of the table. There was a Japanese whisky Eddie wanted them all to try and they agreed. Eddie and Lydia poured drinks in the kitchen and soon joined them at the table. Miguel was seated directly across from Lydia and he made eye contact with her as their glasses clinked together.
YOU ARE READING
The Son of Every Man
General Fiction[Wattys 2022 New Adult Winner] Following in his late father's footsteps, Gabe works as a runner during the golden age of a drug empire in late-90s Southern California. Miguel, exiled from his family for being gay, discovers meaningful work in the wa...
