After Olivia

37

The tailgate of Marcello's SUV closed while Rachel finished her round of hugs. Patrick rushed along the side of the house to join in on the well-wishing but held back from hugging anyone because his coveralls were coated in saw dust. He stepped away to admire the machine parked in front of the house.

"Such a beauty!" he said as he inspected the Dodge Charger. "The Lamborghini is okay too..."

Marcello laughed as he stepped closer like the proud father of a car.

"You know, these things tend to rust and seize up if you leave them parked for too long. I suppose I could take it for a run up to Jet's Burger Hop for you. You know, just to keep it running while you're gone."

"We're only going for two nights, not two years," Emily responded as she playfully slapped his shoulder before kissing Patrick on the cheek. "See you Thursday."

"You might get some funny looks. The owners of Jet's are friends," Marcello said as he handed Patrick the keys to the car. "They've been bugging me to sell it to them for months."

"Just playing, but when I'm done with this cabinet, I'll move it around to the garage. There's been some birds hanging out in that tree in the mornings, using it as a toilet." Patrick said while pointing. "Don't worry about the saw dust, the shop is separate from the garage."

Marcello laughed as he stepped towards the driver's door of the SUV, then replied, "Well, if you do make the trip up to Jet's, their new spiced onion rings are excellent."

Marcello spent a few minutes getting Emily's phone connected to the car stereo to let her take control of the music that would paint the air behind lively conversation. While he maneuvered the Urus through the neighborhood, Emily said, "Okay, so you have a couple stories to tell, starting with Bill meeting your mom."

Matilda dropped her head and sighed before starting. "The night we made pizzas at your mom's, Bill took me home and walked me to the door."

After a brief pause Matilda continued to describe the events that followed the goodbye at the door. Bill nodded as if to confirm while Emily sat in the front passenger seat with her mouth agape.

"Fortunately, my mom is kind of good looking, so—" Matilda decided not to continue along that though. "And the reason I had to get Emily to pick me up is because my grandmother got home a lot sooner than I expected. If she finds out I am staying overnight with Bill, I'm screwed."

"What? No way!" Emily said with a scowl.

"When my sister was sixteen, she went hiking with her boyfriend and his family, then stayed for dinner. They decided to binge watch some series and she fell asleep on the sofa with her boyfriend. His parents noticed and just covered them with blankets and called my mom to tell her. She was pretty drunk and half asleep but said it was fine then fell asleep. When they brought Alexis home in the morning, all her stuff was out on the front lawn. My grandma emptied her room."

"And your mom?"

"She slept through it all," Matilda avoided eye contact. "My mom has been pretty messed up for a while. She's trying to do better, now, but she is so dependent on my grandmother... and grandma knows it."

"What happened with your sister?"

"Her boyfriend's family took her in. They're married now and she's having a baby soon. Like in a few weeks. She's happy."

"Okay. Your mom and grandma don't find out."

"Oh, my mom knows. She helped me pack—" Matilda found herself, once again, holding back things that had popped into her head. She didn't think it would be wise to mention the strip of condoms that Sherry had undoubtable hidden in the bag along with the bikini.