Read Online Stranger in Dadland by Amy Goldman Koss - Free Book Online Page B

up.
    “Those girls at the corner the other day,” Beau said. “They liked you, I could tell.”
    “Me?” I wished he was right, but was sure he wasn’t. “You’re crazy. If they were looking at me at all, it was because they’d never seen anyone walk into a cactus before!”
    Beau rolled his eyes, as if I were nuts.
    I pointed after Eric. “So, did you tell him about Chet Carter?”
    “I’ve been saving it,” Beau said. “It’s too good to waste.”
    Then his mom called him in to dinner and I went back to Dad’s. The TV was on. Dad was working at the computer and talking business on the phone at the same time. He nodded at me, but that was it. Even while I’m here, I thought, I don’t make much of an impression on him. I went to the guest room and picked up the mystery novel I’d started the night before. But after a while, Dad came to the door and said, “Phone for you, Big Guy.”
    Oh, no! I thought. Mom with more bad news? But it-wasn’t my mom; it was Iris. I hoped my voice wouldn’t squeak.
    “How’s your father?” she asked me.
    “Dad?” I said. “He’s fine.”
    “What do you mean,
fine?
”
    “What do you mean, what do I mean?” I asked.
    “Well, my aunt is a total
wreck!
” Iris said. “She was crying so hard it was
scaring
me. Driving back here from your house I thought she was going to kill us both! I’m
sure
she-couldn’t see the road.”
    “What’s the matter with her?” I asked.
    “What do you
mean
, what’s the matter?” Iris shrieked. “Didn’t your dad say
anything?
Isn’t he at least acting sad?”
    I peeked around the door. Dad was clicking away at his computer. He looked like he always looks. “Maybe he seems a little down,” I lied. “I dunno.”
    “Well,
talk
to him!” Iris said. “Maybe we can fix this! I can’t stand seeing Auntie Cora so miserable. And I was really counting on being a bridesmaid.”
    “What am I supposed to say?”
    “I don’t know. He’s
your
father. Think of something! I’ll call you later.” And Iris hung up.
    I peeked back out at Dad. I wondered if his fight had anything to do with the stuff I’d said about Cora. For a second it felt
great
to think he’d broken up with Cora just because I hated her. It felt great and it felt
right
—that’s what parents should do for their kids!
    Great and right, maybe—but not very likely. Dad didn’t exactly have a history of doing stuff just to please
me.
But still.
    I lay back down and picked up the novel where I’d left off. I was having trouble keeping all the characters straight, and in my opinion, there were way too many descriptions of scenery and whatnot. But I figured that if I just kept my eyes moving across the page, my brain would eventually catch up.
    *   *   *
    A couple of chapters later, Dad called out, “Who’s hungry?”
    “Me!” I called back.
    “Let’s get some chow!” Dad said.
    My first thought was, Just us? Me and him? Thank goodness he’d broken up with Cora, or for sure she’d be tagging along!
    I knew Iris would want me to grill my father on the Cora business, but I wasn’t about to blow this. In the car, he told me that he was having a great year at work. He said that he
loved
his job and that he hoped one day I’d find something that satisfied me in the same way.
    I almost asked him if he thought sales would be right for
me
too. But how would
he
know? Anyway, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure exactly what it was that Dad sold, and it would have sounded incredibly stupid to ask him
now
, to admit that all this time I haven’t had any idea what he does for a living. Instead, while he talked, I listened for clues.
    I’d asked Liz once what it meant to sell computer support systems and she’d said Dad sold cyber-bras and jockstraps for computers. “Get it?” she’d asked. “
Support?
Bras?” I-hadn’t gotten it at the time, but I did later and was totally embarrassed.
    If Dad ran out of steam talking about work, I planned to bring up