my mom got me this video with all these stupid little-kid songs on it. One of them was called ‘Mommy Always Comes Back.’ It was supposed to teach kids that when your mom drops you off at day care or school or whatever that she’ll eventually come back and pick you up. You know—she’ll be predictable. Most kids don’t really need that, I guess.”
“Do you know why she brought you here?” Jason asked. “You’re seventeen. You’re obviously capable of taking care of yourself. She could have left you at your house and let you finish the school year.”
“Good question. I asked, but I didn’t get an answer. Mom can be evasive when she wants to be. She kept saying that family is important. That was all I got out of her.”
Jason looked down at his food. He had reached the point in any meal he ate at the Owl at which he started to regret what he had eaten so far but still felt incapable of stopping his forward progress through whatever remained. The breeze picked up, and it pushed a greasy odor from the back of the restaurant ahead of it. The fetid smell should have killed his appetite but didn’t.
“Maybe you can try again tonight,” Jason said.
“You don’t believe she’s better, do you?” Sierra said.
“What’s that?”
“Mom,” she said. “You don’t believe she’s better.”
Jason couldn’t lie. “I’m not sure, Sierra. Recovery from a drinking problem is a long process. Lifelong. She’s just at the beginning.”
“Mom said you’d say something like that.”
“Did she?”
“Yeah. She told me about the wrecked car and all the crazy stuff in high school. Did she really get suspended for mixing scotch with her chocolate milk in the cafeteria?”
Jason stopped eating. “Scotch and milk. I’d forgotten about that one. You’d think I’d remember. It sounds like the most disgusting drink ever made.”
Sierra pushed her empty plate aside and used a napkin to wipe her hands. She threw the napkin on the plate and then seemed lost in her own head. Finally she said, “I know part of the reason I’m here is because she wanted to see you again. She didn’t say that, but I could tell. She wanted you to see how she’s doing. And she wanted me to get to know you and Aunt Nora. Mom’s been all into family stuff since she got out of rehab. Showing me old pictures, talking about Grandma and Grandpa. And you.”
Jason pushed his own plate away, across the cracked and blistered surface of the picnic table. His parents had brought him and Hayden to the Owl countless times every summer, and he remembered their smiling and sticky faces, laughing and joking while finishing every bite of ice cream like there was no tomorrow. He couldn’t help but be moved by Sierra’s words about Hayden. Jason hadn’t been the best student growing up, but he’d always been a good kid, and he knew that part of Hayden’s troubles came from being compared to him by every adult she encountered. Her rebellion made sense in hindsight. She ran in the opposite direction from him, with the opposite crowd. It was the only way to create her own identity.
“I know it could be tough on your mom, being my sibling.”
“Why?”
“She was the youngest, so she was always compared to me. I was the good kid, and she was the bad kid. I played that up with our parents sometimes, took advantage of it. It made things tougher on your mom than they needed to be.”
“Why didn’t you and Aunt Nora have kids?” Sierra asked.
“Our careers came first a lot of the time,” he said. “We talkedabout it a lot. And I mean
a lot
. We always thought we would, but we kept putting it off. And then one day it just seemed like we weren’t going to do it. It happens.”
“That’s cool,” Sierra said. “I don’t know if I want kids or not.”
“Your aunt Nora and I had some struggles with our marriage.”
“You did?”
“Sure. We kind of fell into a rut, took each other for granted. There were money troubles when I lost
“Do you know why she brought you here?” Jason asked. “You’re seventeen. You’re obviously capable of taking care of yourself. She could have left you at your house and let you finish the school year.”
“Good question. I asked, but I didn’t get an answer. Mom can be evasive when she wants to be. She kept saying that family is important. That was all I got out of her.”
Jason looked down at his food. He had reached the point in any meal he ate at the Owl at which he started to regret what he had eaten so far but still felt incapable of stopping his forward progress through whatever remained. The breeze picked up, and it pushed a greasy odor from the back of the restaurant ahead of it. The fetid smell should have killed his appetite but didn’t.
“Maybe you can try again tonight,” Jason said.
“You don’t believe she’s better, do you?” Sierra said.
“What’s that?”
“Mom,” she said. “You don’t believe she’s better.”
Jason couldn’t lie. “I’m not sure, Sierra. Recovery from a drinking problem is a long process. Lifelong. She’s just at the beginning.”
“Mom said you’d say something like that.”
“Did she?”
“Yeah. She told me about the wrecked car and all the crazy stuff in high school. Did she really get suspended for mixing scotch with her chocolate milk in the cafeteria?”
Jason stopped eating. “Scotch and milk. I’d forgotten about that one. You’d think I’d remember. It sounds like the most disgusting drink ever made.”
Sierra pushed her empty plate aside and used a napkin to wipe her hands. She threw the napkin on the plate and then seemed lost in her own head. Finally she said, “I know part of the reason I’m here is because she wanted to see you again. She didn’t say that, but I could tell. She wanted you to see how she’s doing. And she wanted me to get to know you and Aunt Nora. Mom’s been all into family stuff since she got out of rehab. Showing me old pictures, talking about Grandma and Grandpa. And you.”
Jason pushed his own plate away, across the cracked and blistered surface of the picnic table. His parents had brought him and Hayden to the Owl countless times every summer, and he remembered their smiling and sticky faces, laughing and joking while finishing every bite of ice cream like there was no tomorrow. He couldn’t help but be moved by Sierra’s words about Hayden. Jason hadn’t been the best student growing up, but he’d always been a good kid, and he knew that part of Hayden’s troubles came from being compared to him by every adult she encountered. Her rebellion made sense in hindsight. She ran in the opposite direction from him, with the opposite crowd. It was the only way to create her own identity.
“I know it could be tough on your mom, being my sibling.”
“Why?”
“She was the youngest, so she was always compared to me. I was the good kid, and she was the bad kid. I played that up with our parents sometimes, took advantage of it. It made things tougher on your mom than they needed to be.”
“Why didn’t you and Aunt Nora have kids?” Sierra asked.
“Our careers came first a lot of the time,” he said. “We talkedabout it a lot. And I mean
a lot
. We always thought we would, but we kept putting it off. And then one day it just seemed like we weren’t going to do it. It happens.”
“That’s cool,” Sierra said. “I don’t know if I want kids or not.”
“Your aunt Nora and I had some struggles with our marriage.”
“You did?”
“Sure. We kind of fell into a rut, took each other for granted. There were money troubles when I lost
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