“Well, once I meet his mom and friends, maybe I’ll introduce him to you.”
“You haven’t met his friends? How long have you been together?”
“That’s a complicated question,” I chuckle. “Officially, a couple of weeks. But we’ve been seeing each other technically since October.”
“Do I even want to know?”
I shake my head.
“Alrighty then. As long as he’s treating you right, that’s all that matters.”
“He’s been really helpful when it comes to mom. When she went AWOL before, I always stressed about something happening to her. Worrying constantly over something I had no control over, he’s helped me realize that you can’t stop living your life because of someone you care about. Especially if that person doesn’t care about you nearly as much.”
“Sounds like a smart guy.”
“He’d tell you he gets it from his own mom.”
“Then sounds like she raised him right.” He takes another bite. “Whenever you’re ready, I’d love to take you two to dinner.”
“We’d like that.”
“So, now that we’ve had a nice conversation, we need to get back to your mom.”
“Jay, I just told you I’m good where I am.”
“This isn’t about where you’re living. It’s about the money your mom took from you.”
“Jay,” I scratch my eyebrow, “it’s figured out, okay? She paid it all back.”
“I’m not stupid, Avalon. I know she stopped paying you back when she went off the deep end.”
“I’m surviving.”
“You're back to paying for everything.”
“I’m not gonna sue her.”
“Maybe it’d be the wake-up call she needs.”
“It’s probably too late anyway.”
“It’s not. I have a friend—”
“I’m not sending my mom to jail, Jay. I know you’re just trying to help, but I can’t do that. You know I can’t do that. I already lost—”
“I know your dad left you, Avalon. But you’ve already lost your mom, whether you’re ready to believe it or not. She’s been gone since the day she started relying on drugs. They can work something out so that instead of jail time, she just goes to rehab, and then she has to stay clean. If she doesn’t, she’ll go to jail, but in the meantime, her disability checks will be garnished until you get all your money back.”
“I’ll think about it, okay? Even though she’s been… absent, these last few months have actually been really good. I don’t want the stress this might bring.”
“That’s all I’m asking for, okay. Just for you to think about it.”
“Now, can we talk about anything else?”
“Yes.” He smiles, sits back in the booth, and crosses his arms. “How’d you meet Zeke?”
How was dinner with Jay?” Zeke asks.
“It was good. I’m just walking back to my place now.”