Page 24 of Without You

“To help you understand the gravity of the situation here,” he jokes.

“You’re just full of jokes today, aren’t you?”

“When aren’t I?” he asks. There’s a lot of truth to that. He’s always been a jokester and he’s never been shy about showing affection to my mother, so the fact that he instigated naked Thursdays isn’t a surprise in the least.

“Any ideas on what you want to do with the rest of your life now that you’re released from the confines of living at home? Aside from massaging people, that is?” he asks, settling once again behind his desk.

“Not a single one.”

He winces. “Really? No idea where you want to work or who you want to work with?”

“Well, I had planned on playing in the WNBA but, you know, I’m 5’1”,” I say with a shrug.

“And you’re a terrible basketball player,” he adds.

“There’s that.”

“Anything else? Since being a pro basketball player is off the table?”

“I had high hopes of being a drug dealer.”

“But you’re a wuss and would crack at the first sign of pressure.”

“There’s also that.”

“Okay, so no selling of illegal drugs.”

I take in a deep breath and wonder if I’m ready to say out loud what I really want to do with my life. My parents, nudists that they apparently are, have always been incredibly supportive of me. Well, that is, until I interrupted their extra-curricular activities.

“What is it? Tell me.”

“You promise not to laugh?”

“Why would I laugh? I just told you I like to walk around the house naked. Not sure there’s any secrets between us now.”

“Let’s change that, shall we? Going forward, feel free to keep your naked stories to yourself.”

“No guarantees.”

I sigh, feeling defeated and very grossed out by my parents. “That’s probably the best I can hope for. Okay, massage therapy. I’m really happy I decided to go back to school for it, you know? But there are a lot of options.”

“Exactly what I was asking about,” he reminds me.

“I know. I know. So that’s what I want to do but yeah, I need to figure out who with and that’s what I don’t want you laughing about because I have so many options and I’m confused. Like just anyone? Or athletes? Maybe start there and go on to something like physical therapy? That would be more school, again, which I wouldn’t be thrilled about but it’s something I think about down the line. There are so many options.”

“Well, you may be small but you’re mighty and I have no doubt that you can work with anyone you want. Hell, maybe you could get onto a professional sports team or something? I don’t know if that’s even a thing, but I could see you doing that.”

“Really?”

“Really. Maybe start with finishing school, working in the field for a bit and then deciding?”

“That’s what I’m thinking, too. But can I tell you what I really, really want to do?”

“Of course.”

“Build some sort of wellness center here in Benton. It’s something our little town doesn’t have.”

“What do you mean?”

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