Page 28 of Ancient History

“Pop. I’m a grown man. I can eat a late night pizza.” I thanked the delivery man with a generous tip, then shut the door with my foot. The salty aroma of the pizza seeped through the box. The greasier the pizza, the better.

Pop stared at me from the couch bug-eyed, his stare toggling between me and the box.

“I was hungry.”

“Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

“I have work, Pop. I work at school.”

“Shouldn’t you get to sleep?” He crossed his arms, and the old Pop of my younger days scolding me for being up past my bedtime came back. He still managed to send a chill up my spine at twenty-eight-years-old.

“I have to work on the playbook.” That was true. The team was in the thick of practicing; our first game was coming up. But I didn’t know if I’d be working on the playbook tonight.

Tonight entered a new realm of possibility. Amos and I were talking again. I missed his jokes. I missed the way our conversations unraveled.

“Don’t worry, Pop. I won’t be up late. That’s why they invented coffee.” I kissed him on the cheek. “And shouldn’t you be in bed? You need your rest.”

“Once the news is over.”

I tilted my head to see the TV. “They’re doing a story about a man who collects used stamps.”

Pop waved me off, then pushed himself off the couch. I grabbed him with my free hand, and together, we made our way upstairs, two fucks with bum legs.

“What’d you get on your pizza?”

I opened the box and offered him a piece.

“Since when do you like mushrooms?”

“I’m trying something new.”

He gave me a screwy look as if to say what’ve you done with my son? He took a piece without taking his eyes off me before retiring to his room for the night.

And I raced to my bedroom. I leapt onto my bed and grabbed my phone, displacing all the pillows but miraculously holding onto the pizza box.

Mr. Brightside: Yummm.

Mr. Brightside: I’m already two slices in.

SoccerStar: I have some catching up to do.

I slapped two slices together like a pizza sandwich and crammed them in my mouth. The mushrooms added a unique texture, and because they were vegetables, they made this healthy.

I leaned back, pulled my pillow from the floor, and got comfortable. Well, as comfortable as one could be on a twin bed.

SoccerStar: Confession. I got mushrooms on my pizza.

Mr. Brightside: Oh? And?

SoccerStar: Officially, not bad. I’m thinking of them like vegetarian pepperoni.

Mr. Brightside: Whatever you need to do to get through.

SoccerStar: I have a theory: the day someone orders mushrooms on pizza is the day they officially become an adult. Discuss.

Mr. Brightside: False.

SoccerStar: No kid in the history of the world has ever willingly eaten mushrooms. It’s a food adults force us to eat for alleged vitamins. Once you ask that mushrooms be sprinkled on pizza, it’s over. You’re an adult. Lower back pain and electric bills and all.

---