Page 36 of Don't Love the Boy Next Door
“It’s not too late to patch things up,” I say. “Tell him how you feel. Maybe he’ll—”
He whirls around. “Will you quit it? I don’t want to talk to him.”
“Ethan—”
“Stop trying so hard to be the perfect son.”
“I’m not—”
“You want him to like you,” he says. “Want to be just like him. But he’s a bum of a dad. We’re better off without him.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I sure as heck do.” He turns back to the computer. “Now can you leave so I can finish my game?”
I remain planted in my spot. There’s so much I wish I could say and do, to get the two of them talking again. But it’s no use. Ethan’s too hurt by him. He needs to learn to forgive Dad on his own.
I return to my room and drop down on my chair. I’m glad to find Dad is still there.
“Hey, I may have been away for a while, but I can still tell the difference between my sons,” he jokes.
“Ethan…uh…” my voice trails off.
He nods slowly. “He doesn’t want to talk to me, huh?”
“He’s a little preoccupied. With uh, school and stuff.”
“You don’t need to sugarcoat it. I know he thinks I’m a failure as a dad.”
“You’re not—”
He holds up his hand. “You’re a good kid, Eric. I guess I should give all the credit to your mom. She’s the one who raised you to be the fine young man I see before me.”
I shift in my seat. I’m not used to getting praised by my dad. Well, at least in anything other than music.
“It’s been hard for her,” I say. “But she’s strong.”
“I know,” he says. “That’s one of the reasons I married her.”
“I’m sure Ethan will call you later,” I lie. Why, though? We both know Ethan’s never going to contact him.
Dad leans back in his seat. “So you got a girlfriend?”
“What?” I ask, thrown off by the sudden subject change.
“You got yourself a fine lady?”
I give him a look. “Are we really going to talk about girls?”
“You’re talking to your old man here. Yes, I want to talk about girls.”
He and I don’t talk about this often. Actually, we don’t talk about it at all. So yeah, it’s awkward.
“Uh, I guess…I mean, girls are always trying to talk to me, because of the band and everything.”
Dad grins. “You’re a celebrity at your school. I know the feeling.”
He started a band in high school, too, and was pretty popular.
