Page 151 of Mr. Aster
“I kind of guessed that,” Darcy answered her, and I could tell she was trying not to smile at the innocent cuteness of my daughter’s direct and honest communication.
“He wasn’t angry or mean, though,” Charlotte said. “Please,please, don’t make us eat dead bugs because he did that.”
Charlotte’s eyes were wide as she pleaded for Darcy’s mercy.
“Why would I make you eat dead bugs for that?” Darcy eyed me, looking like she’d never been more confused, before bending down to look at Charlotte with a pleasant expression.
“Daddy said you made him eat dead bugs because he was being mean like I was being to him on the plane,” Charlotte said truthfully.
“Is that so?” Darcy said, standing up straight and looking at me. “I fed you dead bugs because you weremean?”
“Well, that’s not exactly how I put it,” I said, not knowing how to untangle the knot of shit I’d created.
“You did, Daddy,” Charlotte said, frowning at me like I was a filthy liar. “You said that angry and mean people have to eat dead bugs in Mexico. You said it.”
Darcy smirked while I shrugged in defeat.
“I was merely trying to get her to behave on the flight here,” I said. “And let’s face it, I was an unbearable jerk before I ate those grasshoppers, so?”
“That’s true,” Darcy said as she looked at Charlotte. “Andyour daddy told you I was named after a monkey?”
“He did. I like your name,” Charlotte answered.
“I would rather have your name,” Darcy said, folding her hands in front of her. “I love the name Charlotte because it’s so beautiful. Darcel is quite weird, I think?”
“I think Charlotte is weird,” Char said with cute annoyance. “That’s why everybody calls me Char.”
“Do you like when people call you Charlotte?” Darcy asked. “Even when they think it’s beautiful?”
“No,” Char answered directly.
“I feel the same way about my name,” Darcy said. “I’d rather be called Darcy because that name makes me feel pretty.”
“But the poor monkey,” Char answered, looking torn as if she would betray the monkey’s memory by not using the name.
“You heard what Darcy said, Charlotte,” I said, trying to end all this.
I knew my daughter well enough to know that if you got her started on something she believed in—like defending a monkey’s honor, I guess—she wouldn’t back down.
“She’s fine,” Darcy said. “Ifyouwant to call me Darcel, you’ll be theonlyperson on this planet I’ll allow to call me that.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte said triumphantly, making me roll my eyes at how easily Darcy had given Char her way.
“Only if I get to call you Charlotte, though,” Darcy followed up. “Deal?”
“Oh, no,” Charlotte said.
“It’s the only way,” Darcy shrugged.
“We can just call the monkey Darcel,” Charlotte finally conceded, and I couldn’t help how much I loved this interaction.
I knew Darcy would give me shit for it later, but for now, she’d managed to pull off a miracle and get my three-year-old to see logic. Savvy fucking skills right there. So savvy, in fact, that it made me consider our conversation this morning.
Darcy was proven to be quick-witted as well as charming. When she wanted to start this whole thing over again with me on afriends-without-benefitsfoundation, I agreed without hesitation, but now, I began to wonder what that entailed. Where would things go from here? Darcy was skilled and effortless in how she managed to forgive me and give us another chance; I just had to hope it wouldn’t be a friendship and buddy system that lasted for years before she could trust me again.
“Do you guys want to go grab some food?” Darcy said, breaking through my thoughts. “I know a great little place where you can eat all the tacos you want,” she smiled at Charlotte.
“I never ate a taco,” Charlotte answered her.
