Page 113 of Devil in Disguise
“And your work-study,” Jennifer said. “Nothing. Obviously, I’m not going to be needy anymore, so I can …”
“ButI’mneedy!” Dyma said. “My scholarship is fifteen thousand dollars ayear,plus five thousand dollars’ worth of work-study money! How am I supposed to make that up? I’ve got loans already. If I end up owing forty thousand, that’s going to make grad school … well, impossible, at least it feels that way, because that’s going to be eightythousandin loans right there, and Iampaying all of that. You mean I’m on the hook forallof it? And you can’t … appeal, or something?”
“Now, hang on,” Harlan said. “I didn’t say that you were on your own. I said the situation had changed. I’m going to be sending Bug to college next year, remember. Yeah, she’s got that rowing scholarship, but I’m paying the rest of it, and Stanford’s not cheap. I’m happy to do it, and I’m happy to send you, too.”
Dyma said, “No. Wait. No. I’m just … Wait.”
Jennifer said, “Dyma. Sweetie. I was always helping with half of what the scholarship and work-study didn’t pay. Five thousand a year, so you didn’t end up with so many loans. Now, Harlan will be helping out with the other twenty thousand, that’s all.”
“But this is paying myway.This is my … my ….”
“Your independence,” Owen said.
“Yes.”
“But you’ve still got that,” Harlan said. “You’ve still got your same loans, if you’re not willing to let me take those on, and you can still get a job off-campus, too. Look,” he said, when she didn’t say anything, “I’ll make a minimum of a hundred sixty-seven thousand just for the postseason games this year. I get that forty thousand feels like a lot of money, but it’s not a lot of money to me. I can send both you and Bug to school all next year just on what I’ll make tomorrow. It’s an easy choice if it helps your mom, and it does. What do you think would’ve happened if you’d been ten when I married her? Was I just going to cut you loose when it came time for college? What kind of marriage would I have then?”
Dyma had a hand in her hair. “You’d be my stepfather then. It would be different.”
“I’m going to be your stepfather now.”
“You’re not. Seriously, not. It’s …”
“Look,” Harlan said. “Your mom thought you’d react like this. What’s the alternative, though? I don’t marry her for another two years, until you graduate?”
“No,” Dyma said. “Of course not. I want Mom to be happy. I want youbothto be happy. I just … I’ve worked so hard for this, for so many years. And Ididit. Or I thought I did. I just … I can’t.” She stood up and grabbed her coat, which was the Owen-sweater, because it was the nicest one she had. She started to put it on and missed the arm hole, and Owen stood up with her and held it.
Jennifer said, “Dyma. Wait.”
“I just need to think. I need some time tothink.”
Owen shoved his chair in, and she said, “No. I can’t talk for a while. Besides, you need to eat. I have to go.”
“At least wait until your food’s ready,” Jennifer said.
“Seriously, I’m not trying to have drama. I just …” She grabbed her purse from the table, and Owen still wasn’t sitting down. She said, “I need to think this through. I realize you think I’m … entitled, or something. That I’m reacting …” Her chin was wobbling, and she couldn’t stop it. “Badly. I’m not trying to … to make you unhappy. I’m just trying to …”
“To go down your own road,” Owen said.
“I thought that next year, I could add some to my loan,” she said, “so you wouldn’t have to do it anymore, Mom. I thought I could take care of it myself. You’ve done so much for me. You’ve sacrificed your wholelifefor me. I just want that to beover.”She shook her head. “I’ll be back later. I mean, at the hotel. I don’t want to ruin your dinner, or to wreck Harlan and Owen’s preparation or pregame mindset or whatever. Don’t worry about me. Please don’t. I just need some time.”
After that? She ran.
48
The Intelligence of the Octopus
He sure didn’t enjoythat dinner.
What did he want to do? He wanted to go after Dyma, of course. She needed to be alone? He could … walk behind her, or something. Make sure she got into a cab all right. Except that she’d see him, it would piss her off and make her feel like he didn’t trust her to be safe or to handle her own emotional life, and that’d be another thing neither of them needed. So he sat there, ate dinner pretty much as fast as he could, and asked for a box for Dyma’s.
The food was great, and so was the atmosphere. Amara at Paraiso, the restaurant was called, which meant something approximately like, “Love in Paradise,” or was supposed to sound that way. They were sitting outside, on the water, and there were plenty of twinkling lights and candles and sunset and all of that, which was why he’d chosen the place. He’d figured it would be romantic and that they’d know how to cook a steak, and he’d been right on both counts, because they did a pretty fine surf ‘n’ turf. Skirt steak, chorizo sausage, red snapper, grilled prawns, and grilled octopus. None of it worked that well for him, though.
Not that he didn’t eat it. He was playing a football game tomorrow. You bet he ate it. He couldn’t think of much to say while he did it, though. Jennifer said a few worried things to Harlan in a low voice, he said a few reassuring things back, and as soon as Owen was done, he stood up, threw a couple hundred bucks on the table, grabbed the bag with Dyma’s dinner, and said, “See you guys.”
Jennifer said, “Would you text me when you’re with her? I know you’re probably the best person to talk this over with her right now, but still. I can’t help but worry.”
“Yeah,” Owen said. “Me, too.”
