Page 49 of Filthy Commitments
“My family doesn’t need you to come in and start throwing money around.” I was incensed. “Being poor isn’t as bad as it seems to be.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” He let me go and started to unload the basket onto the conveyor belt. “I’ll just leave things alone. I’m sorry.”
I was fuming mad and not sure why that was exactly. Jett had money, my family didn’t. He was being nice. So why was I so mad? And who was I to tell him he couldn’t do something he wanted to?
But I didn’t utter one word. I held my tongue. It was far too complicated to talk about or understand. At the simplest form, I didn’t want Jett too intertwined with my family. I didn’t know what would happen with us after all.
Buying one sister, a house, meant he’d soon buy one for my other sister. Mom and Dad would get one too, and that would leave me beholden to the man forever.
No, it was best that I let that lie right where it had fallen. He didn’t need to buy any member of my family anything. That was that.
As we loaded the groceries into the car, I noticed how quiet Jett had become. It made me feel bad. “Hey, you know I love you, right?”
He nodded and closed the trunk. “Yeah. You know I didn’t mean to overstep any line you had drawn, right?”
With a light laugh, I got into the car, and he did too. “It was a line I didn’t know I had. But it’s there. It is most definitely there.”
“Okay.” He started the car. “No big gifts for your family. Got it.”
I nodded as he pulled away from the parking lot and headed back. Maybe I was wrong, but the decision felt right. Getting Jett too involved with my family wasn’t the right thing to do.
Things were just too up in the air to start things like that.
Jett
Driving to Maplewood, New Jersey, I held Asia’s hand. Back to the lying, and not feeling good about it. The sun was hanging low in the sky as I drove up to the place we called home before we struck it rich. A modest two bedroom, wood frame home that was once painted white was now bright yellow. “That’s it, Asia. That’s where I grew up.”
“Wow. From that to what you have now. Crazy, huh?” She shook her head as she looked at the small home. “And all because your mother came up with a great recipe and your dad figured out how to sell it. The American dream.”
The memories the old house stirred were filling my head. Soon, I’d be seeing people I grew up with. People who knew me before I was the man I became.
I had dressed down, not wanting to attract any attention to my financial status. That night I wanted to be plain old Jett from down the street.
Asia ran her hand over my arm. “Feeling a bit melancholy?”
The engagement ring and wedding band on her finger took my attention. I took her hand and kissed those rings. “I am. And I feel like things need to change. I’m a fake, Asia. A big fat phony.”
She looked at the rings too and sighed. “If I knew what to do, I’d tell you. But I don’t. Not without making us look like liars.”
“Which I am. You’re not one. I made you do it.” I looked down as I shook my head.
I needed to get out it all. But no idea that I’d come up with would work without leaving me in another boat full of lies or with egg on my face.
As hard as it was to think about, the only thing that would work was my original plan. A fake divorce. That would mean leaving Asia alone for a period of time. A thing I didn’t’ want to do.
As I pulled up at my old high school gym, I saw people walking into the double doors that I barely recognized. “Fuck, we’re all so old.”
“It’s only been ten years, Jett. You guys are still young. Come on. I can’t wait to meet your old friends. I bet they’ve got all kinds of stories to tell on you.” Asia got out of the car, looking excited.
I got out, feeling depressed.
We walked up to the doors, hand in hand as I prepared myself for what was to come. A girl I didn’t recognize but saw her name tag said Julie, was sitting at a small desk. “Hi, Jett. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. And this is your wife, I see. Sign in and fill out your names on the tags there and put them on your shirt, like I’ve done.”
“Hi, Julie. How are you?” I had no idea who the hell she was. But I knew I had gone to school with her. I guess I was pretty self-absorbed back then too.
After putting on our name tags, we headed through the next set of doors and found a bunch of people standing around in small groups. “Wow, so this is what a high school reunion is really like.” Asia looked around at everyone. “Kind of depressing how much it’s like when you were in high school, huh? Everyone is in their old cliques.”
And they were too. My little group was gathered around the punch table. “Come on. That’s mine over there, sipping punch that’s bound to be spiked already.” I took Asia by the hand and led her to meet my old friends.
