Page 29 of The Sky in Summer
She walks off, leaving Ken and I to come up with some sort of topic of conversation. By the look on his face, I’d say he is having a hard time of it. Want to talk about how I can please your ex-wife better than you ever could?
“So, how do you know Layla?”
I’m not sure he really wants to know, or cares. But he is trying to avoid the awkwardness, and that’s good enough for me.
“We actually went to school together.”
“College?”
“No. Kindergarten.”
“Oh. Really? That’s not true.”
I don’t know why he said that, and pretty sure he doesn’t either because he quickly segues.
“Anyway, sorry I disturbed your evening. I’ll be out of here in a minute.”
Before I can comment, Layla returns with the medication.
“He is usually so good at keeping track of this. He has never done that before.”
She hands the EpiPen over and Ken explains what happened.
“Not really his fault. He knows we have one at our place, but when I went to make sure I knew where it was, none of us could find it. You know, with the new baby and all, it’s a real shit show at the house. I don’t know where anything is.”
“Well, I’m glad you came to get his then. Good thinking,” Layla says with a calmer voice.
“Okay. I’m off. Back to the mad house,” he chuckles.
“Congratulations by the way. How’s mother and child doing?”
“They’re both good. Dora is calm like David was. She hardly cries. Thanks for asking.”
Layla may have done the right thing, but I can see it was mostly just good manners. She is still disturbed by the fact her kid forgot his pen, and now someone knows about our escapade.
“Listen, please don’t mention what you saw here. I don’t want the boys to know. Okay?”
“They already know he’s here. They recognized the car. What do you want me to say?”
“Shit!”
“Does it really matter if a friend visits?” I say, starting to feel a little weird.
“No. Of course it doesn’t. But I don’t want them to walk into this scene. My bra is hanging from the chair. It’s not a good look for a mother.”
She doesn’t say it sarcastically. She means it and lets us both know she will be the one deciding how to handle it.
“You better leave, before one of them gets any ideas, more than they have already,” Layla says to Ken.
“What should I say?” Ken waits for instructions.
“Just say my phone went dead while Van and I were having dinner. I never noticed. No, wait. What about the house phone? Why didn’t we hear that?”
“We lost electricity for a while,” I add to the necessary lie.
“That works. And tell them we barbecued. Don’t forget that part. I’ll explain another time.”
Don’t know why she added that detail, or why it would matter, but whatever. Ken doesn’t question it either.
