Page 92 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

“Of course. And you have until Tuesday evening, so no rush. But our office closes at 6:30 tonight.”

Okay, great, thank you.” I wasn’t really thankful though. They’d probably messed something up on their end. People these days.

“Have a nice evening,” she said, and the line went dead.

Kristen jogged over to me. “We’re holding people up.” She gestured to the agitated family that had been behind us the whole time. They didn’t understand the art of mini-golf. “What’s going on?”

“There’s some issue with my tuition.” I pressed on my dad’s cell number and pulled the phone to my ear. “Tell J.J. to take my shot for me, okay?”

She nodded and left me alone.

My dad’s phone went straight to voicemail. Son of a bitch. The last thing I wanted to do was talk to Nancy. But I didn’t really see a way around it. I wasn’t waiting to figure this out on his time, especially if this was somehow his fault. The knot in my stomach was leaning toward him being the problem, not the admissions office. I hung up the phone and dialed their house number.

After a few rings Nancy answered. “Hello? Wilson residence,” she said.

“Hi, Nancy. It’s Mila. Is my dad there? I really need to speak to him.”

“Oh.” She sighed like my existence tired her. “Dale asked you not to use this number, Mila. Call his cell. Bye.”

“Nancy! Wait! He didn’t answer. I tried to call his cell phone first.”

“That’s because we’re on our way out. We were just heading to dinner with our girls. Can’t this wait?”

Our girls. Fuck you too. “I just need to talk to him for a minute. I won’t keep him.” I never do.

“Fine. You can talk to him for exactly one minute. But we have reservations. So don’t dawdle.”

I never dawdled on the phone with my dad. These conversations were as painful for me as they were for her. Regardless, I could picture her pulling out some fancy gold pocket watch and timing the conversation.

“He’s a very busy man,” she added.

“Can you please just put him on the phone?” I didn’t mean to snap, but God she had a way of crawling under my skin. Like she was my father’s keeper. And her perfect new family couldn’t mingle with scum like me.

“I will not have you speak to me like that. Dale!” she called. Her words were muffled as she held the phone away from her mouth, but I could still make out what she was saying. “Dale! It’s your other child. And you should have heard how she spoke to me. I won’t tolerate this for another second. You need to figure out a way to make this stop.”

Tears bit the corners of my eyes. I knew they were trying to punt me out of their lives. That was very clear from my last conversation with my father. But hearing it out loud? It still stung. I wasn’t a menace that needed to be stopped. They were in the wrong here, not me.

“Mila, what did you say to Nancy?” My father sounded madder than I’d ever heard him.

“Nothing. Dad, I…”

“You will not disrespect my wife. Do you understand me? You have no business speaking ill words to my family.”

His family? I was his family. Why did he always say stuff like that? Could he not hear himself speak? I wiped my cheek as a tear slowly fell. This conversation was as awful for me as it was for him. Earlier this summer I promised myself I was done with him. But here I was, trying to cater to his insanity. Letting him belittle me. “I didn’t say anything rude to her. I just asked her to put you on the phone. That was it.”

“Well it must have been your tone. You’ve always had a problem with your tone.”

Did I? I wiped more tears off my cheeks. That was the first time I’d ever heard about it. But it probably was true around him and his family. Talking to Nancy was like talking to a Barbie doll with her head cut off. Perfect on the outside but clearly no brain because of the no head thing.

Kristen, Reggie, and J.J. were staring at me. I couldn’t do this in front of them. I didn’t want them to see me like this. My father made me feel weak and small. That wasn’t the person I was here. I had worked hard all summer to make sure of it. And if I stood up here another second in the stifling heat, I was going to pass out. I dropped my putter and made my way back down to the crowded boardwalk.

“I’m sorry, Dad.” I wasn’t. Maybe my tone had been rude, but had he ever heard his wife speak to me? She was the epitome of rudeness, at least where I was concerned.

“You should be.”

I rolled my eyes. Such an asshole. I tried to lift my shoulders. He was not going to break me in this conversation. I refused to let him. “I’m calling about tuition. There’s been a problem with the payment to the University of New Castle?”

“The University of New Castle? You go to SMU.”

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