“Well, I guess …” she said, “be careful.”
“More careful than you, you mean.”
The laughter died, and Jennifer tried to think of something to say and couldn’t.
Dyma sighed and said, “I didn’t mean than you before. Just—I think Harlan really likes you. Owen didn’t invite me to come meet his whole home town. And, yeah, that was all very …” She paused. “I don’t know. Intense. Horrible. I’m glad you told me, I guess, even though I kind of wish I didn’t know.”
Welcome to adulthood, Jennifer thought. Aloud, she said, “Do you really?”
Dyma sighed again. “Maybe. I guess not. I don’t know. It’s weird to know for sure that your father was a rapist. And don’t say he wasn’t, because that’s what he went to prison for. And he’s part of me, whether I like it or not.”
“Hey.” Harlan emerged from the group of boys with Owen behind him. “Thought you were sticking with me. How come you don’t have anything to eat, Dyma?”
“Vegetarian, remember?” she said, rallying fast, as always.
Harlan glanced at Owen. “What’s the tailgate alternative to meat?”
“Not sure,” he said. “Not something that’s come up in my life. Now, turducken’s come up. Deboned chicken stuck into a deboned duck stuck into a deboned turkey,” he told Dyma, “with sausage dressing stuck into the chicken first, of course.”
Dyma made a face, and Owen grinned and said, “Bacon-wrapped Oreos have come up, too. Surprisingly delicious.”
“But then,” Dyma said, “you probably eat bull testicles.”
“Aw, now you’re just hurting my feelings,” Owen said. “Rocky Mountain oysters? That’s good eating. Fresh off the animal, breaded and fried? Fine Wyoming tradition. Also, they’re calf testicles. Bull testicles would be way too tough. And why should they go to waste? Got to use every part of the animal if you’re looking for sustainability, and you’re cutting them off anyway.”
Jennifer said, “Stop. Please. I’m eating sausage here.”
“See?” Dyma said. “Meat’s gross if you think about it for even a second. I’m just pointing it out so you have to think about it.”
“Well, stop pointing it out,” Jennifer said. “I don’t like vegetables enough to become a vegetarian. I prefer to think about Styrofoam trays and plastic wrap.”
“Hang on,” Harlan said. He was grinning, looking more genuinely relaxed than he had since they’d got here. “I’ll see what I can do about your predicament, Dyma.”
He’d just turned away to do—whatever it was—when a man approached in a hurry, with a girl right behind him. He was tall and broad-shouldered, a little puffy around the face, and too intense. He was holding a red Solo cup.
Harlan said, “Annabelle. Hey.” He took a breath. “Hi, Dad.”
Time to be the support system.
18
Return of the Hero
Nobody’d every accused Axel Kristiansen of fading into the background. He said, “Well, well, well. The hero returns. How about that?” All with a big, shit-eating grin.
He was about three-quarters gone, Harlan figured. He’d gotten an early start today, Super Bowl and all, but was still trying to do his just-a-great-guy thing, like he always did in public. Axel saved his ugly face for home.
Harlan said, “Hey, Bug,” gave her a hug and kiss on a cheek, and got her squeeze back. “Surprise visit. Decided if everybody was going to turn out in the cold, I’d better show up for it. Hey, guys, this is my sister, Annabelle, and my dad, Axel. This is Owen, and my friends Jennifer and Dyma, uh …”
He had no idea. “Cardello,” Jennifer said with a smile.
His sister said. “Hi. I can’t believe you came after all. I didn’t think you would. And Owen. Hi.” She blushed a little, and Owen, who’d met her at games in the past, gave her a kiss on the cheek. Everybody’s mom loved Owen, and so did everybody’s sister. Something about him being so big. It should’ve made him seem frightening, but instead, it made him seem almost … comforting. Or maybe that was just Owen. Off the field, anyway.
Axel said, still in that fake-jovial tone, “We were sure surprised to hear you were down here, after you didn’t show up for my event last night. You left an awful lot of people disappointed, but I guess you’re used to that by now. And then your sister and I had to hustle down today without any notice. Good going there. Guess we must’ve missed your call.”
How many little digs was that in a few sentences? “Yeah,” Harlan said. “I decided I’d drop by after all. It was a last-minute impulse. You were right, though. There are people here I owe.” He wanted to ask who’d driven, but he already knew. That would be his dad. Another thing that made him nuts.
“Everyone except your old man, I guess,” his dad said. “And you found some new friends to bring with you. Well, welcome, ladies. Any friend of the star, and if she’s as pretty as the two of you … well, a man can never go wrong with that kind of female companionship, can he?”
He looked Jennifer and Dyma over, and Harlan’s hand clenched around his own red Solo cup. It had been thrust at him by somebody back there, he couldn’t even remember who. He asked Jennifer, “Would you hold this for me?” He couldn’t stand to look drunk for this. Owen had said that thing about not caring what people thought, but still … he couldn’t stand it.
“Sure,” Jennifer said without batting an eye, and took it.
“You enjoy that plane ride?” Axel asked Jennifer. “The two of you? Sisters, huh? Twice the fun. Bet Harlan brought you in a private jet, too, didn’t he? He loves to show up that way. Next thing you know, he’ll be landing a helicopter right on the fifty-yard line. I thought he might be embarrassed about how the season ended and that was why he wouldn’t come today, but I guess it takes more than that. Nothing like the pull of an adoring crowd. Every salesman needs an audience. He comes by that honest, at least.” He checked out Dyma again. “But he didn’t even know your last name. Pretty sad. I taught him better than that. Always learn a lady’s name, right, son?” He laughed. “Not every man could bounce back from taking his team right out of the Super Bowl. Got to hand it to you, this right here looks like a pretty good bounce. Only about the biggest mistake in your life, and not like your damn job isn’t catching the ball, but, hey. Easy come, easy go, am I right? You show up, and everybody forgives you. It’s a gift.”
Harlan wanted to hit him. He wanted to do it so bad, it was freezing him. He was always quick with a quip, either to shut somebody down or to make somebody laugh, but now, he couldn’t think of anything to say.
Jennifer said, sounding surprisingly calm, as if all that had rolled right off her back, “We did meet him recently. We met in Yellowstone a few days ago, in fact, of all the crazy places. This isn’t even the coldest I’ve been lately. It’s close, though.”
“Really?” That was Annabelle jumping in. “I’ve never been to Yellowstone. I guess I could just drive down to the Black Hills if I wanted to see bison, though, and I’m not sure I want to see a grizzly up close. What was it like? Did you see any animals?”