I haven’t been so thankful for a day off in ages. Usually I like being away from home and keeping busy, but now I need a break.
Collapsing on my bed with a towel wrapped around my waist, I open the vodka and take a giant gulp. It tastes vile after just brushing my teeth and burns like hell on the way down, but I know it will help me sleep.
Checking my phone, there is a text from the girl I hooked up with on Saturday. She was at the bar on the ground floor of our offices, a new waitress with far too few clothes on and way too much boob. Not a take home to family kind of girl, but she was good for a bit of fun in the supply closet.
I must have been drunk to give her my number because I don’t remember doing so. Ugh. I ignore the message and down another massive swig of vodka before ripping open my bed covers and turning on my TV.
The crisp cotton of my clean bed calls to me. Pulling the comforter up to my nose, I settle in to watch all the sport I have DVR’d and drift in and out of consciousness.
I wake in the dead of night. My bedside clock blinks 3:33 in red lights that scorch my retinas, but worse is the growling hunger in my belly.
Getting up, I slink downstairs to the kitchen to feed the animal within, but I stop when I see the light on. Fuck, I forgot the old man is home. I peek around the doorframe to see if he’s actually in there or if he just left the light on and exited, hoping he doesn’t sense the movement.
When I look into the blinding fluorescent lighting he’s not in there, but perched at the breakfast table is a blonde with long slender legs. Her light pink silk top is gaping, so I can see down it. She’s got no bra on and her little nipples are hard from the fresh air. There is a steaming cup in front of her and she’s staring into it like it has all the answers floating inside.
Not wanting to face my father’s latest fuck buddy, I retreat back upstairs with my grumbling stomach still protesting.
He obviously likes this one; he only brings them here when he wants to piss mother off or if they’ve stuck together long enough for hotels to start becoming expensive. She’s blonde, not his normal choice either. He likes them dark-haired and dark skinned. It makes me wonder what she’s got that he managed to stay with her long enough to bring her home with him.
When I get back to my room, having moved as quietly as I can past his, the little blue list on my phone is flashing, signaling I have a message or a missed call. When I touch to open the screen my mother’s number pops up.
Mom – Missed Call – 03:41
Unless the spa is in Europe, something must be wrong for her to call at this hour. I swipe right to call her back and lie down, balancing the phone next to my ear while turning the volume on the television down. The ringtone hasn’t changed, so she’s not out of the country.
“Salvi, Jesus, why don’t you answer my calls?”
“Hello, Ma.” I answer her as placidly as I can. I can hear how drunk she is just by the way she says my name.
“Where is your father?” she asks, her words slurring together.
“Home, why?” I tell her, because chances are she already knows. “He’s in bed.”
“Is she there? The new one?”
Oh, this is the ‘I’m pretending to give a fuck what my husband does’ call. The usual cycle is that she ignores the situation, then she cares, then she doesn’t give a shit, then she confronts him, then he buys her pretty stuff and she’s blind again, and then he gets bored and finds another one.
“Yes, Ma. She’s here. But you knew that or you wouldn’t call me at three in the morning.”
“Your uncle says your father missed their dinner, took her somewhere fancy – alone. He doesn’t normally do that. Is she special or something?”
Fucked if I know. Maybe.
“Ma, I haven’t met her. I wouldn’t know. What do you even care who he fucks, you will never leave him, he will never leave you. Just let it go. I can’t deal with the fight this time. Rain is fucking killing us at work and I honestly can’t babysit you two.”
“Don’t cheek me, boy.” She’s angry drunk now. “He’s my husband. I can care if I want to.”
“Ma, you are with your fucking toyboy right now, calling to check on your husband.” I get stroppy with her. “Stop caring. You are drunk and bored and sad. Fuck off, Ma. Sleep it off. She’ll be gone by Sunday morning, we both know it. He hasn’t even come in here to yell, so she must give great head.”
“Salvi, so help me God, I’ll beat you, boy, you are not too old.”
I am too old. I’m twenty-seven.
“Bye, Ma.”
I hang up, already tired of her shit. I should have known, it’s never ‘How are you, Salvi?’ it’s always about them and their dysfunctional bullshit.
Tossing and turning until the sun rises, I eventually hear my father’s car leaving. It’s the morning drive of shame, when he takes her back to where she came from.
There are about twenty more missed calls flashing on my phone. I turned it to silent after I hung up, knowing she’d call all night. Between the waitress’s texts and my mother’s missed calls, I just want to throw the device out the window.
When I know the coast is clear, I pull on some sweatpants and go downstairs, fill a bowl with cereal and open Dad’s newspaper, the one he gets every day but never reads. Paging through until I get to the sports section, I read all the results and scandals word for word, not skipping any.
The house is so nice when my parents aren’t in it. I almost enjoy being here like this. With a whole day to myself I turn up the music, finish reading the paper, and then get dressed around noon to go out in search of real food that doesn’t require me to cook it.
My Zia’s restaurant isn’t too far from home and I could use a proper meal. I will get special treatment if I go there. With the radio blaring on the short drive, I sing along and generally just enjoy that I don’t have a single thing to do today. My cousin Viviana’s car is parked in the spot next to mine. There is always some family here, because we can never be too far apart from each other – it’s crazy, but it makes us who we are.
“Ciao, Salvi.”
Viv greets me, waving from where she sits alone at a table. Her twin sister did a runner and I think she’s taking it hard.
“Ciao.” I air kiss both her cheeks and give her a hug before sitting down at the table with her.
“No work today?” she asks.
“No, your crazy as fuck brother gave us a day off. So if we get unexpected bad weather you can blame him.”
She laughs, because Rain is a notorious dick to everyone, all the time.
“He’s coming here for lunch, so watch your mouth.”
She winks at me, raising her hand to wave a server over to us so I can order a drink. I thought I’d escaped Rain for a day, but obviously not.
“Ciao, you two.” Zia greets us with big hugs and kisses, squeezing us into her overflowing bosom and making a big fuss.
To them we are still ‘the kids’ and they love having us around. It makes them feel like we aren’t complete delinquents.
“Ciao, Zia.” I hug her back and sit.
“You two hungry then?”
“Very,” I say.
Viv says the opposite. “No, Zia, I am fine.”