He didn’t buy my laugh and politely called me out on it. “I don’t know what motivation you think I have to get to know you, but I can assure you, you’re probably wrong. I just figured that since I’d spent the last couple of days telling you all about me and my family, it would be nice to know a few things about you as well.”
“That’s exactly what I was trying to say.” I knew I’d been duped the second his lips curled at the corners. He’d done that on purpose, to fish out the truth and force me to finish my original thought. Regardless, I continued anyway. “We could be friends, but considering I’m only here for a week and we aren’t exactly neighbors, that wouldn’t be much of a friendship. And those same reasons go for anything romantic as well. Which means your interest in me is just that—unmotivated curiosity. So no, I wasn’t uncomfortable talking about myself. I’m just not sure what to make of it.”
Drew was quiet for a moment, contemplating my accusation while resuming our leisurely stroll back to The Feeder. “What reason do people have to watch reality TV? Isn’t that kind of the same thing as getting to know someone?”
“Yeah, I guess…but I’m assuming they do that for the entertainment value.”
“Well, I’m not going to lie to you, Kenny, I find you rather entertaining. So maybe that’s my reason. Or—” He practically hopped and held up one finger, as if something brilliant had just come to him. “Maybe I simply enjoy your company, and I don’t want to risk running you off by spending the entire time together talking about myself. See, it seems I’m not as selflessly interested in you as you might think.”
I couldn’t hold in the laughter any longer. His determination to prove me wrong amused me. It was like he’d taken offense to being a nice guy who simply wanted to get to know me without expecting anything in return. “Okay, you’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
As we approached the front of the restaurant, Drew tipped his head back and finished off what was left in his beer bottle. “Wait for me over there while I take these to the trash,” he said, pointing to the side of the building where I assumed he’d parked his golf cart. He then took my cup and his empty bottle to the bin next to the steps and threw them away.
“So, do you feel like you know enough about me now?” I asked as he slid onto the seat next to me.
He hummed to himself as he turned the key in the ignition. “Not really. You didn’t tell me much, and to be honest, I’m not even sure I understand what little you did tell me. Based on what you said, it seems like your mom would hate your grandfather, yet she allowed him to move in with her. And I feel like there’s still so much to learn about your grandmother.”
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that my mom hates my grandpa. After all, he is her dad, whether she likes it or not. Allowing him to live with us wasn’t an easy decision on her part. She wrestled with it for a while. But at the end of the day, her problem with him was no longer an issue, and considering he’d had a stroke, the likelihood of him falling off the wagon was slim to none.”
My mom hadn’t discussed her decision with me—it wasn’t something a thirteen-year-old should have to worry about. The only reason I knew any of that was because I had overheard her crying to herself when she thought I was asleep. I would never forget the nights I’d spent sitting outside her door, listening to her whisper to herself, tears and pain filling every conflicted thought. At first, I had assumed she was on the phone with someone, but it didn’t take long to figure out who she was talking to—her guardian angel, my grandmother.
“If your mom hadn’t seen him in twenty years, how did he know how to reach her when he had his stroke?”
I realized how slow he was driving, clearly trying to stretch it out to keep me talking. And even though we had slipped back into discussing my family drama, I didn’t mind. I wasn’t ready for the night to be over just yet—then again, it seemed that I never wanted my time with Drew to come to an end. This wasn’t anything new.
“Umm…I’m not entirely sure about that. From what I gather, they were trying to reach my grandmother and were somehow given my mom’s number. I guess they got ahold of someone who used to know her. I have no idea, but it was the hospital who called my mom, not him.” With everything else going on at that time, that had never been something I’d questioned too hard or thought much about.
“I take it that means he didn’t know about you?”
“Nope. But if your next question is about his reaction to me, save your breath. I wasn’t allowed to go to the hospital with my mom after she found out about the stroke. Not to mention, it wasn’t local, so it’s not like she went often anyway. And by the time I did meet him, my mom had already told him about me, so the element of surprise was gone.” I was amazed at how interesting he found all this. To me, it was nothing but a boring story.
The cart came to a gradual stop in front of my cabin, yet neither of us made any move to end the night. Instead, he turned to me, inquisitiveness in his eyes, and asked, “That was five years ago, right? I take it that means he’s doing better now?”
The most surprising part of this all had to be that I wasn’t bothered in the slightest by talking about it, despite the heaviness and deeply personal subject matter. Oddly enough, telling Drew about my sick grandfather and his abusive and alcoholic past offered me a sense of peace. He felt like a confidante, a safe place. And rather than question it too much, I decided to go with it and see where it led.
“No, the stroke really messed him up. I obviously didn’t know him before that, but I think it’s safe to say he’s nothing more than a shell of the man he used to be. And over the last five years, he’s gotten progressively worse.”
“Really? How so?”
“Well, after the stroke, he developed early-onset dementia. Apparently, it’s not uncommon for that to happen. While it wasn’t too bad at the beginning—you wouldn’t have known it if someone didn’t tell you—it’s gotten pretty bad. I guess I look just like my grandmother, because he always thinks I’m her. He calls me by her name and everything.”
“Maybe there’s some truth to that Indian belief, huh?” His smile, though small and unintentional, sent waves of warmth rippling through my stomach. It nearly had me leaning into him, begging for another taste of his lips, and I might’ve done that had he not continued our conversation. “You said he has money, though. I assume he would need a lot of care, so at least the financial burden doesn’t fall squarely on your mom.”
I felt like I did nothing but pop his positivity balloon. “He had money in the bank when he first came to live with us, when he was still pretty much with it. And then there was also the sale of his house. All of that went toward hospital bills, with enough to last until he got really bad. The problem is, most of his money is in trusts or something like that. And I guess there’s a clause somewhere that keeps him from gaining access to the funds in the event he’s not of sound mind. So for the last couple of years, it’s all been tied up in legal crap.”
“But your mom is his daughter, and the money will be going toward his care, won’t it?”