Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“And you believe this?”
“Yeah,” Aja chimed in, nodding. “I do. Dane is so programmed to respect everyone, but even more so, he adored his mother, and I think that protectiveness and concern was just engrained in him so young that he simply can’t ogle them. And now, of course, he’s a dad.” She sighed. “The last time we had dinner out with friends, the cocktail waitress where we ate had a skimpy little thing on that was masquerading as a dress, and my husband asked her if she was cold.”
I snorted. “When did you eat out without me?”
The look I got was hysterical, like she ate bad fish. “Jude has another new girlfriend.”
Biting the side of my cheek so I wouldn’t laugh, I looked at her.
“It’s not funny, Jory. She’s a coffin decorator.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Theresa asked, putting down her slice of pepperoni pizza.
“She transforms the inside of a coffin to fit the person who is going to the…hereafter.”
I covered my face with my napkin.
“Jory—two hours of her talking about this. And of course, no one who loses a child is going near her with a ten-foot pole because—well, you know. The grief would be staggering, and you’re not screwing around. But people who lose their parents, older siblings…imagine the horror if you will.”
“So, like, she could make a Lord of the Rings coffin,” Theresa threw out.
“Yes,” Aja choked out. “And has.”
I lost it then, face down on the table, howling.
“You suck,” she snapped at me. “And Dane said, ‘make Jory and Sam come’ as soon as he heard Jude was bringing a new girlfriend, but I said no…let’s be nice to them.”
I was crying in no time, and Aja had to fish tissue out of her purse so I could blow my nose. “I bet it was a real graveyard of a conversation.” I snickered.
She pushed my head back down on the table.
“Do you remember a few years ago there was that video of that girl walking around a city, and I don’t remember where, but she recorded it, or some show did, and then they had her father watch it, and he was horrified at the catcalls and lewd advances she got and how mad some of the men got when she didn’t speak to them, and then they turned around and called her names?”
“I do,” Aja replied, pinching me in the side just so I knew I was in trouble for laughing. “He was horrified at what his daughter had to deal with on a daily basis.”
“But see, this is what I’m saying. I will bet you that your sons shout things at girls that make them uncomfortable.”
“No,” she said flatly. “And they might want to, and they might even think it’s cool, but they know how I would feel, and they know the look they would get from their father.”
“Aja, be real,” Theresa said kindly but firmly. “There’s nature and nurture and your boys having other boys as friends. I think it would be very interesting to place a hidden camera on them and see the difference between your perception and what really happens.”
“But all we can really do as parents is model the behavior we want to see, not talk out of our asses—instead be the people we say we are—and of course tell them to always be nice and respectful until they can’t be anymore.”
“When would your kid not be respectful?”
It was my turn to answer. “Well, my daughter, for one, is always that way when it comes to adults. But if they somehow let her know that the respect won’t be reciprocated—then she’s been raised, at that point, to speak her mind.”
“Which I like,” Aja said, backing me up. “It’s the same thing with my boys. When they get questioned, they’re always respectful…until they can’t be. Then Dane or I have to get involved, and we take care of whatever it is.”
“Agreed, yes,” Theresa said, taking a sip of her wine. “But I’m talking about Hannah’s situation with the boys in her dorm. My point is that all boys, men, can de-evolve to this caveman mentality when in a group. Remember that movie the Accused? That was based on a true story.”
Aja took a breath. “I know a lot of people have said, ‘not my son, that could never be my boy, he would never do that,’ but really, in my soul I know my husband, and I know my sons. And if you think that makes me simple or gullible––” She shrugged. “––that’s okay, because I know them, you don’t.”
“And you have to account for growth,” I said to Theresa. “I will bet you that the love of my life did some catcalling in his day. I’m sure he’s said some things in the past that if you reminded him of now, he’d be embarrassed about. But has he ever let the group mentality take over and hurt someone? Absolutely not. My husband checks down alleys for abandoned kittens and puppies. He’s that guy,” I told her.