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)
“I can’t have you or any of your friends splitting up,” Kola said adamantly. “I don’t like change. I like things to stay as they are.”
“Yes, but sometimes people have to break up, and they can still be friends. Look at Jake’s parents. They get along so much better now than they ever have.”
“True,” Kola agreed. “But Jake’s mother’s boyfriend is screwing up Thanksgiving for Jake by taking everyone on a cruise.”
“Jake could go on the cruise,” Hannah offered. “He just doesn’t want to.”
“That’s because it’s change,” Kola reminded her. “And we hate that.”
“We?”
“Yes we.”
She crossed her arms. “You’re using the royal we when you speak about your friends, and you know that’s naughty. You’re not the decision-making center of the group.”
“I didn’t say I was, but you have to admit that Jake got screwed over with this whole Thanksgiving thing.”
“Again, I remind you that Jake could go.”
“But it won’t be Thanksgiving that way.”
“Everyone has to be open to change,” Hannah told him. “That’s what allows for growth.”
She was so Sam’s daughter.
“Change can be painful, but it’s necessary.”
“I hate it,” Kola assured her.
“Yes, dear, I know, but lookit Pa. He had to get used to us both being gone. Has it been hard?” She asked the rhetorical question which neither Kola nor I were stupid enough to answer. “Of course it’s been hard,” she went on. “But we’re all doing pretty well, and we’re all putting in a lot of effort to stay abreast of everything that’s going on.”
There was a beat of silence.
“Abreast?”
“What?” she groused at her brother.
“You can’t just say in touch?”
“I’m working on a speech for Uncle Aaron’s urban renewal project, and you know whenever I do that I swap out a lot of words.”
We both grunted, because yes, she did.
“Do you have time to do those things along with your schoolwork?” I asked her. “I know you must have things due before fall break.”
Long sigh. “Of course I have time,” she said, like I was just the most uninformed man on the planet. “Would I jeopardize my studies?”
Another rhetorical question.
“No, I would not,” she answered herself. “The real question is, can I get the speech to three minutes, which is when George’s eyes start to roll back in his head. I really like to make sure that I check all the boxes for Uncle Aaron and annoy the crap out of George.”
“That’s not nice,” Kola informed her. “It’s funny, but not nice.”
She cackled evilly.
“Oh look,” Kola said suddenly. “The footage of Dad saving that guy and his wife is on TikTok. It’s got twenty-six thousand likes already.”
“Oh, he’s not going to be happy,” I stated with a sigh. “You know how much he hates any sort of public anything.”
“The good news is that the comments are all good,” Hannah reported. “No stupid crap, just praise for him saving the couple—and the lady is pregnant too, holy crap—and not using lethal force and shooting the guy in the leg instead.”
“Maybe Dad should start carrying a Taser so when your trouble-magnet-ness rubs off on him, he’s ready.”
“Oh no,” I said defensively to my son. “This had nothing to do with me this time.”
“And yet,” Hannah chimed in, “you’re the one talking to the bad guy.”
“Only because I had to delay him until your father got there.”
“This kind of thing gives me hives,” Kola assured me. “Why do you always talk to the bad guy? Why can’t you let someone else do it?”
“You know why,” Hannah replied, coming to my rescue. “Pa’s the only one with reliable backup. You don’t know who these other people have watching over them. But in Pa’s case, he knows that Dad is right around the corner or, I’m guessing, in the bathroom?”
“Exactly.”
“Will he be home soon?” Hannah wanted to know. “Because I think I’m going to come over and hug you both.”
“Will you call me when you get there?” Kola asked her. “So you can tell me that they’re both okay?”
“Of course I will,” she soothed him, smiling.
“I’m fine, your father’s fine,” I told them. “Really, we don’t need to be checked up on like we’re in our dotage.”
“In your what?”
“It means old age,” Hannah clarified for her brother.
“Then why not say that?”
“For the same reason I used abreast,” she pointed out. “Sometimes there’s a word that’s just as good and even more exact.”
He shook his head. “When I become a doctor, I’m going to explain things to my patients in words they understand. Too many physicians use big words to sound smart—which they are—but they should be getting closer to people, not putting distance between them.”
“I completely agree with that,” Hannah said, grinning at him. “And you can be my doctor. I would trust you to do that.”
“No.” He was adamant. “I’m going to be a trauma surgeon. I don’t want you to ever need me. Let’s not do that.”