21 Protection, For God’s Sake #2
He went on, “I didn’t know what your intentions with my son were. When you have money, you have to be careful. I hope you understand.”
Translation: you don’t understand, because you don’t have money, but just trust me.
“Now, though, I see that the two of you do get along. And you get along with Mike, too, which is… Well, I probably shouldn’t say this, but Mike’s complicated.
I don’t think that’s any great secret. Nothing is serious for him.
Yes… Anyway, I just wanted to say I was sorry, and I hope we can start over from zero. ”
“Of course,” I said. “I understand. He’s your son. You want to protect him.”
He smiled, and I thought he was going to say something else, but then Mary appeared in the hallway.
Her expression was cautious, and she looked back and forth between us.
Something didn’t feel right, and I could tell her gaze was trying to communicate something to him.
When he ignored her, she said to me, “Jenna, dear, would you mind waiting for us downstairs? I have something I need to discuss with my husband.”
I told her I understood and walked off down the hall. Instantly, I could hear them arguing, but I didn’t want to be nosy, so I hurried down the stairs to find Agnes and Jack talking and Mike sitting on the floor playing with his phone, which was plugged into the wall.
When Jack asked where I had been, I told him his father had wanted to talk to me, and he looked furious, wanting to know what he’d said to me, what he’d wanted, what he’d done.
“Everything’s fine, Jack,” I said. “He just wanted to apologize for the other day. He said we should start over from zero.”
For a second, I thought everything was OK, but then Jack stood, and he looked far angrier than before. I tried to follow him, but Mike caught my eye and shook his head.
“That goddamn manipulator,” Jack said, taking the stairs two at a time.
I looked at Agnes, hoping for an explanation, but she still seemed paralyzed by her hangover, and when I tried to listen, I could only hear vague sounds and footsteps.
At some point, the word Mike was audible, and Mike went upstairs, too. I had no idea what was going on.
Agnes fell asleep with her chin resting on her hand.
I said her name to make sure she wasn’t just resting, and when she didn’t respond, I climbed the stairs.
The voices grew more intense; then Mike flew past me in a rage, making me stumble.
I could barely process what was going on when Jack appeared with my backpack in his hands.
“We’re going,” he said, making it clear no discussion was possible.
Mary passed by in turn, trying not to cry. Looking down the hall, I could see her husband sitting in one of the leather chairs, apparently indifferent to whatever was going on.
“Jen, come on,” Jack called out from the steps.
I followed him. Mercifully, Agnes was still out of it. When we were outside, Jack threw my things in the back and the three of us got in. Mike stared out the door with a serious expression. Jack slammed the door and sped off.
I was too scared to ask anything. But I couldn’t understand how things could have spoiled so fast. Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to talk to him? Maybe I shouldn’t have repeated what their dad had said? I reached over, grabbed Jack’s hand, and brought it to my lap.
“Everything OK?” I asked.
“No,” he replied.
Neither he nor Mike gave me the least indication that talking was a good idea.
So I remained silent until we got home, thinking that this was the strangest vacation I’d ever taken.
In the apartment, we found Sue and Will in the living room studying their notes.
“Well, you guys look like you had fun,” she said.
Jack dropped my backpack beside me and said, “I’m going to go shower.” Mike walked back out the door. When I heard the window in the hall sliding in its frame, I figured he must be going on the roof to smoke.
“What happened?” Will asked.
“No idea. Everything was fine and then Jack’s dad apologized to me for last time, and all of a sudden, everyone was pissed and they argued and we had to leave.”
Will shook his head. “That’s pretty much what happens any time Ross and his father spend more than an hour together.”
“I just don’t understand what the big problem with them is,” I murmured.
“If it makes you feel better, I don’t, either,” Will replied.
If Will didn’t know, that meant Jack hadn’t told anybody. I flinched as my phone rang. It was Monty. Great. Just what I needed. I didn’t answer.
When I saw Jack was done with his shower, I followed him into the bedroom and shut the door. As he put on a pair of pants, he tried to stop me from talking to him, saying in an acid voice, “I’m fine.”
“Jack, I hope I didn’t say anything wrong.”
“Jen, I told you before, I don’t want to talk about my dad.”
I hesitated, then nodded and told him, “OK, but I just want to tell you, if you ever do need to talk to anyone, I’m here.”
He tried to laugh the situation off, saying, “Trust me, Jen, I know. I know how nosy you are. I caught you sneaking up the stairs to try to eavesdrop on us.”
“I’m not nosy!” I shouted. “Anyway, you would have done the exact same thing.”
He smiled and walked past me to the bed.
“How about you sit down here and we watch a movie and just forget any of this ever happened.”