Chapter 6Theo （On the way to college）
Theo (On the way to college)
Dad’s blue Subaru came to a stop in front of Asher’s apartment building, which was an eight-story eyesore on Main Street.
The drab red brick had black stains from years of neglect, and bars covered the windows on the first and second floors.
Asher lived there with his mom for his entire life, and he was finally getting a chance to escape.
The two of us got scholarships to play with Callahan University’s hockey team, the Bobcats. Cody and Rafael were also supposed to play for the Bobcats, but Montier College swooped in at the last moment and offered each of them massive athletic scholarships.
It was a bummer, but I was pumped for Callahan. It was a party school, yet it had a great hockey team and a reputation for upward mobility. It couldn’t be better.
College had always been the plan for me, but Asher had no idea what would happen to him after high school.
He couldn’t afford college without a sizable scholarship and, fortunately, Callahan delivered.
Not only did he get an athletic scholarship because he’s sick as fuck on the ice, but he got an academic scholarship and a Pell Grant as well.
Almost all of his college expenses were covered, but he still had to work two different restaurant jobs all summer to save up for a laptop and the $2,500 student contribution that the school wasn’t covering.
I told him just to chill out and borrow a Federal loan, but he was hellbent on not going into debt while in undergrad.
I was so fucking proud of him. He’d always worked the hardest, and it was finally paying off.
Asher emerged from the front entrance, his biceps flexing as he lugged the massive duffel bag to Dad’s car.
“Hi, sweetie! Do you need help with that?” Mom turned to me, then shrieked, “Get your ass out of the car and help your friend, you lazy bum!”
Jesus, she never stops riding my ass. I got out of the car to grab Asher’s duffel just as he huffed out a laugh and said, “I’ve got it, Mrs. Moretti, but thank you.”
I met Asher midway and whispered, “Just let me have it. I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t put this Goddamn bag in the trunk myself.”
Mom’s banshee-like voice rang out, “I heard that, you little shit!”
“Little? You mean big shit,” Dad added.
Asher put his arm around my shoulder and said, “I don’t call him Big Boy for nothing.”
What the fuck? Was it bash Theo day or something? I was about to go to college, and this was my send-off? “Will you all leave me alone? I didn’t do anything.”
Mom continued her beratement of me by screaming out of the front passenger’s window. “Precisely! Your friend is carrying a giant bag to our car, and you would have done nothing had I not told you to. You’re better than that, Teodoro!”
I hated it when Mom used my proper name. She only used it when she was bitching at me. “I’m sorry,” I said through clenched teeth.
We barely had enough room for Asher’s bag, but Dad somehow repositioned everything so that it all fit perfectly. The man packed a trunk as if he were playing a game of Tetris.
Dad gave Asher a big bear hug and said, “Good to see you again, Red.”
Mom had exited the car and made her way over to Asher. “Look at you! On your way to college. We’re so proud of you, baby.” She gave Asher a big kiss on the cheek.
I don’t need to tell you that my parents fucking love Asher.
Mom and Dad both grew up in sketchy Brooklyn neighborhoods, Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge, respectively, before gentrification drove up housing prices.
They loved Asher because he was working class, just like they were, and nothing was ever handed to him.
Asher’s cheeks turned pink, his freckles momentarily blending in with the reddish hue. “I really appreciate that, Mr. and Mrs. Moretti.”
“You know you can call us Anthony and Maria. Oh!” Mom reached into her purse and pulled out a box with a red bow attached to the top. I had a pretty good idea what it was because they’d given me the same box that morning.
Asher took the box with wide eyes. “What is this?”
“Just a little something. It’s a big day for you boys.” Dad gave Asher a pat on the back that nearly knocked the wind out of him; the man was a fucking bruiser.
Mom’s hands found Asher’s cheeks, and she gave him a big, wet kiss on the forehead. “We’re just so proud of both of you,” she said, trying desperately to hold back the tears.
Asher opened the box, and the look on his face nearly broke my heart.
He pulled out a compass, clasped to a gold chain, and examined it.
Red’s green eyes turned glassy, and I knew he was doing everything he could not to cry.
“I don’t know what to say. This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever given me. ”
I looked at my folks and gave them each a wink, silently thanking them for being so thoughtful to my best friend.
Asher was heading to college with a full ride, and his mom didn’t even come out to say goodbye.
She didn’t even offer to drive him to school, but it didn’t matter because Mom and Dad knew that would happen and offered before Asher even had to ask. They were aces like that.
Dad pulled Asher and me in one of his trademark bear hugs, nearly crushing our ribs in the process. “You’re both men now, and you’ll need to navigate this crazy world for yourselves.”
“But you can always come back home whenever you need to,” Mom added. “That goes for you, too, Asher.”
Asher’s throat bobbed as he swallowed down his emotions and nodded. I pulled the compass my folks gave me from under my shirt, drew closer to him, and positioned it next to his. “We match, Pretty Boy.”
Asher looked up at me with a look I couldn’t read, then nudged my shoulder. “I guess we do, Big Boy.”
“Oh, that’s adorable! Let me get a picture!” Mom reached for her phone and snapped a few pics. “Oh, my goodness. This is the best picture! I’m gonna cry!”
“Ma…don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry! I told myself I wouldn’t do this in front of you.” Mom reached into her purse for a tissue and blew her nose, the sounds similar to an elephant’s trumpet .
Dad clapped his hands, officially pulling us out of the moment. “It’s a four-hour drive to your big fancy school. Let’s get this show on the road before I need to pull over and eat something.”
Mom shook her head, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “I make a breakfast that could feed an army, and he’s already thinking about his next meal.”
“Four hours is a long time, Maria.”
* * *
Much to my dismay, Asher and I weren’t assigned to the main freshman dormitory at Callahan. We were placed in the athletes’ dorm, which was on the opposite side of campus.
We’d passed Smithston, the freshman dorm, when we drove in, and the place looked like a fucking party.
Blue and white streamers, Callahan’s colors, hung above the courtyard, and balloons of the same hue billowed in the wind like it was the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Upperclassmen wearing shirts with slogans saying “How can I help?” ran around clapping for the incoming freshman like a cheerleading squad.
Dad finally found a parking spot. We grabbed a big cart for our stuff and made our way to Shimkin Hall, the athletes’ dorm.
The vibe was bleak.
No balloons. No streamers. No fucking girls, either! It was a giant sausage fest, and the entire place smelled like a ball sack. Nobody was there to help us move in either. Where was my fucking parade for showing up ?
As I silently cursed myself for choosing to be an athlete in college, three scowling dudes introduced themselves to us as our soon-to-be hockey teammates. They each wore a navy blue shirt, similar to the ones we saw in the courtyard, and helped us unload our belongings.
Once we’d unloaded the car and hauled the stuff into our dorm, Asher chit-chatted with the guys while I saw Mom and Dad out.
“Thanks again for making the day so special for Asher,” I said as we boarded the elevator. “He doesn’t say much, but I know it meant a lot to him.”
Mom patted me on the shoulder and smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m glad to hear that. It’s a shame his mother can’t get it together to see what a wonderful son she has.”
My dad hummed his agreement just as the elevator doors opened up on the ground floor.
Mom and Dad each gave me a hug and a kiss. “I love you guys.”
Dad’s hug lingered a little longer. “I’m so proud of you, son.”
“You’d better call us! I don’t want to have to chase you down like I do Reggie and Roxi.”
Regina and Roxanne were my older sisters. They were twins and starting their sophomore year of college at the University of Rhode Island.
“I promise I’ll call.”
They exited the double doors leading out of the dorm, and I made my way back to my new pad. Asher sat on his bed, his body rising and falling as he inhaled. “We’re here. I’m so happy,” he said on an exhale.
“I’ll be happy when we learn where to go to have some fucking fun in this place. We should head over to Smithston and join the party.”
Asher nodded in approval. “I’m down. You wanna go now?”
I was about to answer when I noticed Mom had left her set of house keys in our dorm.
They must have fallen out of her purse. I scooped them up and said to Asher, “These are my Mom’s.
She’ll freak out when she realizes she doesn’t have them.
I’ll run ahead and try to catch them before they leave. Meet you out front?”
“Sure thing.”
I bolted to the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor. The doors opened, and I raced to the parking spot. Relief washed over me when I saw they hadn’t left yet.
I ran up to the passenger’s side window. “Hey Mom, you left—”
Mom was bawling—big tears rolled down her cheeks, smearing her thick mascara. “What are you doing here?” she asked through her sobbing.
What on Earth? Was she panicking over the keys? I held them up and said, “You left these. What’s the matter?”
She wiped the tears from her cheeks, but all she ended up doing was smearing the black mascara into an even bigger mess. “You weren’t supposed to see this!” she gasped out.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“What’s wrong?” she repeated. “What’s wrong? I’m an empty nester, that’s what’s wrong! My children are all gone. You were my baby, Teodoro, and now you’re gone too. I have nothing!”
Dad’s head slowly turned towards Mom. “Gee, thanks, Maria.”
“Oh, you know what I mean, you big oaf! ”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and said, “Ma, I’m only four hours away.”
“It doesn’t matter!” she wailed. “I’m a nurturer, and I have nothing to nurture. What am I gonna do?”
It was Dad’s turn to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Jesus Christ, Maria, you have a part-time job, you play pickleball every Monday and Tuesday, you host bridge every Wednesday, you’re gonna be fine.”
“My baby is all grown up!” Mom’s head fell into her hands, her body shaking as she wept.
Dad waved me off as he rolled his eyes. “Go have fun. She’ll be fine.”
He started the car, and they pulled out of the parking spot, driving off. I turned back toward the dorm to see four other middle-aged ladies openly crying as dismayed-looking eighteen-year-old dudes waved them off.
Good God.
Asher stood just outside the double doors to the entrance, and I walked over and pulled him into a hug with one arm. “You ready to do this, Red?”
He just laughed, and the two of us walked over to Smithston.