Mateo
Chapter fifteen
The arcade is a blast from the past with a carpet full of colorful geometric shapes and a smell like dirty socks and fake cheese sauce.
A young girl with a gem on her front tooth sells me some tokens, and I split them up between me and Cooper.
"Which one first?" he asks.
"Definitely that one," I say, pointing to Metal Slug.
After several rounds where we take turns beating each other, we let another couple guys take over the game.
I don't know the last time I had this much fun.
Maybe I'll try to drag Addie here next week.
Back when I was a rookie, I used to come home in the off-season for a few weeks.
I'd always take her to a wing place that had Skee-Ball and pinball machines.
She'd beat me at Skee-Ball every time. I bet she still could.
I wonder if she remembers? She was so young.
We play a few rounds and I beat Coop. Okay, I let him win twice. When the Mortal Kombat machine is finally free, we beeline for it.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I hold up a finger for him to give me a minute. Coop puts all but the last token needed in the game and waits.
I dig my phone out of my pocket.
Storm Cloud calling scrolls across the screen.
"Hello?" I answer.
"Eyes open," Jade says.
"Hello?" I say again.
"He didn't," says Addie.
"Hello-o?"
"Swear to God, but I still think your mama's boy from last year takes the win for weird. I still can't believe he thought that would work."
Addie laughs, "I totally forgot about him. Who brings their mom on a date?"
It's a fucking butt dial. I should hang up, but I'm far too curious.
"Fucking boys," Jade says.
"Right, who needs 'em? Fuck them," Addie adds.
"I agree. Boys suck."
There's some shuffling, and then the line goes dead.
I tap out a text.
Boys do suck, try a man instead|
I delete it and try again.
Boys aren't worth your energy, give it to me|
Nope. Delete. One more time.
If you ever want to stop playing with boys, you know where to find me|
"Let's go, Gramps," Cooper says, pulling my attention from my phone.
"You're going down punk," I say and place my phone face down between our joysticks. Maybe by the time we're done kicking each other's asses, I'll have thought of a way to woo his mother. Or royally piss her off. It could go either way.
I don't know what it says about me that my best friend is an eight-year-old kid, but I don't think I care. And the fact that I want to bury my face between his mother's thighs has absolutely nothing to do with it. I swear.
Now I can't think about anything else, and I lose horribly.
I'm out of practice. At least that's what I tell Coop when he beats me twice in a row.
It's like he anticipates my move before I even know what I'm going to do.
He really is smart and a smart ass too. Has Jade ever had his IQ tested?
The private school he told me about might as well be college with how much it costs per semester.
No wonder she lost her shit when I suggested it.
Mom at least had Abuelo and Abuela's support when I was born.
Addie told me Jade has no one. I can't imagine what single mom life looks like without a support system.
But somehow my family became her village, and in a way, I guess I can consider myself the village idiot.
Because despite what I told her, I do want to save her.
But not in the way she thinks. I don't want to be her crutch or her savior.
I want to support her desire to do things her way.
I want to be the ladder that helps her get to the top.
Her open distrust of me only makes me want her to want me.
God, do I have a degradation kink? I don't think so, but nope, no. I'm not thinking about this right now.
'Finish him!' the game yells.
Cooper takes me out with a roundhouse kick.
'KO' lights up the screen.
"Dude, you suck," he says.
"Yeah, come on. I'm hungry," I tell him.
We order a few slices of pizza and some Cokes and take a seat at a table in the bar area.
The place is filled with families, couples, and groups of friends.
The demographic is impressive. It's like a brewery plus arcade, although there are several warnings that if your kids are assholes or disruptive, you get banned.
The signs must be working because I don't see any kids without adults within a few steps.
I reach for my phone to text Addie we should come here on her next day off work, but it's not in my pocket.
"Shit," I say.
"What?" Cooper asks.
"My phone's missing. I must've left it at Mortal Combat."
"I'll go get it," he says, standing up.
If I crane my neck I get a partial view of the machine—enough to let him go by himself. See? Uncle material.
"Thanks, kid."
He takes a bite of his pizza and weaves his way to the game. I pat my pockets again in case I missed it. But nope, no phone. I had to have left it at Mortal Combat. Coop waits patiently while two guys play, then a minute later one of them hands him something. He holds it up in the air triumphantly.
Good. It's not like I have anything incriminating on there, but let's be real, if it got into the wrong hands, anything could be incriminating. A busboy stops by our table, but I dismiss him, telling him we're still working on our pizza.
Coop hands me my phone, a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.
"What did you do?" I ask, unlocking my phone.
"Nothing," he says behind a giggle.
I check my open applications. My camera is one of them.
"Dude, really?"
His face fills my screen, over and over again. Smiling, sticking his tongue out, flipping me off. There must be a hundred photos.
He shrugs and sips his Coke.
I put my phone back in my pocket, and the kid regales me with the second-grade drama at school.
I'm glad cell phones weren't a thing when I was a kid.
Chat rooms were bad enough. Bullies having access to their victims 24/7 sounds like torture.
People become brave behind screens. I know I've read my fair share of insults.
Of adults feeling big behind something so small.
Coop and I play a few more games and then head back home. My back hurts from compensating for my knee, and my leg hurts because ACL injuries fucking suck. I'm getting closer to losing these crutches for good though. My guess is only another day or two and I'll ditch them completely.
At the house, the girls are outside by the fire, their giggles muffled through the wall. Coop brings me the bottle of ibuprofen from my nightstand, and I swallow four dry.
"Where are Charlie and Liam?" he asks.
" A restaurant opening? I think that's what Mom said last night. Or was it date night?"
"Oh the new fusion one?"
"It's possible." I shrug.
He rolls his eyes and wanders outside to join Addie and Jade, and I follow.
"What do you think of your mom's hair?" Addie asks, turning on her phone's flashlight and pointing it at Jade.
"Dude," Jade says, putting her hand up to shield her eyes.
"It's pink," Cooper says definitively.
"It looks great, doesn't it?" Addie asks. I know she's talking to me. I can feel her staring, but I can't take my eyes off the storm cloud before me.
Jade's tongue slides over her lip ring, and I swallow.
I'm grateful Addie's phone is still on Jade because if it was on me, they might see I'm holding my breath.
I'm afraid to speak, afraid of the words that might come out.
Words like how I'd like to see that pink hair splayed across my pillow or wrapped around my fist.
"It looks really pretty, Mom."
Saved by the punk.
Addie raises an eyebrow but shuts off her flashlight.
Cooper yawns and then winces.
"Bed, kid," Jade says.
"Can I read?"
"Thirty minutes."
He considers this for a second and nods. "What time is it?"
"No clue, my phone's dead," Jade says. "Ads?"
Hearing her call Addie by my nickname for her stirs something inside me. Has she always called her that? Or is it new since I've been home? It shouldn't matter, but I hope it's the latter. It would mean she's paying attention.
To me.