Page 15 of Destroyed

My mom laughs. “That’s random! Why?”

“Well, honestly,” Riley starts, “I have been thinking a lot about Nate’s family. You guys hung out with his parents before we were born right? What do you think made Nate such a terrible person?”

“Oh honey,” my mom says. “I thought we weren’t talking about Nate anymore.”

“It was his dad,” my dad interjects. “Daniel was a terrible man.” His face changes, and I see anger pass over him. “Nate didn’t have a fair chance to be a decent person. Daniel was always involved in things that were above and beyond his capability.”

My mom sighs. She’s placed the food in front of us, and she uncorks a bottle of white wine. I watch as she pours herself a big glass and then pours for the rest of us.

“We should have realized Nate was like his father. We just thought he was different,” she says. She walks out of the room,and I wonder if we’ve asked too much, but then she returns holding an old photo album.

She sits next to us at the countertop and sips her wine. I take a bite of chicken salad and open the book in front of us. The four of us squish a little closer together and glance at the pictures.

“Your hair!” I laugh and point to my dad’s shaggy hair in one of the photos. Seven people are sitting around a circular table. My mom is sitting on my dad’s lap, smiling at the camera. It looks like they’re playing cards.

“That was the style,” my dad says. “This was our group for a few years. We would get together and drink, play poker, go to concerts.”

I recognize many of my parents’ friends as they were a part of our childhood. But I see one woman in the photo I don’t recognize.

“Who’s that?” I ask.

“That’s Eve.” My mom points at the picture. “She wasn’t around very long. She kind of just disappeared from town. The rumor was she was pregnant and her parents made her leave.”

“Scandal!” I shout. My dad chuckles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“There were a lot of secrets in that group,” he says and turns the page before we can ask more questions.

“Your dad got into a lot of money trouble with that group,” my mom says. “You were always biting off more than you could chew.” She looks up at my dad and something passes between them.

“I got out of that world for a reason honey.”

This is an interesting peek into my parents' past. I guess I never knew what made my dad stop going to the casinos with his friends, but one day, he just stopped going altogether.

We spend the rest of lunch pointing out the outfits in the pictures and poking fun at the hairstyles. Riley and I take ourbags upstairs to our old rooms, and I plop onto my bed and pull out my phone. The only thing I see is a text from Sam.

Sam:Do you want to hang out tonight?

Poor Sam. I feel like I led her on the other night.

Me:I’m home at my parents’ place. I’ll text you when I’m back in town.

Then, thinking of how she probably feels, I write ‘We should hang out though.’ I throw in a smiley emoji, then cringe. I hate being too over the top.

There’s a tap at the door and my mom walks in. “How are you really, Cory?”

“I’m okay Mom,” I say. “Really.”

“That woman in the pictures downstairs,” she starts. “Eve?”

I nod, confused about where this is going.

“You remind me of her. She was a free spirit, " my mom smiles. She loved everyone fiercely, and she was always full of enthusiasm and joy. She loved loving.”

“Is that like a hippie thing?” I ask.

“Well yeah, she was into both women and men…” my mom smiles wistfully. Clearly, there’s something more there.

“So why weren’t you closer?” I ask. “Seems weird she just left.”

---