Page 39 of Bourbon & Bonfires

When I finish in the bathroom, I walk down the hall to the living room where Mason is once again on the couch. A movie is on, but the volume is low, and he’s tapping away on his phone. He must hear me approach because he sits up quickly and turns to face me.

“Is my mom okay?”

“Yeah, bud. She’s sleeping. All that crying exhausted her.”

I sit down on the other end of the couch, my elbows resting on my knees, and my head hanging low. I wasn’t the one outside crying my heart out, but I feel like I was. I’m beat. But Mason needs an explanation, and I’m the only one here to do that.

“Have you talked to your Uncle Taylor?”

“No, I text him, but he didn’t text back. I was talking to my mom’s best friend, Aunt Nela. She said to call her if I need her to fly out. What happened, Landon?”

“I may have you call your aunt Nela in a bit so we can explain everything. No need to have her worrying, okay?” Mason nods. “When you texted me, I was at Country Road. After you told me how upset your mom was, I went to Taylor to let him know and found him in his office, also upset. He told me that a friend of his and your mom, a man named Henry, passed away suddenly.”

“I know Henry. He’s my Uncle Tay’s best friend. They grew up together. Was he deployed again?”

“Nope, it was an accident. I guess he was about to be a dad. Your uncle had to leave town for a bit to go see his wife and family. As soon as I left Country Road, I came here.”

“That sucks,” he says. The sniffle he tries to cover up isn’t lost on me, and I reach out and put an arm around his shoulder.

“Losing a loved one is never easy. Your mom will probably be sad for a while, so we need to be there for her.”

“Okay.”

This probably isn’t the time for the sex ed conversation, but I think Mason needs a bit of a distraction from the heavy adult shit, and I need to get it out of the way. Nothing like a little condom talk to bond a guy and his girlfriend’s son.

“So, uh who was that on your phone?”

“My dad. I was sending him a text. Not like he’ll respond. Well, at least not about what I was talking about.”

“I’m sorry he’s not around. That must suck.” Mason leans back on the couch, his head resting on the back. With a deep sigh—a dramatic teenage sigh—he holds his hand out to me with his phone.

Taking the phone from him, I swipe the screen and see a text thread. Looking at the contact, I note it’s with his dad. There are no responses from his dad, only texts from Mason. I scroll up and there are dozens from Mason with not a single response from his dad. The dates go back weeks. This guy is a piece of work.

“Mason, I’m sure—” I begin before he interrupts me.

“It’s not a big deal. I guess he’s busy.”

“Look, I’m not going to make excuses for this,” I say, holding up his phone before tossing it on the table. “I don’t know your dad, but I know you and your mom. You’re both very important to me. I want you to know you can talk to me about anything. I know I’m not your dad, and I’ll never be that for you, but I am your friend. And I’m not just a pretty face. I know shit.”

Mason laughs. “Okay, tell me something, Yoda.”

“Funny you should say that. Your mom asked me to talk to you about something. It’s about sex.”

Mason groans. I laugh. Then Mason laughs. “She did not. Oh my god. She’s so ridiculous. I don’t need the birds and the bees talk. They teach sex education at school for Pete’s sake.”

“Well, that may be, but we’re doing this. I’m going to give you the talk my dad gave me.”

The reaction I’m getting from him is probably the same one I gave my dad when he started this conversation. He’s a little humiliated, a lot entertained, and probably scared of what I’m about to say. Instead of starting, I walk into the kitchen and dig around in the freezer until I pull out the ice cream. Mason joins me, and I scoop ice cream into bowls. As he sits at the counter, I push a bowl toward him and quickly walk to the deck before returning with Addison’s bottle of bourbon.

“You get booze and I get rocky road?”

“Yep. I’m going to need this more than you.”

“If you say so.”

“I do. Okay, I’m going to get all this out, and then if you want to ask questions, we’ll do that. Sound good? First, I don’t know how your mom drinks this shit.” I visibly shake as the bourbon burns its way down my throat. I’m man enough to say my eyes water and I cough a little. But, liquid courage and all that.

“Anyway. I know you learn the basics of sex in school. The biology part is important. It’s important for you to understand that getting a girl pregnant isn’t the only concern. Diseases are real, and dude, when they get to that part in sex ed or health, you’ll never get the visual out of your mind. Condoms.” I take another drink of the bourbon.

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