Page 121 of Nothing Like the Movies

I waited for more, but when she said nothing else, I asked, “I’m sorry, did you say‘homies’?”

Helena laughed as she said, “Oh, I did. And she gave them to me, yourhomies. She found one taped up in the back of every single closet. May I text you a photo?”

“Yeah. Of course,” I said, still clueless.

“Sending,” she said, and when the text came through, I completely lost it.

I’d forgotten all about the homies.

The gas station down the hill used to have a gumball machine full of “homies,” little plastic dudes you could buy for a quarter. Sarah bought them all the time when we were kids, because theywere the only things she could afford, and it appeared that she’d saved them.

Saved them so she could tape one in the back of each closet when we moved out of the house.

I looked at the photo and shook my head, because there was a tiny note attached to each little guy that saidHOMIE IS WATCHING YOU, EGGERS.

“Are youkiddingme?” I said, giving in to a laugh as I looked at the picture. “I wondered why Sarah wanted to say goodbye to every bedroom in the house.”

“Mrs. Eggers was a little freaked out until I told her that the Bennetts were clowns,” she said. “Your sister is my freaking hero, I swear to God.”

“Mine, too.”

“So whenever either of you are back in town, feel free to swing by for the homies.” Helena cleared her throat and said, “We’d love to see you.”

“Same,” I said. “Thanks for calling about the homies when I’m dead to you.”

“No, you’re Jesus, Wes,” she said. “Back from the dead because apparently youdidn’tcheat on Liz.”

“Right,” I said, having no idea what exactly Helena knew about all that. “Good.”

“So come by anytime,” she said, and it sounded like she meant it. “By the way, I have the nicest memory of your dad, of the last time I talked to him. Would you like to hear it, or will it hurt?”

“I’dloveto hear it,” I said, leaning back in the desk chair.

“Okay, so I was having a bad day because Liz and I got in an argument, right? This wasrightafter she went away to school. I took out the trash, and Stu was taking his out too. Now, I didn’t really ever talk to your dad, aside from a ‘hey, Stuart’ whenever we saw each other in our respective driveways, but he looked at me and asked if I was okay.”

“Hedid?” I was shocked to hear this, because the guy hadn’t been particularly social.

At all.

“Yeah—weird, right? And I was in such a funk that I actually spilled to him about the way I thought Liz was ignoring my calls and that she asked me to give her some space. I rambled all over the place like the empty nester I suddenly was.”

Yeah, I’m sure my dadlovedthe lady next door getting all emotional. Probably referred to her asbatshit crazy neighborafter that.

“But instead of grunting at me, your dad gave me a hug.”

Impossible.“You’re kidding, right?”

“No! I couldn’t believe it either. And I’ll never forget what he said to me, Wes. He hugged me and said, ‘Here’s the thing about kids, lady.’ And I honestly don’t think he knew my name, by the way—Iwas‘lady.’?”

I coughed out a laugh while my chest pinched a little. “All women were.”

“But he goes, ‘Here’s the thing about kids, lady. They’re stupid with words. They say shit all the time that they don’t mean. They’re wrong, or they’re being emotional little shits—basicallyyou have to understand that what they say isn’t what they mean.’?”

I tried swallowing, but my throat was too tight. “He said that?”

“He did,” she said, sounding serious all of a sudden. “He basically mansplained to me that our kids love us even when they act like little assholes, and then he informed me they’re going to grow out of it and take it all back once they stop being stupid.”

I barked out another laugh, but my eyes were scratchy. “Good ol’ Stu.”

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