Page 56 of Tell Me What You Want, Or Leave Me

“Laura isn’t at this school anymore.”

“Why?”

“Ariadna told me her parents moved out of the city.”

Oh, my poor little guy, his first heartbreak.

What a shame. Why is love always so difficult?

I hug him, and he lets himself be hugged as Norbert drives us home. I kiss his dark little head and try to imagine the kind of words my father would say in a situation like this.

“Listen, Flyn, I know you’re sad because of Laura, but you have to be positive and imagine that, though she’s no longer at this school, she’s doing well. You don’t want her to be doing badly, right?”

He shakes his head. “But I won’t get to see her again.”

“Well, you don’t know about that. Life is full of twists and turns, and perhaps you’ll run into her again someday.”

He doesn’t respond.

“What do you say we go shopping for Eric?” I propose. “Saturday is his birthday.”

He nods. I give Norbert directions to a jewelry shop where I know there’s a watch my husband likes. It costs a mint, but, hey, we can afford it!

They don’t know me at the jewelry shop, but they know Flyn and Norbert, and, when I say I’m Mrs. Zimmerman, they practically roll out a red carpet and throw rose petals on it for me.

This is so intense. What a difference it is to have money.

After we buy the watch and a black leather bracelet Flyn has picked out for his uncle, I have them gift wrap everything. My nephew is still sad. I don’t like it when he gets like this, especially when he’s been so happy this last month.

“Do you know I’m going to be in a motocross race with Jurgen in a couple of weeks?” I say as we get back in the car.

“Really?”

I nod. “Do you want to be my assistant?”

He nods, but he’s still not smiling.

“What do you say we start your apprenticeship with the motorcycle this coming weekend?”

His expression changes, and his eyes sparkle.

The boy has been wanting to learn how to ride a motorcycle since before our wedding, which is why I asked my father to teach him how to ride a bicycle this past summer. That will make my task much easier.

I know this is going to be hard on Eric. I know this apprenticeship is going to cause me more than just a headache, but I also know that, in the end, Eric will accept things. He has promised to change his attitude, and now he needs to prove it.

Flyn is asking me questions about the motorcycle, and I respond as best I can. “Uncle Eric is going to be mad, isn’t he?”

“Don’t worry about it,” I say, trying not to give it too much importance. I kiss him on the head. “I promise I’ll convince him.”

But Flyn’s right. Later that evening, after Dexter and Graciela leave to take care of some business matters, I discuss it with Eric, and he blows up.

“Why did you have to bring the subject back up?” he asks, sitting at his desk in his office.

“Listen, Eric,” I respond, looking over the shelves that hold his gun collection. “Flyn was devastated by the loss of his mother, and I was thinking that...”

“That he can replace her with a motorcycle?”

I just stare at him. He stares back. It’s a standoff, like always.

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