Page 3 of Here and Now
He flips me off. “You’re one to talk.”
“Yes, but I didn’t break my leg and require surgery. Still, I’m sorry you got hurt. It sucks, especially with the baby coming.”
“The baby is part of it. I know how to procrastinate like no one else, so all I’ve heard is how I said I’d get shit done and didn’t do it, so El is pissed. The crib, the painting, fixing the solar panel out back ... all of it hasn’t been touched. Also, she broke down yesterday crying that she’s afraid about having a baby again.”
“I get that. She’s the same age as Mom was, and I think that’s probably a mindfuck.”
It’s why having kids isn’t high up on my list. I’m happy being the fun uncle and a school principal. I get my fill with other people’s kids.
Doug sighs. “I keep trying to comfort her about it, but it’s just something we have to endure, you know?”
“Yeah.”
“But one of the things I feel the worst about is that I promised her I’d keep Ethan busy this summer. As you can imagine, he’s a little ... bored and reckless during the summer.”
“What were you planning to do with him?” I ask.
Last summer, I actually got a call from my sister asking if I could get the school to go year-round because she wasn’t sure she was going to make it. That was a fun one, explaining that while I may be the school principal, I don’t exactly set the school calendar, the board of education does, and she’s welcome to run to be a member of it anytime she likes.
I don’t think I got the sentence out before she hung up on me.
Doug shifts. “Well, this is actually why I wanted you to stop by.”
Oh fuck my life.
“No,” I say immediately.
“No what?”
“No to whatever you’re going to ask me to do. No.”
School ended two weeks ago. I have one month where I actually get a little downtime before I have to start preparing the school before the next year starts, and I have a feeling my brother-in-law is about to ruin that. I look forward to this every year. It’s the only time I have a chance to reset, breathe, and prepare for the chaos that happens when we get ready for back-to-school.
I need this time.
It has been the one thing I do for myself, no matter what, because it makes me a better principal and human.
“I need you to coach his hockey clinic.”
I laugh once. “Absolutely not.”
Doug tries to sit up but grabs his leg, grunting and gasping as he does. I get up and walk over as though I can help, but he waves me away. “Sit down, you’ll make it worse.”
I go back to my seat and wait for him to get control. “You all right?”
He lets out a long breath. “I’m fine. My point is, I can’t do it.”
“What about one of the other fantastic fathers in the town?”
“We can’t even get them to fill out the forms properly, let alone step in to coach the kids. They’re just a bunch of six-year-olds; it won’t be that hard.”
Right, because the young ones are easier with sports? No, they aren’t. They don’t pay attention, they don’t know the basics, and they ask a million questions. Not much downtime there.
“Well, as bad as I feel for you, I’m not doing it.”
“You owe me,” Doug says with a brow raised.
I shake my head. “I don’t. I have plans.”
