Page 61 of August
“I have a problem.”
Elisa’s eyes went wide. Her mind went instantly to the one problem she hoped to avoid with both of her children. She silently prayed that it wasn’t that. She didn’t want this for her daughter.
“Okay. Tell me,” she said as calmly as she could.
“So, you know how I was kind of dating Tucker?”
‘Oh, shit,’Elisa thought to herself but just nodded.
“We broke up before graduation, but he was at a party, and we talked for a while. He wants us to try dating again.”
“Oh,” Elisa uttered. “And you don’t want that?”
“No, I do,” Adele said, turning to her. “I mean, IthinkI do. Can I tell you something without you freaking out?”
Elisa nodded again as calmly as she could, even though her heart thundered in her chest.
“So, Tucker and I… you know. We did it.”
“Oh?” she said again.
“Yeah. A couple of times. But you don’t have to worry; we were both responsible. I took the birth control you got me how I was supposed to and made him get tested, even though I was his first, and he wore a condom, too. I got tested after we did it, just in case, and I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”
Elisa’s baby had had sex. Her eighteen-year-old daughter had lost her virginity to a boy named Tucker, and Elisa was just finding this out now. No, this wasn’t about her. This was about Adele.
“Okay. Well, was he a gentleman?” she asked, wondering if that was the right way to ask if he had done anything to hurt her kid because if he had, she’d be buying a baseball bat today.
“He was fine,” Adele replied. “He didn’t pressure me or anything. I wanted to.”
“Okay. You said there was a problem?”
“Yes, a couple. He’s going to school in Texas, and I like him, but I’ll be in another state, so I don’t see the point.”
“I see.”
“Also, um, when we… had sex,” Adele whispered. “It wasn’t very good. Like, not good at all. I don’t know; is this too much information for you? You’re my mom.”
“No, honey, it’s fine,” she said.
Inside, she was thinking that itdefinitelywas too much information, but she was a parent, and she wanted her kids to be able to talk to her about anything. She had told them as much. This was part of the job.
“It wasn’t good?”
“No. Like, at all. He… I mean, it was basically done right away, and I know that’s normal for teenage guys, but… I don’t know. I just didn’t like it that much. I don’t know if it gets better or ifhe’llget better or ifI’llget better.” Adele shook her head. “It had me thinking about something else, though, and that’s the other problem.”
“Something else?”
“So, you know how Wendy said no to AJ when he asked her out?”
“Yeah,” she said.
“It’s not because she’s going to school far away from him.” Adele looked beyond Elisa to see if her brother was within earshot. “We made out last night, Mom. She kissed me, and I kissed her back. I’ve never made out with a girl before, but it was a million times better than kissing Tucker. And Wendy is great, Mom. She’s smart and funny, and she’s going to school far from AJ, but only, like, an hour away from me. I don’t know what to do now because I’ve known Wendy since we were five, and I’ve never thought of a girl like that, but we were just talking, and it was so nice because she’s got goals and stuff, like I do. Then, she’s kissing me, and I didn’t stop her.”
“Oh, honey,” Elisa said, shaking her head. “That’s not a problem. You like someone.”
“It’s not? I mean, I know you’re gay, but I don’t think I’mthat.”
“You don’t have to be anything. You can just be whoever you are, Adele. And you can like Tucker. You can like Wendy. You can like whomever you like. You never have to worry about that, okay? I don’t have a lot of experience with the Tucker thing, though.”
