Page 63 of Wandering in Darkness
“Just stop,” I say as I laugh.
We go through a couple of targets before I stop and bow my head, feeling like I need to get this out there. “Arthur… I really can’t tell you how sorry I am. How much I fucked up.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me,” he says.
“I do. You don’t know how much it meant to me that you were there for me whenever I needed you for most of my life. And the very moment you needed me, I couldn’t be there.”
“You’re acting like I was on my deathbed. I was fine.”
“No. It wasn’t fine. None of it was fine. I really… I really fucked up.”
“The thing about having kids is that no matter how much they fuck up, you just have to keep taking them back. Honestly, knowing that you were in so much pain and I couldn’t help you was worse to me than whatever bullshit I went through. If you want to talk, I’ll listen. If you want to pretend none of it ever happened, that’s fine too. I’m not a picky man.”
My eyes sting, but I chuckle. “You’re the pickiest man I’ve ever met in my life.”
“Not if you do it right the first time,” he says.
I smile. “Thank you. I really can’t express how much it means to me that you’ve done so much for me and are willing to keep doing things for me.”
“I’m still training you to shoot my ex-wife.”
“You’re not supposed to joke about that with others around. Grayson might think you’re serious.”
“Iamserious!” Arthur says with a laugh.
When we finally finish up, it’s getting dark and we really should head back before it gets to be too late.
“I’ll be back…”
“Hopefully no time soon,” he says.
“You’re so mean to me. What about this weekend? I’ll take you out for dinner to that Chinese restaurant you love.”
“You know I hate that restaurant!”
“Well, I love it and we’re going to it.”
“You’re a little shit. Is your boyfriend coming?”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Your friend who is a boy.”
“I think he’s heading home.”
“I don’t have to be,” Grayson says.
“You’re really never going to get laid at this point,” Arthur decides.
“Hey, at least I’m not still fixated on my ex-wife to the point that I want to murder her.”
“Huh… I guess that’s true. If you want your part of the will early, you know what you need to do.”
“You’re awful,” I say as he cackles his way back to the golf cart.
TWELVE
CAL
