“Yeah, yeah.”
I went down into the basement and threw into the washing machine the clothes that he had left on the bathroom floor, and as I did I noticed that one of his shirts had a hole in it. Nothing major, but he did need some new clothes.
His twenty-first birthday was coming up in less than two weeks, and I reminded myself that we needed to go shopping or he wouldn’t have any presents for the big day.
He was putting his dishes in the dishwasher when I got back to the kitchen. It was at times like this that I felt like a munchkin next to him. Standing side by side he towered over me.
“So Jack,” I said to start the conversation.
“Yeah,” he grunted.
“What do you want for your birthday?”
“My birthday?”
“Yes. It is coming up, and I haven’t gotten you one thing.”
“Nothing,” he said shrugging his shoulders.
“Don’t say that Jack. I need to get you something. You must need something.”
“You mean like a new XBox?” He asked sarcastically.
“You’re an ass. No, I mean, do you need new clothes.”
“Yeah I guess.”
“Holy shit Jack,” I exclaimed in exasperation.
“What do you want me to say?”
“I want you to think about it, and give me a list; shirts, shoes, shorts, underwear?”
“Yeah Ma, I could use some tighty whities.”
“My God, Jack. What am I going to do with you?”
“Mom,” he said folding his arms and leaning back against the kitchen cabinets. My God, I realized as I looked at him, he was giving me that look. A look that he would give a girl before he turned on the charm. “Actually,” he said flashing me a devious smile, “now that I think about it. I know exactly what I want.”
“And what’s that?” I asked suspecting that I was going to get a wise crack in return.
“I want you to take me out for my birthday.”
“Yeah, yeah. Your father and I have reservations at Trieste. That will be a fun night,” I mused, “going out to dinner with your dad.”
“I don’t mean out to dinner, and certainly not with dad.”
“Then what do you mean?” I leaned against the kitchen cabinets opposite him, and folded my arms as I looked into those baby blues.
“I mean, take me out. Go drinking with me.”
“What do you mean, to a bar?”
“A bar. A club. Whatever.”
“Stop fucking around, Jack,” I said. The anger getting the better of me.
“I’m not fucking around. I’m finally going to be legal. Why can’t we go out and have a drink together.”
“Wouldn’t you rather do that with your dad?”
“No.”
“No?”
“I mean, yeah maybe.”
“And you don’t want to go out with your friends on your birthday?”
“Yeah, yeah, we already have that planned. After that?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Oh forget it. If you don’t want to go, just forget it.”
“NO! NO! I want to go. I just don’t know why you’d want to go with me.”
“Because your my mom, and I thought it’d be fun.”
Well as the saying goes, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I was flabbergasted. How many mothers got a invitation like that.
“Okay. If that’s what you want. I’d love to go.” I felt like a young freshman girl that just got asked out by the quarterback.
“Okay. It’s a date,” he said and just disappeared upstairs to his room.