Saturday took its sweet time showing up, as Nathan had been looking forward to it since he and Cheryl agreed to meet for lunch. He also looked forward to getting out of the house without going with Ray to do some laborious job for the town. The young man was eager to check out some local stores without having to clean up their graffiti, which meant this was also going to be a lot of fun. Nathan also liked that time spent with Cheryl this time would be unsupervised by the local Sheriff, and that neither of them would be wearing jumpsuits of any kind.
Sonya was actually up very early that morning, and she agreed to give Nathan a ride into town early that morning. She had to pick up a few things from the grocery store, and at least Nathan was asking for a ride rather than stealing the van to take that ride himself. That improvement alone was enough for her to agree to his simple request. As they were riding into town, Sonya was the first to speak.
“Do you need a ride back?” she asked, wondering what he was up to.
“No, thank you.” Nathan replied, “I have plans in town.”
“What kind of plans?” Sonya asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“No, it’s alright,” Nathan replied, “I’m meeting with a friend who is going to show me to a few places and go out for lunch.”
“Very nice.” Sonya said with a smile. “Nice to see you made a friend already in your time here.”
“I have, she’s really nice.” Nathan said, unaware of the slip he made.
“She?” Sonya said as her grin went even wider than before.
“Don’t tell Dad about this,” Nathan begged her, “I really don’t want to make a big deal about this. This is just lunch and looking through a few shops, nothing more.”
“I think it’s very sweet,” Sonya replied, trying to bottle her excitement. “And if it will make you feel more comfortable, I’ll keep this between us.”
“Alright, thank you.” Nathan said, deeply sighing.
“My silence, however, comes with a price.” Sonya informed him.
Nathan sat up in his seat. “Okay, what is it?”
“When things are less complicated between you and this new friend,” Sonya started, “I would like you to invite her to the house for supper. It will just give me a good excuse to make something fancy for supper, as I love having a reason to go all out in the kitchen whenever I can.”
“Alright.” Nathan agreed, “Anything else?”
“Go easy on your father,” Sonya said, with tone that was a bit more serious, “The last few months haven’t been easy for him and if you haven’t noticed a lot of us are already giving him a lot of space to work on his new book. He’s under a great deal of pressure and I appreciate it if you just try as hard as you can to go easy on him. That way he can concentrate on what needs to be done.”
Nathan didn’t like being told what to do, but there was something different about her request. Sonya was making it on behalf of someone who wouldn’t normally put him in this position. If things were usually as tough as Sonya claimed they would be, his father usually would be the first to step up and ask for some space. So, why was he too shy to do it now? The fact that Sonya was this concerned made the young man a little concerned about it as well. What did Sonya know about the situation that she wasn’t know telling him about? He had no clue what she was hiding, but Nathan concluded her heart was in the right place.
“Alright, I’ll do my best.” Nathan answered.
He honestly didn’t know if that was possible, but he was willing at least put in the effort if it. The fact that Sonya wasn’t reminding him about the stolen car and hanging that over his head to get what she wanted told him a lot about her character. This made Nathan want to help her out, the least he could do after the crap he pulled the previous week.
It didn’t take too long before Sonya pulled into the parking lot of the local grocery store, which was just a few streets from where Nathan had agreed to meet with Cheryl. He was a little over a half hour early, but he’d rather show up early rather than keep the young lady waiting.
“Thank you,” Nathan said, as he gave a small friendly wave.
“You’re welcome,” Sonya said as she locked the car up, “If you need a ride back, just call the house. If we’re not available, Ray is an option too.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Nathan replied, as Ray was probably the last person he’d want to call for a ride home.
Nathan started to stroll down the street, and just kills some time doing a little window shopping on the way to his date. There were some very cool shops that he wouldn’t mind looking through, but Nathan was too excited about where he was going to want to lose any time looking and run late. He kept walked over to the park at a pretty decent pace, but also had a knapsack and a few things in it to keep him busy while he waited for Cheryl to arrive. Turns out what be brought with him wasn’t necessary, as Cheryl was already at the park waiting for him when he arrived. Nathan had a confused look on his face as he approached her.
“Did I have the right time,” Nathan called out, “I’m not late am I?”
“No, you’re very early,” Cheryl confirmed. “I had to be here early as well because the next bus didn’t come for another forty minutes and that would have made me very late getting here.”
“Alright,” Nathan said, as he walked over and sat beside her on the park bench, “I just wanted to make sure my watch wasn’t wrong.”
He sat there beside her quietly, and it started to become awkward.
“What is it?” Cheryl asked.
“It feels weird,” Nathan replied.
“What does?” Cheryl asked again.
“Being in public without those gaud awful orange suits,” Nathan said with a cute smile, “You look a lot better today.”
“Thanks,” Cheryl said, almost blushing. “I can say the same for you too. That ensemble is much better than the retro orange.”
“Yeah,” Nathan agreed, “I don’t want to see that again anytime soon.”
“What did you bring with you?” Cheryl asked, gesturing to the bag.
“Just a few books in case you were on time.” Nathan said, as he took one of the books out and handed it to her. “That’s the book Ray loaned to me.”
Cheryl took it from him and gave it a good look over.
“An older edition from what I can see.” Cheryl said, as she opened it up and flipped through the first few pages. “This is actually a first edition. Your Dad must have given it to him the moment it came out, but it’s in horrible shape. The Sheriff must have read it cover to cover more than a few times.”
“He did tell me it was his favorite.” Nathan added.
“That seems very strange though because was a very dark book for retro highwayman to call his favorite,” Cheryl said, passing it back to Nathan. “No accounting for taste I guess.”
“What do we do now?” Nathan asked, feeling a little out of place.
“Since we’re early,” Cheryl started, as she stood up. “How about we browse through a few shops before lunch, and then hit the bookstore all afternoon after?”
“Alright,” Nathan said, also standing. “Sounds like a plan. I passed by one shop on the way here that I want to check out.”
They both walked out of the park and started to browse the shops that were located nearby. Nathan was a huge fan of music, so he had a lot of fun going in a local record store that had actual vinyl records for him to flip through. Nathan’s mom owned a record player, and he had every intention of taking it with him when he eventually moved out after the summer. It was something him and his mother loved to listen to together whenever they were cleaning the house up. She’d always put on some Motown albums she loved listening to when she was a kid, and even though they were working hard to clean up, he looked back at those days fondly. The records at this store were priced decently, but Nathan only had a limited budget to work with, so he wasn’t in the mood to by anything expensive. He wanted to save his funds for the bookstore, so he only picked up two records from a discount bin and left the others for him to purchase another day.
As they walked out of the record store, Cheryl took the bag from him as she was eager to look inside and see what he had purchased. Inside that paper bag was the last two albums she had expected to find.
“Hey, these are some pretty hip albums you got here.” Cheryl said, as she was fairly impressed. “Seriously, people don’t give these artists the respect they deserve.”
“You’re not making fun?” Nathan asked, as he took the bag back.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“No, I’m serious.” Cheryl said, walking down the sidewalk with him, “I hope when you get a chance to play them that I can be there too so that I can hear what these songs first sounded to those fans like when originally released. Okay?”
“Sounds like another date to me.” Nathan said with a smile.
“Don’t jinx yourself, mister!” Cheryl said as she playfully punched hi in the arm. “You’re do so well, I’d hate to see it all go downhill from here.”
“Alright, thanks for keeping it all grounded.” Nathan humbly replied.
“Sarcasm will get you nowhere,” Cheryl said, as she took his hand and held it as she wanted to change direction. “Let’s go this way. I’m getting puckish, and I think it’s time for lunch.”
She had taken his hand for one of two possible reasons; the first being that she wanted to lead the way to where to eat her lunch. The other reason was because she actually wanted to hold his hand while strolling around. Nathan really didn’t mind which reason it was, as he just liked the touch of her hand as it was so soft against his own hand. He never wanted this walk to end, but it happened a lot sooner than he preferred it to as they had arrived at their destination. Cheryl led him to a small café that looked and most likely served the exact opposite of the kinds of foods Ray had been making them eat over the last few days working for him. Nathan would never complain about food being provided to him, but he excited for the chance to look at a menu and select his own food for a change. As they were looking at that menu, Nathan couldn’t help but tell that the food at this place was a tad pricey.
“Are you sure you want to eat here,” he asked her, “I mean some of these items are a tad pricey, don’t you think?”
“Well, this is my favorite place,” Cheryl answered, smiling back. “And it’s my treat, so don’t worry about it.”
She could tell Nathan was a little shocked to hear her state that she was buying. He was under the impression that he was going to pay for lunch, and actually had no idea how to respond to her declaration to cover things.
“Don’t get all macho with me,” Cheryl said, as she knew what was going through his mind, “This who thing was my idea and I ask you out. I was always told the person who does the asking pays for it, so when you ask me, you can cover it then.”
“Are you sure?” Nathan asked, as he wanted to be sure.
“Don’t worry about the money,” Cheryl said, even laughing about it. “I told my Dad that I was invited to a party and that I needed to go dress shopping for it. He was so happy I was doing something social he gave me a boat load of cash to get any kind of dress that I wanted. It’s more than enough to handle this, and even grab a dozen books at the store after.”
“Okay, that’s cool,” Nathan said, as he didn’t feel so bad about it now. “But what are you going to tell him when you don’t come back with a dress?”
“Well, I’m not going to do that,” Cheryl answered. “After we hit the bookstore, I’m to hit a few shops and grab something nice and reasonable. Then later tonight I’ll tell him that the party was cancelled at the last minute. I’ll toss the dress in the closet, and we’ll call it a day.”
“Okay, you’ve clearly thought of everything here,” Nathan said, as he was quite impressed with her.
“I have my moments,” Cheryl agreed, “Usually my rebellious side has more to do with being bored to tears than it does with being a rebel without a cause.”
“Duly noted,” Nathan said, as he understood it all too well.
She opened her menu and started to skim the items. “See anything you like?”
“I see a few things.” Nathan said, as he kept skimming over it himself. “What would you recommend?”
“I’m afraid there’s no alligator here.” Cheryl said with a smile, “But the potatoes skins could be an amazing start I might open with a Caesar salad.”
“Sounds good,” Nathan replied. “I’m just not sure what I should order.”
“Would you like me to call Ray and ask him what you should order?” Cheryl said as she took her cell phone out of her purse.
“Fish it is then!” Nathan declared with a laugh.
“Seriously?” Cheryl said with a grin.
“Well, I don’t eat it that often and I do like fish.” Nathan said, as he looked on a specific page. “The salmon looks amazing. What are you getting?”
“I was thinking of a nice steak,” Cheryl said, with a smile. “After all the protein I got from Retro Highwayman, I could use the protein.”
Nathan enjoyed eating with Cheryl as the made a lot of small talk while eating their appetizers and dug into their main courses. It was a very filling meal for the middle of the day, but it was a special occasion and the food hit the right spot. As they were relaxing after the waitress took their plates, Cheryl decided to use the break to pick the young man’s brain about something.
“Tell me about that book Ray lent you,” She asked while nibbling on the last piece of bread. “What have you learned from the adventures of Frank Slate?”
“A few things,” Nathan answered, “That apparently some women are not to be trusted with someone’s heart.”
Nathan paused for a moment, as he realized that their first date had suddenly become a little awkward. The young man noticed how quiet things were becoming as this was not the direction he wanted this date to take.
“Is that so?” Cheryl asked.
“I have no experience to draw on,” Nathan continued, “But this book spends a lot of time just bashing women as if they were the source of evil on this planet.”
“And how did that make you feel,” Cheryl asked.
“Honestly, a bit uncomfortable,” Nathan answered, “No matter what has happened, I just feel the tone and negativity is a bit over the top.”
“That’s interesting,” Cheryl said, “But it could be your lack of experience talking again. I haven’t lived enough to get it either.”
“Well, I’m surprised this book isn’t on every feminist hit list,” Nathan said, “This book to take us all back to the fifties. Frank is ready to punch a hole into the first person that just looks at him the wrong way and it’s because of something his wife did to him. She apparently broke his heart and because of that Frank is unwilling to trust or love another person ever again. It’s rather depressing and sad.”
“And this is Retro Highwayman’s favorite?.” Cheryl said, as none of it made any sense to her. “Why do you think your Dad wrote something so aggressive and angry towards women in general?”
“I’m not sure,” Nathan replied, “My guess is that he’s drawing this off of someone he knows, and what happened to that person. Maybe Ray?”
“That’s an interesting hypothesis,” Cheryl said.
“You don’t agree?” Nathan asked.
“I don’t,” Cheryl said, appearing unwilling to expand on that.
“It’s alright,” Nathan said, trying to act cool. “Let me have it.”
“I hate to be the one that breaks this to you,” Cheryl started, “But this book was written less than two years after your parents divorced. It’s quite possible that the character is based on your father himself. Based on when it was written, we could guess that the person who hurt your dad was the person he loved more than life itself: your mother.”
“Damn,” Nathan said, biting his lip a bit, “I really was hoping it wasn’t going to come to that. If my mother really broke his heart, that would that explain why this character is so damn angry.”
“Think about it,” Cheryl said, trying to be supporting, “Do you remember when your parents were still together? I’m sure they had their fights like everyone, but I bet you remember many good times when all was going well, and they cuddled like it was going out of style. Right?”
“Yeah, I remember something like that,” Nathan answered.
“I do too,” Cheryl added, “That’s how I remember it was before my parents separated and eventually divorced.”
Nathan sat back up when he heard this. It was another thing he and Cheryl had in common: they were both children of broken homes. He didn’t know where to start but he had an idea.
“I remember some of the fights,” He said, “But I also remember the good times but then it all just ended. Boom, just like that, and it was all she wrote. No warning, no goodbyes. One day he was there, and the next day Dad and all his stuff was gone when I came home from school. Is that how it happened when your parents broke up?”
“No, the day my parents break up was much louder,” Cheryl answered, “Dishes were thrown and shattered all over the place. People were screaming at the top of their lungs, and eventually the police had to get involved.”
“Whoa,” Nathan said, as he never had that experience. “Okay, you win.”
“Your story is quite uncommon,” Cheryl continued, “because most people just don’t pack up and walked out like that. Whatever was bothering him that day, your Dad must have bottled it up inside. Yet instead of letting it out and giving it to your mom with both barrels, your dad took it with him when he left. Believe it or not, they saved you the trauma of having to hear that final fight. The fight so big and epic that rather than make up, people instead choose to go their separate ways.”
“So, instead of getting mad and telling her off before leaving,” Nathan said, trying to get his head wrapped around it, “He just packed up his stuff and quietly walked out before anyone came home.”
Nathan sat there and thought about it. Was his Dad a coward, afraid to confront her and have that big fight everyone else has or was it something else? Did Peter not want to have the big fight because it served no purpose? If he already knew things were not recoverable, was that big fight necessary?
“It sounds like your Dad had already made up his mind,” Cheryl said, uncanny as that’s what Nathan was thinking of exactly.
“It makes sense,” Nathan said, “What was the point of having that big fight if his mind was made up and he was ready to go? That sounds like my Dad. Avoiding conflict whenever it wasn’t necessary, but I’m thinking that he walked out with a lot of anger and bitterness bottled up inside. He had to vent it out somewhere.”
“And that brings us back to that novel,” Cheryl said, “That was his outlet.”
“That would explain a lot,” Nathan agreed, “Especially the anger Frank is expressing in it.
“There’s no telling what else he did once he left,” Cheryl added, “I’m thinking he went to a bar, and starting downing the whiskey just like Frank did. Getting trashed and waiting for someone to pick a fight with him.”
“How did you know about that?” Nathan asked.
Cheryl dug into her purse and pulled out a small soft cover copy of the same novel that Nathan was reading.
“I’m not as far into it as you are,” Cheryl explained, “But I understand the whole woman hating vibe you’re getting from it. The fact that you can tell how disturbing the anti-women theme is actually makes me like you even more. I think it take a lot of maturity and sensitivity to recognize that in this particular book. Most men would just brush it off as words. You see what they mean and actually find them just as disturbing as I do.”
“Being raised by a single mom might help too,” Nathan added modestly.
“That would make sense,” Cheryl agreed, “But I think anyone with half a brain should notice this. The old man had to be level eleven pissed to even put feelings like this down on paper.”
“Was it really my mother who made him this upset?” Nathan inquired.
“It wouldn’t surprise me.” Cheryl said as she sipped her water. “I find the more you love someone, the angrier you get when it’s over. The fact that your Dad flipped out in his book for millions to read might mean he loved that woman more than anything in the world, even you.”
Nathan had never really thought of it that way before. Picturing his Dad shouting his anger from the literary roof tops for all to hear seems out of character for him. He hasn’t come across the reason for all this hostility, at least not in the pages he had read thus far.
“The question that keeps ringing around in my head is what else happened?” Nathan said, as he thought about hit. “What happened after he left my house? Was this book the only way he vented, or could we be missing a part of his story?”
“I’m not sure, Cheryl confessed, “But maybe if you keep reading the answer will come to you… or to us I mean.”
“I like that idea,” Nathan said, “I’ll keep reading as long as you do too.”
“You have a deal,” Cheryl said with a smile as she put her copy of the novel back into her purse. Before either of them could say another word, the bill came, and Cheryl snapped it off the table before Nathan could even consider taking it himself.
“Nice try,” Cheryl said, “I said I got this. You can pay next time.”
“Are you sure you’re not jinxing us?” Nathan asked, smiling at her.
“Ha ha,” She replied, “We should take another walk and burn off a few of these calories we just packed in.”
“Sure,” Nathan said, putting his novel back in his knapsack. He was looking forward to getting to the bookstore but wasn’t in a rush. He held the door open for Cheryl as they departed the Café and started their walk towards this bookshop that she had been eager for them to see. He was excited just because she was, but also eager to see how many of his Dad’s books would be there. He was nervous but eagerly walked on with Cheryl as the truth would be revealed very soon.