Nathan had kept to himself for most of the weekend, but there was one thing he was unable to avoid and that was Sunday dinner. His father insisted that he come to the table, and rather than put up a fight Nathan turned up more out of respect for Sonya's cooking. To this point she hadn't failed to put out a sweet spread for the family this summer. The food was great as always and this time Nathan went out of his way to avoid being a part of the usual dinner conversations because the last thing he wanted to do was bring up whatever new information he had learned over the weekend. It wasn't until a different subject came up that Nathan couldn't help himself. Jacob was talking about something that had happened to a friend if his back in the city. Apparently his parents had caught him with a small stash of pot in his sock drawer. Nathan bit his tongue since he thought that had to be the stupidest place to hide any drugs from your parents. You might as well have just left it on the counter because the sock drawer is usually the first place every parent would look when spot checking your room. This wasn't the issue that caused the slip up; it was something his father said only a few moments later.
“Well,” Sonya started, “I'm glad we don't have to worry about that issue here. I really hope you guys think long and hard before doing something as bad as drugs.”
“She’s right,” Peter agreed, “They're very bad for you...”
It was this point where Nathan almost spit his food out of his mouth and back onto his plate.
“Sorry.” Nathan said as he tried to clean himself up with his napkin.
“Is there something wrong?” Peter asked as he wasn’t sure what was going on.
“I don't know,” Nathan said as he suddenly felt empowered knowing something that he wasn't supposed to know. “It just seemed a tad hypocritical for you of all people to be telling anyone not to do drugs. You're like the Keith Richards of the literary world.”
“Mom, who's Keith Richards?” one of the girls suddenly asked.
“No one honey,” Sonya said with a smile. “Eat your carrots.”
“I know who Keith Richards is.” Jacob said and he didn't look impressed. “Are you trying to imply that Peter does drugs?”
“Well from what I know Keith Richards doesn't do drugs anymore.” Nathan replied, “And neither does Dad from what I've seen of him this year.”
“What gave you the impression I did them at all?” Peter asked, somewhat curious to where all this was coming from.
“Are you denying it?” Nathan said as he responded with a question.
“I didn't say that.” Peter replied. “Who told you any of this?”
“Maybe Ray told me.” Nathan said trying to deflect attention away from his real source. “Maybe he told me that you got so trashed and high from the benders you went on after you moved out that he had to talk you out of jumping off a bridge and nearly killing yourself! I guess you had to be pretty smashed and out of your mind to even consider doing something like that!”
Nathan stopped speaking to realize that everyone at the table was silent as most of the people there were I the state of shock. Sonya had her hand over her mouth and was on the verge of tears. She walked away from the table and back into the kitchen. Jacob looked like he was ready to jump across the table and smack Nathan around a bit, which made Nathan happy there was a table between them in the first place. Nathan looked back at his father who face had turned a shade of red, but really what could he do? Chances are most of what he was throwing at his father was true to begin with. He was being confronted with truth rather than lies.
“Are you going to deny it?” Nathan then asked, keeping up the pressure. “Why not just tell us the truth rather than run away from it?”
“That's sounds so stupid.” Jacob said coming to Peter's defense. “Why on earth would he want to leap off a bridge to his death? He was a famous writer, and the world was his oyster. Why would he throw all that away?”
“Because his heart was broken.” Nathan said as he looked back to his father. “I now know the real reason why you left, Dad. Based on what happened, I can't really say I blame you for it. For years I had wondered why you left without saying goodbye, but I know it was to avoid that big fight that comes at the end of every relationship. You did it to save me the heartache of having that moment to watch you walk away from us. I guess it was a mature thing to do.”
Despite how Nathan was trying to frame it, Peter wasn't impressed this was all being hashed out at the table.
“Nathan,” Peter started, “I would like you to take your supper to your room. Please go there right now.”
“I don't have a fucking room, you god damn hypocrite!” Nathan called back.
This was when Nathan finally had enough. He picked up his plate which was mostly finished anyway and hurled it at the wall behind his father. This action again shocked everyone who was at the table and now the two girls began to cry because of Nathan's violent actions. This time Jacob stood up and put his hands up to stop both Peter and Nathan from doing anymore.
“Dude,” Jacob said, “Go to my room and just chill. You can have it as long as you need it to. Go there, now.”
Nathan knew his stepbrother just wanted to break everyone up, especially since the girls were crying. He nodded and walked himself from the table. As he walked through the living room, he grabbed his knapsack and took it with him into Jacob's room. He was tempted to keep reading the biography but decided against it and kept reading the book Ray had given him instead. It wasn't until an hour later when someone came into the room to speak with him. It was Jacob. He walked into the room and sat on the chair that was opposite of the bed Nathan was lying on.
“What's up?” Nathan asked casually.
“Where did you get the information about Dad?” Jacob asked. He started calling Peter that after he was officially adopted a year or two after he married Sonya. “I really didn't like what you had to say.”
“The truth sometimes isn't pretty.” Nathan said as he closed the book he was reading and sat up. “There are a lot of people out there who witnessed this for themselves and it's hard to deny anything when that many people were watching with the incident in question took place.”
“What are you talking about?” Jacob then asked.
“I'm talking about standing on a bridge for the better part of an hour and hundreds of people watching to see whether or not you were pulled back or took a swan dive into the afterlife.” Nathan said as he sat up. “Not only did it really happen, but Ray is the only reason why Dad is still here. He saved his life that night and then threw Dad into the slammer for a whole week to get him to sober up.”
“And how do you know his heart was broken?” Jacob asked.
“Cause it was my mom who broke it.” Nathan answered. “She had an affair with another man and that must have hurt Dad so bad. It was the reason why he left my mother in the first place.”
“Damn, dude,” Jacob said, “That has to suck.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Nathan wiped a tear away from his face. “This is the first time I'm glad she's not around anymore because if she were still alive I would have screamed and yelled at her for tearing my family apart. All this time I thought it was his fault, or maybe even my fault. Now I realized he had every reason to walk out on her but not out on me.”
“He really didn't have much of a choice did he?” Jacob said as he sat up in his chair. “Would you stay if that had happened to you?”
“I don't know what I'd do.” Nathan answered honestly, “But I can't blame the guy for never wanting to see her face ever again. It would be hard to look someone in the eyes, let alone try to work things out after something that awful. Would you?”
“I don't think I could stay.” Jacob said. “I would never want to talk to her ever again if the person I loved did something like that. I'd want to scream at her and throw stuff around, like you see couples do in the movies.”
“He didn't do that.” Nathan informed him, “He just packed up his stuff and was gone before I came home from school that day. It was like he simply vanished. The next time I saw him was a few months later in family court. It was a very ugly divorce, and they fought over everything. When it was all over I didn't see much of Dad for the next few years. Now I have an idea why he never came around. They said he was quite a mess and going on one bender after another. He tried to forget about it through drugs, alcohol, and a ton of prostitutes.”
“Alright, that's enough.” Peter said as he opened the door. While it didn't seem very fair, he was listening on the other side and had heard just about all that he was willing to handle. “There is no way in hell Ray would ever say something like that, so I want you to come clean. Where are you getting all this information from?”
“How about the internet?” Nathan replied. “All someone has to do is google your name and a whole wealth if dirt would come bubbling to the surface.”
“He’s right,” Jacob concurred. “The internet is full that kind of trash.”
Nathan was still angry at his father, eager to hurt him. “Maybe the next time I want to learn the truth about my own family, maybe I should just ask Silvia Snider. She seems to know a lot more about you than I do, and I’m your son!”
Peter froze when he heard that name and suddenly he had all the answer he was looking for, which was the source of Nathan’s sudden wealth of information. Nathan dug into his knapsack and pulled out the small soft cover book.
“Here ya go, Dad,” Nathan said, tossing the book at him. “The unauthorized biography of Peter Anderlini. I understand what unauthorized means but that doesn't mean the entire thing is untrue.”
Peter didn't think he was going to see a copy of that book ever again, so to see it in the hands of one of his children was enough to make him want to punch the wall in frustration.
“Not all of that is true,” Peter started to explain, “A lot of stories are exaggerated because the filthier these books are they more money they make for the creeps who write them. It's all about making a big splash for a bigger profit.”
“That’s what Cheryl thought,” Nathan agreed, “I realize that, but since you never sued him for libel I guess you can't say most of it false either. I just found it a tad hypocritical that a guy who spent many nights snorting cocaine off a hooker's ass was trying to tell his kids not to do drugs at the dinner table. Maybe you should have left that to someone like Sonya. It might have sounded more believable coming from her.”
Peter realized how bad it must have looked to have him make that speech, but it was not grounds to sandbag him with his own past.
“There is a time and place for everything,” Peter countered, as he sat down on the chair in front of the desk. “The dinner table on Sunday is not right time to bring up ancient history. I'm not going to deny that I was a mess during and after the divorce. It hit me really, really hard. I did a lot of terrible things when I was trying to get past it and after Ray helped me get back on track.”
“How did you get over it?” Jacob asked, as he was just as curious.
“It took time and a lot of therapy,” Peter answered, “I eventually did the right thing and checked into rehab. It took a while to get over my demons, and that’s a fight that I hope both of you manage to avoid. I wouldn't even wish it on my worst enemy.”
“I had no idea.” Jacob said as he looked back at Peter. “Did you really almost jump off a bridge?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Peter said, as he patted Jacob on the shoulder. “To be honest I don't remember most of it, but Ray was the man who did save my life and talk me down. I owe him everything and will never forget what he did for me that day. He's always been my best friend, but after that day he became so much more. He's family as far as I'm concerned and is the one person who I would tell everything to and trust without hesitation. If you guys are ever in trouble and neither Sonya nor I are available, Ray will drop everything to come to your aid. Men like him don't grow on trees and while he's far from perfect, he’s a loyal and true friend.”
“I've been getting that vibe over the last week,” Nathan admitted. “He's been looking out for me when I've been doing my work. I can tell that he really does care, and he gave me this book because he wanted me to find out the truth just not so fast.”
Peter looked back at the books he had there and sighed. “If you have any questions about my past, I would appreciate if we talked about them I private rather than at Sunday dinner. You should apologize to Sonya for ruining what was a fantastic meal. Alright?”
“Okay, I will.” Nathan said as he stood up and left the room. Jacob followed him out but when the got to the kitchen, there was no one there. Sonya apparently went outside for some air or to her bedroom to collect herself. Nathan looked around to realize the kitchen and the table were still a mess.
“Do you want to wash or dry?” he quickly asked his step-bro.
Jacob thought about it for a moment. “I'll dry. I know where everything is supposed to be put away, so that will make things move a lot faster.”
It was a valid point; Nathan had no idea where everything went.
“Alright, sounds good to me.” Nathan said, as he started to pour water into the sink with soap and started to get ready to wash the dishes.
Peter didn't say a word and watched as the two boys decided to use actions rather than words to ask for forgiveness. Jacob cleaned table and took the time to toss leftovers into various plastic tubs and into the fridge. He tossed the over ripe food into the compost bin as Nathan finished getting the sink ready as he started wash the pile of dishes that were waiting for him. Nathan was a pro at this since he and his mother always did the dishes together, giving all a good scrub each dish with care and make sure it was clean on a molecular level for Sonya. From there Nathan placed the dish on the tray were Jacob would take over from there and thoroughly dry them and then proceed to put each dish away in its proper place.
The two teens worked like a well-oiled machine and Peter didn't get in their way as he sat down on the couch in the living room and took on a role of supervisor rather than participate. Sonya could hear the commotion going on in the kitchen and came down to put a stop to it. She had assumed Peter decided to do them himself and she didn't want him to do that much work on his own. When she got down to the bottom of the stairs she saw Peter on the couch and realized what was going on.
“Well,” Sonya whispered to Peter. “I did not expect that.”
“It's their way of apologizing for ruining dinner.” Peter whispered back as he then patted the spot next to him on the couch, inviting her to cuddle up and enjoy the view from the couch. She didn't hesitate to do just that as she sat down beside her husband and put her arm around his shoulders. Peter gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.
“How are the girls?” he asked.
“Confused,” Sonya admitted. “When I explained what Keith Richards did for a living, that made them excited. You might want to consider guitar lessons.”
“Oh my,” Peter said as he let out a soft chuckle.
“Where did Nathan get all that information?” Sonya asked. “There's no way Ray would say something like that to him, and not without giving us a heads up.”
“It wasn't Ray,” Peter quietly answered. “When Nathan was at the bookstore during his date, they managed to land a cheap paperback copy of the unauthorized biography of Peter Anderlini...”
Sonya's face dropped with shock. “Are you friggin’ kidding me?”
“I’m afraid not,” Peter replied.
Sonya face was now changing a shade darker. “Nathan was reading that slanderous piece of trash written by that hack in New York?”
“The one and only,” Peter confirmed, “Silvia Snider strikes again.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Sonya asked.
“Nothing.” Peter answered. He was serious too.
“And why not?” Sonya asked as she was still fuming.
“I just don’t have the energy for it,” Peter admitted, “I’m too tired.”
“You want meal to deal with this shit?” Sonya asked with a fiery tone. He could tell she was eager to give Nathan a piece of her mind for reading that garbage and for believing it so easily.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Peter replied, “Who’s the one person that hates Silvia more than us?”
Peter watched Sonya as she thought about it for a moment and when the answer dawned on her, she grinned back at her husband.
“Oh no,” Sonya said with a sign, “He’s going to go ballistic.”
“You think?” Peter concurred, thinking about it too. “The mushroom cloud is gonna be visible from space.”
“That boy is in deep shit,” Sonya said, “Which one if us is going to tell him?”
“I will,” Peter said, as he didn’t look forward to it. “I’ll give him a call after everyone goes to bed. I know he’s working the night shift.”
“I’d ask to do it together,” Sonya sincerely offered, “But he’ll be too loud to put it on speaker.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Peter said, deeply sighing. “I’ll keep it brief.”
Sonya kissed her husband and went back upstairs. She knew karma was a harsh mistress, and Peter knew that as well. Some time tomorrow Nathan was going to learn that the hard was as well, but not by his hand.