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I think of that and realize, I’ve put so many of the pleasures of life in storage for too long and it’s time to unpack.

“Yeah, I guess I do. I didn’t think about it until now. Until you. There’s so much I want to do with you baby.”

She crinkles up her nose on a smirk.

“And, not just hammer fuck you like a blow up doll. But, yeah, re-build a carburetor and watch Monday night football. Watch bad ‘80’s movies with you.”

She does a little dance skip as she starts to recite her favorites, “Pretty in Pink then St. Elmo’s Fire, then Weird Science!” she sighs, “It was the golden age of adolescent angst and humor. High art.”

I chuckle and pull her next to me as the evening cools and we make our way back down Main Street to the SUV. “If you say so baby.”

It’s nearly eleven o’clock when we are back at the house, slipping into my room together as she giggles about my rock posters and cowboy wallpaper.

“You ever bring a girl in here?” She asks and I see the green streak of jealousy in her eyes.

“No. You’re the first. But you need to remember to be quiet tonight because I’m going to fuck that pussy of yours straight through these Star Wars sheets.”

Lennie’s in the bathroom when I go to the kitchen and see my mom drinking her coffee with a sly grin.

“Don’t you hide that girl in the shadows, young man.”

I give her a look, pouring my coffee as my pulse speeds. “What?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Son. You can’t lie to me. She deserves the light, not the darkness. She’s been through enough. I don’t care who you were to her, I see who youareto her now. You need to be a man and make it right. I don’t care what people say, I care if you do what’s right.”

“How do you always know?”

She smiles. “Just do. It’s a mom thing.”

“Yeah, but I promisedhermom, I never told you, but—”

“You didn’t love Lilith. I knew that. It was all for show. But this…” She points to the hallway. “This is real. So you may have promised something, but some promises are broken for the right reasons, Son. You make her feel like a queen. A princess. Like the most important person in the world to you. Everything else? Who cares.”

“Prom,” I say as the thought hitting me like a brick to the forehead. “She said she never had a prom. She loves that movie, Pretty in Pink with that pink dress and the guy in the Rolls. Like the one I had. Lost it in the fire…”

“Yes, the fire.” She smiles on a shrug. She’s never once complained, accused, or pointed a finger at me for what happened. “But do it. Yes, get a Rolls or a limo or whatever, figure out how to make it a night to remember. Take her out and let the world see.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“My legs don’t work, but my ears are fine. And these walls are thin. I’m happy for you, Son, but I don’t really want to hear all that. Lennie kept it quiet, but you? You gave it away, Cade.”

Eight

Cade

“Where are we going? This dress is crazy ridiculous!” I carry Lennie to the waiting car out in the front of the house, the thousand layers of pink tulle making aphish, phish, phishsound with every step.

“Just keep your eyes shut, little girl.”

I spent the day making plans as she and Mom baked cookies, then I sent them off to town for some girl-time, getting their hair and nails done under the guise of me needing to work here at the house in peace and quiet.

When I showed Lennie the pink dress when they got back, she laughed so hard she got a cramp in her side, but I told her this was one of those times she needed to trust me and do as she was told and put it on.

I’m in a light blue velvet tux with five-inch lapels and a ruffle front shirt, the worst tux I could find at the local formal shop. Seeing me in my getup had tears running down her cheeks again.

“You just be patient.” I set her feet down on the curb and straighten the layers of pink tulle or whatever the fuck it’s called. “Okay, you can open your eyes.”

She opens and yelps on a little bunny hop, her hands clasped over her mouth as I swing open the door on a bow. “What isthis!”