Page 65 of Caught in a Storm

“Thank you, Margot. Caleb, proceed.”

It’s a thrilling feeling for Caleb, this life of crime. “Okay, but you can’t get mad.”

“That’s not how anger works, sweetie,” she says.

“Right?” his dad says. “I’ve been telling him that since he was five.”

“I’ll do my best,” his mom says. “No promises, though.”

“Okay, so, Gustavo,” says Caleb.

“Gustavo?”

“Well, apparently, he…partakes,” says Caleb. “Did you know that?”

“Oh jeez,” his dad says, and Aaron is laughing.

“Partakes in…?” His mom slowly gets it, though. “Ah, so this is why you spend so much time at your dad’s. Pretzels and weed, rock stars wandering in and out. I’m glad you’ll be able to continue your life here in Baltimore.”

Caleb tries to redirect the conversation, noting the subtext in his mom’s comment. Actually, it was more text text then subtext. “Mom, stop. Okay, so, anyway. Dad had these gummy bears in the cereal cabinet. Special gummy bears.”

“Gustavo gave them to me as a joke,” Caleb’s dad says.

“Doooo you still have those?” Aaron asks.

His mom is very still as Caleb tells the story of how Billy met Margot. Candy that wasn’t just candy. Finding Margot online while stoned. The made-up band of little girls. The frightening woman from the record label who yelled at him. How he wondered if pretending to be a tween girl on the Internet is illegal.

“No, but it probably should be,” says Aaron. “Can we all agree?”

His mom stops swirling her glass when he’s done talking. Margot stops drumming her fingers; everyone waits for his mom to react.

“Well, I’d like to have a little talk with Gustavo,” she says, finally.

“You’re not mad?” says Caleb.

“Oh, come on,” she says. “This is fun. You think I can’t be fun? I can be fun. You were afraid to tell me this, like I’m soooooo scary. Here comes Robyn the fun hater, everyone hide your fun. Do you all think I’m so straightedge?”

“Noooo,” says Aaron. “What? You?”

“Mom, you’re one of the wildest senior vice presidents I know,” Caleb says.

She folds her arms. “You all think you know me. Well, did you know I got stoned once and tried to climb into the popcorn machine at the Senator Theatre?”

Aaron raps his knuckles on his placemat. “I did not know that.”

“Mom? Really?” Caleb laughs. “That’s awesome.”

“See, I used to be cool.”

“You’re still cool,” says Aaron. He holds up his wineglass. “Seriously, though, how big was that popcorn machine?”

“Billy,” she says, “you remember that night, right?”

“I do,” his dad says. “We were very politely asked to leave.”

“And then we made out in the Royal Farms parking lot.”

Caleb laughs, and his dad says, “Ohhhhkay.”