Daddy

by Jack Harbon

  “Do either of you know where she is? Her car wasn’t outside.”

  “Oh, she went to go pick up some more ice,” Valerie said. Her eyes lit up when Salome came running in the room, giggling and screaming. Behind her, Arthur chased, laughing as well.

  “Help, Valerie!” she cried, jumping onto the bed and hiding behind her. Arthur scratched his head in a cartoonish way and looked around.

  “Anyone seen Salome?” he asked.

  Mateo shrugged. “No idea,” he said. “I think she ran off into the other room when you weren’t looking.”

  “That’s probably where she went,” Arthur grinned. He pressed a kiss to Mateo’s temple before he walked out of the room to continue “looking” for her. Once the coast was clear, Salome jumped back up and looked around.

  “Phew,” she said, wiping pretend sweat from her brow. She ran off after Arthur, leaving the three others to smile and shake their heads.

  “She’s adorable,” Rob said.

  “And he’s adorable with her,” added Valerie. Mateo had never seen the man around kids, but from that interaction alone, he wanted to both watch him play some more and perhaps try to make a few of their own. Lots and lots of trials.

  The front door of the apartment opened a moment later, and Mateo sucked in a quick breath. She was back. It was time for everything to turn on its head. He could already hear the sound of plates smashing and his mother cursing Arthur out in Spanish. There might even be sandals thrown at heads.

  Amira carried the large bag of ice to the kitchen and plopped it down in the sink, cutting it open and jabbing at it to break up the clumps. “Ay, güey,” she grunted.

  Mateo waited until she put the knife down to approach her. Sneaking up, he hugged her from behind and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, Mami,” he said, rocking her side to side.

  “I love you too, baby. Happy birthday.” She turned around and cupped his face, shaking her head. “I’m so proud of you. Now, where’s this boyfriend of yours at, huh?”

  Mateo made a face. “He’s, uh…”

  “He’s ugly, huh? I’ll try not to make fun of him too much, I promise,” she assured the boy.

  “He’s not ugly, Mami. He’s just a lot older than me.” Blurting that out felt better than he could have imagined. He’d been worried about telling her for so many months, and now the cat was finally out of the bag. He’d played his cards and now he was waiting to see Amira’s. “He’s older than me, and we met online, and I didn’t want to upset you.”

  “Why would that upset me?” she asked. “You can meet some fine men online.” She poured herself a glass of wine and looked at Mateo again. “How much older?”

  Before Mateo could answer, he heard the bathroom door close. He made eye contact with Arthur as the man walked over to the kitchen. Though she tried to play it off, Mateo heard his mother choke on her wine.

  “Is that him?” she asked under her breath. Mateo gave her a quick nod. Amira’s eyes grew wide, but she managed to smooth out her face by the time Arthur was in the kitchen with them.

  “Ms. Rosales, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” he said. She shook his outstretched hand tentatively. “Mateo’s told me so much about you. It’s good to finally put a face to the legend.” Amira smiled and glanced at her son.

  “I’m sure he’s told you all about what a tyrant I am.”

  “Quite the opposite,” Arthur said. “He once told me you’re the reason he works so hard. He’s seen what you can do with four kids and how anything he does won’t ever be that hard.”

  “Where was this appreciation when I was around?” she asked Mateo, swatting his stomach playfully. Mateo laughed and turned away in case she tried to do it again.

  “Well, thank you for coming. Once we get settled down, you and I will talk more,” she said, giving him a pointed look. Arthur nodded and stepped out of her way. He and Mateo watched as she returned to the party, whispering in Aunt Rosie’s ear.

  “I think that went pretty well,” Mateo said, trying to sound hopeful. His mother hadn’t had the initial reaction he’d been expecting, and he was more than thankful for that. He didn’t know what he would have done had she raised hell and kicked the man out. She would have been justified, too. Mateo wasn’t sure if he’d approve of his twenty-two-year-old son dating someone over a decade older, no matter how nice he seemed.

  Valerie and Rob emerged from the bedroom, devious smiles on their faces as they sauntered into the kitchen. Mateo could tell they were up to something, he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

  “What’s up?” he asked his friends, suspicious of their motives.

  “It was just confirmed that your present is here,” Valerie said. Mateo narrowed his eyes and looked between the two of them.

  “You know I told you guys not to get me presents! And you already put some over there!” He glanced at the table off to the side in the living room. It was full of gift bags and boxes. One would’ve expected Mateo to be used to gifts considering who he was dating, but he couldn’t help but feel undeserving of all the items his friends had picked up for him.

  “Shut uuuup,” Rob laughed, slinging an arm over Mateo’s shoulder. As they walked to the door, Valerie looked back at Arthur.

  “We’re just gonna steal him for a minute, okay? Then you can have him right back,” she said. The three of them walked outside and downstairs. Mateo’s imagination ran wild. He couldn’t think of anything that they might have picked up for him, and that made him nervous. What if it was too much and he couldn’t repay them?

  Once they were on the sidewalk, Valerie skipped over to a red Jeep parked at the curb. She thanked the driver and took the bag from the passenger’s window. She and Rob waved to the driver as they left.

  “Who was that?” Mateo asked.

  “My older brother. He had nothing better to do tonight,” Rob said. Valerie handed Mateo the bag and clapped, eager to see his reaction.

  “You guys—”

  “Just open it, bruh,” Rob insisted.

  Mateo sighed and reached into the bag. His fingers brushed against something hard.

  “Sorry we couldn’t gift wrap it, but Antoine had to go to the farthest store in town to get them because they didn’t have them anywhere else,” Valerie explained. Mateo pulled the items out and looked over them. The stack of books was hefty in his arms.

  “Guys, what are these?” he asked, looking through the titles. He knew exactly what they were, but he couldn’t believe they were in his hands.

  “Your books for next semester,” Rob said.

  “After I helped you pick out your classes, I went and marked down all the books you’d need. Antoine went out and picked them all up for us,” Valerie added with a smile.

  Mateo was speechless. His last semester, he’d gone to every used bookstore in the city looking for the best deals. Most of his books had been torn up and missing pages, interiors marred by overzealous students with highlighters. These were all brand new, still wrapped in plastic. His eyes grew wet, an ear-to-ear grin on his face.

  “You guys,” he whispered, placing the books back in the bag. He pulled the both of them in for a hug.

  “Happy birthday,” they said in unison.

  29

  WHO HE WAS

  Mateo’s birthday party continued until just after midnight. By then, most of his relatives realized how long they’d been at the apartment and had to head home. Mateo climbed off the couch and stood by the door offering each party-goer a hug and kiss on the cheek. Aunt Rosie pinched his cheek tenderly and said,

  “Besos.” She pecked him on the forehead and walked down to her car.

  After everyone that wasn’t spending the night had left, Mateo shut the door and leaned back against it. He hadn’t had a birthday party that exciting in years. The last time he remembered having so much fun was before Angel’s passing, back when he was a child and it didn’t take much to put a smile on his face.

  The thought of his brother almost made h
im sad, but he reminded himself that Angel wouldn’t have wanted him to feel bad on his birthday. In fact, he would’ve probably pinched Mateo and told him to knock it off. So, he straightened up and walked to the bedroom to check on his siblings.

  Salome snuggled up with Victor in bed, whispering indistinctly to him. “Go to sleep, Salome,” Mateo said in a soft voice. He glanced at Tomas who was already knocked out. He deserved a good night’s sleep. He’d been in charge of watching over his younger siblings for the night and had done a pretty impressive job.

  Once Mateo was sure his siblings were alright, he checked the group text to see if Rob and Valerie got home. She’d just dropped Rob off and was now driving to her house. That was it. Everyone had been taken care of, and now it was time to deal with the last task: somehow convincing Amira that Arthur wasn’t a complete creep. He took a seat on the sofa beside Arthur, snuggling against his side and trying to find out where their conversation was.

  “...And as scummy as that website sounds, I’ve met a lot of amazing people there. Not as great as Mateo, obviously, but they’ve been pretty nice people,” Arthur was saying to his mother. Mateo wanted to knock some sense into Arthur.

  Was he really telling her the complete and honest truth? That they’d met on a sugar daddy website? If they somehow lived through this, Mateo was going to kill Arthur himself.

  “This was something that we never did back in my day. We had to be lucky enough to meet someone in person and get together that way,” Amira explained.

  Mateo struggled to keep his smile from forming. Back in your day is also kinda back in his day, he thought to himself.

  Amira wrung her hands together. “I don’t know how to feel about this.”

  “That’s okay. It’s a lot to take in,” Arthur said.

  “I mean, he just turned twenty-two, and you’re so much older than him. That’s...that’s not something you normally see. You see that happen with girls on TV, but when it’s in real life, it’s... I don’t know.” Amira looked away from them.

  Mateo felt bad for the woman. As much as he cared about Arthur, he loved his mother more, and he’d never want to hurt her or put her in a situation where she was uncomfortable. On the other side of that coin, he’d spent his entire year taking care of everyone but himself. He wanted something for himself—just one thing. One person. He felt he deserved that.

  “Mami, can I just say something?” She tilted her glass of water at him, giving him permission. “Arthur knows I’m not the one to play with.” Arthur let out a surprised laugh and slipped an arm around him.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “I mean that if he tries something stupid, he’ll have me, you, Rosie, Valerie, and Rob to deal with. I know how it looks. I know it sounds like he coerced me into being in a relationship. To some, he might be a dirty old man preying on a younger guy, but I’m not stupid. And he’s not stupid either. Arthur isn’t like them. He’s not abusing his power or taking advantage of me. He always let me make the first moves.” He paused to look at Arthur. The man wore an expectant smile, ready for him to keep talking.

  “I’ve known him for five, almost six, months now, and... I don’t know how to describe it. With everything that Papa was going through, and how we were constantly struggling, it just made being with him even more amazing. He’s already taught me more than I ever thought I could do. We’ve got plans together. We’re going to do amazing things, and I want your support. I...I need it, actually. I need you to be okay with this. I don’t want you to be upset.”

  “I’m not upset by it, Mateo. I’m just surprised,” she explained. Mateo’s heart skipped a beat. Those words. He’d heard them seven years ago when he first came out to his mother.

  From the age of ten, Mateo knew that he was different. He knew it when he slept over at his friend Gustavo’s house. He knew it when he showered in the locker room in sixth grade. He knew it when he was alone and could take care of business. The day he told her, he’d had his first kiss.

  Edgar was a boy who’d just transferred into his sophomore English class. They’d been paired up for their project over 12 Angry Men. He’d gone over to Edgar’s house to study and get their ideas out on paper. One thing led to another, and before he could recognize what he was doing, they had their hands tangled in each other’s hair and their lips and teeth knocking together in an awkward kiss.

  When he told Amira, she’d said those exact words; “I’m not upset by it, Mateo. I’m just surprised.”

  “For the longest time, I thought you didn’t bring your boyfriend around because he was trashy,” she smiled, shaking her head. “I thought, ‘Oh, he’s afraid I’ll scare him off like that one boy Mitch he tried to bring home.’ But that’s not it. It’s because he could be my boyfriend.”

  “Don’t steal my boyfriend, please,” Mateo smiled.

  “You know I could,” she teased. “In all seriousness, it’s going to take me a minute to get used to this. I know that’s not what you want to hear right now, but it’s the truth.”

  Amira looked between the two of them, and Mateo could see it in her eyes that she wanted to accept what they had. She wanted to understand how they’d fallen for each other so fast. She wanted it to be glaringly obvious that Arthur wasn’t going to hurt Mateo. And most of all, she wanted to be as happy with their relationship as the both of them were. But she wasn’t. Not from the looks of it.

  It was bittersweet. Mateo had always had this concern in the back of his mind. When he’d said there were two ways this could go, good or bad, he’d intentionally ignored the third option. It could go alright. They could avoid blinding rage and still miss the total acceptance mark.

  Now that Amira had been honest with her feelings, it left Mateo feeling just as neutral as she did. While he wished she would be as on board with it as Rosie was after only a few hours of talking with Arthur, he was also glad they’d avoided any kind of confrontation. He was in the middle of the scale, and even he didn’t know how to tip it one way or the other.

  “I think you have a right to that feeling,” Arthur finally said. Mateo and Amira turned to him. “You have every right to feel tentatively about this. You’re his mother. You only want what’s best for him, and right now, you don’t know if that’s what I am. Hell, I don’t even know if that’s what I am. But I know that he’s what’s best for me. I know that I’ve opened up to him in ways I’ve never done before. Never. And I don’t want you to completely accept me immediately, either. I want you to be—pardon my language—a hardass. You know what’s best for him, more than anyone else other than himself, and if I’m not up to standards, I want you to tell me.

  “And not to infantilize him or make him seem like he isn’t an adult who can make his own choices, but I’d love your approval, even if it means working for it. You seem like a smart woman who won’t hesitate to protect her children, and I want to show you that I am worthy of his time and his affection.”

  Mateo took Arthur’s hand and laced their fingers. He could feel the slight perspiration on his palms, and it made him smile. Mateo had never seen him like this. Arthur always exuded confidence and authority, but in front of Amira he practically shook like a leaf in the wind.

  “We’ll see,” Amira said simply. Mateo was almost worried about her tone when she cracked a smile. He let out a breath of relief and let his head fall back against Arthur’s shoulder.

  As she took another swig of her water, she looked between them thoughtfully. “I should get to bed. I’d love for you to spend the night, Arthur, but there isn’t another bed, and you can’t sleep with him. I’d offer the couch, but we just bought it.”

  “Mami,” Mateo sighed. She gave him a hard look and he stopped his pouting.

  “I don’t mind,” Arthur assured the both of them.

  “Good,” she said. Amira walked back to her room. “Drive safe, and have a good night.”

  “You too,” Arthur said. Amira closed her door and left the two of them alone. Arthur gave it a m
inute before he pulled Mateo into his lap. He let his hands rest on the other’s hips and stared up at him.

  “That went...well enough,” Arthur said.

  “I think so. It’s just weird. She didn’t have the reaction I’d expected.”

  “Me either. But ‘I need to get used to it,’ is better than ‘get this pervert away from my son,’” Arthur offered. Mateo couldn’t argue with that.

  “You’re right. Still, this is gonna be weird, I think.”

  “Don’t worry,” Arthur said. He ran his hands up and down Mateo’s thighs. “Everything will be okay. I promise.” Mateo nodded slowly and pressed his forehead to Arthur’s. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the man’s touch.

  “Happy Birthday,” Arthur said softly.

  A mischievous smile formed on Mateo’s face. “When do I get my birthday gift?” The look in his eyes made it clear that he wasn’t talking about the traditional type of present. The gift he expected was something more physical. More intimate.

  “Not tonight,” Arthur said.

  “But it’s my birthday!”

  “I know, baby. But not here. I’m not gonna ruin the semi-respect your mom has for me by having sex with you in her house.” The stroking of Mateo’s thighs stopped, and Arthur’s hands returned to his waist.

  “I thought you liked danger. You certainly liked it on the balcony in Vegas.”

  “That was then. I can’t.”

  “But Daddy...” Mateo knew he had to bring out the big guns.

  “Nope,” Arthur said, shaking his head. Mateo glared at him and climbed out of his lap.

  “I thought you cared about me,” he pouted.

  Arthur laughed softly and said, “Don’t you dare try to guilt trip me, Mateo. You’ll have to wait until we get back to my apartment tomorrow.”

  “But your car is out there! We can just go downstairs for a little bit,” Mateo suggested.