by Amy Brent
"I'm just glad you're home, sweetie," her mother said, now. "Dinner at six, okay?"
"Thanks," Max said. She wondered how to tell her mother that her diet had changed—when she’d tried to explain what veganism was her mother just nodded blankly (they were using Skype) and asked if organic butter would be all right. She’d sighed and nodded. Her mother would still be cooking luscious meaty casseroles and heavy, creamy soups, accompanied by thick slices of cheesy, buttery bread---and in the meantime, she'd added gluten to the list of food that she didn’t eat, so that was another thing she’d have to explain. Basically, if her mother cooked, it was off-limits.
But as the smell of chicken pot pie wafted into her room, she found herself wondering if maybe eating a full meal for the first time in three years could really be a bad thing. Her parents did mean well, after all, and they'd taken her in again without any "I told you so" or making her feel guilty about not heeding their advice. Maybe college wasn't such a bad idea--as she looked over the pieces of her portfolio that her mother kept she realized that they weren't half-bad--she could get a job somewhere while she worked towards a degree in graphic design, and maybe even design clothes one day that people would fight to model.
Irony was a funny thing, she thought as she put her clothes away. Still, this was a second chance, and she knew that most people didn't get one. And it began with eating her mother's chicken pot pie and telling her parents that she was going to enroll in college.
It’d been a long time since she was back in Maryland. She’d forgotten a lot about it—she’d fallen asleep on the drive home from the airport and therefore missed a lot. But now, in the morning, she woke up in her bedroom which felt bigger than the entire apartment that she’d shared with four other girls, also all models, to the sight of the sun coming over the trees in their backyard—it felt a little like she’d landed on an alien planet, where the hot water worked and there weren’t hair clots the size of her fist in the shower. She pulled on a long shirt/short dress, depending on whether she was wearing leggings with it (it was leggings weather), going for “boho chic”, but she realized that she’d sold all of her turquoise jewelry for the plane fare home. She still had some cheap costume jewelry, though—some dangly feathers, a string of wooden beads—so just plain “boho” it was, then.
As she went down the stairs and into the kitchen and smelled eggs and bacon it was amazing how badly she wanted some, even though she was a vegan (until last night).
“Good morning,” her mother said.
“Hi,” Max said, as she sat down at the table, sheepishly—unable to hide how much she’d missed having eggs and bacon. Her mother gave her a sidelong look and plated out one egg and a strip of bacon, and added an English muffin to it for good measure. “It won’t kill you,” her mother had said the night before, when she’d tried to explain (again) what being gluten-free meant.
“How do you know?” she’d asked. “Did you know that we’ve only been eating wheat for five-thousand years? Before that we were hunters and gatherers—”
“The world didn’t change overnight,” her father had said. “You think they invented plows and tamed oxen and built cities in two days?”
“No—”
“Then we’ve been eating wheat and cows and chickens before then, too,” he said, gruffly. “This is our home, and if you want to stay here then you have to live by our rules.”
It had seemed gauche to start a ruckus about lifestyles and living decisions on her first night home, so she’d bitten her tongue and ate the chicken pot pie. But now, she could tell that her mother wanted to discuss something with her, and it wasn’t about her pseudo-reluctance to eat the eggs and bacon. Her mother was putting away the dishes in the dishwasher, a focused frown on her face as she composed her speech. Max waited.
“They’re hiring at Lincoln,” her mother said, finally, picking up a mug of coffee on the counter and sitting down across from Max. Lincoln was the main strip mall in the area—for all that they said that strip malls were dying Lincoln was still doing a bustling trade, not the least because it was the only place in twenty miles to get anything.
“Thanks, mom,” she said, not-saying that she was so not going back to retail, or waiting tables. Everybody at CopaCopa had told her that at least they weren’t getting robbed outright, like they did in the suburbs. She’d worked at the Gap, herself, in her teenage years, for a pathetically low wage, and there was one thing she was certain of: nobody ever made it anywhere by working in retail.
“You’ve got to start somewhere,” her mother said.
“I know,” she said. “Can we just agree that it’s going to take me a little while to come up with some kind of plan, though, please?”
“How long do you need?”
“I’m going to go to Montco today to see what their requirements are for enrollment,” Max said. Her mother smiled, as Max knew she would. “Maybe see about a work-study while I’m there, and then go for a swim.” Her mother had a family-wide membership for the local YMCA—it was cheaper than getting three separate memberships, especially since her father used the gym irregularly and she was only in two a few times a year. And she did have to work off the chicken pot pie from the night before.
“Work-study would be good,” her mother agreed. “At the very least, you’ve already worked, so you know what they’ll expect.”
Didn’t you spend three years telling me that modeling wasn’t a real job? Max thought, but she kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t in a mood to pick a fight with her mother now—and her mother really did have good intentions for her, she reminded herself. It was just that, having been a housewife for almost twenty years, she really had no idea how things really worked out there in the real world.
Max ate the egg white and scraped the rest of her plate into the trash, while her mother sighed. “I told you,” Max said, as she pulled on her shoes. “I’m gluten-free and vegan now.”
“Bring the car back before three,” her mother called.
Max nodded. It’d been a while since she’d last driven; she was always the designated driver when she and her modeling friends had gone out—the stories about girls getting drugged and raped were too common for it not to happen, and her friend Jenny had had a close call. If Max hadn’t walked into the men’s room at the club by accident, there was every possibility that Jenny would have been raped—her dress was pulled down to her waist and the man had just whipped out his cock, and Jenny was clearly out of it. So she never drank in public places—and anyway, after her modeling gigs dried up she was too busy scraping together rent money to party, anyway.
So it was rather incredible how fast and automatic everything still was—look left, look right, check her blind spots, scope the mirrors, turn, merge. She wondered, briefly, if this meant that she was supposed to be living in the suburbs, with its perfect tree-lined streets and two cars in every garage, stifling her with its Stepfordian perfection. It was what had drawn her to the city—or rather, pushed her out of the suburbs—and now, as she pulled into the parking lot of Montgomery County Community College it was hard to think of this as a way out, instead of as a prison.
She got the standard admissions tour, which came with a run-down of the amenities (a library with 134,682 books, as if someone had actually sat down and counted them all) and a brief explanation of how work-study worked. Her GED, which she’d taken to become emancipated at the age of sixteen, was still good, so she didn’t need to take that again. The arts program was nice—they worked in traditional media but also alongside programmers and animators—and she thought that there was something in it for her, especially when she saw some of the students’ projects.
Her mother and father would be pretty darn furious about it, though. A fine arts degree from a prestigious university was pretty darn useless as it was—never mind one from a community college. But she could spin graphic design as a good skill and a worthy degree to have. If there was one thing living in LA had taught her, it was that people were suc
kers for good design.
It was barely noon when she left the admissions office, resolved to talk out the financials with her parents that evening. That gave her three hours before she had to get the car back to her mother—plenty of time to take a dip and do a few laps.
At noon in the middle of the week there were very few people there, and the people that were there were mostly old and saggy. Still, swimming was swimming, and as she dived into the pool she felt her body come alive again, and what a joy it was to be weightless in the water. She could still do nearly a full length of the pool without taking a breath.
Freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly—she did them all, and as she hung onto the pool after a series of laps she heard someone behind her say, “You’re quite a swimmer.”
She turned around, expecting to see one of the old men who were doing languid laps in the pool—there were always older guys around looking to flirt with her, and that went double because her swimsuit had cutaways in the sides, enough to be interesting but not enough to be risque. He was treading water behind her. He was definitely older, but his arms were lean and ripped, and she thought she could make out a well-defined six pack despite the water. His face was vaguely familiar—she had the feeling that she’d seen him before on TV, which was ridiculous because there were no celebrities in Bloomsdale, Maryland. But he seemed pleasant enough, open and honest, with a nice smile. “Thanks,” she said, pleasantly surprised. Most of the men who wanted to talk to her were old enough to be her grandfather, which she found sketchy as hell.
“Name’s Jack,” he said. “I’d uh, shake your hand but I’m kind of busy right now.”
“Max,” she said. “That’s all right.”
“Race you to the other end,” he said, grinning.
Oh really, she thought. He must have only just arrived—otherwise he wouldn’t have made such a silly challenge. “What’s the prize for winning?” she asked, as he slid under the lane marker and into the one next to her.
“If I win, a date with you, if you win, how about twenty bucks?”
She should’ve known that he would go or something like that—not that she planned on losing to him. “One date,” she said, “that’s it.”
“One date,” he agreed, “though I may ask you out again.”
“You’re assuming that you’ll get that lucky,” she retorted, grinning.
“Oh ho, getting cocky now, are we?” he asked.
“Not as cocky as you are, thinking that you can beat me,” she said.
He shook his head, smiling. “I knew I’d like you the moment I saw you,” he said.
“Make it fifty,” she said, trying to decide between her butterfly and crawl—the butterfly was a faster stroke, but it took a lot out of her. But then again, there was only one lap—
“Fifty it is,” he said.
He must be loaded, she thought, as she braced herself against the pool
“Go!” he shouted, and she took off, kicking against the water with both legs in an explosive burst that took her almost a quarter length of the pool before she had to kick again.
The butterfly was faster but it was harder to get right, and if she didn’t time every movement, from the sweep of her arms to the rippling kick with both legs, it would be a sure way to lose. But she was good at the butterfly, if only because it was more fun than lifting weights to keep her upper body toned for her modeling career. She flexed herself, snapping her legs into the water again, certain that he was behind her—three more strokes to go and victory would be hers. He was nowhere in sight. Two more strokes and she would be fifty dollars richer. One more stroke—
And then all of a sudden he rocketed past her and touched his wall just a fraction of a second before she touched hers. “Ha!” he shouted, ripping off his goggles.
She stared at him, bug-eyed with disbelief: how did this happen again? He wasn’t Michael Phelps, was he? “Don’t feel bad,” he said, reaching over the rope to shake her hand. “I should’ve told you that I was the state champion and an Olympic contender.”
“That—that wasn’t fair!” she sputtered angrily. “If I’d known—”
“You’d have still raced, don’t deny it,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t think I’d beat you.”
She scowled and pulled herself out of the pool, heading to the bench for her towel and flip-flops.
“Oh come on,” he cajoled now, following her. “One date with me isn’t so bad, is it?”
She bit her lip and rolled her eyes as she headed into the women’s locker room. You did make a bet, she thought reluctantly. One date—not the end of the world. She would survive. “Pick me up tonight at seven, 1725 Wynwood Lane,” she said.
“Wear something hot,” he called, as the door slammed shut in his face.
“You what?” her father sputtered.
“You what?” her mother gasped.
I probably should have told them, thought Max, now, turning red. She wore a short skirt and high heels and a sequined, silvery camisole top, with a cute little black bolero. It was a far cry from the jeans and sweatshirt that she’d worn earlier that day, and when her parents saw her outfit they, predictably enough, flipped out. And then, when she told them why she was dressed “like a two-bit whore” as her father put it, she thought they were going to ground her or something absurdly childish like that.
“I’m not a child anymore,” she said, which set off another round of apoplectic anger and speechless stuttering noises from them both.
At that moment, though, the doorbell rang, and she could see the conflict: politeness for the stranger, or scolding their daughter for her bad decision? Max didn’t care: she straightened her back and opened the door. “Hi Jack,” she said, as he stepped inside. He was wearing rather tight jeans, she noticed appreciatively, and a simple white form-fitting t-shirt that showed off his slim waist. He carried a black leather jacket over his arm. When he saw her parents, he nodded and said, smiling, “Sam, Darlene, nice to see you—”
“Wait—you know my parents?” she gasped. “Are there any other secrets to you that I should know about?”
He shrugged, grinning. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her,” he said, to her parents, who were still trying to figure out what to say.
“Max,” her father said, now, a low, dangerous anger in his voice. “Can we talk?”
“Dad,” she said.
“Now,” he said.
She looked at Jack helplessly, but he waved her towards her parents, saying, “I can wait. I was expecting this.” He sat down on their living room sofa, while her father pulled her into the kitchen.
“Max,” her father said, before she could protest. “Jack and I have been business associates for most of our adult lives, now. I know the guy—he’s sketchy as fuck—yes, I just said the f-word. That’s how bad he is—”
“Dad,” she said, “I know you think I’m still a little girl, but I’ve been living on my own in LA for three years. It’s just one date, okay? No big deal.”
“You say that—” he began, but she was already on her way back out and she walked out the front door quickly, before her parents could catch up. She knew her father would be trying to run after her, trying to say something that resembled a coherent sentence instead of useless, futile rage. Jack followed her out and opened the door to the car for her.
“What was that about?” Jack asked, as he settled into the driver’s seat and pulled on his seatbelt.
“My dad says you’re a terrible person,” she said.
He laughed. “Yeah, yeah, he would,” he said, softly.
“Well, I don’t think you’re terrible,” she said. “Rude, maybe. Pushy, sure. But you don’t kick puppies or anything, do you?”
He smiled at her. “You know, I knew you’d understand.”
***
For an older guy, he definitely knew where all the fun things were. She’d had her share of men in LA; the younger ones would take her to skanky clubs where the cover was only a dollar and drink
s were three for five. The older ones would take her out to classy restaurants and take her dancing. Thirty seemed to be the age of demarcation—she’d never dated anyone older than thirty-five, and now here she was with a guy old enough to be her dad, in a wine club on the outskirts of Bethesda, sampling glasses of wine, olives, figs, and roasted nuts. “I’m not twenty-one,” she’d hissed as they approached the entrance.
“I’ve got that taken care of,” he said.
And he did. Somehow, he merely whispered something to the man standing outside—a bouncer, perhaps, except the place was hardly rowdy enough to need a bouncer—and she was escorted in with him. They took their places next to each other in a booth, and every few minutes someone would come up to the table pushing a cart with a bottle wine and a small plate of food, and they could either take a glass or send it along. It was sort of like dim sum but for wine and tapas, and as she popped a stuffed olive in her mouth she felt Grown Up in a way that she’d never felt before. On her previous dates, the guy would order the wine, and try to tell her how she should swirl the glass, what to look for, how to taste, but Jack would merely say, “Oh, this looks like a good bottle. Shall we try a glass?”
“You’re not going to tell me how to aerate my wine?” she asked now, sipping at the dark, rich liquid on her tongue.
“Why should I?” he asked. “Presumably if the wine needed to breathe, they’d have done it already.”
“Most of the guys that I’ve dated want to teach me things about wine, that’s all.”
“Do you want to learn?”
She shook her head. “If it’s good—like this one—the that’s enough for me.”
“Not a fan of tannins,” he remarked.
“Is that what makes your mouth go dry?”
He smiled at her. “You’re good,” he said, approvingly. “I knew you were smarter than most people think you are.”