There Are No Answers // Falsettos

Trina's News

So, Jason has started seeing a psychiatrist.

He talks about it sometimes, when he's over at our place. Just about what happened at his last session, or anything new that he and Mendel talked about. I've never met this Mendel, but he must be a pretty good psychiatrist if he's treating this whole family.

Things between Marvin and I are somewhat normal. There's always been so much back-and-forth between us, it's hard to tell what actually is normal. But this seems okay. I try not to think about the possibility that this really is going nowhere.

One evening, after quite a while of Jason's therapy sessions, Marvin is coming back from dropping Jason off at his mother's place, and he doesn't look happy.

"What's going on?" I ask. He storms in and goes straight to the living room, flopping down as if exhausted on the couch with me. "Did something happen at Trina's?"

"Well, yes, kind of," he says irritably. "I drove Jason over there, and who do I see as he's going in the front door?" He pauses like I'm supposed to guess. "Mendel."

"Oh," I reply. "Isn't that normal? I thought he came to the house for all their sessions."

"It wasn't a therapy session, Whizzer, it's eight PM. Obviously something is going on between him and Trina."

I turn to him in surprise. I don't know how Marvin's mind works this way. I would never have come to the conclusion that Mendel and Trina were together like that— and I know a lot about sex. But he seems set on this, like there's no other possible reason for his psychiatrist to be there so late at night. And as I'm thinking about it, I realize there really aren't many.

"Did you see what they were doing?"

"They were in the living room. Talking, laughing, glasses of wine in hand. They hardly even noticed when I came to the door with Jason. I had to ring the bell twice."

I feel like a detective. The more Marvin tells me about Mendel and Trina's little meetup, the more I think he might be right.

"Wow," I say, hooking my arm over the couch's armrest. "You think they're dating?"

"Dating, or it could just be some hookup situation."

I want to ask, like with us? But that might be too awkward, and anyway, we live together, so I would be pretty surprised if he thought that's all we were, and anyway, this isn't about us. "How do you feel about it?" When he walked in, he didn't seem very thrilled.

"I don't know. It feels kind of messed up. That's my psychiatrist and my ex-wife."

"Maybe they're just good friends," I point out quickly. "I mean, Mendel's going over all the time. They must have formed some sort of connection, right?"

He gives me an expression of distaste. "Yeah, a romantic connection. Honestly. Maybe I should talk to Trina about it."

"I don't know if that's a great idea," I say.

"It's the only option, Whizzer. If something is going on between her and the man our son sees every week, I deserve to know."

So we go over there the next week. Not just him. Both of us. I don't really mind though, because, truth be told, I am curious about this whole situation too. We're waiting outside after Marvin's rung the bell. I glance beside us, and the window that looks into the living room.

"You saw them through there?" I whisper to Marvin.

He nods. "And then when I got inside. Ugh, don't make me relive it. Let's just ask her the question and go." That's when Trina comes to the door, a fresh face of makeup, dressed like she's going somewhere. She looks surprised when she sees us.

"Whizzer. Marvin. I was just heading out," she tells us.

"Yeah, stay in for a second," Marvin says in a no-nonsense voice. "We need to talk to you about something."

She frowns at him but steps aside. "Is it going to be quick?"

Instead of going inside, Marvin gets right down to business, while I'm standing there with him, waiting for this to get interesting. "I need you to be honest, is something going on between you and Mendel?"

She turns noticeably pink. "Mendel? The psychiatrist, Mendel?" Marvin raises an eyebrow at her and her eyes dart from us to the door, almost as if she's contemplating slamming it in our faces.

"You know who I'm talking about, Trina. Answer the damn question." He's a lot more harsh with her than I expected. I can sense he's getting impatient.

"All right," Trina says after a beat, looking at her ex-husband. "If you must know, Mendel and I have been seeing each other for a while."

His brow creases in a frown. "Well. Okay. I have to admit, I'm not overjoyed at the idea—"

"We're engaged, actually," she declares before he can finish. "He's asked me to marry him. And we've already told Jason."

Marvin's face goes from a frown to a purely shocked expression. "Oh. Really?"

"Yes. I was planning on waiting a little longer before sharing the news, but..." She tilts her chin up. "I suppose this was as good a time as any. Now, if you could step back, I have a place to be this afternoon."

"Right," I reply, taking Marvin's arm. "Well— lovely visit." It wasn't so much of a visit as standing outside her house as she told us the news, but I don't want to be impolite. Marvin apparently doesn't have the same concern, because he's still staring at Trina. Seemingly stunned.

Trina just gives us a nod. "I'll see you two later," she calls, and then she's gone, and I'm leading Marvin back to the car.

"What the fuck," he says once we're inside. I glance sideways at him from the driver's seat. "They're engaged? They hardly even know each other! This is absolutely ridiculous."

I don't reply right away. I don't exactly know what to say. I'm surprised by this, too. I know this might be good for Trina, but Marvin is right. It feels way too soon.

"And they told Jason before they told me," he goes on. "That just shows how wrong this is! They knew I would react like this because they knew it was—" He lets out a sigh of frustration instead of finishing his sentence.

In an attempt at calming the mood, I say, "I know this is all really weird right now, but—"

"Yeah," Marvin cuts me off, staring straight ahead as we drive. "Yeah, it is."

And I don't have anything to say to that, so I shut up.