Tyed

chapter sixty nine

"How was Rosebud?"

Tyler slumps down on the couch that used to be his own. Kali now sits where he used to sit; she moved in in somewhat of a rush between lockdowns, since, well, Tyler had determined that his room was going to be empty. He had to choose where counted as home for months where he wasn't supposed to leave, and Colby had made it pretty clear where he'd prefer Tyler stay.

"Trey was so disappointed when we had to push it back, so he was super excited to go," Tyler says, leaning back against the couch. This room feels like a summer camp he visited once, or how he supposed his grandparent's house might feel if he had such a thing. Familiar, though not home, never quite was. "It was kind of weird, though, since we'd planned for four, not six. But so many travel plans got changed around that it wasn't that crazy for us to change it when we did."

Nancy takes a long sip of whatever she's drinking. "But did you have fun?"

"I mean, yeah. If you didn't think too long about how weird my family's become, it was kinda nice. Tried to kayak, ended up falling in the water about ten times, which Colby thought was hilarious. And it turns out Trey hates wine. Mum and Scarlett still went to all the wineries, but we took Trey to the beach instead."

"I'm still confused," Kali says quietly; she's pulling at her sleeves, a shirt she's taken from Nancy, which only Tyler would notice. He's unclear on whether it's because she didn't have many clothes of her own, washing mixup, or something gayer. "Who is Scarlett to you?"

"Great question. She's my husband's ex-wife and dating my mum. So, whatever weirdness that entails."

"But your mum is married...? Right?"

Tyler laughs. "You know, in retrospect it should've been obvious that my mum is pretty gay and Saxon is- well, he's never clarified this to me, but either he's asexual, or just not at all interested in my mum for whatever reason. You've never met him, but looking at them together it's kind of obvious that they're only married for basically tax benefits."

Nancy taps her fingers lightly on the edge of her glass. "Wasn't that why Scarlett was trying to get back with Colby? Or has she given up on that?"

"Not quite tax benefits," Tyler laughs. "I mean, I'm pretty sure she's just giving up pretense. She had to bend herself too far to lie. And she won't tell me anything about it, but I notice that she's just kinda hanging out with my mum and not really saying anything about it. And she's not telling us anything else. I just assume she's given up."

"I respect that," Nancy replies with a somber nod. "You can respect the grift, and you can respect not wanting to grift, you know?"

Kali's been told the story by now, and she bites her lip as she remembers. "Couldn't she- why couldn't Colby work with her to lie?"

"What do you mean?"

"Saxon has several people helping him lie. Couldn't Scarlett do the same? Pretend Colby is still her husband?"

Tyler shrugs. "Colby offered to help, but she refused any kind of lying, I think. We fully talked about how much I'd be willing to let him help and none of it ever became relevant."

Kali nods, and Tyler takes the opportunity to ask, "how have you guys been?"

And for the next hour or so, he mainly listens; as Nancy talks about school and how it's fucking her over and she's barely passing, but she's still making progress and she's proud of herself; Kali talks about how she's been thinking about what she actually wants to do, and she's found some enjoyment in cooking, so she might follow that; Tyler doesn't find a chance to pry them on the personal nonsense, not really. But Kali tells stories about her family, the adoptive one, and manages to laugh at how crazy they are, despite the glint of fear in her eye at the memories; and Nancy, as always, is full of that warm understanding that doesn't condescend and that's exactly what Kali needs, Tyler thinks.