Scars

Sunday at Seven

Nick honked outside impatiently, so I practically sprinted to his car. I put Ren in the back and hopped in the passenger seat, fumbling with the seatbelt.

We all rode silence most of the way, until Nick broke it. "Can you do me a favor?"

Confused, I answered, "Sure."

"See, my mom is most definitely going to be judgmental, so just don't take it personally, okay?"

I didn't answer back. What was that supposed to mean? She was the one who asked to see Ren in the first place. I was suddenly dreading tonight and I wished that I had called in sick or something. Was it still too late?

 That's when he pulled into a parking lot. I swore inside my head. When we had parked, Nick let out an audible sigh. He looked over at me and took a deep breath. "Nervous?" he asked me.

I laughed, "Sort of. Are you?" Nick laughed as well, and before he could answer my question hopped out of the car and grabbed Ren. I got out as well and followed behind Nick as he took Ren by the hand into the restaurant.

Even looking on the outside, I could tell it was ridiculously fancy. The inside even more so. I felt utterly underdressed, with jeans and a pullover, looking at the decorated women with flowing dresses sipping champagne from sparkling glasses. Every bone in my body was telling me to flee.

It was easy to tell Nick was not looking forward to seeing his parents. I mean they had kicked him out and didn't find out about his child until recently. He walked slightly funny, as if he were in pain, and he could tell he was breathing quickly because of the way his shoulders seemed to bounce in slow motion.

A man in a tux greeted us and brought us cheerily to a table, already filled with three others. When his father saw him, he stared down at the tablecloth, as if he hadn't. Jesse grinned, his feet propped up on one of the empty seats. His mother, though, frowned at us with her red lipstick scowl. She didn't even bother saying hello. "Who's this?" she asked him, gesturing to both Ren and I.

Nick stuttered for a moment. "Uh, you remember Brin, right?" His mother took a moment to dramatically look me up and down, but before she could say anything, Jesse popped up from his chair and flung himself over to me.

"Brin, baby, how you been?" he said, his breath smelling like alcohol. Same old Jesse. I laughed through my nose and he flung an arm around my shoulder. Nick leaned over and pulled his arm off of me, causing Jesse to shrug and sit back down.

"Who is that then?" His mother said, gesturing again at Ren as if the dispute hadn't been interrupted.

"Uh, my... um, daughter, mother."

His mother gave an exasperated sigh. "You had to remind me? I meant what's her name?" She was really starting to make me angry, but I had promised Nick I wouldn't take it personally.

"Ren." Nick said, swallowing hard. She surveyed us for another long moment before pointing at the two empty chairs. We scrambled to sit down. I hated that this woman I barely knew already had some sort of power over me. I wondered for a moment how Nick was related to them.

His father was still silently staring at the tablecloth when she spoke again, "How come you just now told us about all this?"

"Well, you kicked me out. I didn't think it mattered." I could hear the edge in his tone.

"We kicked you out because your father has a business to run and he doesn't need his juvenile son advertising himself to the entire town. Do you understand how difficult it is to be the rapist's mother?"

I could tell that she had hit Nick's weak spot. "Do you understand how difficult it is to look at and love everyday your living, breathing mistake, mother? Because I don't think you do?" he fired back.

But she wasn't finished. "You don't think she understands as well?" she said gesturing to me. "Except she has to deal with your mistake."

"Is this why you wanted us to come tonight? So you could make me feel guilty?"

As if on a cue, Ren started to whimper. "Potty," she kept repeating. Nick's mother waited for a reaction. I, out of instinct, stood and picked her up. This time, Nick stood as well.

"I can take her," he offered.

"No, its fine," I said before walking off hurriedly. I needed a break from all of that and I was secretly thankful Ren had picked the most inopportune time possible. It took us a while to find the bathroom, but deep in the jungle of tables was the cleanest, whitest bathroom I had ever stepped foot inside. I was skeptical to even touch anything, as if it was all on a museum display. I actually regretted returning to the table because the bathroom seemed like a more humble option that what was sitting out there shaming Nick.

I tried to put on a look on my face that made me seem less angry and prayed it may work. I could hear hushed dispute as I rounded the corner. I dreaded the worst and I was pretty sure it had happened. When I rounded the corner, Nick was walking towards me with a drunk Jesse, away from the two disapproving parents. I took the hint in his expression and followed him out the front door. I didn't ask any questions until he had coaxed Jesse into the car.

"What happened?" I asked him as he took Ren from my hands. He took her around the car to put her in the other side. I followed him, growing impatient. "Nick, seriously."

Once Ren was buckled in, he turned to me. "Well, Jesse is completely and obviously had too much to drink, and I was quite done with being criticized for splitting custody with you." He flew around to the driver's seat and I followed to the passenger seat. I hadn't seen him this angry in a long time and he was starting to make me nervous. So I kept quiet until we pulled into a motel and Nick had dropped Jesse off in his room.

Nick slid into the driver's seat and sighed loudly. "Sorry," he murmured to me, "for making you come tonight."

"No it's alright, really. Even though I didn't get to eat anything it was... bearable...?"

He laughed to the steering wheel. I laughed as well. Ren just snored in the back seat.