Things To Say Before I Go

Chapter 12: Nate

"Mind if I turn the radio on?" She reached over to switch the radio on and I playfully slapped her hand. 

"Whoa there, this is my car, so we gotta set some ground rules first," I asserted. 

She laughed. "This isn't your car! You already told me you borrowed from your friend Jack from work!" 

"Yeah," I said, smiling, "but he's my friend, so by the transitive property, this car is as good as mine...for the time being." 

"Alright, alright, enough with the transitive property bullshit," she said, moving on, "ground rules. Whattaya got?" 

"Well," I started, "I have the right to veto any song choice I don't like. Number two, I-" but the sound of the radio cut me off. 

"Whoops!" she said, though I knew she did it on purpose. 

I liked that she tested my patience. Well, I liked it sometimes. She switched through a couple different songs, a couple I didn't recognize. She finally stopped on one of the older stations playing "Closing Time" by Semitonic. 

"Oh god no," I said, reaching for the dial. She slapped my hand back, gasping. 

"Oh my God, don't you dare touch that! This song is fantastic!" 

"This song is annoying," I said. "It gets stuck in my head and I end up singing all day, hating myself for singing it." 

She shook her head. "Nate, look past all that bullshit and listen to the words. The song is amazing."

"Oh yeah? Explain to me why it's so 'awesome'," I prompted her further.

She flipped her hair, getting very business-like. "It's the perfect combination between heartbreak and happiness. And as much as that sounds like the inside of a Hallmark card, it's true." 

"How do you mean?" I asked, looking over at her quickly before turning back to the road.

"Dan Wilson wrote the song about the  birth of his first child," she explained. "The whole setting of being at the bar and drinking until it has to close is a metaphor for the end of your life as it once was before becoming a parent. Saying goodbye to a part of you, which is heartbreaking, and welcoming a new part in, which is beautiful. And yet the whole time, the song is so uptempo. I honestly think it's genius." 

I sighed, understanding her point but not really getting past the fact that the song annoyed me. "Wow...really speaks to you, huh?" I paused. I listened for a minute and said, "Yeah, sorry still hate it". 

She threw her hands up and said, "Almost every person in the world likes this song. There's no saving you."

*************************

We pulled up to the retirement home and parked in one of the few spots left. The building looked more like an apartment complex than a retirement home. This made sense though. The home wasn't for the disabled or anything and my mother was fine. She just was in need of some help with some things and I couldn't always get to her to help. Plus, she hated going into the city so the idea of her moving closer was never on the table. I got out of the car and went around to open the door for Jess. 

"Thanks," she said. 

"Now, I just want to let you know that my mother is a little sarcastic so don't be offended by anything she may say," I warned her. "She's not really one to censor herself." 

Jess gave me a look, wide eyes and raised eyebrows. "Um I think I can take her." 

We walked through the automatic doors up to the two gentlemen at the front desk.