Lights, Cameras, Outsiders!

Chapter 58

LCO 58
"Francine," I heard my father say in the kitchen to her. Matt was looking at the antiques and turning pictures frames around.
"You can't say that stuff to him. Our daughter hasn't been home in two years and you automatically go off on her. She made a mistake. Let's just thank God nature took it away from her before she could."
"Oh and you encourage this behavior, Larry?"
"No, but it's over with. He looks like a good kid."
"Really? Because I see nothing but trouble." Matt picked up a picture frame and showed it to me.
"This you?" He said. It was homecoming picture with my old boyfriend and I wore te most embarrassing color you could wear to a dance: orange. And he wore a brown suit. Never again.
"Yeah, that's my freshman homecoming picture," I said, taking it.
"Who's the guy?"
"My old boyfriend. Yeah, we dated for about two years and then his dad got a new job and he moved to China," I said. When I looked up from the picture, Matt looked concerned.
"Don't worry. I like my new boyfriend now," I said, kissing his cheek. He got up to put the picture back and sat back down.
"Okay, we have some snacks for you," my mother came out with a tray full of like saltine cracks and a dip.
"I'm good," I said.
"What about Matthew? Have y'all eaten lunch?"
"No ma'am. I'm good," Matt said.
"Essie, you said earlier that you're working on a movie," my dad said.
"Yeah."
"What movie?"
"It's the adaptation of The Outsiders."
"Really? And Susie's involved in that?" He said, sticking a cracker in his mouth.
"Yeah, she's working with Francis."
"Francis who?"
"Francis Ford Coppola." He spit out his cracker instantly.
"The man who directed the Godfather?!"
"Yeah."
"Oh, my gosh, Essie. This is the man you should talk to about film and writing, oh my gosh. Are you close with him?"
"Kind of sorta."
"Oh, my gosh," my dad kept repeating in shock.
"And what do you do, Matthew?" my mom said, sitting back on the couch.
"I play Dallas Winston, ma'am," he said.
"Oh so you're an actor," my mother said.
"Oh, you better pull the part off, son. Susie loves Dallas like he's her son," my dad laughed.
"If you don't mind me asking, how are you related to her?" Matt asked.
"She's my little sister," my dad said.
"What other films have you been in, Matthew?" My mom said. I swear I was gonna get up and punch her in the throat.
"It's Matt, ma'am."
"What?"
"My name's Matt."
"Is your real name Matthew?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Then that's what I'll call you.
I don't believe in nicknames," she said. I put my face in my palms.
"Well to answer your question, Mrs. Hinton, I was in Over the Edge...Little Darlings... My Bodyguard...and this TV movie coming out in September," he said.
"You never told me it was coming out in September," I said smiling and squeezing his hand.
"Yeah, I just found out the release date."
"What's it called, son?"
"Liar's Moon," he said.
"Sounds filthy," my mom muttered.
"Francine!" My dad hissed.
"What? As if I don't have freedom of speech in my home," she said. God, I could just-
Matt turned my head to look at him and laid two finger on my neck. He nodded once.
"What's that? You're taking her pulse?" My dad said.
"Yeah. I have some heart condition that I have to treated for and if my heart rats gets to be too fast, I gotta isolate myself to calm down."
"Do you have to hospitalized?" My mom asked.
"Sometimes," I said.
"Do you need money?" My dad said.
"No, I need to earn it on my own."
"Well who's paying for the medical bills?"
"I am, sir," Matt said, "me and my family, and some of our other friends."
"Really? Matt, we can't let you do that. We-"
"I've already told Essie this. Really, it's not an issue. Between all of us pooling together and the insurance, it's covered."
"Well, Matt, let us at least give you a little money."
"It's not necessary," Matt said. My dad sat back in the couch.
"Gee, we really can't thank you enough. We need to thank everybody else. Where does your family live?"
"New Rochelle, New York," he said.
"Where are y'all moving to?" My mom said.
"New Rochelle. A couple blocks away from his parents."
"Okay, so there will be
Adult supervision," she said.
"What?"
"You think I'm going to let you move in with this hooligan without adult supervision?"
"I'm eighteen."
"See, when I was younger, we never moved into places with our boyfriends until after we were married. That's how God intended it," she said. I put my hand on Matt's back and started to rub in circles. He was going to ask me for a long massage tonight.
"Well, we're just going to move in after this movie," I said.
"Do you plan on having kids?" My mom asked.
"Not until after we're married," I said.
"At least you have one priority straight," she muttered. I swear if my dad wasn't there I would reached across the table and strangled her.
"Did you need my blessing? Cause you've already got it, Matt," my dad said. A smile crept on Matt's face and he looked down at me. I stopped rubbing his back.
"No sir that's not what we came here for, but Thank you," Matt said.
"Why do I know the movie, Over the Edge?" My mom said.
"Charlie and I went to see it in theaters."
"Is that the one you told me about and you were really upset at the end of it?" My dad said.
"The one with all the Cheap Trick music, Dad," I said.
"Ohhhh, yeah, yeah. I know the one," my dad smiled.
"So how did you two meet?" My mom asked suddenly. I sighed.
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