Absolutely Unforgivable(42)

“How’s Nathan?” Jeromy asked his mother.

She sighed. “You know your brother. He’s still the same ornery little shit that he has always been. Sometimes I wonder if he’ll ever grow up.”

“I really thought the military would smack some sense into the boy,” Jeromy told his mother and then he pulled her in for a tight hug.

“I know, son. Me too.”

When we sat down I glanced over the menu while Jeromy and his mother made small talk and continued on about Nathan. I hadn’t been to this place before and I wasn’t sure what to order. But luckily Debbie was quick to make some suggestions of things I might like.

Debbie complimented my outfit, my hair and spoke for quite a bit on the subject of my nails and how much she loved the color of my polish. I know she was probably just trying to find things to talk to me about and put me at ease, and I appreciated it.

I wasn’t quite sure what was going on with Jeromy’s brother Nathan. I had spoken to him quite a bit over the phone and through Facebook and Twitter, and he seemed perfectly fine. Young and crazy, but isn’t that what being young is all about?

Nathan was a sort of happy surprise for his parents, who after years of trying for another child had simply given up. Then one day, there he was. They were ecstatic, and treated him like the miracle baby he really was; because of complications from giving birth to Jeromy the doctor said she would never be able to have another child. So when Nathan came around some ten years later, they were beyond happy.

Perhaps treating him like a miracle baby wasn’t a good idea though, because he grew up differently than Jeromy as a result. He wasn’t the well-mannered, goal-oriented, ambitious, loving son that Jeromy was. He was far more carefree and reckless with his life choices.

When he joined the military, they were confident he would settle down and grow up but that only seemed to have fueled his wild ways. I was pretty sure they were exaggerating some of the stories but I didn’t want to speak up about it and get involved. It really was a private family moment and while I loved Jeromy dearly and knew he felt the same for me, I still wasn’t family and this Nathan problem really wasn’t any of my business.

Much to my surprise though Debbie made every effort to pull me into the conversation, asking me what I thought about Nathan.

“Well, you’ve known him longer than me so it’s hard for me to really say. But I think he’s a sweet kid and he means well.”

Debbie gave me a polite smile and then changed the subject, perhaps sensing I was uncomfortable. “You know we’ve been so caught up in talking about Nathan, I haven’t even remembered to ask how you have been enjoying Houston.”

“It’s different, that’s for sure. But all of the people I have met so far have been wonderful. I’ve really been enjoying myself. I’ve become good friends with Mindy, who is dating the drummer in Billy’s band.”

“Yes, I think I met her before. Sweet girl. She came by the house before with Billy and the boys for dinner.”

I started to warm up to Debbie and even told her about the horribly embarrassing video that Brick posted about me on the band’s YouTube page, the first one, not the latest one.

“Ahh yes, the superstar video. Billy told me about that.”

I was shocked that Billy had told her about the video. I hadn’t even realized Billy and Debbie talked as often as they apparently did.

“They do seem to have trouble with boundaries. I reminded Billy of that today. They sometimes forget that you aren’t one of the boys and they need to respect your privacy or at the very least ask your permission before posting videos that you are in.”

Jeromy chimed in, defending his buddies. “I don’t know mom, I thought the video was kind of cute.”

“Cute or not, it was not cool for them to post videos of your girlfriend without at least telling her first. If you and Stacy are going to live with Billy then his friends need to learn to respect her boundaries. She does have a reasonable expectation of privacy in her own home, does she not?” I was beaming. I was glad someone finally agreed with me.

Jeromy shrugged. “Yeah. I guess you are right, when you look at it that way.”

“Of course I am. I’m your mother. It’s my job to be right,” Debbie replied playfully.

Wow, Billy was right. She was wonderfully sweet. There was not a mean bone in her tiny little, frail body. I don’t know why I was so worried she wasn’t going to like me. She was great.