Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 3

one of them and then attempts to achieve mastery of them. Sometimes, she gets it right. That night, it seemed, she hadn't.
    "I don't understand what happened," my mother said into my dad's shoulder. She looked up at me. "Vietnamese looked like something I could definitely do."
    I shrugged. "It's always the easy ones that are deceptive."
    "That's what your mom said about my girlfriend in high school," my dad said. He laughed when she half-heartedly popped him on the arm and pulled away. "Come on, let's go out to eat. I wanna show off my college-graduate kid."
    My dad didn't get to go to college, which was a shame, because he was fascinated with knowledge. Probably why he and my mom got on so well; he held her on a pedestal and she could talk with him about anything. He was very proud to now have both a wife and son with college degrees.
    We headed out to one of three Chinese restaurants in our town. It was my dad's favorite because the owner did all his own repairs and came to my dad for the tools. Mr. Chang always gave my dad extra wontons and my mom an extra egg roll that she said she shouldn't eat, but always did. For me, he always had an extra fortune cookie. I wonder if I could now exchange it for a beer.
    "So," my mom said after we ordered. "Where are you thinking about applying?"
    "Nate just got home," my dad said. "Let him relax a bit."
    I took a sip of my drink, which wasn't beer, unfortunately, and said, "The city first."
    "Our city?" my dad asked, surprised.
    "Yeah. Why not? Don't want me to live here anymore?"
    My mom frowned over my shoulder, making me do the same and I frowned, too. The Jerk was at a table against the wall. This town definitely wasn't big enough for the both of us. But at least my mom was also unhappy with his presence. It made me feel better.
    "I hate seeing that," she said in an undertone.
    "What?" my dad asked. She nodded with her chin toward the other side of the restaurant. My dad followed her attention and grimaced. Good. He agreed with us. I felt a deeper kinship with my parents. "Yeah," he said.
    Nudging him with her elbow, my mom said, "Go get him."
    I was shocked! My mom was sending my dad over to beat up the Neanderthal? I was struck dumb for a moment before finally choking out, "What?"
    "I know you guys didn't get along very well as kids," Mom said. "But I hate seeing him sitting by himself. He could have his dinner with us."
    "You want him to eat with us?" I nearly slammed my hand to my chest in outrage but just barely held off the dramatics. Instead, I leaned forward and hissed over our drinks. "I don't want him over here. He's a jerk!"
    "Be nice, Nate. You guys are both adults now." My mom nudged my dad again and he obligingly stood up. I grabbed his wrist.
    "That just means he's a bigger bully. Studies show that people like that continue their nasty behaviors into the adult workplace and become those neighbors nobody likes. Don't invite him over here."
    "Studies have also shown," my mom answered, "that many bullies have trauma in their childhood that causes them to act out."
    I scoffed. "The theory that bullies suffer from low self-esteem has been proven false. It is their over-abundance of self-esteem that causes them to act in such aggressive and selfish ways."
    "Are you casting every child with aggressive behavior into the same category? That seems a bit presumptuous of you. And obtuse."
    "Not every child," I shot back. "But the majority of studies now show--"
    "Yes, but each child is different and some act out due to trauma, not from low-esteem, which is what I was saying. You changed my words to support your argument."
    "Baby," my dad said, leaning down to mutter into her ear. "You're turning me on."
    "Gross," I instinctively responded. I shook my head and looked back at my now smiling mother. "I had to deal with him for years. I don't want to have dinner with him." Admittedly, the last sentence kind of came out petulantly. So my mom's response had to be expected.
    "Nate. Grow up," she said with a wicked grin and shooed my dad away. I grimaced and barely kept myself from crossing my arms over my chest. I could be a grown up about this. My mom was making me have dinner with the neighbor boy who I didn't want to talk to. Yep, totally grown up.
    In not nearly enough time, my dad returned with the jerk and a waiter who was being upraised of the switch. Of course, the empty chair was next to me. JJ sat down with an easy-going smile and nod to my mom. "Thank you, Mrs.