One Last Thing Before I Go

me.”
    “Well, thank you. I appreciate it.”
    “But if you leave me again, I will not forgive you.”
    “I understand.”
    “I will hate you. I will get a big ‘Fuck-you-Daddy’ tattoo across my chest, and I will sleep with an army of losers to get back at you.”
    “OK. I get it.”
    “I’m serious.”
    “I know you are.”
    “So, you’ll do it?”
    “I’ll consider it very seriously.”
    “Jesus, Dad.”
    “So, Mom and Rich?”
    “Full-speed ahead. The nuptials are on.”
    “That’s good.”
    “Despite your best efforts.”
    “And that’s my cue to change the subject. Can we stop talking about me for a moment?”
    “Sure.”
    “What are you going to do about your situation?”
    “I’m glad you asked, because I’ve actually made a decision.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes. I’ve decided I’m going to do whatever you tell me to do.”
    “That’s your decision?”
    “It is.”
    “That’s ridiculous.”
    “You know what? I’ve been functioning without you for eight years now. Eight years that you should have been there, taking the pressure off of me, guiding me, being there for me. The way I see it, you owe me eight years’ worth of parenting. So I’m just asking for it all at once.”
    “That’s a good argument, but your logic is flawed.”
    “How so?”
    “You’re asking for guidance from someone who, when faced with major decisions, has consistently, almost prodigiously made the wrong choice.”
    “Well, then it’s perfect, because you can’t lose here. I know I’m going to regret it either way.”
    “I need you to know that no matter what you decide, I’m going to support it.”
    “That’s big talk from someone who might be dead tomorrow.”
    “I’m sorry. I can’t make this decision for you. Nobody can.”
    “Mom can.”
    “So ask your mom.”
    “Then what good are you?”
    “My point exactly.”

CHAPTER 46
    T his is Tuesday and, it being Tuesday, they are on their way to jerk off. When Silver considers everything that has happened since his last deposit, he is staggered by it. Seven days have passed, but the world has been turned upside down and inside out. Case in point, the backseat of Jack’s car now carries an additional passenger. Casey sits on one side, looking pensively out the window, her hair whipping around in the breeze. Silver has adjusted the small mirror on his sun visor in order to watch her. Ever since the bat mitzvah she has been steadfastly, almost insistently upbeat, and it saddens him to watch her straining to keep up the façade. Denise’s wedding will be this Saturday, and Casey is clearly worried about its effect on him. He wonders about that himself, but for the most part, he thinks he’s fine with it—sad, certainly, but there’s something about the finality of it that gives him a sense of peace. Maybe it will finally bring him the closure he needs. Or maybe he’ll get himself piss drunk and cry himself to sleep that night. Either way, he’s both relieved and insulted to not be invited. In the meantime, he’s been trying to figure out exactly what it is Casey needs him to say about her pregnancy, so that he can say it and help her figure things out.
    Jack pulls into the Blecher-Royal parking lot. Casey looks around, confused. “This isn’t the mall.”
    “We just have to run a quick errand first.”
    “What kind of errand?”
    “The kind we would prefer to be discreet about,” Jack says at exactly the same time that Silver says, “We have to deposit our sperm.”
    “What?!”
    “Jesus Christ, Silver! Is there anything you can keep quiet about these days?”
    “Apparently not.”
    “Wait, Dad. You’re serious?”
    “It’s for medical science,” Silver says.
    Casey shakes her head. “That’s not creepy at all.”
    “Well, when he says it like that,” Jack says defensively.
    “Did you really bring me along to wait in the car while my father jerks off?”
    Jack flashes Silver an annoyed look as he opens the car door. “I liked you a lot better when you knew how to lie.”
    “I’m probably disqualified anyway,” Silver says. “You have to report any adverse changes in your health.”
    “Holy shit!” Jack says, stopping with one leg out of the car. “Do you think this stuff had anything to do with your heart thing?”
    “I doubt it.”
    Jack thinks about it for a few seconds, then drops back down into his seat and starts the car. “Fuck that.”
    “So much for medical science,” Casey says from the