DAVID SOLOMON TURNED into the hotel parking lot shortly after seven o’clock in the evening, but the summer sun held brightly in the sky. He pulled up to the main entrance, turned off the car, and stepped out. As he did, a young boy, maybe seventeen, rushed out through the automatic sliding glass doors, pushing before him a tall, lopsided, metal luggage cart, one wheel spinning independent of the others.
“Oh, that’s not—”
“Can I get your bags?” said the boy, cutting David off.
“We’re only here for the night, so we only brought one bag each.”
The boy, now dejected, walked around, gripped the cart on the opposite side, and pushed it back inside. By the time the doors closed behind him, David’s wife, Maddie, had gotten out and removed the bags from the trunk. She handed David his bag and they walked inside.
At the front counter, David spoke to the friendly woman, who checked them into their room without delay. Just as she was handing David back his driver’s license, his phone rang. He took it from his pocket, saw the name KAREN SOLOMON, heaved a great sigh, turned away from the counter, and answered.
“Hey, Mom.”
“You guys want to get dinner?”
“We just got to the hotel,” he said. After the seven-hour drive from Manhattan down to Richmond, Virginia, David looked forward to lying on the king-sized bed, then drying off after a long, hot shower with a soft, luxurious towel. “We planned to order something in,” he added.
“Aw, is Maddie tired?”
“I’m tired.”
“Well, can you meet us anyway? Your dad really wants to see you.”
David closed his eyes. The main reason he and Maddie both took half days to drive all the way to Richmond was to make sure his dad didn’t completely fall apart at the funeral the next day. He knew, in this context, turning down something as simple as dinner would cost him later. His mother enjoyed not forgetting small incursions like that which his refusal would be. Plus, he knew it wasn’t really his dad asking.
“Yeah, alright.”
She told him where and when and hung up.
“Everything okay?” Maddie asked.
“We’ve been invited to dinner.”
“When?”
“They’re headed there now.”
David saw her lips purse, the way they did only when she was truly annoyed, though she never knew she did it. They took their bags to the room, stuck the plastic “Do Not Disturb” sign on the handle, and headed back to the car.
**********
The restaurant — a steakhouse — was crowded and loud. David wanted nothing more than to walk right back out, but his mom was already waving at them from a booth on the far side of the room by a big window. She, as usual, sat on the outside of the seat facing the door.
“I need to see if a bad guy comes in,” Karen always explained to anyone who questioned her reasoning. “Need to protect my boy.”
His dad, Robert, as a result, sat on the inside. He stared down at his phone, the bright screen lighting his face like a movie theater, one thumb scrolling down what David knew to be his Facebook timeline. He kept his other hand tucked under his chin as if deep in thought.
“There they are,” said Karen magnanimously, standing and hugging David. When he pulled away, Karen sat down again, not bothering to give Maddie a hug. David offered Maddie the inside seat, taking her out of his mother’s direct path.
“How you doing, kiddo?” said his dad.
“Good.”
“How was the drive?” asked his mom.
“Fine. Long.”
“Yeah, you sound tired.”
David pumped his eyebrows as a response.
“I already ordered everyone a drink. Hope that’s okay.”
Just as she said it, the waitress appeared beside the table. “Four rum punches, as requested,” she said with a Georgia accent. “Y’all ready to order?” Her nametag, David noticed, read “Riley.”
“Not yet,” said Karen, speaking for everyone.
“Actually, Riley,” said David, “can we get a couple waters.”
“Sure thing, hon,” said Riley. “Back in a jiff.”
Maddie sucked down half the rum punch in one go, but David saw her wince as she swallowed.
“How is it, Maddie?” asked Karen, as if she made the drink herself.
Maddie forced a smile. “Wonderful, Karen. Thank you.”
David knew Maddie preferred vodka to rum, and his mother knew as well. The question was asked and answered numerous times leading up to his and Maddie’s wedding four months previous.
“How are you, Dad?” David said.
He shrugged. “Been better.”
“Yeah.”
Robert and David’s now-deceased Uncle Wayne were always close, even though they lived in different states. Robert and Karen lived on Long Island — still in the same house where David grew up — while Uncle Wayne and Aunt Molly lived in Richmond.
“Look at this,” said Karen, holding her phone out to David. It showed a live feed of their living room, in which one of their four dogs was efficiently murdering a stuffed toy. White foam laid everywhere about the toy’s carcass, though David could still see more to go. “They go through about a dozen a week.”
“Why keep buying them?” David asked.
She shrugged, pulled her phone back, and started scrolling. David found it fascinating how smart phones seemed more a distraction for older people than younger people despite conventional thinking. As a Millennial, he felt compelled to fight against the stereotype, so he always placed his phone face down on the table when at dinner with other people. His mother, on the other hand, felt no such responsibility and fiddled liberally with her phone no matter the social circumstance.
Riley returned, and as she was setting the waters on the table, said, “Whew, sorry that took so long, folks. Busy night.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” said Karen. “We’re not hungry or anything.”
David, understanding the comment’s tone, sighed and sipped his water. Karen said things like that a lot, and though she always claimed to be joking, David — and many others, he knew — saw the comments as passive aggressive. Despite the comment, Riley kept her composure.
“Alright, well, y’all ready to order now?”
They ordered and Riley scampered off. Maddie, David noticed, avoided the rum punch ever since the waters arrived.
“So,” said Karen, “ask me how work went on Monday.”
David took another sip of water, then switched to the rum punch. Where Maddie preferred vodka, David actually preferred rum. He glanced over at Maddie to see if they wanted to play Karen’s game, and Maddie raised her eyebrows as if telling him to go ahead. “How’d Monday go?” he asked.
“Terrible. A dog got loose in the back of the van and mauled a cat to death.”
“Jesus Christ,” Maddie muttered. David heard all the stories from his mom’s veterinarian clinic, but even he found this opening to be unique. She’d started the clinic six years previous and it grew consistently ever since. Other than her dogs, the clinic was basically her entire life.
“Broke out of his cage. Of course, we didn’t know until we got back and found the cat dead in the back of the van. Looked like the dog ripped right through the soft carrier and broke the neck clean through.”
Riley returned, dropped a plate of bread and butter, then darted off again. Karen grabbed the biggest piece and started pulling it apart.
“Other than that,” Karen went on, now talking around the bread in her mouth, “the day was pretty much normal. About fifteen cats dropped off.”
“Were you in the van?” asked David.
“Yeah,” said Karen. “I do every transport pick up now since your dad likes being ‘retired’ and all.” She made air quotes with her fingers on the word retired. “We do three each week, and it’s about a thirty-minute drive each way, but it’s a great service for the clients.”
“How did you not hear it?” said David.
“Hear what?”
“The dog killing the cat.”
Karen shrugged. “Don’t know. There was another dog howling the whole drive back. Just didn’t hear it, I guess.”
David had his doubts, but decided to drop it.
“You sure you don’t want to take it over?” Karen asked David. “You know I want to retire and it’s all yours if you want it.”
He held up his hands. “For the hundredth time, no. I’m just not interested.” He takes another drink of the rum punch. “Plus, I start my new job next week.”
“Oh, that’s right,” said Karen. “Your big boy job.”
David huffed. He pictured Maddie, silently rolling her eyes every time Karen preceded anything with “big boy.” He knew she wouldn’t do it right in front of her, but he knew she wanted to. He wanted to as well.
“What are you doing again?” asked his dad.
“I got the job at Columbia, remember?”
“Oh, right, yeah,” said Robert. “And you’re going to be teaching?”
“No,” David said, licking his lips. “I want to end up teaching, but for now I’ll be working on their events team. I’ll be responsible for planning things like homecoming, graduation—”
“When are you moving again?” Karen cut in.
David and Maddie currently lived in SoHo, so when David landed the job at Columbia, they decided to move uptown to shorten his commute. Maddie worked from home, so it made easy sense. “Also next week,” said David.
“Did you get renter’s insurance?” said Karen, now addressing Maddie for the first time as if this task were solely her responsibility.
“Yes,” said Maddie, “we got it through our apartment’s company.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t do that,” said Karen, turning on David as if he needed to get his woman in line. “You get better rates from a third party.”
“Well, it’s fine,” said David.
“You want me to do some research for you?” asked Karen. “I know you’re both so busy.”
“No, it’s fine,” David repeated. “We already made the purchase.”
Karen held up her hands. “Hey, it’s your money.”
Riley returned with the food — salad for Karen, pork chop and fries for Robert, steak and broccoli for David, and chicken tenders with fries for Maddie. “Everything look good?” she asked.
“Um, I’d ordered an extra dressing for my salad,” said Karen.
“Oh, gosh, you did, didn’t you? Alright, I’ll get that—”
“And can we get some extra napkins?”
“Sure.”
“And another round of drinks for the table.”
“That’s all,” said David, unable to take it anymore. “Thank you.”
Riley gave him a fake smile and walked away. Robert and Maddie silently began working on their food. Karen took the knife from her cloth napkin, scraped out as much dressing as possible onto the salad, mixed it all together with her fork, took a bite, and frowned.
“What’s wrong?” asked David.
“Too dry.”
David pumped his eyebrows and began working on his own meal. The steak turned out pinker than he preferred, but it tasted fine and he didn’t want to be one of those customers.
“What are you doing with your car?” Karen asked David.
He finished chewing a fatty bite and swallowed. “Our apartment has a parking garage.”
“You should sell it,” said Karen. “You’re living close to your new job, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Why keep it when you can walk or take the train?”
David scratched his neck and didn’t respond immediately.
“Oh, sorry, sorry,” said Karen, waving her fork around.
“What?”
“Now you’re mad.”
“I’m not mad.”
“No, I can see it.”
“Really, Mom, I’m not mad.”
“Alright.”
The rest of the meal took place in silence. After Karen paid the bill — she always made a point to pay for everyone — the group stood to go.
“What time tomorrow?” asked David.
“Viewing starts at eleven,” said Robert, “service starts at three. We’ll be there the whole time.”
Karen leaned toward David and said softly, “You should be, too.”
“Okay, well…that’s a long time. We might get there a little closer to three.”
“It won’t kill you,” she said.
“We’ll see.”
His mother hummed and nodded the way she always did when judging people. David knew the look well.
He turned to Maddie. “I need to use the restroom,” he said, handing her the keys. She took them and followed Karen and Robert out. David felt bad leaving her alone with his mother, but he knew she could survive a few moments. After he used the restroom, he returned to the table to ensure he hadn’t forgotten anything, and discovered the table not yet cleared. He saw the signed receipt and peeked at it curiously. Then, he screwed up his face, shook his head, removed his wallet, and dropped an extra $20 on the table for Riley.
“Unbelievable,” he muttered to himself as he walked out.
**********
The next day, David and Maddie slept in. They finally rose around nine-thirty, went out for breakfast — bagels, bacon, and iced coffee — stopped at a Target to browse the home section for a while, then returned to the hotel around noon. While Maddie used the bathroom to get ready, David watched an episode of Parks and Recreation on the room’s television, after which he considered if coming down with the flu — as many of the characters did on the episode — might be the best way to approach the rest of the day.
“We didn’t drive all this way to hang out in a hotel room,” Maddie called from the bathroom, “no matter how judgmental your mother is going to be.”
“I know, I’m just giving you a hard time,” David called back.
By one o’clock, they were both ready to go. On their way to the funeral home, David suggested they get a light lunch, since he wasn’t sure when their next meal would be, and they still had plenty of time. Maddie agreed. After pulling through a drive-thru and eating in the car — careful not to accidentally drop anything on their clothes, as Maddie was especially prone to do — they pulled into the parking lot of Guster & Sons Funeral Home just after one-thirty.
Karen stood in the parking lot, glaring at them.
“Where have you been?” she asked David as they walked up to the door.
“We’re still early,” he said.
“You were supposed to be here at eleven.”
David tossed Maddie a sideways glance, then looked back to his mother. “Well, we’re here now. How’d you even know where we were?”
Without answering, Karen turned and marched inside. David decided she’d been tracking his location on his phone and committed to deactivating that feature later.
They were greeted at the door by a demure man in a dark suit — the owner of the funeral home, David assumed — then entered the main viewing area. On the left stood a high top table, upon which sat an open book for guests to sign and a stack of programs noting the order of events. To their right, at the front of the room, sat the open casket, beside which stood Aunt Molly and David’s two cousins, Kelly and Greg, greeting the guests as they approached to offer their condolences. He never really knew his cousins, but he thought his aunt was holding it together well all things considered. He learned earlier that week that Aunt Molly and Uncle Wayne were married just over fifty years, having been high school sweethearts before marrying two years after graduation. Karen, David saw, already reclaimed her spot beside Robert in the front row of the arranged seats.
He took a moment to scan the rest of the room. Everyone wore dark colors, as per custom. He didn’t know most people; some he recognized but couldn’t recall their names. Of the forty or so people in the room, he knew maybe eight, all of whom he was related to in some way. Fewer still did David actually feel any sort of familial connection. He loved his dad, but he was difficult to communicate with. Robert drove a truck for nearly forty years before retiring two years early. Truck drivers, David learned, possessed a very unique way of communicating, and when you drive nights, truck driver speak is all you know. Combined with the fact that his dad was normally quite a talker, you end up with generally one-sided, difficult-to-follow conversations. Then, there was his mom. They slowly drifted apart over the decade following his high school graduation, but that pace accelerated when she started her clinic. Since then, the business and her dogs were all she talked about, and she seemed to have no interest in learning or talking about things David liked. He’d mostly given up hope that she would. He tried to take interest in her pursuits, but he could only have the same conversations so many times.
The biggest connection he felt was with his older brother, Tom, who sat in the front row beside their dad opposite his mom. Tom was fifteen years older, lived with his wife and two sons in North Carolina, and was only David’s half-brother, though it never felt that way. Whenever they visited, they fell into natural conversation about topics they both enjoyed, like sports and education. Tom taught the fifth grade for nearly twenty years and played college football at the University of Virginia before getting married and moving to North Carolina. David led Maddie to the second row, sat down behind his brother, and gently squeezed his shoulder.
“How you doing, bro?”
Tom turned around. “Hey, you guys made it.”
“Just you today?”
He nodded. “Lauren couldn’t get time off, Nick’s got football practice every day, and Drew already moved back to school.”
David hummed. “Well, glad you could make it.” Then, to Robert, he said, “How are you, Dad?”
“Doing fine.”
David knew he wasn’t, so he let it go. His dad didn’t get emotional too often, so best to let him feel everything and work through it. David was there mainly to be his support should he need it.
“Okay,” said David, “I’m going to see Aunt Molly.” He joined the line of visitors and, when it was his turn, gave his aunt a hug, told her how sorry he was, and how it was going to be okay.
“I know,” she said. “He’s in a better place now.”
“Yeah.”
“Thank you for coming. How’s married life going?”
He smiled, glad she wasn’t only thinking about having lost her husband. “Really well,” he said. “We just got a new place and are moving next week.”
“That’s great,” said Aunt Molly, smiling weakly. “Sorry we couldn’t make it to the wedding.”
He gave her another hug and moved on, offering some words to his cousins as he passed. Before returning to his seat, he stepped over to the casket. He hadn’t seen Uncle Wayne in a while, but he was much thinner than he remembered. Then again, cancer will do that to a person. Uncle Wayne’s chin drew down to the point as David recalled, but his eyes, though closed, looked much older. With the cancer diagnosis having only been made eight months previous, it was as if Uncle Wayne aged entirely during that time, for the last memory David recalled was of a much younger man. He was happy to see Aunt Molly chose a fitting outfit for Uncle Wayne — brown khakis and a polyester cardinal red polo — instead of the suit most people wear to their graves. He took one last look and returned to his seat beside Maddie, who greeted him with a smile and a soft pat on the knee.
“Why don’t you move up here?” asked Karen, patting the seat beside her.
“There’s more room here,” David replied. He wasn’t kidding, because about half of the room’s seats sat empty. Other than he and Maddie, their row was completely empty.
“You should move up,” said Karen. “You want to be with the family.”
It wasn’t a question, but once again Karen telling David what he wanted to do, even though he decidedly did not want to do it. However, given the circumstances, he felt it best not to argue, so he rose and moved up. There were only two seats left, so he took the seat directly beside his mother while Maddie took the seat on the outside.
“Your Uncle Harold is here,” said Karen.
“Cool,” said David.
Karen paused, then said, “You should go say hi.”
“Maybe later.”
She snorted and shook her head. “Why are you even here?” she mumbled.
David looked at her, aghast. “To support Dad?” he said like a question. He leaned toward his mother and whispered, “His brother did just die, remember?”
“You show up late and won’t even go talk to your family,” said Karen. “Do you care even a little bit?”
“Okay,” said David, leaning back upright. He decided to say nothing else, considering a funeral wasn’t the place for an argument. The awkward silence born instead lingered between him and his mother for a few minutes before she spoke again.
“How are you guys handling your credit cards?” she asked.
“What?” said David.
“Now that you’re married,” she said, as if it provided all the necessary clarification. “Are you guys consolidating or what?”
“What are you talking about?” he said.
“You should consolidate your debt,” she said. “Pay off at least one of your cards and put everything on one card instead of having multiple.”
“Okay?” said David, unsure what she was getting at.
She clicked her tongue. “Now, don’t get mad at me,” she said. “I’m just trying to help.”
“I’m not mad—”
“You sound mad.”
The annoyance washed over David like a breaking ocean wave. “Okay, well, I am now.”
“See, I knew it.”
“No, I wasn’t mad before—”
“I’m just trying to help,” she repeated.
“Can we discuss this later?” David said, a sharp edge to his voice. He leaned toward her and lowered his tone to a harsh whisper. “Frankly, I’m sick of all the unsolicited advice.”
She scoffed. “Oh, please, when have I ever done that?”
David’s jaw dropped. “Uh, how about last night at dinner?”
“What advice did I give you at dinner?”
He didn’t at all appreciate her tone and really didn’t want to get into it, especially considering this day was supposed to be about supporting his dad, but, at that point, he saw no way out other than through.
“Well, are you going to tell me?” Karen added.
“The thing you said about renter’s insurance, about how we should get it through a third-party because it would be cheaper.”
“I’m just trying to help you guys out,” she said again, sticking to her party line.
“And about the car. You said I should sell it and take public transportation to work.”
“That just makes sense—”
“That’s not the point,” David snapped, truly angry now. “If I want your help, I’ll ask for it.”
Immediately, he regretted the harsh words. He looked over at Maddie to gauge her reaction, but what he saw he appreciated. Behind her eyes blazed a fire and he knew she was ready to fight his mom if he asked her to. He really, really loved her, and her support gave him strength.
A tense silence fell between David and Karen, and with the funeral service about to start, neither could get up and leave or even change seats. The soft background music abruptly cut off and the man leading the service walked to the podium. David didn’t hear a single word. Instead, he contemplated the problem between him and his mother.
Why were they simply unable to communicate? He’d tried everything he could think of — listened to podcasts about communication, talked with his brother about the issues, discussed everything with Maddie. He even agreed with his mother to attend counseling sessions together if she would arrange them, but she never did. Karen always complained about their difficulties and made it clear what kind of relationship she wanted them to have, but she never took any steps toward making changes. It seemed, David concluded time and time again, it was all up to him. She considered him the real problem — which David knew because she’d told him — so it was his responsibility to change, not hers. No, she was perfect just the way she was and the whole world was out to get her. Every time David considered taking steps to improve things between them, he ended up letting it go. No point in wasting energy on a one-sided relationship. Toxic people would never change.
**********
The service went smoothly. The man in charge — Jerry Demarco, an old friend of the family — read a number of Bible verses which David found amusing, primarily because he always thought if Uncle Wayne ever stepped across a church’s threshold, he would burst into flame rather than be redeemed. But funerals aren’t really for the dead person, are they? The verses were bisected by some music and a slideshow containing many pictures of Uncle Wayne over his lifetime. David kept checking on his dad, who was clearly holding back tears. At one point, he even reached behind his mother and placed a hand on his dad’s shoulder.
At last, the service ended. The ushers started excusing the guests so they could pay their last respects before returning to their vehicles and heading to the cemetery. They started from the back of the room, meaning the family would be last.
At that point, Karen started crying.
They weren’t big, heavy sobs, but enough so David could hear. He knew what she was doing, using the funeral as cover for her tears. He knew that, during the service, she hadn’t thought about Uncle Wayne or Dad or anybody else. It was all about her. She’d been attacked. He thought back on all the other times she played the victim and rolled his eyes.
In this moment? he thought. This is when she decides to pull this shit?
The ushers had released about half the guests, each of whom slowly made their way to the front, some crying. The women carried tissues and the men kept their hands folded across their bellies or stuffed deep into their pockets. Before David could stop her, Karen was on her feet.
“Take care of your dad,” she said to him.
She stepped past him and Maddie, then whisked herself toward the back of the room and out the doors. David didn’t even have a chance to object. Once she was gone, he looked at Maddie, and they shared a look that simply said, What. The. Fuck?
At the burial, Karen got out long enough for the final words to be spoken, but then went right back, got in his dad’s truck, closed the door, and pulled out her phone. Maddie remained at arm’s length, while David stayed beside his dad, making sure he didn’t fall to pieces right there in the cemetery. Finally, Robert was also ready to go. They walked together back to the truck, his dad opened the driver’s side door, and, before he climbed in, David gave him a big hug. When they broke, David said goodbye and started for his own car.
“Don’t you want to give your mom a hug?” Robert said.
David stopped, immediately knowing he couldn’t deny the request. As he walked around to the passenger side, Karen rolled down the window, but David held no intention of letting her off easy. He pulled open the door and leaned in.
It was the most pathetic hug he’d ever received.
Moments later, David and Maddie were back in their car, pulling out onto the road, and heading back toward New York. The journey ahead was long and they both had work the next day. David intended to drive as fast as he could without getting a ticket.
“I’m sorry you had to see all that,” he said to Maddie.
“It’s okay. I was here to support you and you were here to support your dad and aunt. That’s what matters most.”
“Yeah.”
He felt sad, which wasn’t unlike most other times when he was around his mother. She just sucked the happiness right out of him, leaving him feeling stupid and alone. Maddie seemed to pick up on this, because she put a hand on his thigh and started rubbing it gently.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Not really.”
“Yeah, dumb question.”
“No, it wasn’t. I appreciate you coming with me.”
“No problem,” she said, smiling.
He drove the car out of town, passed the big gas station, the high school, then the last neighborhood before reaching the highway.
“I don’t think I can keep doing this,” he said.
“Doing what?”
He sighed. “Trying.”
Maddie nodded, completely understanding. “What do you want to do?” she asked. “I’m with you, no matter what you decide.”
He turned onto the entrance ramp and pushed the car up to speed. After merging with the other northbound traffic, he turned off his blinker and set the cruise control. “I think I just need to be done,” he said.
“What, like, cut her off?”
He thought about it once more, sucked his teeth, and nodded. Then he put his focus on the road and concentrated on everything in front of him.
— DANIEL GROVES
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