Dinner with a Friend

The Place Where Promises Aren’t Kept [Chapter 13]

Just about the time I suspected, I heard my mom’s voice from the kitchen. “Dinner in ten, boys.”

My mom’s estimations were always longer than what they actually were. Kyle had been wandering around with my character in the desert for a while, seeking out any challenges that might lie there. With the announcement from my mom, he unfolded himself from the chair finally.

“Let’s stay logged in so we don’t have to wait for the dial-up to connect us again,” he said as if it were the best idea ever.

“That’s what I usually do,” I began, “if my mom doesn’t tell me to get off, anyways. She bugs me to show her all the homework I bring home.”

“That’s annoying,” Kyle said back. He stretched his feet to the ground and shoved the chair back from the desk. “But whatever she’s cooking smells good. We should hop on my character after we get back.”

“Perfect,” I said with a nod. A thought suddenly popped in my head, just in case the topic came up over dinner. “Hey, don’t tell my mom that we hang out in the computer lab at lunch. She’d be even extra annoying.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said like he was half listening.

“You promise?” I said a little louder. I tugged on his shoulder to make sure he was listening.

“What the heck dude? Yeah, okay. I promise.”

My mom looked like she had seen a ghost when we came out to the dining room early. “Well, our two little warriors have worked up an appetite, haven’t they?”

“I can help you set the table, Mrs. Patricia,” Kyle volunteered immediately.

My mom’s neck snapped back in surprise. “Well, what an offer. But Mike’s dad already got that all set for us. Here he is now.”

I didn’t even hear or notice that my dad had come home. “Ah, the guest of the evening,” he said as he entered the room.

“Hello, sir,” Kyle said, offering up a hand to shake my dad’s.

My dad hand-shaked back with a grin on his face. “Well, what a fine grip. You could teach Mike a thing or two.”

My mom interrupted the meet and greet. She had a heavy casserole dish in hand and was bringing it to the table. “Well, I’m sure that all these manly-men won’t be able to proceed with empty stomachs. Let’s all have a seat and dig in.”

Kyle was like a different person in front of my parents. He ate neatly, made eye contact, and barely gave one single shrug. The cheesy potatoes my mom made were good, but the meatloaf to go with them was just okay. Kyle ate them both down without complaint.

“May I use your restroom?” he asked midway through dinner.

“Of course,” my mom said, pointing a finger down the hall. “The door on the right, right on the way to the den with the computer.”

After the door to the bathroom closed, my dad nodded happily. “Good kid.”

My mom nodded along with him and raised an eyebrow at me. “Yeah, what a great friend. You two having fun with your game in there? You’re letting him play, right? You could also get a board game out after we clear the table here.”

“Yeah, mom,” I said with a little bit of a tone.

When Kyle came back, my mom was ready with another suggestion. “Too bad the school night has to cut this stay short, Kyle. But I’m sure we can have you over again. Maybe a sleepover, even. That sound good, Mike? Even Jakey would be welcome. You must have met Jake, right, Kyle? Especially since you rode the bus here today.”

“Ah, yeah,” he said, kind of shakily.

My mom nodded as if she understood his tone. “I get it, Jake is kind of an intimidating kid, being so big and old.”

“And smelly,” Kyle said, revealing the person I knew.

“Ah, well,” my mom said, pausing. “There is that. That’s puberty for you, though. Mike’s older sister is the super girly type with all her makeup, but there was a time before she learned about daily showers and deodorant, too. You two will also have to deal with your own bodies going through those changes.”

“Yeah, my mom tells me about that,” Kyle said, nodding.

“If you can get through to Mike, here,” my dad spoke up, holding a fork in the air, “then you could get along with anyone. Period.”

“I don’t know about that,” Kyle shrugged. “I mean, I have talked to Jakey a little bit when we’re in the computer lab at lunch.”

I nearly dropped my fork at the mention of the computer lab. I wanted to kick Kyle under the table, but I figured it might have caused too much noise, or I might end up kicking my mom accidentally. I glanced over at her to see if she had been paying attention. She seemed more focused on Kyle and her dinner to have recognized the words ‘computer’ and ‘lab.’ Kyle didn’t even look at me.

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