Act 1, Scene 11

MELI

(As Dad) “Well, I think I know what to expect of him; that’s good.”

That’s what Dad told me before he, miraculously, let us go without much of a fight.

At one point I explained the living-inside-our-heads situation to Mom and I’m pretty sure that at that moment she took it as me confirming that I no longer just did drugs, I also sold them as well.

Dad didn’t care, as long as I eventually came out of it in one piece ready to inherit the business and, by some miracle, take charge. That did not happen, I’ll spoil that much, and not for me wanting to disappoint him, I’ve never wanted that.

The only real wrinkle was that my allowance would be cut off, since they supposed that in the magical world of cranial housing we’d be saving a pretty penny on taxes (which wasn’t wrong, but still stung).

It was a real confusing time for my Mom, in part because Fede’s docile and kind demeanor was apparently too out of character for me, which –come on, man! My taste in partners couldn’t have been that terrible.

She had the decency to admit that my grandparents –her parents, had the same jitters when they met my dad, which I thought was a different situation than this one; young Dad was… young Dad. One thing that she couldn’t stop herself from saying was that if I was so intent on doing charity work I could have just helped with her philanthropy. I responded that I was quite happy living my life without comparing bank accounts with others. She shut my mouth by saying:

(As Mom) “You can say that cause you’re the one with the money.”

¡POW!, right on the smoocher.

(As Mom) “Imelda, you are –or are on your way to being a grown woman, find yourself a project for you to work on. It’s that or becoming part of someone else’s project.”

By the look she had when she said that, I knew she was talking from experience.

            END OF SCENE