The City of Rossford

These days Layla was dividing her living space between the home where her grandmother and great-grandmother stayed with Danasia, and Adele’s house, which was Simon’s house now too. It was the home she had grown up in, sure enough. And she had gone to Loretto so it was always near her. But after the brief stint in Chicago and then Tennessee, this seemed more like the home of her mother’s new marriage than of her childhood, and she was the hanger on, something from the old marriage. The house on Taylor Street was one with three generations of Houghton women all in need of a fair amount of personal space and it suited her better, so she stayed there more often. Lee and Tom were always in and out as well, and Julian and Claire lived right down the street, Dena and Milo around the corner, so this is where Dena dropped her off.

“You are my oldest friend,” Dena said.

“This means you’re about to start a speech.”

“You wanted to know if we were hiding something from you. Well, just our opinions.”

“Alright, then.”

“I think Aidan was a good boyfriend for a long time.”

“But now Aidan’s gone.”

“That’s right. And now Will’s back in town.”

“What?”

“Will’s back in town for Thanksgiving and—”

“And out again.”

“Yes,” Dena said. “But… you loved him. He was your love.”

“And?”

“I just don’t know that Kevin is.”

Layla felt that it was time for her to “go off”. She also felt that she would just be playing a part if she did “go off.”

“Claire got Julian and I got Milo and Brendan got Kenny, and… you can see it, we’re the loves of each others’ lives. And I want you to have the love of your life too.”

“Dena, you think just because I didn’t meet Kevin in high school, he can’t be the love of my life?”

“I don’t know,” Dena said. “All I know is that you should at least see Will before you decide to marry Kevin.”

“I’ve already decided, Dena,” Layla said. “There’s a wedding dress, a booked up church and reception hall, and twenty thousand dollars worth of chicken fingers that says I have decided.”

“Todd!” Nell snapped, and slapped him on the knuckles.

“Ouch. I was just adding pepper.”

“Don’t add anything,” she said.

Tara Veems walked into the room with a nut colored little girl, placed her hand in Todd’s and said, “Watch her. I have to go pick up a pie. And get out of the kitchen. Don’t you see you’re just getting on everyone’s nerves?”

“Thank you,” Nell said at the same time Anne Houghton did.

“No problem, ladies,” Tara said. “If I can’t cook, at least I can defend the rights of women who do.

“I’ll be back soon, baby,” she said to the little girl. “Mind your father.”

“She always minds me,” Todd said.

Tara ignored him, shutting the door.

“Well, you heard the mother of your child,” Lula said.

Todd went to the refrigerator to get a juice cup for the girl and said, “But it’s my kitchen.”

“Except on holidays,” Anne told him. “Then it’s my kitchen, since you can’t cook. And by the way, what the damn hell—”

Todd covered the girl’s ears and said, “Children, Anne.”

“Excuse me. What the D-A-M-N hell is that C-R-A-P in the fridge? In the silver thing.”

“Oh, it’s Lebanese,” Todd said.

“You made it?” Nell sounded doubtful as she whisked cream.

“No, Bryant and Chad did.”

“Oh,” Nell said.

“Paul tried it. He says its good. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

“With Scottish on one side and Lebanese on the other it’s a miracle I ever learned to cook at all,” Nell reflected.

“You wanna go back with the other kids, Maia?” Todd asked her.

The little girl shrugged.

“I’m going to make that a yes.”

“Well, when you all go back,” said Lula, who had remained silent, concentrating on her macaroni, “Get Adele’s fat ass and tell her to finish off these cheesecakes.”

“What about Layla?”

“Too many cooks,” Lula said, and then when Todd had left, she added, “Beside, she’s got the wedding, and I already bet a hundred dollars that it wouldn’t go through.”

Maia made a beeline for Dylan who was sitting in front of Elias, Bennett and Matthew, one leg crossed over the other, elegantly smoking an ink pen.

“Dylan, what have I told you about that?” Tom said, sharply. “Smoking is serious and it’s bad for your health.”

“That’s right,” Lee said beside him, exhaling. “Knock that shit off. Ink pens’ll kill you. Danny!”

Danasia broke off her conversation with Noah.

“Your father called. I just remembered. He wants you to call him back.”

“You think I should?”

“You have all the right in the world not to,” Lee Philips acknowledged.“But it would kind of make you a bitch if you didn’t.”

Fenn, coming from behind him, slapped him on the back of the head.

“Quit cussin’ in front of my kids—”

“Thank you, Fenn,” Tom started.

Fenn sat down on the other side of Tom.

“You know,” Tom said. “If I had known you were going to set that Peterson boy’s volcano on fire—”

“You would never have sent me down to the school?”

“No,” Tom said with a little smile. “I would have come down so I could see it.”

Milo poured another drink into Julian’s cup and said, “So your vote is for or against?”

“Firstly,” Julian Lawden said, “I will not vote against my sister.”

“We’re not voting against her,” Brendan clarified. “We’re for her. We’re always for her. We’re just saying,” he held up one slightly unsteady finger, “are you for or against her actually going through with the marriage?”

“Do you think it’s really going to happen?” Milo rephrased, ashing his cigarette.

“I don’t see why it shouldn’t.”

“You’re a regular politician you know that?” Milo told him. “We ought to just put you on the ticket. You can be the next Black president.”

“Or the first one with two Black parents?” Brendan suggested.

“Ahhhh,” both young men said to each other

“What’s everyone ahhing about?” Will Klasko said, entering the den of his parent’s house.

“Absolutely nothing.” Julian said while Milo announced,

“Julian’s running for president.”

Will sat down and shook his head. Over the years he had let his hair grow, and it was wilder than Milo’s now.He took off his glasses, folded them, and then stuffed them in the breast pocket of his shirt.

“I feel like I’m missing something every time I leave the room.”

“Is Aiden Michaelson still throwing the bachelor party?”

“Yeah,” Brendan said. “And isn’t that kind of weird?”

“Is it weirder than you doing my bachelor party?” Milo said.

“Well, that’s different now,” said Brendan. “We’re friends.”

“We’re friends now,” Milo modified.

“I hardly know this guy,” Brendan said. “How could Layla just go and marry some guy we don’t even know.”

“I know!” Will gasped. “It’s almost like she has the right to be with whoever she wants.”

“Are you being sarcastic?” Brendan said. “You’re being sarcastic.”

“Bren, you’re a little drunk, aren’t you?”

Brendan smiled stupidly and tipped his hand.

“Maybe a tad,” he whispered.

“It’s all that lawyering,” Julian said.

“Actually its lawstudenting,” Brendan corrected.

“I always thought you’d go to Notre Dame. Not Valpo.”

“I think a laywer’s a lawyer,” Brendan said. “Besides, if you apply at ND, you don’t know if or when you’ll make it in. I needed to make it in. I want a degree, not a god trip. And Valpo’s plenty hard anyway. I think maybe I was a little stupid about this.”

“You’re not serious about that,” Milo told him.

“Yes, I am my friend.But… the fact that I just said, ‘My friend,’ means I’m getting maudlin, so how about I stop talking about this and we talk about something else?”

“Like the stripper,” Julian and Milo said together, and looked at each other.

“Look,” Julian put his hand up, “I love Claire more than most men love their wives, but every once in a while—”

“You wanna see some new titties,” Milo said.

Julian thought this over, and then he said, “Yeah.”

“I feel you.”

“Kenny used to be a stripper,” Brendan said.

“What?” Will said.

“Yeah. For a very brief time Kenny was a stripper.”

“Well, I’m all about Kenny,” Milo said. “You know that. But… ”

“We don’t want him shaking his ass at Kevin’s bachelor party.

“And I don’t know Kevin very well,” Julian said. “But I bet he doesn’t swing that way either.”

Brendan grew reflective and buried half of his face in the side of his hand.

“I miss Kenny shaking his ass. Why’d he have to go? Why’d that son of a bitch get up and leave me!”

“Bren, he’s in Chicago.”

“I know!” Brendan said, “But I’m kind of drunk and kind of feeling sorry for myself cause I think I chose the wrong career, and my boyfriend is doing some fucking awful cubicle job and I only see him on the weekend, and… I haven’t gotten laid for a month!”

They all looked at Brendan in amazement and he said:

“Oh, what? I’m the only one who’s gone without it for a month?”

“No,” Will said slowly. “But my brother just walked into the room.”

“Oh, shit,” Brendan said, turning around to see Sheridan.

“Never fear,” the boy put up his hand. “I do not have virgin ears.”

“Or virgin anything else, I’ll bet,” Will said darkly.

“We can’t all be you, Big Brother. Do you have a twenty?”

“What for?”

“Couldn’t you just say yes?”

“Couldn’t you just tell me?”

“I wanna go buy some blow.”

“Oh, in that case, it’s in my wallet, and my wallet’s under my carcoat on the bed.”

“Thanks. Julian? Is it too late to place bets?”

“Etu, brother?”

“Hey, I’m on your side,” Sheridan told Will. “I’m betting Layla’s too good for that loser.”

“I’m so tired to talking about Layla,” Will said.

“Are you?” his brother grinned at him. “Are you really?”

Will narrowed his eyes at Sheridan and Julian said, “Bets are on until one o clock on Saturday.”

“Good show,” Sheridan said. Then turning around and walking out of the den he told Will, “The twenty’s for a movie.”