Transitions

Chapter 2-2

The teens took off once lunch was over, and Tom Alan and Erika got back to work. They were partway around the rink, in hold, when she just had to give it to him, despite how much she loved being close to him. “You big, clueless jerk.”

“Ow, Kiki!” Tom Alan rubbed his chest where Erika had smacked him as he tried to create beautiful lines. “What’d I do?” He caught himself against the rail, where Milo stood changing Etsuko’s nappy.

“You know bloody well what you did.” Certain Tom Alan and Erika would train just as hard without him about, Milo was preparing to take her home for a nap. The setup ran like a well-oiled machine, the family and Billy scheduling school, practice, and Etsuko’s pick-ups and drop offs to the second, depending on who was going to be home and free. “Doesn’t he, Little Red?”

“I really don’t.”

“In a word, love, Kensuke.”

“What about him?”

“He wants to cheat on his girlfriend,” Erika said.

“He’s got a girlfriend?”

“Jesse.” She almost hit him again. “Billy and I are pretty sure she thinks of herself that way, even if he doesn’t.”

“Kens-what’s-it’s a fancy for sure, Skater Boy.”

“I would probably agree.”

“One who fancies you, even without you leading him on.” Milo and Erika were becoming fast allies.

“How was I leading him on?”

“By laughing at his s****l innuendo,” she said, helping to pack the diaper bag. “It’s as if you all regress to twelve-year-olds when congregating as a herd.”

Tom Alan hesitated, then conceded, “Maybe.”

“Boundaries,” she told him, dragging out the word. “Be a role model.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready for that.” As if to prove it, he belched, an after effect of his Diet Coke.

“Did he have an e-r-e-c-t-i-o-n when you threw him?”

“Milo!”

“My willie was stiff when you chucked me the first time.”

“That was different,” Tom Alan said. “That was love at first sight.” He went in for a kiss Milo shunned.

“Maybe for him, too.”

“You’re really jealous?”

“More perturbed. The kid’s dodgy.”

“That’s not my fault. Neither is his stiff…ness. Not that I looked.”

“He couldn’t take his eyes off yours,” Erika said.

“Can’t blame him there, Flower. It’s a beaut.” Milo offered a kiss, on his terms, as he spoke against Tom Alan’s lips. “But it’s mine, I tell ya. All mine.”

They kissed three times—smack, smack, smack. “Of course it is.”

“And remember,” Erika did the same to Etsuko, “this was supposed to be about Jesse.”

“Well, we did what we said we’d do,” Tom Alan stated. “We met with them and I’ll call Phil and Thyme and set things up for some hockey practice or whatever. Other than that, if you’re right—”

“Oh, we’re right,” Milo declared.

“Then we’ll just back off. Kensuke’s love life is really none of our business. Heck, we’ll probably never even hear from him again, anyway.”

Tom Alan’s phone rang. “Oh. It’s him.”

“‘Never’ don’t last as long as it used to, I guess. What’s the tosser want?”

“‘Dude, I’ll go to Rio with you,’” Erika read over Tom Alan’s shoulder. “‘Just you and me. Leave the chicks and your BF at home.’” Her hand stung after smacking Tom Alan’s hard pec again.

“Ow!”

“Jerk.”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“I ask but one favor,” Milo said dramatically.

“What?” The tone made Tom Alan glower.

“If our love is fated for tragedy, if you’re going to leave me for a high schooler…please do it while I’m young enough to rebound.”