Charity (J)

“No, no, Jasper,” mommy said. “You give that back to him!”

“But mommy,” I said, pouting my little lips, “it’s such a pretty hat!”

“It’s a toque blanche,” the sad man was saying, “it means ‘white hat’.”

“But it’s not all the way white.”

The sick man coughed. “That’s just because my hands are a little dirty. It’ll wash off.”

“You are not taking that from him, Jasper,” mommy said again.

“Come now, Camila. The kid’s got a gift,” the poor man said. “He deserves it.”

“We,” mommy paused. “We don’t take charity. Let’s go, Jasper.”

“Bye, Patch,” I told the street man.

“Bye, kid.”

Mom being a hypocrite wasn’t on my bingo card. She’d preached on and on about how we shouldn’t take handouts, and she’d stuck by it, too. When Lacy’s tuition had gone up, when dad had sprained his leg and couldn’t work, she’d always had us push through, and I’d admired her for that. Maybe that was why it hurt so much to see her try and take advantage of my Sky.

It wasn’t even what she’d asked for. I would never make my Gracie give up her hard-earned money, but I knew my girlfriend. If it’d come up naturally, she probably would have done it. I’d have insisted it wasn’t necessary—because it wasn’t. It was just some damn renovations: a new porch, stuff like that. Knowing her, though, she would have jumped at the opportunity to prove she wasn’t, say, a ‘spoiled superstar’.

It boiled my blood to hear the woman who’d spoken so highly of equality and shit reduce the love of my life to some fucking stereotype! I probably looked like death for the rest of the meal, but how the hell was I supposed to act natural after that? My father had taught me to always give people a chance to explain themselves though, so even if I wanted to give my mom the ‘my girlfriend is fucking wonderful and you’d better respect her’ talk, I kept my cool until the end.

I waited for my explanation and, surely, an apology for Grace. I knew she would be holed up in her studio working the pain away. I’d have to pull her out of there—maybe take her to the beach. I could see my beautiful night Sky shining against the sand. I would splash water in her face, and she’d grumble at me.

“Jasper!” she says, “Stop that!”

Her giggles are music to my ears as I lunge towards her. I thank every workout that allows me to hold both of us above the water. She’s so radiant as I look down at her, lips slightly parted, and I can’t help myself as I—

“JASPER!”

I’d forgotten how loud Lacy could be. Though she was normally a low-key kid—or woman, but that was still weird to say—she sure as hell knew the art of voice projection. She’d probably been trying to get my attention for a while, and part of me felt a little bad for not listening, but then I remembered her role in the Dinner Disaster.

“What was that, back there?” I asked, trying to show as ‘firm, but upset’, rather than the ‘what the fuck’ I was actually feeling.

She rolled her eyes. “It was a joke, Jas. I’m not going to ask my idol for money.”

Lacy was eccentric in many ways. As a kid, she’d gone into the woods looking for talking deer. Actually, she’d done it a few times, even making a map to cover where she’d gone. But through all her differences, she knew how to read a room and, as far as I understood, having anxiety didn’t stop that. At least, it hadn’t for Grace.

But I trusted Lacy. “Alright, but you’d better apologize to her. That wasn’t cool.”

“Jasper,” my mother cut in, “are you truly serious about this girl?”

While it pissed me off to hear her questioning me after all that, it was a reasonable curiosity. I imagined she was probably thrown for a loop when she found out her only kid hadn’t bothered to tell her he was dating someone. When I put it like that, I felt terrible, and the paranoia swooped in for the kill. Was I the one in the wrong? No, my mother was a grown woman. She knew how to act. Did she do this out of irritation of me, rather than Grace?

Okay, that one was just stupid.

“Yes, I am,” I informed her, “and I’d like you to please treat her with respect.”

“Honey, she’s a pop star,” she argued. “She’s got plenty of money. Surely she could spare a little for her future in-laws?”

My mom was really trying this shit again? What happened to the woman who said people were ‘all the same, when you got down to it’. She’d raised me to believe that everyone deserved to be treated like a normal person. It was what had allowed me to be so cool on my first meeting with Grace when she—

. . . for her future in-laws.

My mind stopped working. It wasn’t like I hadn’t considered marrying Grace. She was sweet, smart, hard-working, and sexy as hell, but it just sounded so far away. We’d only been dating for a month—though, to be fair, we’d basically been dating for several months before that. We just hesitated at making it official. Well, I had, but that was besides the point.

“No, mom,” I said firmly, “Grace isn’t lending you money. Especially after you insulted her. What the fuck was that?!”

“Don’t you speak to me like that, young man!” she snapped. “I am not—”

“Camila, please,” my father said. “We see the hole. Stop digging it deeper.”

“But Shawn—”

“My Camila has compassion. She understands that not everyone fits in a box,” he pulled his hands into hers. “Even pop stars.”

“I,” she thought for a moment before sighing. “You’re right, honey. I’m sorry.”

“Not to me, dear.”

She turned to me. “I’m deeply sorry for how I behaved today. Can you forgive me?”

I didn’t want to let the matter drop, and that surprised me. Was it bad of me to want to not talk to her for a while? No. Yes? Fuck, I didn’t know. Did it make me a bad son to not believe in her resolve? She was my mother, so who was I to doubt her? And dad didn’t think it was a big deal, anyway.

I gave a smile I should have felt. “Of course.”

I watched her and Lacy head out first. I waited for my dad to follow them, but he stuck around. Had I done something to upset him? No, I’d literally cooked dinner, acted cordial, and let bygones be bygones, even though my gut was telling me it wasn’t a good idea. So what the hell did he want?

“Jasper,” he said, pausing.

What was he going to say? Fuck, would he ask for money, too? God, what was wrong with me? I’d already questioned mom, and now I was doubting dad, too? Had I always been this paranoid, or was it just those dumbass thoughts getting to my head?

“Are you okay?”

Was I. . . what?

In all my time on this Earth, my father had never asked if I were okay. When I’d broken my arm, he’d told me it wasn’t shit compared to the time he broke both when he was my age. After I’d gotten a black eye from school, he’d argued that fights were worse ‘back in his day’. Besides, it wasn’t a big deal, anyway. I was just stressed.

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

“You sure?”

“Of course.”

Once they were all gone, I went to fetch my girlfriend. When she was in ‘work mode’, you had to be very careful to get her out the right way. The first time I’d tried it, I hadn’t done any preparation, and she’d outright refused to leave, no matter what I did. We’d already eaten, so that wouldn’t work this time. That did leave another tactic, and that was the plan I was going with.

“Gracie,” I sang, “what’re you up to?”

“Sorry, Jasper. I just gotta finish this. . .” Her voice trailed off as she stared.

Grace may be a sucker for good food, but she was putty against my shirtless form. It was good to know it still worked.

“You wanna take a break?,” I asked, stretching my arms high above my head.

“Abs. . .” She cleared her throat. “Absolutely.”

I took her to the couch, and it wasn’t long before we were in prime position: her snuggled in my arms. I loved it when she looked up at me from under her lashes, hands sliding up to cup my cheek. I leaned into it, letting her warmth soothe my turmoil. Would she be mad that I hadn’t fought as hard to defend her? Would she be—

“Did I mess up?” she blurted.

I frowned. “What?”

“Your mom was so upset with me,” she explained. “I made you fight with your parents.”

I never should have forgiven her, mother or not. I’d even had the audacity to think it wasn’t a big deal, but it sure felt like one when my Sky was close to tears over it. Fuck, maybe I should tell her off for making my Gracie sad? No, I was rushing into things. For now, I had to help her get through this.

“They made me fight with them.” I stroked her beautiful locks. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“I’m fine. I’ve dealt with that kind of thing before,” she assured me. “But what about you? Are you feeling okay after all that?”

“Let’s go to the beach tomorrow,” I said.

Her face lit up. “Really?!”

I wasn’t much of a sand man. It had a bad tendency to end up in my shoe or, in one case, my eyes. But the expression on my Sky’s face made asking more than worth it, and I was glad for the random thought earlier that made me consider it. I knew she would be wonderful, dressed in a swimsuit only half as perfect as her. A smile split my face at the thought.

Ding!

“Was that my phone or yours?”

It was mine.

Shit, had they finally gotten my number? I’d known it was coming eventually. I didn’t turn it on, as if doing nothing would stop the inevitable flood of spam messages. No, I was being stupid, and in front of Grace, too! I turned over the phone.

Hello, Jasper. It read. Your boss gave us your number. Aero DynaLive would like to do an interview with you, and perhaps Grace, as well. Please let me know what you think of the idea.

Aero DynaLive was one of those talk shows, the kind that had celebrities playing ‘get to know you’ games. All in all, it wasn’t a bad idea to stop the rumors circulating, maybe even get the paparazzi to chill. I didn’t know if Grace was okay with the idea, but perhaps I shouldn’t bother her with it. I didn’t want to burden her with—

“Oh, an interview?” She was reading over my shoulder. “I’m down. It’s your choice, though.”

I guess I had a lot to think about.