Suffering Can End

They were going to be here soon, so I opened up the window next to the front porch. The window was positioned perfectly where they couldn’t see if it was open or not, but their voices drifted in. It’s essential to know what people are thinking and saying about you before they walk into your house, you know?

I eased myself back into the mechanical recliner and then hit the button that moved it from a standing position back to sitting. Normally I would put my feet up, but then I wouldn’t be able to see out the front window when they arrived. I tried to watch TV while I waited, but every bit of movement out front distracted me and I realized that I was hardly even noticing when they put in the letters or solved the clues.

Finally, they pulled up to the front curb in some obnoxious, oversized pickup. I expected a few of them to emerge, my daughter Juna, her daughter Lily, my idiot son, and whatever guy Juna happened to be shacking up with this week. But there were only two of them walking up to the front of the house, Juna and the current shacking up guy. God, when would she learn that guys never buy the cow, and by the looks of her, she was resembling a cow more and more these days.

They moved out of my line of sight as they walked up the stairs and onto the porch. I was waiting for the doorbell to ring but instead heard them talking through the open window.

“I thought your brother was going to meet us here to help.”

“I don’t know where you got that idea. When have you ever seen my brother help with my dad? Plus, do we really need the two of them screaming at each other while we try to get his stuff together?”

“Still, it’s going to be tough to actually get him out the front door and into the car with only the two of us.”

“It’ll be fine. He knows he has to go and he knows that we’re doing him a favor by not putting him into a home. Are you sure you’re good with him living with us?”

“I have no problem with him living with us, but I do worry about you and Lily. He can be pretty rough on both of you.”

“Are you kidding? He’s meaner to you than anyone.”

“Kind of, but he’s not my dad or grandpa, you know. I know who he is and it doesn’t bother me. Lily on the other hand…”

“Yeah, I know, but she and I talked about it and I think she’s in a good place with him.”

“C’mon, we better head in. I’m sure Dukkha saw the car pull up.”

“Do not call him Dukkha. You know he hates it when you use the family nickname for him. Please call him Douglas.”

The two of them stopped talking about me, but instead of ringing the doorbell like civilized people, they just barged in.

“There’s our Juna, just waltzing in as if she still lives here. You know, it’s customary to knock before you walk into someone else’s home. What if I was sitting here naked? That would teach you a lesson about manners!”

“Oh Dad, haven’t you packed anything, or at least cleaned up a little?”

“Hey, watch where you’re walking,” I told that dummy she brought along as he stepped on my newspapers, “I haven’t read that yet.”

“Dad, that’s from two weeks ago, and where would you rather him step? There isn’t a square inch of floor that’s visible.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s from two weeks ago. I still need to check the obits to see if there’s anyone I know in there.”

“Dad,” she said, ignoring me like usual, “we were thinking we’d order some pizza for lunch and then Sid and I can pack up whatever you want to bring.”

“Why are you wasting money on pizza, I’ve got plenty of food here. We can just make sandwiches.”

“I’ll tell you what,” the oaf said, sticking his nose into our conversation, “I’ll make sandwiches for us while you two work out the details of what to bring.”

He left the room and I looked over at my daughter. There’s so much I wish she had done differently with her life. “What’s this one’s name?”

She disrespectfully rolled her eyes and sighed. “Dad, it’s not ‘this one.’ You know his name is Sid and we’ve been together for nearly a decade. I think it’s time you just accepted that he’s a part of my life, not to mention the fact that, for whatever reason, he’s agreed to let you live with us.”

“Where’s Lily? Why didn’t she come with you?”

“Oh, uh, she had a soccer game today that she couldn’t miss.”

“And you just let her go? On her own?”

“She’s sixteen and can drive herself. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“At least she’s exercising. With all that Halloween candy she’s probably been scarfing down, she could stand to run for an hour or two.”

“Dad, first of all, she’s too old to trick or treat, but more importantly, you can’t say stuff like that to her. She’s already self-conscious about her weight.”

“Good, maybe if she’s self-conscious enough she’ll do something about it.”

What’s his name reemerged from the kitchen squeezing my loaf of bread. “I just went ahead and ordered pizza. The bread is moldy.”

“Just cut off the moldy parts. It’s fine.”

“Ok Dad, we’re going to head upstairs to pack up your clothes while we wait for the pizza. You’re welcome to come with us if you have strong opinions about what you want to bring.”

“Just take whatever you want, it’s not like you’re giving me much of a choice in anything else.”

She sighed again and the two of them went up there to do God knows what while I sat down here in the living room being made a fool of.

After a bit, the two them came down lugging my dresser, her hair just a little disheveled and his shirt not so neatly tucked in.

“What are you doing with that?” I asked as they banged my antique dresser against the wall as they carried it down the stairs.

“This was Sid’s idea. Instead of packing up your clothes, he thought it might make you feel more at home to have some of your own furniture, so we just thought we’d bring the dresser and whatever’s inside.”

Without waiting for my response, they headed out the front door and tossed it into the back of their pickup, exposed to the elements. When they came back in, they had the pizza in their hands.

“Dad, what do you want to eat?” She asked as she carelessly threw my mail onto the floor and put the pizza on the coffee table.

“What are my options?”

“We got half pepperoni and half veggie.”

“Veggie?!?”

“Yeah, Sid prefers the vegetarian option.”

“Pepperoni, obviously.”

After she gave me the two smallest pieces in the box, she walked over to the couch and picked up some clothes that I was still intending to fold and threw those on the floor on top of the mail.

“Don’t sit down!” that idiot called out, scaring me half to death. “The biggest spider I’ve ever seen is on the couch.”

She screamed like she had never seen a spider before.

“Just grab a shoe and kill it,” I hollered over to her.

But do you know that guy did? He picked up a magazine and instead of smashing it, slid it under the spider’s legs.

“It might be poisonous,” she said.

“Maybe,” he replied. And then he walked over to the front door, out into the yard and set it down in the grass. He came back in, picked up his plate and sat in the chair next to me.

“I’m sorry Lily couldn’t be here,” I said.

“So are we,” Sid answered, “but she got invited to a friend’s house and figured she’d be seeing you every day from here on.”

“What he means is,” Juna was quick to correct him, “is that she’s going to a friend’s house after the game.”

We ate in silence for a few minutes after that. I looked over at Sid. He was holding his drink between legs. I almost asked him why he didn’t just set his drink on the table next to him, but the table was covered with paper.

I looked over at our Juna, with her paper plate resting on her thighs. “Juna?” I asked.

“Yeah, Dad?”

“Are they still holding a spot for me at Metta Retirement Home?”

“It doesn’t matter Dad. We know you don’t want to go there and it’s fine if you come live with us.”

“Yeah, but are they still holding a spot for me?”

“Until the end of the day tomorrow.”

“Will you slide me onto a magazine and set me down there?”