Watson, Kathi Barton [little red riding hood ebook .txt] 📗

up when he heard his name being called. It was Brandon. He wanted them to have dinner together.

“I have about six thousand reports I have to read and grade. Then after that, the school is asking for next year’s plan. I don’t even know what I’m going to be doing tomorrow, much less next year.” He put his paperwork into his briefcase and looked at his friend and cousin. “You know what? Fuck it. I would love to have dinner with you.”

They ended up at their favorite place. The steakhouse on campus, usually very busy in the fall, had already gotten the parent rush over with, and it was mostly just him and Brandon there. He asked his cousin what he’d been doing.

“I have three designs I’m working on at the same time. They aren’t even related to each other.” Booker asked him if it was harder that way. “Usually not. When I get stuck on one of them, I can work on the other two to clear my mind. But here lately, it’s lost all of its appeal. Most everything has. How about you? I’m sorry about your mom. Sort of.”

“They’re all gone, had you heard?” Brandon told him he’d heard it from his dad. “We’re none of us going to miss them, I don’t think. I find myself missing Aunt Holly more than I ever did my mother. Dad, he’s happy. He has a date tonight, and he is as excited as I get when I have a new class starting.”

“My dad has been working around town with Uncle Clayton. If he gets to be mayor, he’s going to have so much help from his brothers that I wouldn’t doubt that the town will be upgraded within his first few weeks in office. Did you hear he’s running on a platform that says, whatever Mayor Caldwell says he’ll do, Uncle Clayton is going to actually do it. I laughed my ass off the first time I read that on one of his signs.” He asked him if it was slander. “Only if it’s not true. Caldwell isn’t getting anything done around the town. Last weekend Mrs. Orr fell on one of the sidewalks, and not only did Uncle Clayton help her to get a new sidewalk in front of her home, but he did some of the work himself. Not for show either—he was digging right along with the crew. That’s what this town needs. A member of the town out where people can see him.”

They spoke about the town as they waited on their salads. Booker loved things hot and spicy, while Brandon was a little on the timid side when it came to spice. Booker’s salad had sriracha sauce on it and then a bottle of it on the side. He loved it on his salad as much as Brandon hated it.

After their salads were cleared away, Brandon got serious. He wanted advice. Not sure how he could help him, Booker listened to what he had to say until he finished. Actually, he was glad to hear that someone else was thinking what he’d been thinking and let out a long breath before he spoke.

“I don’t want to work anymore either. I feel, just like you do that I’ve been forced to work at something I don’t enjoy for a long time.” Brandon asked him if he hated teaching. “Not hate. That’s too strong a word for it. But I’m ready to see some things before I get too old to enjoy them. I’ve never been to an amusement park by myself. Holly took us to those things, but now I want to see them again. Perhaps with a date this time. I don’t know. I’ve been a college professor for ten long years now, and I want a break.”

“I’ve been an engineer for that long, and I’m sick of it. Not just sick, but I think I’ve grown to hate my job.” Booker asked him what he wanted to do, if anything. “Like you, I want to see places. Also, I want to work on game designs. I’ve been doing a little of that on the side, but there are times when I just want to walk away. That’s hard for me to do.”

“Because we’ve had it beat into us that we are to work where we’re told and not deviate from that plan at all.” Booker had a thought. “I’m going to turn in my resignation tomorrow. I’ll work to the end of the term for them, then I’m done. I’m going to be my own man.”

“Damn it, so am I.” They had a glass of wine with their dinner, something that he rarely did, and had fun the rest of the night. “Wats told me about your home, Book. Are you ready to get moved in?”

Booker told him that he was pretty much moved in now. “Come over to the house and watch some television with me. I’ll show you around. When I get out of working, I think I’ll devote some time to just being a lazy man. I don’t think I’ve ever done much of that.” He asked him if he had a place to sit. “More than enough, actually. I’ve emptied out my storage lockers and filled out the house nicely. I even had paper napkins in the cabinet.”

Something that their mothers would never allow them to use. Booker thought of being at Aunt Holly’s and how they’d sometimes use paper towels when she didn’t have any napkins. She had given them a taste of a life that they’d never had at home—a good time, as with nothing ever having to be expensive or top name.

As he walked through the house, he remembered when he’d gotten each piece and told Brandon about it. Holly had turned him on to them, and the two of them would go to them to have fun. She did something with each of them. Brandon’s passion had been going to plays with her. He was