For Better Or Worse Read Online Free PDF Page B

when Julie spoke to him on the phone. I knew I’d liked him.
    While waiting nervously for a response from Julie, Gareth said, “Education is the most important thing we can give our children.”
    Julie stared at her father with wide eyes and I realized that Gareth was telling her a great deal more with those words than ‘every kid should have a calculator’. Julie was a teacher by choice, by calling, and apparently Gareth shared her convictions and didn’t think she was a fuck-up after all. Julie burst into grateful tears and threw her arms around his neck, and he gave her a thousand-watt smile.
    The hordes arrived around four, along with caterers and waiters in black and white, all ready to serve the McHugh family their holiday dinner. There were cousins, aunts, uncles, a gaggle of kids and even a couple of dogs. There was also a great deal of wine and so I don’t recall anyone’s name.
    Julie got swept away by family and dinner wasn’t until seven so I went exploring. The house was huge, and I didn’t care much for Kathleen’s taste, but the view was still breathtaking. I sipped my wine and ducked my head into bedroom after bedroom before giving up on the third floor. The second was the main floor where everyone was congregating and I wanted to avoid crowds so I headed down to the first. Gareth’s study was on this floor and I found Robert there talking on his cell phone and punching keys on his computer. I hope I never have to work so hard that I can’t take a holiday off.
    Down the hall was a very masculine looking game room with a pool table and darts. It smelled faintly of cigars. Next door I discovered Andrew. He was hanging out alone and playing video game. I leaned in the door and watched for a bit, then got a bit bolder and flopped on the couch beside him.
    “All the other kids are upstairs,” I offered.
    “Uh huh. That’s why I’m down here.”
    “Ah, I see. Too much?”
    Andrew nodded. “Too crazy.”
    I watched him play for a while. “You’re good at this game, huh?”
    “I have it at home. I play it all the time. My friend Jim is better, he’s at like the fifth level.”
    “Wow.” I had no idea what the fifth level meant, but Andrew was impressed so I decided I should be. We didn’t say anything more for a long while. I guess I was tired because I nearly dozed off watching him play. Finally, I was startled awake again by his voice.
    “When did you figure out you liked girls?” Andrew asked me.
    “Uh,” I sat up, blinking myself awake. “What?”
    “You like girls right? You’re Aunt Julie’s girlfriend?”
    “Well, yes. I am Julie’s girlfriend.” I prefer lover, or even partner, but I wasn’t going to get into all of that with an eleven-year old. Frankly, I didn’t want to get into any of it at all. I looked around to see if by any chance there was someone who was actually related to this kid that could rescue me, but we were still alone.
    “Yeah, so when did you figure out you like girls?”
    “Um…” Fuckityfuckfuckfuck. I started searching my arsenal of avoidance tactics. Excuse myself the bathroom, point at something shiny… ah! Answer a question with a question. “Well, when did _you _ figure out that you liked girls?”
    “I’ve always liked girls,” Andrew said, trying to sound smooth. He was still playing his video game.
    “Oh?”
    “Girls have boobies. Like Angelina Jolie.”
    Ms. Jolie does indeed have nice boobies. I felt as I’d just entered the Twilight Zone, but I couldn’t argue with the kid. “Yes,” I said. “Yes, they do have boobies.”
    And with as little as that, we were bonded. Andrew handed me the controller and showed me how to play. Huzzah for boobies.
    Eventually Ellen came looking for Andrew to tell him that dinner was ready. She smiled at me and told me with a chuckle that of course I was invited, too. I think she was trying to make a joke, but it was hard to tell above the hollow sound her pea brain was making as it rattled