Turned on the Lights, And

I had to be home by 8:30PM. “Sure, I can do that, but I’ve got to be back at the house at 8:30PM to do this call.”  My wife had the house key, so I swung by the place on my way back out home from the city.  She was, at the shopping plaza near our house, dining with a few friends there at an outdoor bistro.  I was served a glass of wine and began with some small talk when my wife took a call and began talking in a way that could only mean that it was my younger daughter on the other line.

Soon it became clear that someone, me, should go and pick her up at the school dance which apparently sucked, and bring her home and feed her.  She’d missed out on the school dance pizza.  A few friends wanted to come over.  “Really?  How many?”  “Go get her.  You’ll find out.”  “Let me have the key.  Where’s the car?”  “Back home.”  “You’re joking?’ I asked in Chinese.  I would have kept my cab if I’d known that.  Fondling the key, I started off on my twenty-minute walk home.

A call.  “When are you coming?” asked the younger one.  “I’m on my way but I have to walk home first.” “What?”  “Don’t ask.”  Another call: “Can you pick me up?”  It was the older one now.  “Sure.  Are you at school, cause I need to be back home by 8:30PM. . . OK.  Wait at the main door.”  The younger one was waiting, with . . . six friends.  Oh.  Six?  “Come to the gym.  You have to sign us all out.”  I knew most of these young ladies but I didn’t know many of their parents.  “Have you guys all spoke with your parents?  You sure?”  I recognized the two teachers who had the Friday night chaperone duty, considering that they were now free and I was now not. The kids all scrunched in to the car, and we drove back home. “I can’t feel my legs.”  “That’s my arm.  You’re squishing me.”

Everyone was quite happy to get out of the car and be home.  I’d managed the time, just right, so that I had five minutes to get ready for this call.  The air-conditioning felt lovely as we walked in, turned on the lights and then . . . had all the light is in the house, suddenly go off.  We had, it seemed, just run out of electricity.  I’d need to go charge.  “No air internet?”  No.  I’m afraid not.  “No air con?”  Nope.  Air con most assuredly requires electricity, ladies.” 

I took my call standing at the counter, asking the guy to charge my electricity card.  It all worked out.  I joked about what happened with the person on the other line.  It occurred to me that had I been a woman in this position, a working mom, I probably would not have been so candid. 

Saturday, 8/26/18