Chapter 10: Come Fly with Me
After a whole day at Disneyland, the five of us were heading back in the same limo Jay had rented. It was one of those L-shaped ones. Manny was already asleep between Gloria and Jay, while Brenda and I sat along the side, with me next to Jay.
"It was nice what you did today!" Brenda whispered to me. We talked about what had happened (Manny's biological father simply not showing up, and Jay having to change his plans).
"Don't rub salt in the wound," I complained, though a smile was still on my face. We did have a lot of fun (not the kind I expected, but still). That was my first time at Disneyland.
"You two were incredible!" Gloria looked happy and proud of us.
"Why the thoughtful face, Jake?" Jay muttered, noticing my expression shift.
I murmured back, "Just thinking about when Manny handed us those blue balloons to hold - if he understood he was making a joke."
Jay tried to hold back a laugh, but at the same time showed a frustrated look.
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The next day, Jay was inspecting one of his airplanes (he had several; he had shown me his collection with a pleased face).
"I wish I could stay home with you and fly toy airplanes," Manny said.
"These aren't toy airplanes, Manny. These are models, and they're very complicated," Jay corrected him. "If you want to fly one of these, you've got to be familiar with airfoil, drag, lift, and thrust-all principles of aerodynamics."
"The box says '12 and up,'" Manny pointed out.
"What?" Jay looked outraged.
"You can fly toy planes with Jay next time. Today you have to spend time with Luke," Gloria insisted.
"Why?" Manny frowned.
"Because his mother invited you, so you go," Gloria said firmly.
"Family needs to be close. Right, Jay?" Gloria added.
"I'm pretty sure this is a typo," Jay muttered, ignoring what his wife had said.
Gloria shook her head and asked me the same question, "Jake?"
"I will go, Gloria, but I'll run there now," I agreed with her.
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"Jake! J-Money! 'J' to the 'A' to the-" Phil greeted me enthusiastically, and I returned the high-five with the same energy.
Noticing another teenager on the couch, I walked up and introduced myself. "I'm Jake Pritchett, Haley's cousin. You must be Dylan!" I guessed.
"Hi, yeah, I'm Dylan," he answered, shaking my hand.
I joined them to watch the baseball game on TV.
"Okay. See that guy? He's the tying run. Interesting story about him. He's been stuck on second base forever, and I'm pretty sure he's gonna try and steal third, which is just a terrible idea," Phil commented (though it wasn't really about the game - he was using innuendos. But judging by Dylan's face, he was completely clueless).
I cut in, cheering for 'the game'. "Go for the home run!"
And it actually happened. "Niiice!"
Phil glanced at me awkwardly. Sorry, Phil - that turned out to be my case too.
Then Dylan turned to Phil. "I think I'm gonna wait in the car."
After he left, Phil remarked, "He's a little jumpy."
"Oh, go figure, a teenage boy doesn't want to hang out with his girlfriend's dad," Claire interjected, then turned back to me. "Ask Jake - he's in a similar situation."
"Oh, I don't mind. And I don't think I'm as jumpy as Dylan. Still, I only have a neutral relationship with Brenda's dad, for reasons that are pretty obvious," I admitted.
"I'm all about taking it to the next level," Phil said, referring to his bond with Dylan.
"Really? Thought you were all about keeping it real," Claire said in surprise.
"Yes. But the whole point of keeping it real is so you can take it to the next level. Did you really not know that?" Phil insisted.
"You haven't exactly taken it to the next level with my dad," Claire countered.
"What are you talking about?" Phil asked.
"We've been married for 16 years, and you still walk on eggshells around him," Claire pointed out.
"What? Are you kidding? Jay and I are total buds," Phil claimed.
Claire and I exchanged the same look. Jay is not an easy person to deal with if you don't know how to approach him, and Phil is someone who tries too hard to please-which doesn't exactly fit with Jay's personality.
"Jay is building one of those model airplanes he loves so much," I revealed. "You can help him, Phil, but don't say it was me who told you."
And Phil decided to do just that, grabbing a pack of beers from the fridge and heading to Jay's house.
At that moment, the doorbell rang. Claire went to answer it, and it was Manny and Gloria.
"Manny brought his favorite game to play with Luke. It's called Empire. You use strategy to expand territories and take over the world," Gloria explained.
Yep, we four had played it a few times.
"Luke is gonna love that. He's out back playing," Claire said, pointing outside the house
"Do you need me to get you something while I'm out shopping?" Gloria offered.
"That's such a nice offer, but I think we're good. Thanks," Claire replied.
"Okay. What about this?" Alex asked her mother, showing the clothes she was wearing.
"You don't even say hello to Gloria, Manny, and Jake?" Claire scolded.
"Hi, Gloria, Manny, and Jake," Alex said with a half-sarcastic smile to us.
Then she turned back to her mother, asking again, "Okay, Mom, what about this?"
"No. You're wearing a dress," Claire insisted.
"Mom, come on."
"What? It's gonna kill you to look like a girl for one afternoon?" Claire pressed.
"But it's a wedding for some friend of yours I never even heard of," Alex complained.
"It's non-negotiable. You can borrow one of Haley's dresses again."
"No. That sends an ugly message - that I'm Haley," Alex shot back.
"You know, instead of trying to force me to wear a dress, why don't you worry about getting Luke to wear some pants?"
"What? Why does he do this? Luke! Pants! Come on!" Claire shouted as she saw Luke bouncing on the trampoline in just his underwear.