That Night...

Padgen gets back to his dorm, and closes the door after himself. There's four bunks, but he's the only one there. He goes to the fridge, cracks open a can of juice, and sits on the bed.

Padgen
(Relieved.) Ah yeah, time to myself. Gotta love summer school.

Padgen pulls out his phone – it's a clamshell flip-phone, with a touch screen. He taps his femdad's name, Moji, which has a sunglasses emoji next to it, paired with a muscley arm. He smiles, but then his smile fades. Above it is 'Fisheye', with a fish and anchor emoji next to it. It says there's a new message.

Fisheye: We're not paying for you to live in the dorms anymore. Time to come home, do your chores. Do your goddamn part around here.

Padgen is shocked, and holds his gut. He drops his can of juice on the laminate floor.

Padgen
(Panicking.) Oh, fuck no. I can't go back. I was just starting to...

He doubles over, and holds his head in his lap.

Padgen
(Sweating.) The counsellor said my anxiety was just getting better. But if I go back home... it's only gonna get worse.

Padgen begins to spiral, and kicks the can away, watching its contents pool out onto waxed nylon floorboards.

Padgen
(Pissed off and afraid.) Why would he do this to me? Why now? Damn it! He's gonna kick my ass the second I don't look at him the right way...

Padgen thinks back to being slapped and kicked in the back, whenever his foster father felt like it.

Padgen
I'm not as young as I was when I left. He won't feel bad for me, anymore. He won't pull his punches. He won't...

Then it dawns on him.

Padgen
(Realizing.) But I don't need him, do I? I have a real dad, now. And a real mom, too! If I can sleep on my parents' couch every night...

Padgen remembers their bed shaking, and grimaces. His stomach turns.

Padgen
(Dismayed.) I don't know what's worse, though. Being abused, or listening to a happy couple all night long. It almost makes me wanna sleep on the streets.

Moji
(From the phone.) And why's that?

Padgen jumps, and looks around. He sees that he's accidentally dialed his femdad, and taps the 'speakerphone' button.

Padgen
(Ashamed.) Y-you heard all that, huh?

Moji
A bit of it. You're out of a place, huh?

Padgen
(Sighing.) Yeah. Emiliano's not gonna pay for my dorm room, anymore. That means I'm out of a place to live all next year, too. I'll be lucky if he doesn't pull me out of school to work at the fishery.

Moji
(Pondering.) So you either have to sleep at our feet and hear us make sweet, sweet, beautiful love to each other all night...

Padgen
(Groaning.) Shut up.

Moji
...or, you have to drop out of high school and live with your foster parents, who I'm guessing aren't the friendliest pair.

Padgen
You're lucky you haven't met them, yet. They were supposed to be away all summer, now it sounds like they're coming back early from Montana.

Moji
(Sympathetic.) (Sighing.) Look, I'm not gonna stop living my life just for you, I need you to understand that. I've been precarious for the last ten years, and this rhythm I have now... it's good for me. It's what's keeping me together. I'm no more stable than you are, alright?

Padgen
(Disheartened.) ...I understand.

Moji
...but, we can try moving the apartment around so the bed and couch are on opposite ends. Or at least apart, I don't wanna... frick. Yeah, we'd be kicking over the TV, wouldn't we? This is gonna suck...

Padgen
(Eyes lighting up.) ...wait! I have another idea. I'm gonna call a friend I just made, can I get back to you?

Moji
What about tonight?

Padgen
I have at least a week to figure things out, that's when rent is due again. It's a weekly thing.

Moji
I'm surprised they let you stay there after school's out.

Padgen
Yeah, I uh... I may have been faking lost homework and failed exams.

Moji
Oh, okay.

Silence.

Moji
(Infuriated.) YOU WHAT?!

One Week Later, at the Mayor's House.

Sujay and Padgen arrive in Moji's truck. They take their suitcases out of the back, and Padgen waves Moji goodbye.

Sujay
Thanks for the ride! Good thing we both go to the same dojo, huh?

Sujay slaps Padgen's back with enthusiasm. Padgen flinches, but smiles.

Padgen
No, thank you. If it wasn't for your good word, I don't think the mayor would have let me stay.

Sujay
(Grinning.) You can pay me back in friendship.

Padgen
(In thought.) ((This dude's nicer than anyone I've ever met. What's the catch?))

He looks at Sujay, strong, sunlit smile. Looking impervious. But just a touch forced.

Padgen
I know I had it bad back at home, but why- I mean, do you stay here every summer, or...?

Sujay
Nah, nah. I uh... my dad, actually. He's been getting more agg-

He pauses.

Sujay
Well, he's always busy, so he flips his lid a lot faster these days. Anyway, I gotta keep an eye on my girlfriend, right? Make sure you don't get any ideas.

Padgen
(Red-faced.) Oh, man, don't worry about me. I doubt she would if she could, I've never had a girlfriend in my life. I'm not exactly the impressive type.

Sujay
Well... you never know. Is there someone you're crushing on, or...?

Padgen
(Looking away.) Oh, there's the mayor. Ask me later, okay?

Sujay nods, and as they walk up the patio, they hear Adelaide yelling from just inside the open doorway. They decide to wait outside, as she continues. Then suddenly, she stops. She pokes her head outside.

Adelaide
What are you two doing out here? Come on in!

Sujay and Padgen exchange a look, and follow Adelaide inside.

Adelaide
(Magnamorant.) You're very lucky, the two of you. Not everyone gets to crash with the Mayor for a summer.

Padgen
Ye-

Adelaide
I've heard all about your broken homes. Don't expect too much pity, but know that I've been where you are, and if I had someone like me at my age, I'd have been a LOT better off.

Sujay
Thank-

Adelaide
I'll give you both the grand tour, and then send you into the city with some resumés. Get you some real-life experience!

Sujay and Padgen stand silent.

Adelaide
Well, aren't you going to say something?

Sujay
Thank you, ma'am, for having us.

Padgen
Yes, thank you.

Adelaide
Oh, forget about it. What's the point of having this big house all to myself? Padgen, you should meet Tamara. Her dad passed from lung cancer, and her mother left her in my care years ago. That old woman is who-knows-where, now, though.

Padgen

Oh, yeah! I know of her, her dad teaches at our dojo. I didn't know she wasn't living with him.

Adelaide
(Expression dropping like an anvil.) Yeah, that's cause Boxer ain't a responsible adult. Man lives in the top floor of where he works, sleeps on a cot. Ain't no life for a girl.

Tamara, sipping a glass of milk through a straw, stops in the doorway as she realizes her life story is being told again.

Tamara
Uh... hey.

Padgen notices something in the air: cigarettes. But not directly. Like they were smoked outside an hour ago, and it's just lingering. The Mayor and Tamara both have red, watery eyes and scratchy throats.

Amina enters the room too, looking emotionally bruised. She's got the same symptoms. Adelaide's are the strongest, though. Sujay seems unaffected.

Padgen
Hrk- (COUGH, COUGH).

Adelaide
What's up with you?

Padgen
You smoked a while ago, but it's still here.

Adelaide
And how do you know it was me?

Oh boy, quiz time. Padgen looks not for proof, but a polite answer.

Padgen
You uh, have a lighter in your pocket.

Adelaide
(Patting her pocket-space.) You lookin' at my pockets?

Padgen
It's sticking right out, actually.

Adelaide
(Looking down.) Oh!

She pulls the lighter out, with its glaring, red gas button.

Adelaide
Well done, detective. You could have also said that I'm the only adult here.

Padgen
Ha... yeah, sure.

Sujay
So, the tour?

Adelaide
Let's gooo!

Adelaide shows them around, telling them how much water to use, where food is kept, how to operate appliances, and to clean up after themselves. It's not quite the same as Amina's tour, more formal and commanding. Laundry room, storage...

Adelaide
Most of all, no funny-business! No pranks, and no hanky-panky.

Padgen
No funky monkey?

Sujay
She means sex. My religion asks that I remain celibate until engagement.

Adelaide
Very good. And what's your excuse?

Padgen
What?

Adelaide
I'm on a vegan diet myself, on a month-long cleanse. I'm losing weight, so I can meet my next ex
husband at the bar.

She laughs to herself.

Sujay
(Calm.) Good one.

Adelaide
But you, you're way too bony to be dieting. You look like one of the bunny waitresses at the chicken wing place, if they were half the size.

Padgen
I'm fourteen, ma'am. And I'm a boy.

Adelaide
You don't know what I was up to at your age. Same with them boys I knew.

Sujay
She's really jabbing at you! She must like you already.

Padgen
Uh, okay. Well, Sujay asked this before, so: I have a crush on someone else, who isn't in this whole... friend group. Thing.

Adelaide
How much do you like him?

Padgen
Her, and uhh... a lot!

Adelaide
OKAY, put the roses down, Romeoette. Don't let these boys get to you, then. That reminds me, you're each getting your own rooms.

Padgen
How big IS this place?

Adelaide
I know the slumber room looks like a lot of fun, but that's gonna be for the grand-kids, one day. I'm not letting you teens stain the sheets with your hormones and drama.

Sujay
Very graphic, ma'am. Thank you.

Adelaide
I try. That's why you each get your own keys, too. One for the house, one for the room. You let somebody in, that's yo problem now. Don't come cryin' to me.

Padgen
I'm not expecting that to be a problem for me. I've never had much rizz to begin with, and I'm only here to make friends.

Adelaide
That's a good outlook on you, keep it. This is only gonna be for a month and a half, and I like the idea that I'm teaching y'all some personal responsibility. So keep your rooms clean, and stay outta trouble, aight?

Sujay
You can count on us.

Padgen
Yes, ma'am.

Adelaide
Oh, relax! All this pressure is just so you don't ruin your own fun.

Adelaide takes a sharp breath.

Adelaide
AMINAAAA!!

Amina scrambles over, evidently having been in the middle of doing something else.

Amina
Yes, mom?

Adelaide
Show Padgen her room. I'll show Sujay his.

Amina
Padgen's a boy, mom.

Adelaide
We'll see. You never know who gon' end up wearing them bunny-suits and snappin' pics online.

Padgen
Still fourteen years old. Not a sex worker. Nor am I planning to be.

Adelaide
Just making jokes. Amina, the room?

Amina
Are you sure? I can do both, and you haven't been great with stairs lately-

Adelaide
AMINA.

Amina
Okay, jeez.

Adelaide takes Sujay upstairs, wheezing & catching her breath the whole time, barely able to lift herself. For a woman of forty, she seems diminished.

Padgen
I don't think smoking is good for her.

Amina
Stop judging my mom.

Padgen
Sorry. I'm not-

Amina
That's my job. Let's go see your room, it's next to mine.