Time(1): Worried Parents -- Is David Doing Drugs? Or, Doing Becky? Which Is Worse?
"Hi, honey...what's up?" It's Jonathan talking. Anna has called him at work.
"Dinner. What do you want for it?"
"You're cooking!?"
Jonathan is surprised. It isn't that Anna doesn't cook. She cooks all the time. It is that she never asks. Jonathan is surprised by that. He should have said, "You're asking me?" Jonathan got his questions mixed up. He's done that a lot since H^aGnt'l returned.
Anna isn't bothered by the question. She knows what he meant. "A big dinner. Fancy," she says. "I feel like feeding my men."
"You mean me and Tink--er, David? Is he home?" Jonathan has noticed that David Bell has been keeping some strange hours, lately. Jonathan noticed it last night. (Before that, Jonathan was in no condition to notice anything.) Last night, David didn't come home at all until this morning. Then, it was just to swipe the blender.
"He's not home," Anna says.
Jonathan can tell that Anna is worried. Jonathan was worried, too, until he went through the list of signals parents can use to see if their kids are on drugs:
Does he stay in his room all the time?
Is he gone all the time?
Is he quiet and withdrawn?
Is he given to fits of shouting and abusive language?
Does he have new friends you haven't met?
Does he refuse to socialize?
Does he yell at his younger brothers and sisters?
Is there white powder on his mustache?
Is his nose red and does he snuff a lot?
Have his grades slipped?
Has he tried to hang himself?
Does he carry a gun?
Where was he on the night of--?
Jonathan doesn't think David is doing drugs, but, David is definitely doing something.
"I was thinking steak and eggs," Anna says, "with onions."
Anna knows how to feed her men. Early in their marriage, Jonathan told Anna that steak and eggs was a real man's food. He'd heard that from Theodore, his father, who'd heard it from his father. Anna cooked steak and eggs and watched Jonathan wolf it down, and later, watched David Bell emulate his father--wolfing it down like a man--and she felt wifely and motherly. No one talked about it, but they all knew that each had a role to play. The men happily wolfed and Anna happily cooked and watched. Now, Anna longs for those days of wolfing and watching. She wishes it was night before last, again.
"We just had steak and eggs," Jonathan reminds her. Then, he realizes that he's being insensitive. His wife is worried about her son. "...so, I guess that proves how much you love us...that we get it again so soon. Steak and eggs. That'd be great, honey!" He's trying not to mention that he's never heard of steak and eggs and onions, that onions aren't part of the deal.
Anne doesn't answer. She's trying to think of ways to make the dinner more aromatic so David'll smell it wherever he is and come home.
"Did I hear you mention onions?" Jonathan asks.
"Yes. Onions. Lots."
"Yes, I thought so." Jonathan says. He doesn't catch on. "Well honey, I don't know about the onions--"
"--lots...of onions," Anna says firmly.
Jonathan isn't stupid. If Anna wants lots of onions, they're going to have them. "...and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies for desert, maybe? Or one of those great cakes you make?"
"Yes! Sure!" Anna cries. "I'll do it!"
"Good. Uh, honey...?"
"Yes?"
"Uh, since it's only about nine a.m., why don't you, you know, hit the old study for awhile...maybe work on your book...?"
"I can't think of any more to write."
"Maybe you're just worried about David."
"Maybe--"
"--tell you what I was thinking. I was thinking I'd give that janitor a call. Harvey--"
"--Harvey Czakowski," Anna says promptly. "That's a good idea."
"I'll call him right now--"
"Two five five, two five two five," Anna says.
"Right. I'll call--"
"--right now," Anna says, relief evident in her voice. "And I'll wait. Call me."
"Soon."
Click.