Operation Beautiful

“Are you busy?”

It’s one in the morning and Trevor is calling my cell.

“Dude, it’s kind of late.”

“I know,” Trevor says with a sigh. “I just...I need to talk to you.”

I sneak out the front door, only to find Spike waiting for me in his car. We drive over to Trevor’s house where he’s pacing up and down in front of the door.

“What’s up?” Spike asks, sitting down in the driveway.

“Nothing,” Trevor says, pacing some more.

“Nothing?” I repeat, sitting down next to Spike.

“I got a call from Mrs. Waters a few minutes ago,” he says. But that’s all he says for a long moment.

“Should we talk about this in the morning?” Spike asks.

“Yes!” Trevor yells. “No! Well...maybe?” Then he pulls his cellphone out of his pocket. “It’s late. Sorry for calling you guys out like this.”

“Whenever you want to talk,” I say. We are silent for a long time before Trevor speaks.

“Sorry. It’s not that big of a deal, I’m just kinda freaking out.”

“Did Haley have a...thing?” I ask.

“Yeah. I was hoping she wouldn’t until after I met her dad. She hasn’t really explained anything to him yet so...” he stops and looks down at us. “It did not go well.”

“What happened?” Spike asks, concerned.

“He took them to see some cultural show thing and there were a lot of little Chinese girls in it. So...Mrs. Waters thinks that since Japanese people and Chinese people look kinda sorta similar, it might have freaked her out.”

“Oh boy.” I look up at Trevor. “Was it like...that day at the mall?”

“No, not that serious, thankfully,” Trevor says. “I talked to Haley about it. Apparently she was having trouble but her dad was right there so when she tried to take her iPod out he got mad at her and made her put it away and focus on the show.”

“Ah,” I say, thinking. “So it got worse from there?”

“Well, her mom says she started acting out and her dad started asking questions. Thankfully she was lucid enough to run to the bathroom before it got any worse. Her mom thinks the whole trip has been pretty stressful for Haley. I don’t know, I think it might have just been a one time thing.She’s not the kind of person to be affected by new surroundings or anything.”

“That’s true. Haley’s pretty strong. So what does Mr. Waters know?” Spike asks.

“Um...he knows that she gets nightmares and the rare flashback,” Trevor says, finally ceasing to pace and sitting down between us. “And he did not take it well. Same argument her mom made before. The whole ‘she wasn’t like this before we left so obviously Trevor and his family are to blame’ thing.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Spike says, putting a hand on Trevor’s shoulder. “We’re here for you no matter what. Corey and I will be at that dinner whether or not Mr. Waters wants us there.”

“Definitely,” I agree. “Now why don’t you try to get some sleep?”

“Okay.” Trevor gets up and walks us to the car. “Thanks, guys.”

“No problem,” Spike says. “Just remember one thing: when it comes time for the dinner, my name is Eugene.”

***
“You look...Eugene-ish,” I say, looking Spike up and down. He’s removed the earring and tied his hair back into a low ponytail. He’s swapped his usual leather jacket for a less aggressive hoodie.

“Wasn’t sure if I should go with a hoodie or a blazer,” he says with a sigh, shutting his front door behind him. “What do you think?”

“You’re wearing a dress shirt,” I remind him. “Maybe you should just leave the hoodie in the car.”

“Good plan,” he says, adjusting the shirt so it falls over his jeans. “God, I’ve never been this nervous before in my life. And I thought going over to Clarice’s for dinner was going to be stressful.”

“Was it?” I ask.

He opens the car door. “Nope. It was actually less stressful than eating with my dad during the Superbowl. You know,” he knocks an imaginary bowl out of my lap. “YOU CALL YOURSELF A FOOTBALL PLAYER? MOVE, YOU LAZY PIECE OF--!” I laugh but Spike shakes his head mournfully. “I have lost so many bowls of soup that way.”

“So,” I say, pulling out of the driveway. “Are we meeting Trevor there or at his house?”

“We are going to Haley’s house first to scope out the sitch. Trevor will meet us there in, like...” he glances at the dashboard. “half an hour. Are you sure you have your license?”

“Yes,” I reassure him, for the tenth time since I told him I’d pick him up. “I have an international one.”

“Good. It would be horrible to die right now.”

“Agreed.”

The rest of the ride is quiet. When we reach the house I park while Spike calls Haley’s cell.

“Here to reduce your suffering, madam,” he says in a clipped British accent. There’s a brief silence. “What do you mean you don’t have time for this?” he asks in fake British agitation. “Here I am, trying to--no, no, don’t ‘Oh, Spike’ me! My name is Eugene, madam and I am here to save your ass. Now open the frikken door.”

“Frikken is best said in an American accent,” I tell him with a laugh.

He just smiles. “Eh, it loosened her up a bit. Let’s go.”

“Hi!” Mrs. Waters says with a smile, opening the door for us. “Haley said you were here. Clarice is upstairs already. How are you?”

“Good,” Spike says, loosely hugging her as she opens her arms. “How was China?”

“It was nice. I’d been there before, but Haley hadn’t, so she had a lot of fun.” She turns to hug me. “Thanks for coming, you guys.” She tucks a strand of raven hair behind her ear and smiles. “It means a lot to Haley.”

“A couple ground rules,” Haley says as we convene upstairs. “First of all, my dad is probably going to act like an asshole. Just ignore him, he’s not really a jerk. Secondly,” she looks at me. “Don’t mention the fact that we ever dated. Otherwise he’ll probably start comparing you and Trevor and...yeah. That would not end well.” I nod, thinking of Trevor’s temper. “Um...is there anything else?” Haley mutters, twirling a strand of hair around her fingers.

“Relax,” Spike Eugene says with a smile. “We’re just here to meet your dad. I’m sure he’ll like us and all will be well.”

“Okay, but...” she looks around. “My parents aren’t all adorable like Trevor’s or all teamwork-ish like Matt’s. They’re...we’re dysfunctional. So expect it to be really awkward.”

The doorbell rings and Haley’s mom pokes her head in. “That’ll be Trevor. Shall we get started eating?”

It’s as if Haley’s dad knows our plan. Knows that the whole point of all of us being there is to deter him from grilling Trevor into oblivion. But he doesn’t let our presence stop him.

“So the two of you were living together?” That’s the first thing to come out of his mouth the minute we enter the dining room. And the question is directed at me. Awk-ward.

“Dad,” Haley says calmly. “Let me introduce you to everyone.” It’s amazing how she does it. Here I am, ready to run out of the room and I swear she is too, but she’s acting like this is completely normal.

“This is Corey,” she says, pointing to me. I shake his hand.

“Quite long hair you have,” he says.

“Ah. Thank you.” Yeah, that’s my great comeback.

“This is S--Eugene.”

“Nice name,” Mr. Waters says coldly, shaking Spike’s hand. He roughly brushes over Spike’s short ponytail. “What are you, a girl?”

“If you have time later, sir, I can show you,” Spike says calmly, his voice the epitome of respect. We all just stare at him, uncertain as of what to say. Honestly, I want to laugh. But that would probably screw tonight over.

“What’s wrong with you?” Clarice hisses, elbowing him in the side.

“I hate him,” Spike hisses back, but so quietly that only Clarice and I can hear him.

“Clarice,” Clarice says with a smile, stepping forward to shake Mr. Waters’ hand.

“Then you must be Trevor,” the man says, his voice loaded with venom.

“Yes, sir,” Trevor says, wiping a hand on his pants and reaching out to shake. Mr. Waters ignores the hand and goes to sit down. We all follow suit, Haley moving around us to sit next to Trevor. I don’t know what she whispers into his ear, but it gives him a bit more confidence.

“So you two were living together?” he begins again. His wife frowns at him, but he ignores her.

“Yes,” Trevor says simply, digging into the rice and curry Haley’s made for tonight.

“And what made you think that was acceptable?” Okay, there is no possible way to answer that correctly. I look at Spike, who looks like he’s about to punch someone out. Trevor takes his time chewing his food and then looks up.

“Haley was living by herself and my parents thought it would be a good idea to have her over while you and Mrs. Waters were out of town,” he says evenly. But the way he runs his palm up and down his thigh under the table tells a different story.

“Don’t bring your parents into this,” Mr. Waters snaps. “You should have known that it was not acceptable for you to live with your girlfriend when her parents had no knowledge of this.”

“We weren’t dating at the time,” Trevor replies. I have a feeling he has gone over these questions before in his head. “I bring my parents up because it was their idea. We would have contacted you and Mrs. Waters, but we did not know how to find either of you. Not even Haley knew.”

“How is that--”

“It’s true, Dad,” Haley cuts in. “Mom didn’t even know where you were. Believe me, she was looking for you for a while.”

“Well, how did you find her, then?” Mr. Waters asks. He’s talking about his wife, but the question is directed at Trevor.

“She found us.”

There are a few moments of silence as Mr. Waters find something else to yell about. “Then what’s this I hear about you going against the therapist’s orders?”

“It was for the best,” is all Trevor says, and it’s quiet.

“Who let you decide whether it was for the best or not, huh?!” Mr. Waters is standing now, having found an issue he can really sink his teeth into. Haley’s hand disappears under the table, probably to take one of Trevor’s.

“Haley is better now,” Mrs. Waters cuts in. It’s not a direct challenge to her husband’s assertion, but it’s not a weak plea either.

“No she is not better. My daughter can’t even--”

“Dad,” comes Haley’s steely voice. Everyone at the table shrinks back involuntarily. She must have inherited that voice from her father. “This is neither the time nor the place for us to be discussing this.”

Mr. Waters looks at his daughter then sits back down. He lets his eyes wander over the rest of us while I repeat over and over in my head. “Please, God, don’t let him talk to us. Please.”

“So you are all Haley’s friends,” he says finally. But his eyes are on Trevor.

“Yes,” says Clarice with a smile. I am too scared and Spike too angry to say anything.

“Huh. The guy to girl ratio is a bit off,” Mr. Waters notes.

“Are you sure? I might be a girl,” Spike reminds him.

“With a name like Eugene?” Mr. Waters scoffs.

“That didn’t seem to stop you earlier,” Spike says evenly. “I have long hair, you know.”

“Indeed,” says Mr. Waters, his eyes resting on me for a second. “Now that you mention it, it could be three girls and one boy. Trevor must be quite the player.” Spike just smiles but doesn’t say anything. I can tell. I can see that look in his eye. It’s the look that comes along when he’s about to do something crazy and potentially embarrassing simply to freak out someone he hates. Clarice and I simultaneously grab one of his arms before he can say something about him and Trevor being gay lovers.

“Three boys and one girl,” Mrs. Waters corrects with a calm smile. “Would anyone like seconds?”

“The food is really good,” Spike says, handing his plate to her.

“Haley cooked it.”

“You can cook?” he turns to stare at Haley. She just shrugs.

“A bit.”

“Three boys and one girls,” Mr. Waters says, still hung up on the male to female ratio of the guests at his table. “Well then, Haley. You must be very popular with the guys.” Spike outright laughs this time, glancing between me and Trevor. Any normal person would have hastily turned it into a cough, but Spike lets the laugh lie on the table, a challenge for Mr. Waters to question.

“So, have you slept over at all of these guys’ houses?” Mr. Waters asks.

There’s a sudden crack as Mrs. Waters’ hand slaps her husband’s arm and a simultaneous thud as Trevor’s chair falls to the floor.

“That was uncalled for,” he growls in a low, dangerous voice. He pulls Haley up and looks her in the eyes. “I love you.” He kisses her briefly then leads her from the room and out the front door.

The next thing I know, there’s a lot of yelling. Mrs. Waters yelling at her husband, Mr. Waters yelling back at his wife. Who’s fault this is, what’s uncalled for, who’s the worse parents, who should have been there for Haley, who’s allowing whose daughter to turn into a whore...it’s really awful. Spike stand up, grabbing his plate and Trevor’s and walking the few steps from the dining table to the kitchen. I take mine and Haley’s plate and follow his lead, washing the china as he dries. Clarice somehow finds the Tupperware and starts packing left-overs, putting them in the fridge. The parents are still yelling. Spike jerks his head towards the still-open front door and we leave.