Heterosex Ch. 15.1

Maddy

“Hi, Mom!” I said weakly as my parents reentered Steve’s house.

“Hi, honey!” my mom said. “Where were you this morning? Your father and I were hoping to see you before we left.”

I shrugged. “I went to go get some work done.”

“Work,” my father said. You could practically hear the scare quotes.

“Yes, dad,” I said. “Art is a lot of work.”

“You’re just sitting there,” he said. “To me real work is moving crates in a warehouse or tilling the fields.”

“Dad, no one has tilled fields by hand for a really long time. Modern farmers all have big fancy tractors with air-conditioned cabins and wi-fi.”

“Your generation is just too soft, I guess,” my father said. “When I was twelve I got a job mowing lawns. Just went up to people and asked. Hard work but I was glad to have it.”

“Yes, dad. You’ve told me this at least a dozen times before,” I said.

“Well Steve hasn’t heard it!” he boomed. “Not everything is about you, Matt.”

I winced at hearing that name, and decided I had talked to my parents enough for now. But I couldn’t just leave or start staring at my phone or they would get mad and say I was being disrespectful. Instead, I asked, “Who wants to watch a movie?”

“I have most of the major streaming services,” Steve helpfully added.

My mom looked at my dad. “Honey?” She then turned to Steve. “He mostly just watches sports,” she said in a stage whisper.

“Well, maybe we could watch a sports movie,” Steve said. “Any suggestions?”

I thought for a moment about movies that all four of us could stand. “A League of Their Own?”

“Oh, I love that movie,” my mom said. “Haven’t seen it in years.”

My dad wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ll watch anything with a young Geena Davis.”

“Honey!” my mom said, laughing and lightly slapping him on the shoulder. “How am I supposed to compete with that?”

I laughed a little. My parents were okay, when they weren’t focused on ripping my self-esteem to shreds.