son he was, Dave sat calmly and patiently through Saturday morning Mass, nodding and gesturing and doing what was expected of him, all while dreaming he was still asleep in his wife’s arms.
A quick breakfast of eggs and sausage at the local diner allowed ample enough time for his parents to reiterate the entire sermon they’d just sat through. Dave smiled and occasionally added his thoughts, staying as neutral and general as possible.
After breakfast wrapped up and Dave drove his parents back to their home, his mother took the time to encourage him to consider Georgie, Sam and Harmony’s eternal souls—she instructed him to push them towards the light. Dave always said he would do what he could, which was absolutely nothing.
His chest felt light after waving them off and finally having a bit of the solitude he was craving. With the rest of his afternoon and evening completely free, Dave would either return home to dive into a good book, or go for a long run. At least once every two weeks he would clean the entire house, top to bottom—all 10,000 square feet. Georgie begged him to let her hire a cleaning service but Dave refused. He relished the activity; if he was to enjoy such an illustrious home, it was only fair that he be the one to maintain it.
He loved spending a whole day in the gardens, planting and pruning. It was calming and beautiful work. Being out in nature always put Dave’s mind at ease. Away from his family, he could hear his own thoughts and allow himself to come up with ways to continually improve their quality of life. Not that it could get much better. But Dave was a strong believer in always pushing oneself to strive for more.
The one person, more than all others, that he was constantly trying to help improve was his best friend, Robb. Dave usually saw him once a weekend. And today, Dave decided that’s what he’d do in lieu of returning home.
Robb and Dave had been best friends since they were kids and in a lot of ways Robb was still that teenage boy who never wanted to grow up. A few years ago, after Dave loaned him a bit of money, Robb purchased the burger joint they used to frequent as kids and turned it into the only pizza place in town. It was a success, and though Dave refused to take credit, Georgie insisted that Robb would have never been able to pull it off without her husband’s help and guidance.
Robb was a good guy—he just didn’t take life seriously at all. He had no interest in getting married or having kids, no aspirations of growing his business—he basically let the kids who worked there run it for him. Robb’s favorite pastimes were smoking weed and playing video games. This didn’t bother Dave in the slightest—he was more than willing to stand by his friend no matter what his life choices were. They were basically brothers in Dave’s eyes—he the responsible one and Robb the one who needed looking out for. They’d been through some hard times together. In the end, no relationship was perfect, but loyalty was there. And for that, Dave put aside all other flaws that Robb might exude—as long as he wasn’t harming anyone, Dave felt justified in leaving his friend to his devices.
Normally Dave wasn’t one to enjoy nostalgia and reminiscing. He always preferred to be moving forward. And sometimes, when Robb smoked some extra intense marijuana, he tended to always dive back into the past. And the past for Robb hadn’t exactly been an easy one. He rarely opened up about his parents and the broken home he came from. But he immensely enjoyed reminding Dave of all the trouble they’d gotten into as kids. Dave would laugh and smile along, while feeling sorry for his friend, and wondering how he could help more.
Being that it was Saturday afternoon, he found Robb at Repo Pizza, popping pizzas into the wood fire oven Dave helped him build. Robb made great pizza. Dave ordered six personal pies every Friday night, considering no one in his family enjoyed the same toppings. Sam was vegan, Georgie allergic to gluten. June hated anything spicy and was the only one who could stomach a Hawaiian pizza. August always needed bacon and pepperoni. Harmony ate hers with no sauce and no cheese. And Dave just liked a regular cheese pizza.
Robb greeted him with a shout of joy, a backwards hat thrown over his shoulder length hair, giving him the appearance of a forty-year-old teen.
“What’s up, bro? Good to see you, man!”
It was always the same with Robb—he acted like a dog that hadn’t seen his owner in years. They’d hung out just last weekend.
But Robb’s enthusiasm was contagious. Dave embraced him in a quick hug as Robb patted him roughly on the back, slapping flour all over him.
“Oh come on,” Dave sighed, dusting himself off.
Robb laughed.
“You look like you could use some powder,” he joked, shoving his hands back into the bag of flour and turning to knead the dough. The place was basically empty giving them time to catch up before the evening rush.
“How’s the fam? Keeping you busy?”
Dave smiled in response. Robb always told him he was a superhero when it came to staying sane amongst the madness in which he lived.
“It’s all good, you know, I just take it one day at a time.”
“And Georgie? She’s good?”
Robb was sort of fascinated with Dave’s wife. He couldn’t really blame him—most people were.
“She’s busy, but great.”
“Good. That’s real good, man.”
“Sorry I didn’t get back to your text, things have been a little insane. But what about you, how’s your week been?”
“No worries brother, no worries. It’s been rad. I got some new bud, just bought my first futon so I’m psyched for that. Pizza’s been busy, I can’t complain. I hired a couple new kids to help out, so, yeah.” He shrugged his shoulders as if to say, ‘that’s it!’
“Really happy to hear. The place looks great.” Dave gave it a sweeping glance—there was a couple at one of the corner tables—the guy was consumed with his slice and the girl was drinking a Coke. She looked like she was about Sam’s age. The way she was sucking on her straw gave Dave the impression that as soon as her boyfriend finished his pizza, she was going to regain his attention.
Dave spied a bored-looking waiter standing out front, smoking a vape and repeatedly swiping his finger across the screen of his cellphone, over and over again.
“Is it still just you back here making the pies?” Dave questioned. It had been at least a month since he last visited here. Usually they hung out at Robb’s apartment or Dave’s house.
“Yeah, but it’s been picking up, mostly on Friday and Saturday night—I’m literally half out of my mind!”
“Have you thought about hiring someone to help out on weekend nights?”
“Nah, man. That’s a great idea! You’re always so full of them.”
“Put out an ad, it will free you up a bit. Hey, if business is good then you can afford it, right?”
“Hell yeah, man. Thanks. I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime.”
“So what’s new with you?” Robb asked as he slid the pizza he’d rolled out and seasoned into the oven. “You haven’t stopped by here in forever. All okay?”
As much as Robb was immature, he was extremely attuned to other’s emotions. He had street smarts like no one that Dave had ever known.
“Ah, it’s nothing. I just didn’t want to be with myself today. If that makes any sense?”
“Totally,” Robb confirmed, eyeing his friend carefully.
“I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous, especially after how we grew up...but I still can’t get used to being in that big house all alone. It...” Dave trailed off, not exactly sure what he was trying to convey.
Robb was nodding vigorously. “I get it, bro. Seriously. I don’t know how you do it. It freaks me out being there at night, to be honest. Especially when it’s just us two.”
“It freaks you out?” Dave laughed despite himself. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s not haunted, you know.”
“Nah, I know. But being by yourself, especially at night...that’s when the demons come out, and the more space you got, the more room they have to play.”
“Sure,” Dave agreed, understanding Robb’s metaphor better than he probably did himself.
They chatted for another hour about the inconsequential before Dave returned home and spent the rest of his weekend with his wife in the beautiful world they created.