“I know it’s hard to understand, but decisions were made for your mom and me that we didn’t have much control over. We’re trying to fix it now.” He held Lu’s gaze and felt like he’d done the right thing when she offered a tremulous smile.
He knew they needed to have this discussion, but he felt as though he was learning something about his daughter. She was diverting the attention from the issue. She’d had plenty of time to ask these questions and she hadn’t. Shit, he thought, I’m always going to have to out think her.
He pulled away from her and stood up. Grabbing her hand, he led her over to the couch and sat down in the chair across from it, allowing Lu to sit next to Nina.
“We have other issues to talk about, Short Stuff,” Lex said, pinning her with the death glare he’d learned from his mother.
“I know,” Nina admitted, and Lex could tell that she knew he was calling her on it. “I really am sorry that I stole stuff from you.”
“You have to return all of the money,” Lex said, gently. He leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on his knee, mostly to give himself time to figure out what to say next. Although he resented Lu for putting this ball so firmly in his court, he knew that this time was overdue.
Nina’s eyes bulged. “No one wants to give any stuff back.”
“I realize that. They can keep the stuff.”
Relieved, she sat back. “OK,” she said, thinking that as a punishment, that hadn’t been so bad.
“Your mom and I are trying to figure out an appropriate punishment. You have two big trips planned, one with each of us. We kinda think that you should have to give one of them up.” Briefly, he thought he probably shouldn’t have used the word kinda. It just didn’t sound parental.
“What do you mean? I have to pick one?”
For the first time, Lu looked fully engaged. “No,” she said, “we’re going to discuss a punishment. When we figure it out, we’ll let you know.”
Lex raised his eyebrow. All of a sudden he was back to being pissed. One of the trips was the perfect punishment. Why was she fighting him on this?
“Your father and I need some time to talk, Nina. We’ll let you know when we’ve reached a decision.”
Knowing she’d been dismissed, Nina got up. She walked over to Lex and hugged him, whispering in his ear, “I’m really sorry,” before she stomped down the hall, letting both of them know that she was not happy.
27
“What the fuck, Lu?” Lex hissed as soon as Nina’s door shut behind her.
“If we give her the choice, she’s going to pick your trip. Of course she is. How’s that fair to me?”
“You really think I’m interested in being fair right now?”
“Yes, a little. You didn’t throw me under the bus when she asked about why you’d been absent.”
“Trust me, I didn’t do that for you,” he lied. He didn’t need her to have any advantage. “I said that because it was the truth. We weren’t making decisions about her, were we?”
“No. Maybe if we’d had a conversation after you jumped on the plane, we wouldn’t be in this position.”
“And maybe if you hadn’t sold me on the fact that you’d had an abortion, I would have called.”
“Ugh,” Lu groaned in frustration. “We could do this all day. Let’s try to stay focused here.”
“Fine!” Sick of sitting, Lex jumped up and began his prowl of the apartment.
“Look, Lex, I’m getting my doctorate degree this weekend. I didn’t walk for undergrad, I didn’t walk for my master’s. And thinking about Nina is what got me through school most of the time. I want her to be there. I want her to see that I’ve been able to accomplish this even though—”
“Even though you had a child at seventeen?” he finished sarcastically.
Glaring at him, Lu tried a different tactic. “What if we let her go on both trips and we find an alternative punishment.”
“Like what?” he asked, finding a place on the wall to lean, which to Lu looked like he was posing for some photo shoot.
“Maybe she should have to pay back all of the money to a charity or something,” she suggested.
“Don’t tell me you’re one of these new-age parents that doesn’t think punitive punishments are good for their children?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“She stole stuff from me and sold it to her classmates. She got suspended. If you or I had done something like that, we’d have had a real punishment. I probably wouldn’t have been able to play soccer for a month. Your mom would have probably ripped every encyclopedia out of your room and made you watch TV for a month. She needs to feel the punishment. Not some pansy-assed ‘Oh, let’s make a donation to charity so I don’t ever take responsibility for my actions’ punishment.”