It was still warm enough that all the men could wear shorts but as the day and weekend winded down there was a hint of a chill in the air on this Sunday afternoon in late September. Scott relaxed on a padded deck chair while his father, James, sat at the patio table, finishing off the last of the bratwurst he had grilled earlier. The sausages were quite good and Scott had eaten four of them himself but his mom would make dinner later and he would likely eat that as well. At eighteen Jason had the expected appetite and food intake one would expect of a teenager.
Scott always liked weekends with his dad but knew that his mom would be arriving to pick him up soon. He was grateful that there was no friction or conflicts between his parents. They got along quite well although neither of them had much interaction in the other's lives. Even though they had never married but both of them had always taken an active part in Scott's life, making sure that he got what he needed without spoiling him or playing him off one another. It was a far cry from the constant wars many of his friends with divorced parents endured.
Scott's Uncle Jack grabbed yet another beer from the cooler then walked back to his deckchair and flopped in it, giving the pull-top a yank and spraying a bit of beer into the air at the same time. He took several swallows and burped loudly. Neither Scott nor his dad paid him any mind. Jack tended to drink himself into a stupor most weekends so this was nothing new.
"Jamey boy," he said over to Scott's father. "Guess who's working the pole over at the Butterfly Club?" he said with a drunken smile on his face, referring to a local strip club.
"Who?" answered James, not bothering to look over at his brother.
"Nancy Mavoy," answered Jack with a grin.
"No kidding?" said James.
"Nope."
"So I'll bet you've been over there to see her a few times. I'm sure she loves that."
"I've seen her twice. By the look on her face I don't think she was happy to see me though," said Jack.
"You need to leave that girl alone. And don't go running around telling everyone you know what she's doing. I'm sure she has her reasons for working there. She just got divorced from that asshole Ronnie a few months ago so that means she's probably low on cash. "
"She wasn't that night. She had a wad of money in that garter that looked like a Christmas wreath."
"Well good," said James curtly, attempting to cut off this topic of conversation but Jack didn't seem to get the hint.
"That gal seems real comfortable swinging around on that brass pole. She was flat whirling around that thing the last time I saw her; big old smile on her face, just working those fools sittin' down front. They were tipping big and she was eating it up too."
"Jack, my son is sitting right there you know. How about dropping it?"
Jack looked over at Scott who had a slight smile on his face. "Oh right. I forgot. I shouldn't have brought that up what with your mom and all."
"Jack, shut up!" shouted James from the table.
But it was too late. That last remark had gotten Scott's attention and he wanted to hear more. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Goddammit Jack!" said James in exasperation.
"You mean he didn't know? Aw shit, I'm sorry. I thought she would have told him."
"Told me what?" asked Scott.
"Nothing, nothing, just don't listen to your asshole uncle anymore," said James as he came over to where the two were.
"Did she used to work there? Was she a waitress or something?" asked Scott.
There was no answer from either his father or uncle. Neither of them looked over his way. All was quiet for a time until Jack took another big swallow of beer.
"Sorry," he said as he wiped some foam off his top lip.
"Wait, is Uncle Jack saying mom was a...a...stripper there?" asked Scott as he looked to his dad.
"Come on inside," his dad said then walked into the house without waiting for his son. Scott got up from his chair and followed. His dad was in the kitchen getting two bottles of water from the refrigerator. He handed one to Scott then motioned for him to sit down at the kitchen table. He unscrewed the top off the bottle then drank some before looking at Scott.
"Okay, here is how it went. Your mom needed money to go to school and take care of you and working as a dancer allowed her to do that. She did it for a while then quit and never went back. There's no shame in it, you understand? Now you know but you need to let things stop here, alright. You didn't know about this because it's just not something your mom wanted you to hear."
Scott nodded his head but James could tell that the cat was out of the bag and that his son was going to want to know the whole story.
"Why don't you stay in here until your mom comes. I'm going to go have some words with your Uncle Jack," said his dad.
Scott watched him through the sliding glass doors as he placed his water on the table then walked over to the cooler. He took out the four beers that were left in it and placed them on the deck rail then picked up the cooler and dumped the ice cold water straight on to his drunken brother.
Jack nearly flew out of the deckchair his arm and hands floundering around at first then flying up to his chest in a vain attempt to wipe the icy water away. "What the Hell man? Why'd you go and do that?" Jack yelled.
James went back to the table and picked up his water then went back into the house. He found Scott still at the kitchen table, his eyes open wide in shock. Then slowly a big smile formed on Scott's face and he began to laugh. Soon both Scott and his dad were laughing as they looked through the windows and saw jack trying to dry himself with a T-shirt that was already soaked. Then they both heard two beeps of a car horn outside.
