Their son Ted was eating a huge pile of macaroni-and-cheese balls and poking the “Guy” in the foot with his fork. Had they raised Ted wrong? Stuart wondered. Was he fucked up too? It was difficult to know, but Stuart suspected their son was badly behaved. How did you socialize an only child? Going to parties like this was probably a good start, except there were no other young kids, just Roy’s daughter and Peaches’ son, who were sitting very close to each other on the grass with their limbs intertwined and their heads bowed, talking. That used to be Stuart and Mandy. They used to be all over each other. And he was still hot for her, or would be if he wasn’t so angry. Spending almost all your time in bed for no reason was not cool, not when your husband was working at a job that bored him and your son was getting picked up from school by weirdos who taught him to play Dungeons & Dragons and tempted him with fire. How could she lie to him? In what scenario was lying to your husband/best friend/roommate/only person who really cares about you in the world/father of your kid about having a major debilitating disease a good idea? He had to tell her how pissed off he was. It was just so selfish and lazy and crazy of her. Wasn’t it? Wasn’t it?

Mandy’s black hair was so shiny. Her dark blue denim jacket looked fantastic against her pale skin. Her black eyebrows had a fierce new upward slant. She had it going on tonight.

“What are they waiting for?” Mandy demanded. “It’s pretty darn dark already.” She leaned into Stuart and took a swig from her beer. “I feel good tonight. I feel like I’m twenty years old.”

“Why wouldn’t you feel good?” Stuart muttered bitterly.

Mandy took a step back. “What’s up? Are you mad at me?”

Stuart didn’t know where to begin. He wasn’t just mad, he was affronted. He and Mandy and the guys in his band used to pull pranks on their teachers and friends in high school all the time. Mandy was still his best friend. Couldn’t he at least have been in on it?

“Remember the first time I got pot for you?” he said, deciding to take it slow. “You hadn’t been outside in a while. We went and sat on the stoop. It was a nice night.”

Mandy smiled. “It was a really nice night.” She looked up at the darkening sky. A star or two twinkled overhead. “Tonight is a nice night.”

“Wendy? Should I fetch a torch?” Roy shouted from an open window above their heads. A few people laughed. Roy Clarke was so hilariously English. It was fun to be in his home.

“I’ll get it, Daddy,” Shy Clarke shouted back.