They all moved into the adjacent dining room. Pulling the table apart and putting the leaf in was a gigantic pain in the ass. The table had been severely crippled in the moving van from the Bronx, and even though they had taken it to be leveled and refinished, it was never the same. Pat tried to align the dowels with the holes but was an eighth of an inch off. His leg was throbbing, and he wanted nothing more than to burn this table—a wedding gift from Anne’s father—in the backyard. He looked at Dan, who, like a canary to his father’s moods, was getting nervous as Pat’s anger grew.

“Here, Dad, I got it.”

“Wait, watch your fingers, Dan.”

“Need some help there, Pat?” Jack was perusing old family pictures that Anne had framed and put out by the Waterford cabinet.

“It’s like trying to dock a goddamn space capsule.”

“I got it, Dad.”

“Wait.”

“Ow!”

Pat stumbled back from the table. He had pinched Dan’s finger in between the table and the leaf. Dan sucked air through his teeth and shook his hand.

“Shit. I’m sorry, son. My fault.”

“You weren’t listening to me.”

“Oh, Danny boy, did I get you?”

“It hurts.”

“I’m so sorry. Go run some cold water on it. Is it bleeding?”

“No. God!”

Dan stormed off to the bathroom.

“I’m sorry, kiddo.” Why didn’t we just buy new furniture when we moved down? Pat was driving himself mad, and that realization only made it worse. Goddamn insane. Cost the same as shipping all this crap down.

Anne, who had missed the incident, yelled out, “Don’t go far, Dan—dinner will be on the table in two minutes.”

“Teenagers, like chickens without heads.” Jack chuckled to himself. “What’s Dan into these days? Playing any pigskin?”

Pat took a big swig of bourbon. “He’s on the swim team.”

“That’s good. Did I tell you John set the record for TDs in Fairfax County?”

“Amazing.”

“Yeah, as a junior. He’s a little small for the big state schools. But the coach at Holy Cross loves him.”

Pat straightened out a dinner cloth over the table. “Not BC? I’m sure they’re looking for the next Flutie.” He started pulling out knives and forks from the silver drawer. All this useless shit we kept. He stood back from the table. Why did we put the leaf in? It’s only the four of us. Fucking hell. Well, a few more inches of distance from this asshole.

“Listen, Pat, speaking of college, there’s something I want to bring up with Anne. I could use your help on it.”

Pat finished his drink and put out the plates. Time to switch back to vodka.