Love During Robot Fighting Time: Chapter 25

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***

Zeke

Having dinner with your girlfriend’s parents is one thing. Having dinner with both your girlfriends’ respective families at the same time is another thing altogether. I sat at the middle of a long, rectangular wooden table in an Italian restaurant, back to the wall, Katie on my left, Faith on my right, DJ across from me with the most infuriatingly smug grin I’ve seen since the time my dad somehow convinced my mom he’d bought and sold an Arabian Thoroughbred and that was where he’d gotten that duffel bag full of unmarked hundred dollar bills (long story involving one of his mistresses thinking he was a gigolo). Faith’s parents sat on the far-right end of the table, Kate’s on the left. 

I was in hell. 

Though, in fairness, my girlfriends were right there with me. 

“I’m just saying, he was a better president than people give him credit for,” David said. 

“You would think that,” Col. Watanabe replied. 

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Miranda said, taking a sip from her wine glass. 

“You sure you don’t want something to drink?” Kate said, running her finger over the short, square glass full of Irish whisky sitting in front of her, next to a plate full of garlic knots and marinara sauce. 

“I’m beginning to reconsider it,” I muttered. 

Mrs. Watanabe said, “I think what my husband is getting at is that someone from your… Background would generally predisposed to-’

“And what background is that?” David said. 

“Aaaaah!” Faith shrieked. 

The entirety of the restaurant, a very crowded restaurant with an outdoor seating area on a stone patio, went quiet and looked at us. 

“Faith, you’re making a scene,” her mother chastised her. 

“I’m making a scene?! Me?!” Faith said. “You guys were yelling so loud they could hear you over in Orange County!”

“And I’m pretty sure they heard your shriek all the way down in San Diego, sis,” DJ said, sipping his red wine gingerly. 

“Can we just please not do this?!” Faith said. “Can we talk about literally anything else BESIDES politics?! I am begging someone to change the subject!”

“I… Am open to suggestions,” David said as Miranda stroked his arm affectionately. 

“... What would you like to talk about, daughter?” the Colonel asked. 

“Um… I…,” Faith said. She gulped.  

My phone buzzed at the same time as Kate’s and Faith’s. Oh, thank God. “Well, it looks like we’re going to the tournament!” I said. “We’re in the red bracket, Faith.”

“I’m in blue,” Kate said. “My fight for the opening round is against… Pendulum. Oh, boy.”

“Ours is…  Sparky-Sparky-Boom,” Faith said. “That’s… Also pretty concerning.” 

It was. Pendulum was… Well, Pendulum. We may have beaten it by an inch but it was still a behemoth. And SSB… God, the Portman’s pissed me off. 

“So, what’s the format for all this? How does this tournament work?” DJ asked. 

“Pretty standard stuff- 8 finalists, three rounds, single elimination,” I said. 

“I was asking my sister, but okay, big guy, talk for her,” DJ said. 

“Don’t start,” Faith said, pleading. 

“Look, I’m just saying, sis, you should really take more credit. I’m not even sure what your boyfriend here does-”

“He pilots our minibot and serves as our mechanic,” Faith said. 

“But you pilot the main robot, and you built it yourself,” DJ said. 

“Yes, but it’s a team effort.”

“Doesn’t always look that way,” Mrs. Watanabe said. 

“Okay, that’s a little excessive, you both,” Miranda said. 

“Exactly. Zeke works very hard. From what Kate tells me, he’s instrumental to his team’s efforts,” David said.

The anger and shame sitting in my chest grew a little lighter. DJ and Mrs. Watanabe hit close to home, but at least some people were willing to defend me. 

“And besides, he’s a very good boyfriend,” Kate said, putting her arm around me. 

“Yeah,” Faith agreed, putting her arm around me as well. “To both of us!”

“Thanks, girls,” I said, the ugly feelings growing lighter still. 

Miranda had an expression on her face that was impossible to read as anything other than a silent ‘awwww.’ David nodded in approval, while Mrs. and Mr. Watanabe exchanged silent glances and slight nods. Good, maybe if I was really lucky they wouldn’t openly object to their daughter dating Kate and I. It wasn’t that I needed their approval, it was just that I had a feeling this would all be a helluva lot easier if I had it. 

“So good one girl isn’t enough for him, apparently,” DJ said. 

My eyes bulged while the rest of the table went silent. “Excuse you?”

“I said what I said,” DJ replied. He looked at his sister and said, “Look, if you really think this is a good idea, you’re an adult… Sort of… And I can’t stop you. But I can tell you to your face that a guy who does something like this is probably gonna cheat on you at some point. On both of you two.”

Faith growled and Kate slammed a fist on the table. “Do NOT talk to him like that!” they said simultaneously. 

“Seriously, son, that was incredibly uncalled for,” Col. Watanabe said. “This relationship they have is certainly unconventional, but as Faith’s family we owe her our unconditional love and support in her endeavors.”

“Love, yes,” DJ said. “Support? Debatable.”

“DJ, that’s enough,” Mrs. Watanabe said. 

“Seriously, young man,” David said, “You should watch your tongue. I find it hard to believe a mouth like that takes you far in the service.”

“And what would you know about a thing like that, Mr. Calloway?” DJ said. 

I glared at him. “Shut. Up,” I said, barely keeping the rage from my voice. 

“You do a lot of speaking for other people. Do you ever speak for yourself?” DJ said, locking eyes with me. 

“When it’s necessary,” I said. “I’d like an apology now.”

“For what?”

“For suggesting that I would ever cheat. That I could ever be-”

“Zeke? ZEKE! My boy! My son, how you doing?!” a voice called out from behind me. 

Oh. 

Oh fuck. 

I cringed as I turned and saw my father walking- more like stumbling- towards our table. I knew he came here sometimes- I found out about this place from the time he made me wait in the parking lot while he had dinner with one of his mistresses-  but tonight? Seriously, TONIGHT?! OF ALL FUCKING NIGHTS ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME GOD FUCKING DAMMIT SON OF MOTHERFUCKING FUCK!

Next to me, my girlfriends put their arms over me like protective shielding, but I pushed them away and stood up, fists balled. 

“Um, who’s this?” David asked. 

My dad opened his mouth. “I’m-”

“Trash,” I finished for him, grabbing him by the tie and pulling him away from the table. “I should take it out. Be right back. Kate, if the waiter comes, order for me what I ordered last time we were here.”

“Uh… Okay,” Kate said. “You sure you don’t want backup?”

I didn’t respond. I just focused on hauling my idiot father out of the restaurant and into the parking lot. 

“Seriously, Ezekiel, what do you think you’re doing here with all those respectable people,” Dad slurred as I led him into the crowded parking lot. The sun had almost finished setting, blue-black bannered across the horizon. It was time for something to come to a close. 

I pinned my father against the wall of the restaurant. “Leave.”

“What the hell do you mean ‘leave?’ I have just as much right to be here as you do, boy,” Dad… Michael. This was not a man who’d earned the right to call himself a father. This was not a man. This was an overgrown boy. Someone who’d never grown up and learned how to spare a thought for anyone but himself. Had never had the slightest inkling how a man was supposed to treat his woman. 

“I meant ‘leave me.’ As in ‘leave me alone.’ As in ‘never speak to me again,’” I said. 

“What the- my own son-”

“You’ve never been a father, so as far as I’m concerned I’m not your son,” I said. 

“Unbelievable,” Michael said. “You really are spoiled brat, you know that?”

“And you really are a scumbag. You know that?” I said, letting go of his lapel and stepping back. “You see me again? Look the other way. I don’t know you. And I don’t wanna know you. Same goes for that idiot you’re divorcing. I don’t want anything to do with either of you.”

He looked ready to throw hands, looming over me like some sort of drunk bridge troll. But the sun was set, so he wasn’t turning to stone any time soon. Not that it mattered- I wasn’t afraid of him anymore. “You’ve always thought you were better than me, but I see you in there, with those girls you’re balancing. We’re just the same, Ezekiel. The sooner you admit that to yourself, the better off you’ll be.”

“I’m nothing like you,” I said. “And I don’t have to explain myself. I get that you’re lonely in the dumpster with only the other trash for company, but I have no intention of climbing in with you. Ever. So go fuck yourself.”

He spat at me. It hit me right in the face, the wet impact shocking me and stoking the fires of my rage ever-further. I wanted to beat his ass bloody, but instead I wiped my face and walked away, heading back towards the restaurant door. 

I didn’t notice him charging until he’d tackled me, pinning me to the ground and screeching, raising a fist. My heart was a thunderstorm, my temper a wildfire. I had to get this bastard off of me before he could land a blow. I tried to squirm loose, but he had me pinned. The one thing Michael had always had on me was height, and even drunk out of his mind he could still press that advantage. 

“You little shit. You little shit!” he screamed. 

“Get off me you stupid bastard!” I screamed back. 

That was when a kick flew above me and landed square in Michael’s ribs. It was followed by another kick, this one to Michael’s gut. He gasped for breath, desperately trying to recover the wind that had been knocked out of him. 

David and Col. Watanabe stood above me. Watanabe pulled Michael off of me, and David delivered a swift hook punch to his jaw. 

“You assholes!” Michael cried from his place on the ground. “I’ll sue!”

“With what money?” I said, pulling myself off the ground and dusting myself off. “You’re already getting eaten alive with the divorce proceedings. And I know you weren’t smart enough to get a prenup.”

“... Don’t expect to be able to come crying to me next time-”

“Just leave,” I said. 

“Go home, little boy,” Col. Watanabe said. “We need to talk to Ezekiel, man to man.”

“He’s no man!”

“And you are?” David said. 

Finally, Michael shoved his hands into his pockets and stormed away, grumbling the entire time. 

“Thank you for helping me,” I said when Michael was finally out of eyeshot. “How much of that did you see?”

“See? Not much,” David said. “But we heard most of it. You and your father are awfully loud.”

“He’s not my father,” I said. “Or at least, I wish he wasn’t.”

“Fair enough,” Col. Watanabe said. “Regardless of what you call him, though… It takes a real man to be able to stand up to a brute like that. Especially when he’s got half your DNA.”

“And it takes a real man not to rise to every challenge he gets, especially from a petty bully like that sorry excuse for an adult,” David said. 

“I’d like to apologize, Ezekiel,” Col. Watanabe said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“Just Zeke is fine, Colonel,” I said, smiling in spite of myself. 

“Well then, Zeke, call me Darren,” he smiled. 

“And as I’ve said before, call me David,” said Kate’s father, putting his own hand on my other shoulder. 

“I misjudged you,” Darren said. “Both of you. I think what I’ve seen now says far more about your respective moral fibers than anything else I’ve seen. Zeke, my daughter is in good hands with you, I can tell. If you ever need advice, fatherly or otherwise, don’t hesitate to ask me.”

“Or me,” David said. 

I breathed out, and found… Joy coming to me, unbidden, unabated. “Thank you,” I choked, “Thank you so much. Are, uh, the girls and DJ still inside the restaurant?”

“Oh yes, my wife and daughter are giving DJ an earful right now about proper decorum,” Darren said. 

“And Kate and her mother were laughing their butts off at the whole thing, last I checked,” David said. 

“Honestly, the boy needs it,” Darren laughed. It was the first time I’d ever seen that happen. It was surprisingly full-bodied and hearty. “I wasn’t there for him enough growing up, and he never listens to me because of it. So it’s really my fault, more than anything else. His stepmother, however… She’s usually able to get through to him.”

I chuckled. “And Faith can be pretty persuasive as well.”

“I’d certainly imagine so, given the… Arrangement you three have.”

“It was all her idea.”

“That sounds like her,” Darren said. “Always was an outside-the-box thinker. Come on. Let’s go back in.”

The two men, the two fathers, both clapped me on the back and guided me back into the restaurant, where DJ sat at the table sulking like a damn teenager while Mrs. Watanabe and Faith looked VERY pleased with themselves. Kate and her mom, meanwhile, were talking to a waiter and handing them our menus. 

“Hey,” I said, taking my seat between my two girlfriends. God, what a lucky man I am. 

“Hey,” they both said at once. 

“You alright?” Faith asked. 

“I think… Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I said, believing it when I said it for a change. 

“You sure?” Kate asked. 

I kissed her on the cheek, then Faith as well. “Yeah. I’m sure.”

DJ looked over at me. “I’m sorry for what I said. I don’t have any right to be as protective of Faith as I am, but I was speaking from a place of concern. I see now that… Those concerns were unfounded.”

I gave a weak laugh. “All is forgiven, Major.”

I extended a hand, and we shook across the table.

“I ordered for you,” Kate said. “And everyone else. I hope that’s okay. Everyone was just… Really preoccupied.”

“I’m sure it’s fine, sweetie,” Miranda said. 

“I know, I just… I worry about keeping everyone happy.”

“Heh. I don’t think you have to worry about that, Katie,” I said, pulling her and Faith into my arms. “I’m the happiest man in the world.”

I held my glass of water. For a moment, I wanted a drink to celebrate, but… I didn’t need it. I wasn’t concerned about being like him, or like my mother, but… I just didn’t need it. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about that moment, not in a million years, and I didn’t want to blur the memories or dull what I was feeling. I was happy. 

I raised my glass of water into the air. “To the tournament. And to family. And to love. Cheers, everyone.”

“Cheers!” they all cried out, raising their glasses into the air and clinking them together. 

There were still problems on the horizon. My opening fight next week would be an uphill battle, and so would Kate’s. But for now, for tonight… Things were good.