Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 58

Hazel checked the time on her phone and noticed that she and Warrick were a couple hours into the afternoon birthday party they had been invited to. The party was hosted by Warrick’s friend Tyler, and the two had known each other since shortly after Brie was born. They had met on a new-fathers community forum online. When they’d realized that they lived in the same city, Warrick set up regular play dates with Tyler, his wife Lindsay, and their son Dominic. As the two kids grew up, they’d naturally drifted apart, forming their own relationships with friends who lived closer by—Brie had little interest in being carted twenty minutes across town on a regular basis, just to play with kids, when she could instead wander down a few blocks to Elsie’s by herself—but the two fathers maintained their friendship nevertheless.

Hazel enjoyed the company of Tyler, but did not hold as strong a relationship with him as her husband did, nor with Tyler’s wife. At one point early on, Warrick took the risk of inviting him into a threesome or foursome between the two couples, but Lindsay was not amused. Ever since then, even though Warrick and Tyler continued to carry on like normal, Hazel felt like she was something of an outsider.

“How’s Dominic been doing?” Warrick asked.

“Eh, you can see for yourself. Dominic!” Tyler called into the house. “Come say hi to Uncle Warrick and Aunt Hazel.”

A gloomy boy with a slim, ropey build appeared in the window in a black band tee with the sleeves cut off. He waved in acknowledgement, but didn’t go outside.

Tyler turned back to Warrick and shrugged. “I guess he’s getting to be that age where we’re not cool enough anymore, huh?” He punched Warrick on the shoulder.

“Not cool anymore?” Warrick asked, shooting a worried glance at his wife.

Hazel snorted and sipped her beer, but said nothing.

Tyler redirected the subject. “Brie’s starting to grow up, too. I’ve seen the pictures on Facebook. She’s getting tall.” He leaned in to Warrick. “I hate to tell you, man, but she’s got more of her mother in her than you.”

“She lucked out,” Hazel interjected wryly.

“I have to say, I agree.” Warrick said proudly, and wrapped an arm around his wife to pull her close.

Tyler cast his eyes downward. “I was hoping she’d come along. I thought maybe she and Dom would play together, like old times. Where did you say she was this afternoon?”

“She’s at a fashion show with her friend,” Hazel replied and added, “and a lot has changed as she has grown. I don’t think those ‘old times’ are coming back.”

“True. You know,” said Tyler wistfully, “I always regret that the kids didn’t get along better than they did. It would’ve been nice to see them blossom together.”

Warrick nodded, “I know, but you know kids. They can’t see beyond their own neighborhood. They’ve got it easy, really. They want their entire social circle within reach. If it’s not directly in front of them, they won’t even give it a chance. I got Brie a new bike, and she won’t even ride it. She’s already asking me for a car and she hasn’t even gotten her permit yet. Meanwhile, there’s a whole world out there for her to explore.”

The screen door swung open and Lindsay came out with presents and, balanced on top of the stack, a cheese tray.

“Speaking of changes,” Tyler said, plucking up a cube of cheddar as his wife passed, “We’re starting to talk with Dom about sex.”

“Lovely party conversation,” Lindsay mocked.

A self-conscious chortle escaped Tyler. “Anyway, we’re hoping we’re not too late.”

“Too late for what?” asked Warrick.

“You know, kids these days get their sex education off the internet, if you know what I mean. And I’m not talking about SkillShare.”

“Wouldn’t that be something?” Lindsay asked bemusedly. The foursome burst into laughter at the thought of an online video class that taught sex education through live demonstration, but it died out into fidgety reflection on the topic.

Tyler spoke up to end the awkward silence, “Anyway, I know Dom’s almost a little too old to have not yet had The Talk,” he paused to emphasize the euphemism, “but I was curious how you went about it.”

“Well…” Hazel fumbled for the words, “we’ve found ourselves in the same situation as you. We’ve noticed that Brie is becoming more sexually active. We’ve caught her…” Hazel then paused, looking to Warrick for the right thing to say, “exposing herself to new perspectives recently.”

Warrick felt a lump in his throat, unsure how much his wife was going to say.

“You caught her?” asked Tyler with surprise. He looked to Warrick, who grimaced and nodded. “With a boy?”

Warrick interjected, “Not with a boy, no. Not yet.”

Tyler chucked, “See? That’s what I mean. We have to get to them before the rest of the world does.” He turned to his wife, “Linds, have you ever caught Dom?”

“Caught him? No, but I’ve seen evidence that his tool is in working order,” she joked. She then rolled her eyes and bemoaned, “Copious amounts of evidence. In socks, underwear, towels. Boys!” she harrumphed. She finished with a wink at Hazel and the two women laughed knowingly while the two men shifted bashfully. Lindsay then continued, “We’ve been trying to strategize what to do next, but we can’t seem to agree on an appropriate approach for Dom. What are you two planning for your daughter?”

“We’re starting to get something together, but we still need more collaboration around it,” Hazel remarked. Lindsay nodded in agreement. “I just know that when I was a young girl,” Hazel continued quietly, “my dad, at first, took a very hands-off approach to my sex education. He wasn’t very comfortable talking about sex, at least not with me. But I found that the school curriculum was—shall I say—inadequate.It left me with a lot of questions that couldn’t be answered in a public institution.”

Lindsay tisked, “And with education funding only going down these days, I’m sure the problem hasn’t gotten any better.”

“I begged my dad for guidance,” Hazel continued, “but he resisted, always saying that it wasn’t proper conversation for a father to have with his daughter. And my mom was never around.” She glanced over at her husband, whose attention was rapt. “I was just a young girl who needed help, and my dad was too embarrassed or unsure to give me what I truly needed.”

Warrick swallowed, and said soberly, “I had no idea.” The others remained quiet.

Hazel continued. “My exploration became a… problem, in some ways, and my dad eventually intervened. It was pretty embarrassing for me at the time, but really I was so grateful for him, too. I see a lot of me in Brie today, and I want her to live the best life she can. I want her to feel rewarded in the end, like I’ve been rewarded with Warrick and Brie, and I think she’ll get there with a more hands-on sex education.”

“Like a SkillShare?” Tyler butted in, attempting to elevate the mood.

“Maybe!” Hazel exclaimed, eliciting laughter, though only Hazel truly knew how honest she was being.

“You know,” Lindsay piped up, “I feel like this conversation has brought us together closer than the last ten years of our friendship have.” Hazel smiled at her warmly. Lindsay continued, “Thank you for being brave enough to share your story.” Lindsay spread her arms and the two women embraced. Tyler smirked at Warrick and they clinked their beer bottles together.

Lindsay turned to her husband and the two of them changed the subject, talking amongst themselves about the pile of presents she had brought out. As they absorbed themselves in their own world, Warrick pulled Hazel aside. “How come I didn’t know anything about that?”

“I don’t know,” Hazel deflected. “It was when I was very young, before I was truly sexually active. I didn’t think—”

Just then her pocket buzzed. Checking the caller ID, she said, “Oh, it’s Ivy. The fashion show must be over. I wonder if she found the kids.” She answered the phone.

Warrick wandered over to Tyler and Lindsay, who were talking in hushed tones. They clammed up when they saw him approach.

“I think it’s time for presents,” Lindsay said, blushing.

“Sounds good to me,” Tyler sounded off with a broad smile.

Hazel re-entered the conversation and said plaintively to her husband, “Unfortunately, honey, we’re needed back home.”

Warrick arced an eyebrow up.

“Can’t stay for just one present?” Lindsay appealed.

“I’m so sorry Lindsay, we promised the babysitter two hours, and we’re already late. We were just having so much fun, we lost track of the time.”

Warrick could tell something was up, because he knew there was no babysitter, so he played along, nodding.

“Aw, bummer,” Tyler said. “I had a feeling we’d all get to enjoy at least one of these gifts. But thank you so much for coming.” They gathered round and exchanged hugs. Tyler shook Warrick’s hand and, with the beer bottle in his other hand, pointed and winked, saying “If I get anything good, I’ll text you.”

“I wanna be the first to know,” Warrick chuckled.

The Novas retreated to the car and Hazel started it up.

Warrick gazed at her from the passenger seat. “We didn’t get a babysitter. What did Ivy say?”

“She said that Brie has gotten herself into some trouble.”

Warrick’s heart dropped. Something told him, this time it was a doozy. “Trouble? What kind of trouble.”

“I’m sure you’ll already have some idea,” Hazel said pointedly.

“At the mall?”

“That’s where Ivy said she’d be. She must have run into the girls there. She told me that she brought the two of them home.”

“I wonder what happened,” Warrick mused. He contemplated what kind of predicament his daughter had again gotten herself into as they drove off. After her stint at the pool, he knew that she was not above gratifying herself in public places. Perhaps security had caught her in the bathroom, or maybe a cashier heard her in a dressing cubicle. He wondered about Elsie’s role as well, and he began to daydream about his tryst with her the previous night.

On the phone, Ivy had given Hazel an overview of what had gone down on the fashion runway, but Hazel decided to keep that knowledge to herself for the moment. She wanted to talk to Warrick about something else first. “I know we’ve been talking a lot about this lately, but I just want to circle back around to our conversation about helping our daughter through these troubles that she’s getting into.”

“Her sex education,” Warrick intimated.

Hazel gave a curt nod. “Indeed.”

Warrick’s phone buzzed about an incoming text and he pulled it out to see if there was any more information coming from Ivy. Instead it was from Tyler. It said, “!!! Happy birthday to me. Lindsay was very taken in by Hazel’s story, so she gifted us a swap! You still down?”

“Holy shit,” Warrick blurted out.

“What is it?” Hazel asked urgently.

“Tyler and Lindsay want to do a swap. I can’t believe it.” Hazel groaned in frustration and Warrick balked, “Oh, you’re not interested anymore?”

“No, it’s not that,“ she bemoaned. “You’re always getting distracted from your responsibilities by every fresh, new pussy that waves in front of you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Hazel frowned. “I was thinking you’d have taken matters with Brie into your own hands by now, but you’ve been distracted by another young girl the entire weekend,” she alluded.

Warrick sputtered. “What? I haven’t been—”

“Oh please, Warrick, I found her clothing crumpled on the floor in the living room this morning. You saw me in her teeshirt, for christ sake, and you’re trying to pull off this lie?”

Warrick’s cheeks burned.

“And while you were taking care of Elsie last night, I was the one taking care of our daughter.”