"Hey, man," he called out. "You Serene's new friend?"
The door to Steve's house opened and his sister Carrie stepped out, peering curiously at them.
Steve almost turned away and didn't answer, but then thought better of it.
"Yeah," he said.
Darpan stood and stretched, pocketed his clippers and crossed over to where Steve stood. Once they were face to face, he held out his hand. Steve hesitated before taking the grinning man's callused palm in his own.
"Righteous," Darpan said, nodding as they shook hands for seconds longer than what Steve considered normal, Darpan's penetrating gaze locked on Steve. "You have amazing eyes. Really awesome green, brother."
"Thanks," Steve mumbled, pulling his hand away as Darpan looked over his shoulder at Carrie, the dopey smile on his face a seemingly near-permanent fixture.
"Hey," he said to her.
"Hey," she replied in imitation of his intonation, her response laced with subtle sarcasm. Darpan didn't seem to notice.
"Right on. I'm Darpan. I've seen you two around."
"And we've seen you," Carrie countered.
"Yeah," he nodded forcefully. "So you two go to school with Serene?"
"Nope," Carrie said and went back into the house, shutting the door and leaving Steve to fend for himself with the boneheaded Darpan.
"Little sister's a firecracker, huh?"
"I've got to go… inside now," Steve inclined his head toward his house.
"Sure, sure. Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm glad our girl is making some friends. Serene's quite a chick, right?" He winked. "She's an island girl and this is a big deal for her, moving to the mainland, you know."
Darpan's words had Steve aborting his plan to escape his unsavory company.
"Um, are you, like––how are you related to Serene?"
"I'm her dad, man."
"Her dad?"
Darpan's answer was so unlikely, so incongruous with reality that it took a few seconds for his words to sink in. He couldn't be her dad. He was too young and looked nothing like Serene. And what about the other man who Serene's mom was now always shoulder-to-shoulder with?
Darpan pointed his finger at him like a gun and bent his thumb forward and back. "Pow," he said. "Just blew your mind, right?"
"Uh, what?"
Darpan laughed. "Yeah, man, Serene's my kid. Her mom Ramani's my wife."
"Who is that other man, then?"
"Been interested, huh?" Darpan said with another laugh. "That's okay," he bumped his shoulder up against Steve's in a friendly way. "Just joshing with you, brother. The thing is, man, Ramani, she's Serene's mom, and she's got two husbands." He opened his arms wide, his smile simulating his gesture. "So Serene's got two dads: me and Aarav. Lucky, right?" He played out a beat on his chest as if it were a drum, rocking his head back and forth. "Some kids have no dads, but Serene's got two."
"Yeah," was all Steve could think to say.
"Alright, I knew you were a cool dude, man. What did you say your name was?"
"I didn't. Steve."
"Steve." Darpan gave a deep and formal bow. When he stood, he said, "Be humble in this life that God may raise you up in the next."
"What?"
"A quote from your namesake, Brother. Saint Stephen. Peace out." He held up his fingers in the peace sign. "And stop by whenever you like. Serene could use some friends, and I can tell you're an angel." He sang that last part in a high falsetto voice before looping back across the empty street.
"Christ," Steve muttered under his breath, "what a fucking fruitcake."
He opened his door just as Carrie was striding toward him across the living room, holding out the cordless phone.
"Your girlfriend is on the line. Says she's coming by. Give me fair warning, will you?" She thrust the phone into his hand and sauntered off.
"Hello," Steve breathed out the word into the receiver, already trying to think up an excuse to tell Taylor why it wasn't a good time for her to stop by. There was a loud cracking sound that came out of the speaker and Steve realized that Taylor was chewing gum and popping a bubble.
"Hello?" He said again.
"Hey, what are you up to?"
"I've got some homework I've got to catch up on."
"Me too. I'll bring all my shit over and we can do the study partner thing and maybe some other partner things." Her voice turned honeyed and conspiratorial. Once upon a time, Taylor's sexy charm and seductive voice would have given him an instant erection. But what Steve realized as Taylor continued talking was that he'd stopped liking her. It dawned on him that he couldn't stand Taylor's company, the fakeness of her. She even smelled fake, like acrylic nail polish and plastic. The scent of her hair sometimes reminded Steve of the smell of the Barbies Carrie had when she was a kid.
"She wears extensions, duh," Carrie told him once when he brought it up.
Taylor was often cruel, stuck up and arrogant with other girls. Steve had begun to notice these negative aspects of her personality more and more throughout their almost seven week-long relationship. He wondered how he'd missed how horrible she was, because it wasn't just a minor part of her personality. The fact that she was a bitch was plain as day. Serene's face flashed through his thoughts, the way she had looked Taylor up and down as if Taylor were a miserable little insect that Serene could easily squash if she wanted. Once Serene popped into his thoughts, he couldn't stop thinking of her and the puzzle of her two dads. Obviously, neither one was her biological father. Where was he? Steve pondered.
"Hello? Earth to Steve." Taylor sang out.
"What?"
"I'll see you in about twenty minutes. Mwah." And before he could protest, she'd already hung up. Steve stood for a moment, thinking. If Barbara were alive, he would have asked her advice,
