“Hi, guys. Where’s Lincoln?” Lily had an armful of menus, and her hair, which had grown much longer, was sticking out in all directions. We kissed, then she bent over and traded big ones with Greer.

“He’s with his friends. He might show up later.”

She gave me her “Is this what I think?” look and I nodded. She grimaced and sighed. “He used to love coming here so much, remember? We had fun. Remember how Mabdean used to make him that special pizza?”

“And his birthday party with the snakes?”

“Golden days at Crowds and Power. How I wish it was like that now. Are you hungry?”

One of the waiters came up and, with the slightest head tip of recognition to us, started talking to Lily in an urgent whisper.

“Just tell her it’s not on the menu, Berndt. I don’t understand the problem.”

Offended, he looked at her as if she’d asked if he had farted. “The problem is, I did tell her that, but she insisted we make it for her because we served it before.”

“Too bad. She can eat what’s on the menu, like everyone else.”

“Gus might be upset if he hears you said no. He loves this woman’s show.”

“I’ll worry about that. Please do as I told you.”

Flashing a bitchy little smile, he walked off. Lily scratched her chin. “I miss Sullivan and Alberta at least ten times a day, every day. Things used to be so much more merry around here. Once upon a time, we would have made that actress what she wants because we’d have been so excited to have her here. Not no more.”

“Mom, can we eat now?”

“Yes, love. Let’s find a table.” Leading us through the packed room, Lily turned and asked, “Where is His Majesty?”

“Last I saw, he was shuffling off to places unknown with Mickey and Minnie. We had a face-off at the door and I told him to stop being such a wise guy.”

“I’m sure he loved that. Here, let’s sit here. Did you embarrass him in front of his friends? You know how he hates that.”

“He hates most things. That’s the problem.”

“Sometimes he hates you, Daddy.”

“I know, but that can happen when you have two guys butting heads like we do. You know the way we disagree about things.”

“What did you tell him to set him off?”

“To be home at a specific time so we could go to dinner. He said he wasn’t hungry, I said be home. That was the extent of our discussion. Looks like he decided not to join us after all.”

“Mom, Lincoln had his ‘fuck’ shirt on.”

“Thank you for telling me, Greer, but you know the only reason you told me was so you could say the word. Don’t think you’re tricking me.”

“Lil, I had a couple of ideas for the strip coming over. I’d like to leave right after dinner to go back and work on them. You’ve got early shift tonight, right? Can Miss Muffet go home with you?”

“Sure. We’ll have to stop at the market first, but you don’t mind staying up past your bedtime a little, do you?”

Sounding out words on the menu to herself, Greer shook her head.

“You look great tonight. That long hair really suits you.”

“Oh, Max, does it? Thanks. I think I look like a hundred years old today.”

“No, you look great. You’re one of those people who get better-looking as they grow older. I’m very lucky to have you, know that?”

We often complimented each other. I didn’t know a happier couple. Neither how she had stolen Lincoln nor what had become of him could affect the fact that we loved each other more and more as the years passed.

“Thank you. You’re a good guy to say it.”

“It’s the truth. What are we having for dinner?”

Although it was a good family meal with lots of talk, gestures, and laughing, both Lily and I kept scanning the room to see if the boy had arrived. Sometimes our looks crossed and one or the other would raise an eyebrow as if to say, “What can we do? The kid isn’t coming.”

But he surprised us.

“Max, I was trying to tell someone today how many newspapers run ‘Paper Clip.’ Isn’t it around three hundred?”

“Yes, a few more, but that’s good enough.”

“Hi, Mom.”

“Lincoln! Hi! Come, sit down.”

“Hi, Lincoln. Wanna sit next to me?”

“Hi, Grrrr-eer. Naah, I want to sit next to Dad. Right in the heart of the old fam.”

The chair to my right slid out noisily. Sitting down, he slapped me on the shoulder. “How’re you doin’, Max? How’s the old provider hanging?”

“Do you want something to eat?”

“I said before I wasn’t hungry. I only came by to see you guys.” Patting out a beat on the table, he started singing a song about “raising my fam-uh-ly.” We watched and waited but he didn’t stop. He sang louder. People at other tables started staring and gave him a long once-over. He sang on while we three went back to our dessert.

Greer said she had to go to the toilet and Lily took her.

Lincoln smiled at me. “Hey, Max, what’s the difference between a refrigerator and a homosexual?” He said it too loudly, wanting people to hear.

“I guess you’re going to tell me.”

“A refrigerator doesn’t fart when you take your meat out.”

A woman at the table next to ours shook her head and said, “Jesus Christ, crude!”

I sat forward and put my hand on his forearm. “Lincoln, stop it. What are you trying to prove? You know you shouldn’t talk like that here. It’s offensive and totally inappropriate.”

Instead of answering, he put a thumb in Greer’s peach ice cream. Sticking it in his mouth, he sucked the finger. It was so incongruous seeing this mess of a kid sucking his thumb. He closed his eyes in exaggerated delight. I realized it was the first time in all our years together I had seen him make that innocent gesture.

“Lincoln! What are you doing? What is the matter with you? Why do you make trouble every time you are coming in now?” Ibrahim marched over, seething. He was a kind man but had had enough of the boy’s behavior. Our son had caused a number of scenes and near-fights here in the last two years. Cruel comments, jokes as gross and loud as this one, rotten things that he shouted at us about how much he despised the restaurant and all those connected with it. Long ago we had given up asking him to join us, but many times he chose to tag along and then usually wound up making trouble. None of us knew why, other than his very aggressive homophobia. The only reason I’d wanted him along tonight was so I could be sure he was away from the house when I went searching for his gun.

“This is the end. I have had enough of you now. You have no right to treat us like this Lincoln, you are making everyone who loves you crippled. You cut off our legs and then cut out our hearts. Love goes very far, mister, but it is not the universe. Someplace it stops and then that is the end.”

“I’ll try to remember that.”

When Ibrahim was gone, Lincoln asked if we could go outside and talk alone. I agreed and, walking out, asked a waiter to tell Lily we’d be back in a few minutes.

Standing in front of the restaurant, the boy shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “I know, Maxie. I know everything! I found it all out today. Tonight. It’s so incredible how in one second your whole life can move from here to way way way over there. Unbelievable. A real mind warper. But I know every one of your dirty fucking secrets!” He was so happy. If I hadn’t known what was going on, I’d have been shocked by his face of pure joy. “I cannot believe it. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me anything all these years. Would you have? Would you ever have told me?”

“I don’t know.”

“Fuck you, Max. Fuck you for the rest of your shit-ass life. Fuck you and Lily and all the lies and everything about you two. You want me to do something for you? You’re gonna pay for it. You’re going to pay for everything now, cocksucker.”

“How do you feel?”

He thought a moment. “I feel… I feel weird. Like my life, um, has been lived on another planet till now and it just landed here. Something along those lines. I’m sure you can understand what I’m saying, Dad.”