Chapter 3

“Honey,” she said. “Most everything scares you. Remember that Marx Brothers movie when Chico couldn’t find Harpo?”

“I was what…six at the time.”

“You were terrified,” his mother said. “Besides, I read somewhere an early event can cause a lasting trauma.”

“Thank you, Mother, for that.”

She looked out the window at L.A. flying by.

The speed he was driving made the palm trees look like a picket fence.

“Oh, and Phil?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Watch your Goddamn language. There’s a lady present.”

They passed several billboards: one promised fun-filled rides at Disneyland and another for Universal Studios. “Let’s go to a movie tonight,” he said.

“How’s your love life, Phil?”

“We were talking about a movie, Mom.”

“No, you were talking about a movie. How did things work out with that nice young man we had dinner with? You know, Brian?”

“He’s okay but—”

“Not soul mate material,” she said.