The second time his Mom and Dad split up, they shipped Tony off to baby-sit his cousin Matt, only they acted as if it was all for his own good. Which was okay. Matt’s folks didn’t scream at one another, which was a nice change. Plus they had a pool. At the time, Matt was twelve and smart in a kind of geeky way but so generally helpless it was kind of touching. At 16, Tony was already in serious demand, but family is family. The dudes Tony hung with accepted Matt as sort of a mascot, and the girls teased him to where he was probably leaving wet spots on his sheets every night. A good summer, all in all. It was only six weeks, but he tried to teach Matt the basics of cool—who to know and how to greet them, what women wanted, and (with the aid of some magazines) what they looked like when you got them naked. He taught Matt how to fish a quarter back up out of a payphone, where to find fireworks half-price, and how to get the five-finger discount. “First you gotta find the cameras,” he said, once he got the kid into the local drugstore. He talked easily and naturally, not whispering. “There,” he nodded with his chin. “You see it?” Still looking the wrong way, Matt nodded wisely and tried to look cool. You had to feel for the kid. Tony grinned to himself but didn’t say anything. It would be bush to score points off such an innocent. “So you just gotta stand so that your back is to the camera,” Tony said, doing so. He was looking at the shelf in front of him but he deftly took a bag of Snickers off the shelf at his waist. “Don’t watch my hands, look at me, like we’re talking. Pick something up so they’re watching you.” “Oh, right.” Matt picked up one of those M&M dispensers, a big plastic M&M guy filled with candy. It was $19.95. “Who would even buy one of these things, anyway?” “People will buy anything,” Tony said. He had the Snickers comfortably tucked under his shirt. He could see Matt trying to figure out where they were. The kid was just funny. “Okay, put that M & M thing back and head for the front of the store. No hurry though. Cool as a popsicle, kid.” So they sauntered. And then they were out the door and in the parking lot and it was so hot that when you came out of the air-conditioning, it made it hard to breathe and Matt’s glasses fogged up. Fun times. Fun times.
* * *
“Who’s this?” Sarah asked. Tony laced his hands behind her waist. “That’s my genius cousin,” he said. “Matt—“ without taking his eyes off Sarah, “this is Sarah.” “Hi,” Matt said. “I’m taking the afternoon off,” Tony said. Sarah smiled and blushed prettily. “I’m not through unlocking your cellphone,” Matt said. He was putting Tony’s phone number on a cooler cellphone that had fallen off a truck. “That’s okay,” Tony said. “I wouldn’t be answering it anyway. You keep it. Tell you what, you’re in charge till I get back.” Matt looked surprised. And not happy. Tony grinned. “You can always take a message, kid.”
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