The last entry on the list was listed simply as "Kenny." There was no listing of what it was. It confused him. He thought about calling Kenny, but the thought of the multiple conversations that would be necessary between them, and the risk of slipping through all the formalities and getting down to the business at hand, made him want to keep it simple for the moment. He decided to write down the address and go over to see him. He did so and looked at the address for a minute or two before driving off. The address was the house where he'd grown up.
The house was quiet when Zepp pulled up the drive. He wondered if he was early, since he was usually very precise in his appointments and timetable. Zepp looked up at the front, at the house where he'd grown up, and where they'd all been a happy, close family. As he stood there and watched his mother, father, and sisters walking around the lawn, he wondered if he should be doing something else.
"Mom," Zepp said, as he walked down the driveway. "Dad, look! This is Kenny."
He had always told the truth about their relationship. He wasn't sure why he hadn't told them about Kenny, but it felt like it was no longer the skeleton in his closet it had been before. He could tell the truth, and it had to work out okay.
"Mr. and Mrs. Maier? We're friends from when we were both young," he said, as they turned around and looked at him. "I've wanted to come over and visit for such a long time."
"Why are you waiting all this time?" his father asked, as he looked at his son. "You work with him? That's great, for all these years we've thought you were doing so well, the first thing we hear from you is that you're working, like a normal man."
"I've done alright. I have a business that's doing great, and I have money. I make sure you're paid for everything. I just didn't have time to visit."
"We've always tried to reach you. You never say what we should do to find you. You've always been busy or going out of the country to eat or sell something. You go to all of these nice places, but never invite us. I don't need to find you. I know where my son is, but you should want to see us, just the same."
"I've always thought that you and the girls were doing so well. If I'm not invited, then I can't come. I wanted to catch up, so I went to the house where we spent most of the time. I wanted to say hi, and it looks like this was a good idea."
The three of them were quiet, as they looked at him. Zepp was a little confused, but ignored it. The two were obviously struggling to think of how to react to this. Before they could question him and call him in, he had to say what he wanted to say before their resistance stopped their process and everything seemed odd.
"I was cleaning up and getting ready for your arrival, and I found some cash in the back of the closet. There were some hundred and something dollars there, money that I didn't know about. The statement and the account are there for you too. I've been paying you for a long time and I didn't know about it until I saw it today. I made a mistake, even more than the mistake I made long ago."
"Don't worry Mom, I've been taking care of everything since Dad's funeral. It would be weird if I didn't, right?"
"You're right Kenny," his mother said, as she looked at him. "We've been trying to figure out something with the house and our business. The house is too big for us, and there's a lot of things that need doing around here. I've been trying to figure out why Zepp never wants to come around, and I assumed that there was some reason we hadn't thought of. I thought that he'd come around and we'd see him all the time, but that wasn't the case. He's a success and I can see that, but he isn't bringing me the money I want him to. For a first born, he's barely made enough for us to sell this place, if we don't make the business profitable. I'm upset more than anything. I'm not sure why we are the way we are. Have we done something wrong?"
"I just wanted to talk to you, after all this time. I have some things that I want to talk to you about, but I'm not sure how to do it," Zepp said, thinking that he'd made it sound like he was disorganized.
"I was always happy, without the things my friends had. I had a fun and happy life, and then I realized that I had to create my own life. I was always trying to be something that you and the girls had. I'm trying to be the best that I can, and so far it's going better than I'd imagined it would," Kenny said, thankful for the compliment.
