Daddy Read online

“Happy New Year!” Valerie said, hugging Mateo from behind. He laughed and leaned back against her, his head spinning and his smile never once shrinking.

  That following morning, Mateo wanted to die. The faint smell of marijuana hung in the air, and his stomach gurgled. He wasn’t sure if it was because of nausea or hunger. Slowly, he pushed himself up from the pile of pillows under his head and looked around. He and a few other people had made little mats with blankets in the den. On the TV, Bob Ross stared back at him, paused mid-sentence. It all came back to him.

  After partying a little more, Mateo and the others who were spending the night had retired to the den to smoke and watch a true artist go to work. As much as people made him into a joke, Mateo had a special kind of love and respect for Bob. Watching The Joy of Painting had been his and Angel’s thing when they were growing up, and he usually ended up getting teary-eyed thinking about that memory. Bob had inspired him to start creating art of his own, and ever since Angel bought him his first canvas, Mateo never stopped painting.

  At that moment, Mateo was ready to paint the floor with last night’s drinks. He eased himself off the couch and stretched, looking for his phone once his muscles were loosened up. Panic began to spark in him when he couldn’t find it. Had someone stolen it? Mateo stepped over the unconscious bodies in the den, laser-focused on finding his cellphone. Eddie’s house was a mess after the party the night before, dented plastic cups littering the carpet and confetti decorating every surface in the living room. Mateo was sure he’d walked onto the set of a music video.

  When he couldn’t find his phone in the living room, he got even more worried. He practically ran to the kitchen where Valerie sat at the bar. In her hands was his most prized possession. Relief flooded his system, cut immediately short when he realized she’d gotten past the password.

  “Um, what are you doing?” he asked.

  Valerie jumped in surprise and spun around. “Caught in the act,” she laughed guiltily.

  Mateo approached her, looking over her shoulder to get a better view of the screen. “What’s that?”

  She gave a tiny, coy smile and said, “SweetDates.”

  “What?”

  “It’s a dating site,” she explained. “But it’s better than normal dating sites. Instead of just looking for boyfriends, it’s all about sugar daddies.”

  Mateo blinked in surprise. “What the hell would I want one of those for?”

  “Because, Matty, you need some money! Listen, I’ve been on this app for a few months now and guys will literally send me two hundred dollars for pictures of my feet. I had a daddy pay for my trip to Belize last year.”

  Mateo had always heard stories about girls that used websites like SweetDates, but he’d never expected Valerie to be on them. Her real dad made plenty of money to take care of her with.

  “Don’t be mad, but I signed you up.”

  “You what?”

  “I know things are tough for you right now, and I know how you are about your friends helping. This is my way of helping without actually giving you anything. I didn’t use any of your real information, just a nickname, a few pictures, and a short bio.”

  Mateo snatched his phone from her hands and began looking everything over. To Valerie’s credit, she’d picked out all of his best selfies, and the biography section she’d put together read like something he’d actually write for himself.

  “Val, this is…”

  “I know,” she said, holding her hand up, “But please just give it a week for me. If you don’t find some guy you want to talk to, you can delete it and yell at me for signing you up for something so stupid.”

  Mateo wanted to delete it immediately, but he’d be lying if he said the idea wasn’t tempting. He hadn’t the slightest idea what being on a sugar daddy website was like, but if Valerie said it was easy and he could make quick money, he might have to give it a try. The bills were piling up relentlessly, and if he didn’t find a way to earn a buck soon, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

  Reluctantly, Mateo looked over the profile again, shaking his head at the name. “BobRoss,” he said aloud.

  Valerie grinned. “It’s great, huh?”

  “Maybe it’ll lead to a happy little accident.”

  “That’s the spirit!” she exclaimed. “So, you’ll keep it installed on your phone for a week?”

  Mateo sighed dramatically. “I guess.”

  Valerie practically jumped for joy, pulling him into a one-armed hug. “Perfect.”

  “But,” Mateo said, “You have to cook me breakfast. I need to get food in me if I’m going to use this stupid app.”

  Without another word, Valerie made her way to the fridge and began pulling out all kinds of ingredients. Mateo took a seat at the bar and shook his head again. He’d have never ended up trying something like this on his own, but maybe it was good that Valerie had taken the initiative. It was the new year, after all. Why not try something completely new?

  2

  SMASHING BROS

  Mateo spent the majority of the morning with Valerie, helping her clean up Eddie’s house and sobering up. The last thing he could deal with was his mother Amira jumping on his case for drinking so much (even though he got his love of alcohol from her). Once he was finally done and he could think straight, he and Rob headed back to his place.

  “Thanks for everything,” Mateo said as he climbed out.

  Rob waved his hand. “It’s nothing, my man. Thanks for coming. I’m glad you could make it this time.”

  Rob’s words hit hard. For the longest time, Mateo had put off these kinds of social events. Not only did he not have any spare money to help with drinks or snacks, but he hated the idea of mooching off of them, always depending on his friends for rides and things he should’ve been able to afford. It was nice to finally be able to get out of his tiny apartment and just be with the other group of people he loved.

  Mateo climbed the steps of his apartment, waving at the neighbor across the hall from him. She sat outside of her apartment, smoking and reading. One thing he loved about her was that she never talked. There was little he loved more than a neighbor that minded their business.

  Inside the apartment, it was a mess. His eleven-year-old brother Tomas stood in the middle of the living room, trying to break up an argument between his two younger siblings Victor and Salome. Salome pointed her finger at Victor with all the rage a first grader could muster.

  “You’re a jerk,” she said, glaring at him.

  “You’re a dummy,” Victor retorted.

  “You’re both dumb jerks,” Tomas groaned. He looked up when Mateo closed the front door. “Mateo, please help me with this! Mami’s not here, otherwise she’d do it.”

  He sighed and collapsed on the sofa. “What’s wrong, you two?”

  Salome jumped at the chance to explain her side of the story. “Mami said I could use the TV to watch my movie, but bubba won’t share because he’s mean!”

  Victor rolled his eyes. “No, Mami said to share the TV. We already watched an episode of Peppa Pig. It’s my turn to play Xbox, now. Right, Mateo?”

  This had to be the most asinine argument his siblings had ever gotten into, but he chuckled nonetheless. It was no wonder his mother often stood outside on the porch with the neighbor, puffing on something she knew she shouldn’t. Mateo thought for a minute, then said,

  “How about this: we watch that one movie about the dinosaurs that you guys have been wanting to see. After that, Victor can play on the Xbox for a while before dinner. Does that work for everyone?”

  Immediately, all three of them nodded their heads. Mateo let out a breath of relief and rolled his neck. Before they settled in for a movie, he needed to get something to drink. He grabbed a few bottles of water and even popped up two bags of popcorn. After he got everything set up in the living room, he glanced to the back of the apartment and swallowed hard.

  This was the worst part of coming home. Even taking a step towards the back of the apartment
made his stomach sink and the foreboding sense of dread grow more noticeable. Still, he continued on towards his mother and father’s bedroom. Carefully, Mateo opened the door and peeked inside.

  His father Sergio was still in bed, which didn’t surprise him much. The Alzheimer’s had slowly been getting worse, and he didn’t blame his father for wanting to spend all of his time curled up under all of his blankets. Mateo approached the bed and kissed the man on the forehead. He was asleep, and Mateo didn’t think he’d want to be woken up just to say hello. He seemed to never sleep and sleep way too much at the same time.

  Mateo stood over the bed for a moment, watching the man breathe raggedly. As bad as they sounded, he was still breathing all the same. His dad was still alive and kicking. Things weren’t over just yet. Soon, but not now.

  Just as quietly as he’d entered, he slipped back into the hallway. Mateo loved his dad more than anything in the world, but he couldn’t stand to be in that room for too long. It was a black hole. It sucked the happiness out of his body and snatched the breath from his lungs. There was an overwhelming sense of finality each time he opened the door that left him visibly shaken.

  Mateo stood still, his knuckles turning white as he held onto the doorknob. He wasn’t supposed to cry. The oldest in the family was supposed to be strong, and now that his father was out of commission, being the emotionless and efficient one was his responsibility.

  It wasn’t fair.

  It was life.

  Mateo stopped in the bathroom to freshen up before the movie. He brushed his fingers through his dark curls and looked at the pimple on his forehead. It had gotten smaller thanks to his new budget skincare routine. The ugly red boulder was quite noticeable on his golden brown skin, but it looked as if it were steadily shrinking in size.

  He washed his hands and reached for the towel on the rack. When he pulled it down, the entire rack came with it. The metal bar fell to the ground, slamming onto his bare foot.

  “Pinche hijo de puta,” he growled, kicking the bar aside. There were holes in the wall where the screws had once rested. He’d have to fix that as well. Everything seemed to be falling apart lately, and Mateo couldn’t bring in enough to make up for all the expenses. Victor’s scooter had lost a wheel, Salome kept losing her toy trucks, and Tomas was at that age where he was taking interest in more expensive hobbies like playing the trumpet.

  Mateo wiped his face and stood up straight. “No complaining, only resolving,” he said to himself. It was a mantra he’d adopted from his father Sergio.

  He picked up the bar and placed it on the back of the toilet. He’d get to it as soon as he could.

  The commotion in the living room let Mateo know that Amira was home. He stepped out into the living room to find her giving each of them hugs. In the crook of her arms were groceries. She turned her warm brown eyes to him, and Mateo immediately felt safe. He’d never stop being surprised that she had that magical power.

  “My baby,” she said, pulling him in for a quick hug. “How was your party, mijo?”

  “It was really good, actually. I’m glad that I could go. I needed that break.”

  She smiled tightly. “Remember, don’t get too comfortable slacking off now, Mateo. Responsibilities first.”

  “I know, I know. Here, let me help.” Mateo took the bags from her hands and set them down in the kitchen, unpacking them and laying out all the ingredients. When he saw the chickpeas, he smiled. “Pozole?”

  “Your favorite,” she said. As she passed him, Amira pecked a kiss to his temple.

  “Do you need any help?”

  “Not right now. You go spend time with them like you said. Go, go.” She grabbed a dishtowel from the sink and used it to shoo Mateo out of the tiny kitchen. He laughed and returned to the living room, where he found that Salome and Tomas had nearly finished one bag of popcorn already.

  “Ay, slow down, gordos,” he warned, grabbing the bowl. “Save some for the rest of us.”

  Once they were all settled down in the living room, Mateo clicked on the movie and settled in. He’d already seen it in theaters with Rob and Val, but he didn’t mind watching it again. Salome loved anything to do with dinosaurs, and thankfully that seemed to be middle ground between the rest of his siblings too.

  As the movie played, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it free to see an icon of a pair of lips in his notifications bar. SweetDates. For a moment, he was tempted to ignore it, but Val had made him promise to at least give it a chance, so rather than swiping it from his notifications, he tapped on the icon.

  He scrolled through the messages that had piled up from that morning, none of them seeming particular interesting. Faceless profiles asking for nudes, a few sketchy-looking men offering to pay him for the night, and the general slush pile of men he didn’t find all that attractive. One man did seem to stick out to him, though.

  “Artful,” he said to himself. The message in his inbox was from a user named Artful, which was a lot different than the usual bigdikriks flooding his inbox. He clicked the message to open it, curious to see what Artful was all about.

  “1984, hm? This is interesting.”

  Mateo recalled that Valerie had put that as one of his top books in the favorites section of his profile. He hadn’t enjoyed it as much as Frankenstein, but it was a nice classic novel that made him seem refined. Part of him debated even responding. He was going to delete his account by the end of the week, so what was the point? At the same time, he’d feel bad about not getting back to this guy who’d clearly taken the time to look over his profile. One message wouldn’t hurt.

  “Interesting? Why’s that?” Mateo replied back. He was distracted by the movie and missed that the man replied two minutes later.

  “One might think you want a totalitarian. Risky.”

  He made a good point. If someone wanted to misconstrue the fact that he liked George Orwell’s novel and say it meant he wanted someone to dominate him, they had a reason for believing that—albeit a little one.

  “I just took a big risk joining this site, didn’t I?”

  “I’d say,” he replied. A second later there was another vibration. “You just joined? Even more interesting.”

  Mateo chewed on his nail absently, trying to think of something to say next. He wasn’t sure why he was so interesting, but it was flattering. How should he play this? He could be bashful and laugh at himself in a self-deprecating way or he could take the coy and flirty approach.

  WWVD: What Would Valerie Do?

  “I’d like to think that I’m pretty interesting,” Mateo typed, sending it without giving himself a chance to think it over. If he did, he’d back out of the statement and go with his normal shy responses. While he waited for Artful to finish typing, he opened the man’s profile in a separate window and looked it over. His name was Arthur and he was thirty-five. His username made a lot more sense, Mateo noted. Though he didn’t go too into detail, Mateo gauged that he owned a relatively big business. Mateo’s stomach dropped when he saw the man’s yearly income and net worth.

  He made over a million a year and was worth over two hundred million dollars. This guy was loaded beyond anything he’d ever seen before. Valerie’s parents were rich but not like this. Arthur was a millionaire who could have anything in the world that he wanted.

  There was another message waiting for him when he finished reading his ABOUT ME section.

  “So far I’d say you’re pretty interesting, yes. I should introduce myself. I’m Arthur.”

  “Mateo. Nice to met you.” He noticed his typo and quickly corrected himself, adding, “Meet*.”

  “How are you tonight, Mateo?”

  “Not too bad,” he said, looking to make sure nobody was reading his messages over his shoulder. The last thing he wanted was his mother asking who he was talking to. “I just got home from a New Year’s Eve party and now I’m spending some time with my family. You?”

  “I’m doing well. Tax season is coming up, which is
never fun, but I’m preparing early this year.”

  “That’s good to hear. Taxes are the worst.”

  “Every year I debate dumping out tea in the river in protest,” Arthur said, accompanying the message with a winking face.

  “Waste of tea if you ask me!”

  “So, you like tea and read classic books? When I was twenty-one, I was really into video games and eating shitty microwave taquitos.”

  “And now?”

  “Oh, I’m still really into video games.”

  Mateo cracked a smile. He didn’t know much about Arthur, but his sense of humor was very apparent. That was something he could appreciate. There was little worse than talking to someone who didn’t know how to give or take a joke. That didn’t seem to be the case here.

  “Video games are great, I agree. Favorite one at the moment?”

  “What kind of person would I be if I didn’t say the latest Smash Bros. game? That, or Breath of the Wild.”

  “The kind of person I wouldn’t want to talk to anymore,” Mateo said. He didn’t have any gaming consoles at home, but he’d played the fighting game at Rob’s house a few times and was in love with it. It may have been more of the same game, but each installment immediately became his favorite.

  “I’m glad I picked the right answer then,” Arthur replied.

  “I am, too. Will you be around later tonight? I’m getting major dirty looks from my brother for being on my phone so much.” Tomas glared at him, and Mateo smiled bashfully, only feeling a little guilty. Tomas was right. He should be living in the moment, not talking to some guy online.

  “I should be,” Arthur said. “If I’m not, I’ll get back to you in the morning. Enjoy dinner.”

  “Enjoy smashing bros,” Mateo replied. He realized what he’d typed and how it sounded. “Oh god.”

  “Aha! I’ll do just that. Have a good night, Mateo.”

  “You too, Arthur.”

  Mateo closed out of the app and turned off his phone. His cheeks hurt from smiling, and he tried to calm his jitters down. Arthur seemed like a nice guy. It was a much-needed break from the vulgarity of other messages. No, he didn’t want to send hole pics, random stranger on the internet.