An interview with Dave Brodie

[image error]

Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

By the time I turn onto the curiously named Sleeping Indian Road, it feels as if I’m in the country, although I know that there are housing developments within shouting distance on either side of me. The road winds up slightly through farmed land. About a mile later, I turn left into the driveway. White rail fencing lines the drive until I reach the house. I park beside the silver Toyota Tundra truck that’s already there; when I get out, I spot Val’s Percheron horses in the distance. They spare me a glance then return to their grazing.

Dave is on the front porch, waiting. “Hi there. Any trouble finding the place?”

“None. It’s gorgeous up here.”

“It is. I’m still blown away by the view every time I step out the door.” He opens the screen door and waves me into the house. “Come on, I’ll play tour guide.”

I smile as I walk through the rooms that I know so well. “Do you know how I decided that this was your house?”

“No…?”

“I found it on Trulia. It was for sale, and from the description it looked just right. Three blocks from the beach, fenced yard, three bedrooms.”

He laughs. “You chose well. It’s been nearly perfect for us. The boys were kinda cramped growing up in the same room, but it forced them to compromise.”

I stop at the door to the back yard and run my fingers over the height chart. At the bottom, written in black marker: Jeff, age 1. At the top: Kevin, age 18. I study the marks and ages. “Kevin was taller than Jeff and Jamie, at the same ages, from the beginning.”

“He was. He grew three inches between his sophomore and junior years of high school.” Dave laughs. “We couldn’t keep him fed.”

“I bet.”

“You don’t have kids, do you?”

“No, but I’m close to my nephew. He’s two years younger than Jamie. Not to change the subject suddenly, but I noticed that you got a new vehicle.”

“Oh, yeah, that truck is a couple of years old now. The Volvo lived far longer than I expected, but I finally had to have it humanely destroyed.”

“Ha! A pickup is better suited for farm life, anyway.”

“Yes. And I almost never have more than one person with me. Either Claudia or one of Jeff’s kids.”

“How are the kids?”

“Oh, they’re great. Colin will stop by after school. He comes over here to study before dinner.”

“I guess it’s noisier at his house.”

He chuckles. “You could say that. Gabe’s a pistol, just like his mom. When they’re together they’re either talking or arguing, but they’re never quiet.”

“Is Gabe still thinking of taking over the farm?”

“Yes, but he’d have to have some other source of income, and he hasn’t quite wrapped his head around that yet.”

“A teacher’s schedule might work with farming.”

“True. Or maybe he’ll marry someone with a well-paying job. When Gabe puts his mind to something, he’s typically successful. I reckon he’ll figure this out, too. How about some iced tea? We’ll sit on the back porch.”

“Is it sweet tea?”

He grins. “Would I make anything else?”

 

The back porch is shaded, with four rocking chairs of the type sold at Cracker Barrel stores. Not that there are Cracker Barrels in California. I say, “You must have questions for me.”

“Not too many.” He gazes out across the field at the horses. “Based on what the boys have told me about their chats with you, I see what you’re after.”

“Do you? Because sometimes I’m not sure myself.”

He gets tickled at that. “Have you made continuity mistakes?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m going back to fix them eventually. I don’t think any of them are with the immediate family, though…although I admit, I can’t remember.”

He cuts his eyes sideways at me. “I feel bad for Pete.”

“I know. Readers have said, ‘You need to be nicer to Pete.’ It’s true. I’m working on that, I promise. But he still has a few lingering issues.”

“Yeah.” Dave frowns into the distance. “I try to talk to him about himself, but he’s hesitant to open up. I know it’s because I’m Jamie’s dad, but I also know that his own dad isn’t gonna help out in that department. But the little probing I’ve done…he’s not done dealing with his past. Whatever it is, it’s coming.”

“Yes.” I leave it at that.

He tips a smile in my direction. “I do have one question. You sure are familiar with the Carolinas. You must have connections.”

“I do. My entire family lives there, west of Charlotte. I lived there for a couple of years, and also lived in Charleston for a few months. I mean, Charleston, South Carolina. I lived in Charleston, West Virginia for years.”

“Now, that is someplace I’ve never been.”

“Did you ever visit Huntington? I lived there, too.”

“No. Julie always said we’d go after the kids were grown.”

“If it’s any consolation, you’re not missing a whole lot. And I say that as someone who loves that town.”

He laughs. “Have you been to Beaufort?”

He’s referring to Beaufort, South Carolina, where he grew up. “Yes, as a teenager. I don’t

[image error]

Beaufort, SC. bobistraveling [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

remember much about it, except that it felt like the perfect small Southern coastal town. Kinda quaint.”

“That’s about right. I have to tell you, your description of eastern North Carolina, when Pete went to meet Doug and Linda for the first time, made me chuckle for days. It is the ugliest part of the state.”

“Right? I mean, where my dad lives is no great shakes, but at least you can see the mountains and it doesn’t smell like hogs.”

He muses for a moment. “I’ve spent my entire life living on one ocean or the other. Can’t imagine living inland.”

“It’s different. I prefer the coast. So… tell me about Jamie as a kid.”

He smiles, remembering. “He was never any trouble from the day he was born. He was a happy baby. Even his terrible twos weren’t all that terrible. I never had to worry about him in school, I never had to worry about his friends… he was just a terrific kid.”

“In spite of him being gay?”

“Yes. He announced to me – us – that he was gay when he was five, you know.”

“I know. Did you believe him?”

“I believed that he believed it. Did I know that his wanting to have a boyfriend wasn’t just a ‘girls are icky’ phase? Not entirely. But as he got older, I’d ask him about it. Was anyone at school calling other kids names? Was anyone at school being picked on? What was going on in his head as a result? If he was gay, I wanted to make sure that he didn’t grow up thinking less of himself because of the attitudes of idiot teachers or kids or parents he might come in contact with.”

“There must have been kids in his school that were bullied.”

“Yes. And eventually, Jamie felt comfortable enough with himself that he could stand up to the bullies. Of course, with Kevin lurking over his shoulder, no one was gonna tangle with Jamie.”

“Sarge’s reaction was a blow to him.”

“Yes.” Dave shakes his head. “I’d been afraid of that. But it still hurt him badly.”

“How did you come to be so understanding? I mean, you’re a few years older than me, you grew up in the South, Sarge was your dad…”

“It was my years in the Marines. There were guys who’d clearly joined the Marines because they were trying to prove something to someone. A father, usually. And if that was the reason they’d joined, they were miserable. As you can imagine, Marine boot camp is not for the less than totally committed. I felt terrible for them, but I was just their weapons instructor. There wasn’t a lot I could do for them individually.” He grins. “Of course, we also had an equal number of badasses who’d wanted to be a Marine since birth, and just happened to be gay. Those guys – and women – were awesome.”

I say, “Robbie Harrison.”

“Oh, God, poor Robbie. He’s the perfect example. His parents were terrible, especially his father. Robbie drank himself out of the Naval Academy… he was messed up for years.”

“He’s getting a happy ending, more or less.”

“True. No thanks to his family.”

I smile at him. “You are the best dad ever.”

He grins. “If so, it’s thanks to you.”

“Did you have any idea before Jamie’s announcement? Or was that a complete surprise to you?”

He considers that. “It was a surprise, but it also explained something. Neither Jeff nor Kevin, as kids, ever cared what they wore. Jamie was picky about his clothes from the time he was old enough to choose.”

“No kidding? How so?”

“He only wanted to wear certain colors. Green, yellow, brown, tan. He hated blue and red. You said you have a nephew of a similar age; you must have some idea how hard it was, 35 years ago, to find boys’ clothes that weren’t blue or red.”

I laugh. “Oh, yes. Fortunately my nephew looked good in both red and blue. I’d have thought that Jamie would have worn mostly hand-me-downs.”

Dave shakes his head. “By the time a piece of clothing had been worn by both Jeff and Kevin, it was pretty much shot. Kevin, in particular, was always tearing the knees out of his jeans or grinding in grass stains that wouldn’t come out. And Jeff was a tree climber, so he did his share of damage. Jamie wore a few leftovers, mostly pajamas, but his school clothes were almost always new.”

“So when you took him school shopping…”

“That’s the thing. I had to take him school shopping. Jeff and Kevin would wear whatever I brought home to them. Jamie had to have a say.”

I chuckle. “What did Sarge think about that?”

“He grumbled a bit about letting a five-year-old choose his own clothes. My response was, ‘Do you seriously want to pick this battle?’ He conceded the point.”

“Jamie notices clothes. The first thing he comments on, when he meets someone, is what they’re wearing. I thought that was a habit he’d picked up from Scott…maybe not, huh?”

“Oh, no.” He laughs. “He’d fuss at Ali if she wore a shirt and pants that didn’t match. He’d see some random man in a restaurant or on the street and whisper to me, ‘Daddy, that tie is ugly.’ And he’d be right.”

“But he never wanted to design anything, did he?”

“Nah. He never demonstrated any interest in that. I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but all of my sons are lousy artists. Jamie couldn’t have sketched a shirt and tie even if he did want to. Which he didn’t.”

I sip my sweet tea, which is perfect. Cracker Barrel quality, if not better. “I think my readers know Jeff less well than they do Jamie or Kevin. What do you want to tell them about Jeff?”

Dave smiles fondly. “Jeff always preferred animals and books to people. Except for the family, he still does. He was a voracious reader, growing up. He learned to read earlier than either of the other boys, well before he started school. He doesn’t have as much time to read now, obviously, but he carves out an afternoon every weekend, usually on Sunday, when he comes over here and sits in that chair you’re in and reads. Val instructs the boys not to bother him. It’s his only private time.”

“He doesn’t spend it all reading professional journals and such, does he?”

“Nope. Usually nonfiction bestsellers. He’s one of the public library’s top customers.”

“I suppose he always wanted to be a veterinarian.”

“From day one. We had dogs, from before Jeff was born, so we were always taking them to the vet. Jeff was fascinated. As soon as he was old enough, our vet gave him a job cleaning kennels and comforting the animals that were recovering from surgery. We figured that would either make or break his career path. Turns out to have made it.”

“Does he have friends?”

“He and Val socialize with his partners in the business and their families. Fortunately, they’re all close friends in and out of work. He has a few high school friends still in town, but doesn’t see them much.”

“Tell me about Val’s family.”

He laughs. “They’re crazy. In a good way. Val has four brothers, and they and their wives are all just like Val in personality. And Colin and Gabe have eleven first cousins on Val’s

[image error]

photographer: Joshua Wickerham * photographer_url: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/kafka4prez] * flickr_url: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/kafka4pr...]

side. When they’re all in the same house, it’s chaos.”

“I bet. And they’re all farmers?”

“Yes. Val’s parents have 100 acres up near Tulare. All of the sons farm on it, 100% organic. All of Val’s sisters-in-law have outside jobs for health insurance purposes.”

“It sounds like a terrific life.”

“It’s damn hard work. But they enjoy it. And, so far, they’re still able to make a living from it.”

“Fingers crossed that they can keep it up.”

“No kidding.”

I drain my tea and decline Dave’s offer of a refill. “What do you think is ahead for your boys? And what are your hopes for them?”

“My hopes are the same as they’ve always been. That they’ll be happy and loved.” He gazes into the distance, thinking. “I expect that Jeff will keep working until he can’t anymore. He and Val aren’t going anywhere. They may end up living in this house, depending on what Gabe does.”

“What about Kevin?”

He smiles fondly. “My just right boy. Now that he has Kristen, I don’t worry about him as much.”

“Are you pleased that he’s leaving police work?”

“From the standpoint of his own safety, yes. But I’m not sure the social work gig will last.”

“Why not?”

“At West LA, he and Jon work…what? Six to eight murders a year? Now he’s going to be dealing with a different grieving family almost every single day. There were two hundred and eighty-two homicides in Los Angeles last year, and that’s a low number for them. Kevin’s a tough customer, but he’s not armor-plated. All that grief…” Dave rubs his chin. “I suspect that eventually Kevin will realize that he has $38 million in the bank, and it’s not necessary to continue to surround himself with suffering.”

“What do you think he’ll do?”

“Well, he’s going to teach at the LAPD Academy. He’ll enjoy that. And he still owes Mel quite a bit of paralegal work.”

“True. Do you think he and Kristen will stay in LA?”

“Yes. They’ll probably sell the condo and live at the house, but they’ll stay.”

“What about Jamie?”

Dave tips a smile at me. “Where do you think Jamie will end up?”

I laugh. “Not fair! To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. Although, I promise, he and Pete will always be together.”

[image error]

Pete and Jamie’s lot in Alamogordo (photo by me)

“I’m glad to hear that. But I have some concerns about this move to Alamogordo.”

“So does Jamie.”

“Yes.” Dave sighs. “I suspect that if they hadn’t built that fantastic house, Jamie would consider changing his mind. But they did build it, and they’re determined to live in it.”

“What’s your primary worry?”

He chooses his words carefully. “From listening to Pete, I think that he believes that once he and Steve are living in the same town, that they’ll grow much closer. That their relationship will mirror Jamie and Kevin’s. And… I have serious doubts about that.”

“Why?”

“You know, Val and I got to know Steve well during those three years that he was helping out with Colin’s homeschooling. He’s brilliant, and he was a wonderful teacher for Colin. But he is intensely focused on his work, and he’s not terribly interested in anything else.”

“Or anyone else?”

“Oh, he’s personable enough. I’m sure he can maneuver through social occasions on a surface level without raising any flags. But underneath, he’s always thinking about physics. He and Colin clicked so well because Colin understood him and wanted to learn more.”

I say, “Pete has no interest in physics.”

“No. And another issue…the main reason that Kevin and Jamie are so tight is that they’re so much alike. Not just in interests, but in personality. Pete and Steve share a few interests, but they are nothing alike in personality.” Dave sighs deeply. “I’m concerned that this will be just another disappointment for Pete.”

“Hm. It would help Pete to realize this before he and Jamie move.”

Dave gives me a look. “Yes. If you could arrange that…”

I smile. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you.” He points toward Jeff and Val’s house. “Here comes Colin.”

“Ah, good. I’ll say hello to him, then I’d better get moving.”

We stand as Colin approaches. I say, “Wow, he’s tall.”

“He’s a half inch taller than Jeff, and still growing.”

Colin steps onto the porch and lowers his backpack. I hold out my hand. “Hi, Colin. I’m Meg.”

He shakes my hand firmly. “Hi, Ms. Perry. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too. Grampa Dave and I were just reminiscing about when Steve Ferguson taught you science.”

“Oh, yeah. That was fun.”

“Are you still heading for CalTech?”

“No, ma’am.” Colin sits on the porch rail, dangling his feet. “Uncle Steve was kinda upset when I told him, I think.”

“You can’t worry about what other people want you to do. You have to travel your own path.”

“That’s what Dad said.”

“Smart man. So what’s your plan now?”

“Environmental engineering. The program at USC has a concentration in water management.” Colin spreads his hands. “Space is awesome, but most of us are stuck here on Earth, and there are serious problems to solve. The fires last year really made me think about the drought… The more I learn about environmental engineering, the more I want to do it.”

“That sounds amazing. Good for you.”

He grins shyly. “Thanks. I’m super excited about it.”

I grin back. “I can tell.”

We chat for a while longer, then Colin starts his homework. Dave walks me to the car. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thank you for having me. I’m so glad I finally had the chance to meet you. My readers love you.”

He laughs. “Do they?”

“Some of them wish they’d had you as a dad.”

“Well.” He doesn’t quite know how to respond to that. “I wish I could oblige. Anyway. Thank you for my family. I’m a lucky guy.”

“You’re welcome.” I shake his hand. “I’ll see you again.”

“I hope so.”

He waves as I drive away.