Daddy

by Jack Harbon

  Arthur thankfully didn’t seem to be too put off by his stream of consciousness. He nodded thoughtfully and scratched his thick beard as he listened. “In my experience, I’ve found that the best place to learn more about this dynamic is speaking with others that have done it. I’m also happy to answer any questions that you may have. I’m sure you’re full of them.”

  His smile put Mateo at ease. Hell, the man could’ve asked for Mateo’s banking information, social security, and the PIN number to his debit card and Mateo would’ve handed them over with starry eyes. Quickly, he regained his focus. They were here to talk business, first and foremost.

  “Well, I guess my biggest question is what’s in this for you? I understand why people in my position would do this, but I don’t get why you would?”

  Arthur thought for a moment, drawing circles over the brim of his empty wine glass. “I like to think of it this way. When I was growing up, before I took over the company, my parents were extremely tight with money. They wanted their kids to grow up understanding the value of a dollar. My friends, on the other hand, were spoiled rotten. Anything they wanted, they had. Because of how I was raised, I never had spare money to go out with them. They wanted me around, so they offered to pay. And the more this happened, the less weird it became. To them, money was no object. What was more important was being around me and the rest of our friends. They were willing to pay whatever it took to have us all together.”

  It was starting to make sense to Mateo, and he nodded slowly. Valerie, in a way, had been his sugar mama. She never hesitated to foot the bill whenever they went out to clubs, nor did she flinch when the bill came back at restaurants she’d invited Rob and Mateo to. She never threw it in their faces, either. All she cared about was having her friends close by.

  Mateo frowned. “But like, why me? I mean, you don’t even know me. What makes you want to spend your money on me?”

  “For one, you make me laugh. All day long, I deal with people that have nothing to talk about besides business. Which business they’re acquiring, what the stock market is looking like, so on and so forth. We don’t talk about anything like that. And you’re quite attractive, Mateo. I like to spend time around beautiful people.”

  “Oh.” He wanted to curse at himself for being so weak to compliments. In his defense, he usually got told he was handsome by forty-something-year-old women trying to hook him up with their daughters, not guys like Arthur. Men with more money than they knew what to do with and smiles that could light up a room.

  “What about, y’know, intimate stuff?” He couldn’t bring himself to say it outright. Even in this day and age, it was taboo to talk about.

  “You mean sex?”

  Mateo swallowed a piece of ice from his glass and coughed. “Yeah. Yeah…sex. Like, do I have to sleep with you? A lot of the guys I’ve talked to on this app have propositioned me, and that’s not something I’m comfortable with. I usually tell them to find another guy.”

  Arthur smiled softly, clearly amused by his question. “I’ll be upfront and say that I’ve had sex with some of the men I’ve had arrangements with. I’ve also had arrangements with men that I never once touched. I’m not going to sit here and say that I would turn you down if you were to offer, but what’s more important to me is that you offer. I’m aware of the power imbalance. Many of the men on SweetDates use it as a means to solicit sex, and I’m not interested in that. I’m interested in getting to know you. Spending time with you. Helping you with whatever money you may need, too. That’s what friends do, right?”

  “Friends.” Mateo still couldn’t wrap his head around this, but maybe it was because he’d never been in Arthur’s shoes. If he was worth millions and bills weren’t a concern of his, he was sure he’d be spoiling his friends rotten. Regular weekend trips across the country and the best food money could buy. What was the point of having all the funds in the world if he couldn’t share it with people he cared about?

  “Friends,” Arthur said, raising his glass. He took a long sip, and Mateo watched his Adam’s apple bob. He even made drinking water seem sophisticated. Damn him.

  Arthur waited until their food was placed in front of them and their wine glasses were filled before he said, “Now, there’s one last thing I think we should talk about. Your allowance.”

  “Oh, right.” In trying to comprehend this weird new relationship he and Arthur had, he’d forgotten why Valerie had signed him up in the first place. “How do you do the whole allowance thing?”

  “Every daddy is different. I prefer to do something monthly. How much would you say you make working at your job right now?”

  “Um…maybe two grand a month?”

  Arthur nodded. “How would you like to make five times that?”

  “Yeah, right,” Mateo said, rolling his eyes. Arthur didn’t flinch or crack a smile. “Wait, are you serious?”

  “Mateo, money is not a problem for me. I have more than I need. I saw on your profile that you were wanting to go back to school, and I think ten thousand a month would be more than enough to help you save for tuition and books.”

  “This is…” He didn’t have the words for just how ridiculous all of this was. Valerie was only using this app for feet pictures when she could’ve been making this kind of money? “Arthur, that’s too much. Way too much. I’d never be able to explain that to my mom. Never in a million years.”

  “I wouldn’t feel comfortable with anything less, Mateo. After all, I’m going to be pulling you away from your life at a moment’s notice to accompany me on trips, or wherever you’d like to visit. And you don’t have to explain anything to her. I can put it in a private bank account for you, that way you’ll have enough for emergencies and whatnot. Is that better?”

  Mateo wanted to argue that hell no, it wasn’t better. He’d never seen that much money in his life, and a stranger he’d met online was offering it to him like it was spare change. This wasn’t real, he decided. None of this was real. “I don’t…”

  “We don’t have to decide on anything right now, okay?” Arthur’s voice softened, and he reached out a hand, cupping Mateo’s. His large fingers stroked over Mateo’s knuckles, and the younger man felt the hairs on his arms stand up. He pulled his gaze from their hands up to Arthur.

  “Okay. Just let me think on it. Is that okay?”

  “Of course.” He wrapped his hand around Mateo’s and gently squeezed. “We can talk about this later. For now, I’m interested in you. Tell me about yourself. Tell me who Mateo Rosales is.”

  Mateo tried not to let the spotlight make him sweat. He’d never been good at introductions, but it came easy talking about his family. He kept certain things private, like his father’s illness and the death of his older brother, but for the most part, he put it all on the table. He was the third parent of the house, and at times he felt like he even had to take care of his mother. Arthur listened intently, grinning from ear to ear when Mateo told stories of his siblings bickering over who got to spend time with him first whenever he’d get off work.

  “They sound adorable,” Arthur said.

  “They really are. I actually have a picture right here.” He pulled his phone out and scrolled through his gallery until he found the right one. Amira had taken it, standing in front of the television as all three of them climbed on top of him.

  “Wow, your parents made a ton of clones. You all look identical.”

  Mateo couldn’t keep from smiling at the picture. It had been one of the few good days in recent memory where nothing bad had happened. No fighting, no yelling, just the joy of spending time with the people he loved. Whenever he felt down, he always stared at the image to make himself feel better.

  Arthur finished his meal first and wiped his mouth with his napkin. Mateo knew he wouldn’t be able to finish, but he turned down a to-go box. He’d told his mother he was with Valerie at McDonald’s. He couldn’t come strolling in with a box from some place in the ritzy part of town.

  “All done
?” Arthur asked when Mateo placed his fork on the plate. He nodded and took another sip from his water. “Should we get going then? I have something planned for dessert.”

  “Sure,” he said. Mateo pulled a mint from his pocket and popped it in his mouth. He played with the hem of his shirt while Arthur dug through his wallet and dropped a few hundreds on the table. Mateo shook his head at the sight. Once they were outside, Arthur led him across the street and down a few buildings until they were left standing in front of a candy store. Through the bright windows, he saw swirls of colors and jar after jar of chocolates, gummies, and more.

  “Would you like to go inside?” Arthur asked, amused by the look of wonder on Mateo’s face. Mateo nodded and looked back at him with a grin.

  “I’ve never been to one. We have one in the mall but it’s kinda janky.”

  “You’ve never been to a candy store? Well, you better get in there then,” Arthur chuckled. He held the door open and followed the younger man inside. Mateo was blasted with a cool breeze of air and the upbeat sound of pop music. It took all he had not to run around and toss candy into his mouth left and right. Instead, he smiled at the older man working the counter and looked at the section of the store intended for measuring the weight of candy bags the customers filled. He glanced at the pricing per pound and winced. It was higher than he’d imagined.

  “Get whatever size you want,” Arthur said from behind him.

  “It’s like fifteen bucks for one pound,” he said, fully prepared to leave and find someplace cheaper. Arthur gave him a look.

  “Mateo, pick whatever you want. And you should get something for your brothers and sister, too. I know they wouldn’t want to miss out on this,” Arthur said. He had a point. There would be no place to hide all the candy, and his siblings loved sweets more than they loved him.

  “Okay. You should get something too. Then we can trade stuff,” he offered, looking up at him.

  “It’s a deal.”

  Mateo smiled wide and reached for some cellophane bags. He moved down the aisles filling his bags with various types of candy, making sure to put big pieces in a bag for Salome so she didn’t choke, plenty of chocolate for Victor, and an even amount of chocolate and fruity candy for Tomas. In his own bag, he layered his candy like an expert. He didn’t want two sour types back to back and put down a cleansing flavor between them.

  After fifteen minutes, he and Arthur regrouped at the counter. The man working raised his eyebrows at all the candy they’d picked out. “You two better not eat all this at once!” he warned them.

  “You have a nice night, sir,” Arthur said to the cashier after swiping his card.

  “Thank you!” Mateo said. He placed his siblings’ individual bags inside of a larger one and pulled his and Arthur’s out. They took a seat on one of the benches outside of the store and got comfortable.

  “Alright, let’s see what the candy connoisseur has picked out first,” Arthur said. He watched Mateo pull out a piece of candy and sighed in defeat. In the palm of Mateo’s hand was a gummy in the shape of a red heart. “How did you know these were my favorite?”

  “I didn’t, but…lucky guess?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Taste it. Tell me that’s not the best candy in the world.”

  Mateo took a tentative bite, scrunching his face up as he decided whether he liked it or not. “You know what? That’s not that bad, actually. I like it.” He tossed it into the air and caught it in his mouth, smiling confidently.

  “Wow, hidden talents. Any other tricks you can do with your mouth that I should know about?”

  Mateo shot him a look. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” The two of them laughed. When they settled down, Arthur tried his hand at it, tossing up a piece of candy. Rather than landing in his mouth, it bounced off his large nose and fell to the ground.

  “Whoops,” he said. “This damn beak gets in the way again.”

  “Two points for trying,” Mateo said. “Alright, my turn now. I’ll catch it.”

  Arthur dug into his bag and pulled out a gummy worm. He tossed it up underhand and watched as Mateo caught it flawlessly. He clapped, clearly impressed by his food-catching skills. “You’re gonna have to teach me your ways.”

  “You should be so lucky.”

  5

  GQ DADDY

  “Ten thousand American dollars?” Rob cried incredulously. Mateo rarely saw him this animated, and he fell back on his friend’s bed laughing. “Stop laughing, bro. Seriously, ten thousand dollars?”

  “Seriously,” Mateo said when he caught his breath. “That’s what he said.”

  Across Rob’s room, Valerie checked herself out in the full-length mirror. She looked at their reflections and said, “Not even I manage to get that much. Does Arthur have any brothers that are also looking to spoil someone? Because I’m more than happy to quit my busted ass job at the mall.”

  Mateo thought back to what Arthur had said about his parents. “I think he might have one other sibling, but I don’t know if it’s a guy.”

  “Wouldn’t be my first time,” Valerie said with a shrug.

  Rob held up a hand. “First of all, you out here eating box, Val? And second, why are neither of you losing your shit about this money? This guy has to be a freak or something. Normal people don’t just throw random money at people like this.”

  “I’m also freaking out, Rob,” Mateo reminded him. “I haven’t accepted the offer, yet. I don’t know if I could.”

  Simultaneously, Rob and Valerie turned to look at him as if he’d lost his mind. Valerie was the first to speak. “Bitch, are you dumb?”

  Then came Rob. “Are you a fucking clown?”

  Mateo’s jaw dropped. “Okay, chill out, both of you? That’s a lot of money! That’s not the kind of thing that you just sign up for without serious consideration.”

  He’d spent the past week tying himself into knots over this offer. On one hand, he needed the money badly. That kind of income could turn his family’s life around fast. He could get a working car for his mother so that she didn’t have to walk to her job every day. He could finally hand down his bike to Tomas too. There would be food on the table. It wouldn’t be a guessing game whether they’d have enough for rent every month.

  But this also meant that Arthur had something over him. Not only was he much older, but he had more resources. All the horror stories Mateo read online made him more than just a bit wary of agreeing to this. He stopped both of his friends from jumping down his throat to voice these concerns.

  “He has a point,” Valerie said. “But I also think that this Arthur guy sounds kind of legit. He seems like someone who’s looking for genuine connections and not just a bit of ass from local twinks.”

  Mateo scrunched his face up. “I’ve been working on these abs regularly. I’m closer to a hunk than a twink.”

  “What the fuck is a twink?” Rob asked.

  “God, you’re straight,” Val muttered.

  Mateo rolled his eyes and said, “It doesn’t matter. What matters is whether or not I’m ready for this kind of commitment.”

  “Matty, I love you and I know you’re being cautious, but you need to stop putting a question mark where God put a period, okay? You have the chance to change your life. To change your family’s life. Arthur is a seemingly decent guy, and he has no problem giving you the help you need. Plus, you get to go on dates with a millionaire, and he’s not even one of the crusty old ones. He’s GQ Daddy, that’s what he is.”

  “GQ Daddy,” Rob snorted. “I’mma make that my rapper name. I’ll shout you out for the idea, Val. Paid in promo.”

  “I can’t wait for all seven of your SoundCloud followers to listen to your next track,” she retorted.

  Mateo collapsed on Rob’s bed again, tuning out the sound of his friends going back and forth with their petty insults. He had more important things on his plate to think about anyway. What if Rob and Valerie were right? This made sense. The perfect solution to all his problems was right in f
ront of him. All he had to do was say yes and agree to this bizarre arrangement.

  If he could only stay out of his head long enough to actually say the word…

  *

  Mateo could sense something was wrong the moment he got to the bottom of the stairs outside of his apartment. Most Saturdays he could hear his siblings playing just a bit too loud, but the noises coming from inside were different. They felt wrong. Hastily, he bounded up the stairs and shuffled through his pockets to find his key. He unlocked the door and swung it open.

  His father Sergio stood in the living room, a baseball bat in his hand and rage plastered all over his face. Amira gaped up at him. Mateo moved into action, yanking his headphones from his ears and dropping his phone to the ground. He sprinted forward to separate them.

  “What’s going on?” he cried, pushing the two away from one another. He spotted his siblings in the bedroom staring at him. “Close the door and get in the closet, Tomas,” he ordered. The boy obeyed, shutting the door.

  “He thinks I’m his sister,” she said in a shaky voice. That was very, very bad. Sergio’s sister Louisa had been a troublemaker all throughout his childhood. She’d been the reason for their parents’ high blood pressure, and when he’d needed help, she’d always had an excuse for why she couldn’t assist him. She had been selfish, and despite his claims, Mateo knew his father had hated the woman. Mateo looked at Sergio and put his arms up to show he was empty-handed.

  “Papa, put the bat down, okay?”

  “No,” he growled, stepping closer. “Louisa thinks she can kick me out so her boyfriend can move in…” He muttered the rest in Spanish, his eyes narrowing at his son.

  “Louisa is dead, Papa! You’re scaring us, okay? Please, put—”