"You never told me about your father." Oliver's explanation took them through another pint.
"Something else," Mark said. "You're lucky. My father was a drunk—took off when I was pretty young. He was hard on my mom."
"Do you ever see him?"
"No. She heard that he died a few years ago."
"Too bad," Oliver said.
"I don't know what his problem was," Mark said. "My mom said that he had a bad time in the Korean War. But . . ."
"How's your mom doing?"
"Fine. She's got a boyfriend with a bike. They tool around Albuquerque, have a good time."
"Love it! Look, I'm out of here."
"See you," Mark said.