Part II; Chapter 5
Autumn 2025
By the time summer had ended, my days seemed to bleed together into one massive day of work, soccer practice, making dinner, cleaning up, keeping the house tidy, grocery shopping, keeping the lawn neat, other errands, and somehow finding time to sleep. I was thankful for school to start the first week of September, reducing the amount of hours I would work at Sinclare’s, though a full course load of Advanced Placement classes, music lessons in the fall semester and soccer in the spring, I wasn’t sure how I was going to fit it all in. With Junia and Abe still at Uncle Tay and Aunt Natalie’s after three months, I at least didn’t need to clean or grocery shop as much, and I was able to focus my energy on Dad.
He still wasn’t talking to me very much, but he was at least becoming more responsive, using words rather than the guttural noises of a cave man. His interest in eating had increased, as well, though he seemed more inclined to eat the frozen meals I had picked up than any of the things Aunt Natalie brought over once a week. Happy he was eating anything at all, I didn’t dare mention all the sodium he was ingesting.
On my way to work Friday afternoon of the first week of school, I brought Dad his TV dinner. When I opened the door, I saw him sitting on the edge of his made bed, staring out the window. “How long have they been gone?” He inquired, not even bothering to look at me. A little bird was just poking its head above the rim of its nest outside the window.
I set his tray down next to him before answering. “Ten weeks,” I paused to watch his reaction. His eyes widened slightly, indicating mild surprise, but the soft, pained chuckle that escaped his lips seem to say he had known exactly how long it had been. “I can have them come home, if you want. Abe’s been asking, and I know Junia wouldn’t mind her own bed…”
Dad just shook his head, a few strands of his shaggy hair falling from the messy ponytail at the nape of his neck. “Why didn’t you leave, too?”
“Why would I have?”
Finally, Dad turned to face me, his eyes wet and red-rimmed from tears. “Because I did.”