shattered heart. I thought about callin’ her, or stoppin’ by to check on her, but I don’t want to add insult to injury. So I send her a couple text messages, but get no reply. She’ll let me know when she’s ready to talk.
Today is Heidi Jo’s weekly pit stop at the ice cream shop, so as soon as I pull into the driveway she is waitin’ on me. Standin’ on the front porch in her pink sparkly tutu, and her hair pulled to the side in a knotted messy pony tail, I can see she has been playin’ dress up, again. She is bouncin’ up and down, full of excitement, ready to conquer her rocky rode treat.
“Daddy, Daddy, I’ve been so good all day! I listened to my teacher at school, I did my homework, and helped Mamaw with the dishes, picked up my dolls. Can we please hurry and go get some rocky rode ice cream, now, please, please, oh please?!” She shrills as she latches her chubby little arms around my waist. Liftin’ her, and spinnin’ her around, I lay a light kiss on her nose before settin’ her down.
“Sweetie, let me get a shower, you don’t wanna go out with your daddy looking like this, now do ya?” I tease her.
Poppin’ her hip to the side, she crosses her arms and says with a cocky little grin, “Daddy, I don’t ever care if you’re covered in coal, but Carly Jo probably thinks you’re cuter when you’re clean. So go get a shower, stinky butt.”
Damn I didn’t expect that. Buyin’ myself some time, I kiss her on the top of the head before I ruffle her messy hair, then turn to go inside to shower. Heidi Jo took a likin’ to Carly Jo last week, and she’s talked non-stop about her. I walk into the kitchen, and greet Momma with a kiss, before she shoos me away, complainin’ about me trackin’ coal and soot through the house. I hurry down the hall to the bathroom, to get cleaned up.
Washin’ away the day’s hard work of diggin’ away at the earth, minin’ black gold from the mountains, I watch as the black stained suds rinse down the drain. I rest my head against the shower wall, as the hot water beads down my back. I have tried to push Carly Jo out of mind over the last week, but every mornin’ when I open my eyes, she’s the first thing I see. With every thought that runs through my mind, she’s there. I can’t turn away from her, I love her too much. But I don’t know how to move forward from here. We both have a lot of heartache that we need to heal from, but maybe we need to battle our own demons before we collide our worlds together.
Turnin’ the shower off, I step out and dry off. After gettin’ dressed, I find Heidi Jo sittin’ at the kitchen table colorin’ a picture. “Ready for some rocky rode ice cream, baby girl?”
She shakes her head, as she continues to color, “Not yet, Daddy, I’m almost finished with Carly Jo’s picture. You’re just gonna have to wait.” Damn, I was really hopin’ she would get this idea out of her mind.
“Princess, I was thinkin’ we would go for ice cream tonight, just you and me like always. We’ll go see Carly Jo some other time, okay?” She shakes her head again, as she grips the crayon tighter, making darker shades of yellow for the rays of the sun in her portrait. “What are you drawin’ anyways?”
She continues her art, ignorin’ me. I can tell that she’s gettin’ frustrated, so I give her a couple more minutes to finish her picture. As I sit and watch her color, I see that she has drawn a picture of a little girl on a swing, and a woman pushin’ the swing from behind. I smile, because I know that this is a picture of her and Carly Jo.
Layin’ the crayon down, Heidi Jo looks up at me with swelled chocolate eyes, and tears the size of rain drops slidin’ down her face. Pickin’ her up, I sit her down in my lap, and ask her what’s wrong. She cries for a few minutes, and I let her. After her cries have softened, she climbs out of my lap, grabs the picture then goes to the livin’ room to slide on her flip
Today is Heidi Jo’s weekly pit stop at the ice cream shop, so as soon as I pull into the driveway she is waitin’ on me. Standin’ on the front porch in her pink sparkly tutu, and her hair pulled to the side in a knotted messy pony tail, I can see she has been playin’ dress up, again. She is bouncin’ up and down, full of excitement, ready to conquer her rocky rode treat.
“Daddy, Daddy, I’ve been so good all day! I listened to my teacher at school, I did my homework, and helped Mamaw with the dishes, picked up my dolls. Can we please hurry and go get some rocky rode ice cream, now, please, please, oh please?!” She shrills as she latches her chubby little arms around my waist. Liftin’ her, and spinnin’ her around, I lay a light kiss on her nose before settin’ her down.
“Sweetie, let me get a shower, you don’t wanna go out with your daddy looking like this, now do ya?” I tease her.
Poppin’ her hip to the side, she crosses her arms and says with a cocky little grin, “Daddy, I don’t ever care if you’re covered in coal, but Carly Jo probably thinks you’re cuter when you’re clean. So go get a shower, stinky butt.”
Damn I didn’t expect that. Buyin’ myself some time, I kiss her on the top of the head before I ruffle her messy hair, then turn to go inside to shower. Heidi Jo took a likin’ to Carly Jo last week, and she’s talked non-stop about her. I walk into the kitchen, and greet Momma with a kiss, before she shoos me away, complainin’ about me trackin’ coal and soot through the house. I hurry down the hall to the bathroom, to get cleaned up.
Washin’ away the day’s hard work of diggin’ away at the earth, minin’ black gold from the mountains, I watch as the black stained suds rinse down the drain. I rest my head against the shower wall, as the hot water beads down my back. I have tried to push Carly Jo out of mind over the last week, but every mornin’ when I open my eyes, she’s the first thing I see. With every thought that runs through my mind, she’s there. I can’t turn away from her, I love her too much. But I don’t know how to move forward from here. We both have a lot of heartache that we need to heal from, but maybe we need to battle our own demons before we collide our worlds together.
Turnin’ the shower off, I step out and dry off. After gettin’ dressed, I find Heidi Jo sittin’ at the kitchen table colorin’ a picture. “Ready for some rocky rode ice cream, baby girl?”
She shakes her head, as she continues to color, “Not yet, Daddy, I’m almost finished with Carly Jo’s picture. You’re just gonna have to wait.” Damn, I was really hopin’ she would get this idea out of her mind.
“Princess, I was thinkin’ we would go for ice cream tonight, just you and me like always. We’ll go see Carly Jo some other time, okay?” She shakes her head again, as she grips the crayon tighter, making darker shades of yellow for the rays of the sun in her portrait. “What are you drawin’ anyways?”
She continues her art, ignorin’ me. I can tell that she’s gettin’ frustrated, so I give her a couple more minutes to finish her picture. As I sit and watch her color, I see that she has drawn a picture of a little girl on a swing, and a woman pushin’ the swing from behind. I smile, because I know that this is a picture of her and Carly Jo.
Layin’ the crayon down, Heidi Jo looks up at me with swelled chocolate eyes, and tears the size of rain drops slidin’ down her face. Pickin’ her up, I sit her down in my lap, and ask her what’s wrong. She cries for a few minutes, and I let her. After her cries have softened, she climbs out of my lap, grabs the picture then goes to the livin’ room to slide on her flip
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