to recount that awful day.
“Mom! He promised!”
Mom sat across from me at the dinner table, staring at the ten unlit candles on the purple and pink masterpiece of a birthday cake she had spent the better part of the afternoon baking and decorating.
“I know, sweetie, but I’m sure he just got a late call and will be on his way soon.”
“Ugh!” I groaned, shoving away from the table. “Is it too much for me to ask that he be here when I make my wish?”
Mom got up from the table, grabbing my hand. “Let’s get our coats, Fal. We’ll go surprise him at the station like old times.”
I raced to the coatrack next to the front door, and within a minute I was in the front seat of our minivan, grinning as we pulled out of the driveway. As we started to pass through the last stoplight before the police station, we saw the flashing lights of a roadblock. There were tons of officers pacing around, a fire truck, and a few ambulances.
“Stay here,” Mom ordered as she pulled the van to the shoulder and started running toward the mob of first responders.
She ran into the arms of Sam, my father’s partner, and then fell to her knees, head in her hands. Without even realizing what was happening around me, I ran to her side.
“Mom?” She looked up with tears already streaming as she started to scream. She pulled at my coat, wrapping me in her arms as she sobbed. A gurney passed by me with an EMT straddling my father’s chest and performing CPR as they wheeled him to the ambulance.
“And that was it. The last time I ever saw my dad’s face. On my tenth birthday.”
I pushed my Caesar salad around the plate, avoiding the burning stare that I knew would be filled with pity. I hated pity; that shit was the worst.
“I’m sorry.” Dane’s hand found mine from across the table, and he slowly laced our fingers together. Those small words and his slight gesture gave more comfort than I had ever felt from anyone else, maybe because I knew that he understood what it truly meant to lose someone.
I leaned back in my seat, finally looking up at his beautifully smoky eyes. “It was a long time ago.”
He nodded, pulling his lips together tightly. “I know. And I know that the pain never really goes away.”
His voice was broken and his face displayed his pain.
“What about you, Dane? Tell me about you.”
DANE
There I was, sitting across from the woman of my dreams after she had finally opened up to me, and I was fucking frozen. I knew I needed to start talking sooner or later but I didn’t know where to start.
“My mom was a single mom too.”
Fallon’s face didn’t change while she stared at me. She just waited for me to continue.
“My dad left us when I was three and my sister, Leilani, was barely a year old. He was sick of my mom’s drug problems, and instead of sticking around to help his family, he ran like a fucking coward.”
My palms started to sweat while the anger that had festered in my gut for so long started to get the better of me.
Fallon’s voice brought my attention back to the present before the bad memories could start attacking me again. “Where’s your mom now?”
“Logan Correctional Center.” My words were flat and callous as they stained the air. It was all too bittersweet that my mom was locked up. I hated her for what she had done and for the accident, but she was still my mom and I missed the sober version of her that was a great mother, even though those moments were so few and far between. The air felt thick as silence blanketed us. I couldn’t find words to elaborate, and Fallon didn’t start in on the normal bullshit of cliché condolences and prying questions.
“Well…let’s move on then.” Fallon cleared her throat, sat up straighter, and refilled our glasses with red liquid courage. “What was this family gathering that Maverick’s father was talking about today?”
I had almost forgotten about the annual cookout that was coming up this weekend until
“Mom! He promised!”
Mom sat across from me at the dinner table, staring at the ten unlit candles on the purple and pink masterpiece of a birthday cake she had spent the better part of the afternoon baking and decorating.
“I know, sweetie, but I’m sure he just got a late call and will be on his way soon.”
“Ugh!” I groaned, shoving away from the table. “Is it too much for me to ask that he be here when I make my wish?”
Mom got up from the table, grabbing my hand. “Let’s get our coats, Fal. We’ll go surprise him at the station like old times.”
I raced to the coatrack next to the front door, and within a minute I was in the front seat of our minivan, grinning as we pulled out of the driveway. As we started to pass through the last stoplight before the police station, we saw the flashing lights of a roadblock. There were tons of officers pacing around, a fire truck, and a few ambulances.
“Stay here,” Mom ordered as she pulled the van to the shoulder and started running toward the mob of first responders.
She ran into the arms of Sam, my father’s partner, and then fell to her knees, head in her hands. Without even realizing what was happening around me, I ran to her side.
“Mom?” She looked up with tears already streaming as she started to scream. She pulled at my coat, wrapping me in her arms as she sobbed. A gurney passed by me with an EMT straddling my father’s chest and performing CPR as they wheeled him to the ambulance.
“And that was it. The last time I ever saw my dad’s face. On my tenth birthday.”
I pushed my Caesar salad around the plate, avoiding the burning stare that I knew would be filled with pity. I hated pity; that shit was the worst.
“I’m sorry.” Dane’s hand found mine from across the table, and he slowly laced our fingers together. Those small words and his slight gesture gave more comfort than I had ever felt from anyone else, maybe because I knew that he understood what it truly meant to lose someone.
I leaned back in my seat, finally looking up at his beautifully smoky eyes. “It was a long time ago.”
He nodded, pulling his lips together tightly. “I know. And I know that the pain never really goes away.”
His voice was broken and his face displayed his pain.
“What about you, Dane? Tell me about you.”
DANE
There I was, sitting across from the woman of my dreams after she had finally opened up to me, and I was fucking frozen. I knew I needed to start talking sooner or later but I didn’t know where to start.
“My mom was a single mom too.”
Fallon’s face didn’t change while she stared at me. She just waited for me to continue.
“My dad left us when I was three and my sister, Leilani, was barely a year old. He was sick of my mom’s drug problems, and instead of sticking around to help his family, he ran like a fucking coward.”
My palms started to sweat while the anger that had festered in my gut for so long started to get the better of me.
Fallon’s voice brought my attention back to the present before the bad memories could start attacking me again. “Where’s your mom now?”
“Logan Correctional Center.” My words were flat and callous as they stained the air. It was all too bittersweet that my mom was locked up. I hated her for what she had done and for the accident, but she was still my mom and I missed the sober version of her that was a great mother, even though those moments were so few and far between. The air felt thick as silence blanketed us. I couldn’t find words to elaborate, and Fallon didn’t start in on the normal bullshit of cliché condolences and prying questions.
“Well…let’s move on then.” Fallon cleared her throat, sat up straighter, and refilled our glasses with red liquid courage. “What was this family gathering that Maverick’s father was talking about today?”
I had almost forgotten about the annual cookout that was coming up this weekend until
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