that too often. “My father is one of the most honest motherfuckers you’d ever meet. He’s candid with and about himself, too. I respect that about him.”
“Is he one of those brutally honest sorts? Like you?” She winked at the man and smiled.
“Yeah. Like us.” He cut his eyes her way then focused back on the street.
“You got me there.” She slid one leg away from the dash, allowing her foot to slide halfway in her shoe.
“What about your father? Are you two cool?”
“Cool? Yeah, sorta. My father is an absolute trip. But I want you to finish telling me about your dad first. I promise to get into the story of mine.”
“Oh, all right. So, let’s see… Where was I?” He rubbed on his beard. “Oh yeah, he went through a few years of drinkin’ real heavy, pills, shit like that. Thankfully, I don’t believe he’s used in over twenty years, but that whole situation caused him to not think clearly, and so, he signed the papers, thinking it was for the best at the time. Of course, soon afterwards he wanted to contest it, sayin’ he wasn’t in his right mind, but with him having so many legal issues back then, he didn’t want to make the situation worse, fearing my mother would deny him visitation.”
“And that is why he doesn’t like you calling Chris dad, and you have some guilt about it, right? I mean, from what you’re describing you may have felt like you were being pulled in two different directions.”
King drew quiet, the air became denser. Seconds drifted away and his forehead wrinkled as if he were truly thinking hard about it, trying to come up with the proper answer.
“I guess, Suri. I don’t think about it a whole lot, but sometimes, yeah, I felt caught in the middle, between the two of them. Chris never tried to replace my father. He used to always tell me that I have the best of both worlds, but regardless, my biological dad had a little jealousy towards him.”
“Why? Because he was with your mother?”
“Oh, hell no!” They both burst out laughing.
“Well, damn! I guess that bridge was crossed, huh?”
“Yeah, my father has not wanted anything to do with my mother romantically since they officially split up. They used to go back and forth even after the divorce, but once they started dating other people, they both left each other alone. That’s a whole ’nother story. The reason he was jealous was because Chris is a doctor.”
“What kind of doctor?”
“Pediatrician. He has a private practice and also works in the E.R.”
She nodded in understanding.
“My dad never said he was jealous, but we all knew he was. Chris had bought a nice townhouse for us, shit like that. The stuff my father couldn’t do but wished he could. So, I wouldn’t necessarily say I feel guilt, just trying to keep the peace. I care about both of them and always wished they could get along. I had even thought they could all live in the same house together with me and my mother when I was kid.” She couldn’t help but smile. “My father is a bit of a hot head, real opinionated, lots of machismo. My mother would tell me growing up that I was just like him, but I really love my father and I love Chris, too. So, back to what I was sayin’ earlier. Once my dad got sober, he was real pissed about the adoption situation and never got over it, really. Even to this day. He can’t hate Chris, though. Chris is a good guy. He blames my mother for it. Said she took advantage of the situation knowin’ he was feeling sorry for himself and worthless at the time.”
“Isn’t it crazy how our parents do all of this shit, have all of this drama, these roller coaster emotions, and make all of these decisions that sometimes make absolutely no sense, but we’re the ones that get affected the most?”
“There definitely was a lot of drama.” He chuckled dismally. “Way too much at times.”
“And then, they look at us when we’re grown and tell them it wasn’t all peaches and cream, and they’re like, ‘Whaaa?!” She looked about, making exaggerated gestures to play the role and causing him to crack up. “What’s wrong with you, child? You had it good!’” She rolled her eyes and giggled, thoughts of her past spinning like gears in her mind.
“I didn’t have that experience. I mean, there