Ethically Speaking

1.8

•- Quincie Jackson -•

Dinner had been served.

I sit at the large table in our backyard as string lights hang above casting a sort of ambiance as the sound of guests talking and forks clicking against the salad plates fill the empty silence.

The table was long and outstretched across the majority of our back patio. Everyone was seated in a way that echoed their importance to my father. While Lucy and Junior were off at the kid's table, I was sat adjacent to my mother while my father sat at the head of the table rather dramatically. Grace was to my right and the boys were beside her. The list went on, shifting through professors and departments until reaching the end where the group of drunks sat to leave the rest undisturbed.

What shocked me with the seating chart in mind was that Elijah, who I hadn't seen since earlier, was seated beside my mother and across from Grace. He was hardly as important as my father's best friend as one would think yet he was even further down the line with my past professors sitting closer to the front.

While I was internally questioning my father's motives, he rises with a clinking knife to his wine glass.

The chatter silences and we all pay close attention as he vegans his evening speech.

"I am thankful to be in the company of like-minded individuals who share a passion for philosophy. It is truly an event I look forward to hosting every year!" My father smiles kindly and it was always nice to see, "I'd like to thank you all for coming and I would like to say I am pleasantly surprised by the debates this year. We've outdone ourselves."

He was referring to the scholastic conversations he'd have with at least every gentleman here. He was so old fashioned that even though his daughter, me, was a philosophy major, he chose only the men to cater to for the evening and invite back to his study once the party ended.

It was disturbing to see a man who read about people challenging science and social norms yet he caved to the worst of them all.

Still, I had no say in the matter and speech only continued.

"I would like to thank my beautiful wife for her wonderful organizational skills, and my children," he looks to the kids' table before glancing at Grace and me, "All four of them," he winks to Grace who immediately covers her mouth in disbelief.

My father and Grace had a rocky relationship. She wasn't what he expected as she challenged everything in his lifestyle. She dyed her hair against his wishes when we were teens and he didn't speak to her for days before finally caving. Despite this, he always treated her like his own and even paid for her tuition. She argues she'll pay him back but when that day comes he will refuse until she caves. It was their thing.

Taking Grace in when we were younger have him another daughter to love and even though he never outright said it until tonight, we all knew Grace was family.

With this in mind, I take her hand in mine and she squeezes it tight before leaning her head on my chest.

"I am proud of my two girls over here, Grace and Quincie. Both are battling their ways through the struggles of college and are doing a phenomenal job. I'd like to say they got it from me but it's their own drive that pushes them further. Grace has just won a spot at a local art gallery showcasing her paintings and I encourage you all to see her artistic brilliance. And Quincie has secured a spot on a research project with Dr. Elijah Fields. Graduate work in her junior year? I am at a loss for words."

I lean my head on Grace's as we receive compliments from my father. He saved this speech for tonight and otherwise would not congratulate us on our successes but even so, it felt wonderful to be appreciated.