NOWHERE LEFT • Peter Parker

fifteen •

"After that Foo Fighter's song?"

May 2025

Cecilia wasn't entirely proud of it, but she had managed to track her father down by his scent and his heartbeat. And once she realized where he was the guilt only felt heavier, of course he would need to talk to someone. And perhaps she needed to also, but the advice she received in the church was never the advice she was looking for.

Sister Maggie caught Cecilia's eyes over her father's shoulder, and despite Cecilia's slight distaste for the woman, she felt relieved to know that he had someone that he could trust to talk to.

Cecilia watched as her father's shoulders tensed and his words stopped coming. His fingers wrapped tightly around the cane in his hand as his stare was forward. The church cafeteria was empty, thankfully, Cecilia had a feeling she was in trouble and she didn't need the orphan children to hear her get yelled at.

Sister Maggie stood to her feet and approached the young woman with a soft smile. Cecilia didn't want to hate the woman, she just couldn't help but feel the same way about her that she did her mother, and that wasn't exactly pleasant. Yet she always managed to keep a polite attitude toward her whenever they interacted.

"It seems you take after his stubbornness doesn't it?" The nun asked as she held out her arm for Cecilia to take. The college student sighed before she accepted and allowed her to walk them over to sit across from Matthew.

The family of three sat in awkward silence, Cecilia not knowing what to say, Matthew having too much that he wanted to say, and Maggie ready to intervene when a line was crossed as she was sure it would be.

The stained glass windows cast a red glow across the room catching the father and daughter perfectly in its rays, the distance between them feeling greater than it had in years. Cecilia knew that her father was angry, and he had every right to be.

"Do you know why I named you Cecilia?" The lawyer finally spoke as his daughter shifted anxiously. That wasn't what she had been expecting but she was certain there was a reason.

"After that Foo Fighters song?" Cecilia asked causing Maggie to snort in amusement but she quickly covered it with her hand. Matt chuckled lightly as he recalled all the times they would play that song when she was younger and he'd twirl her around the apartment.

"Saint Cecilia was the patron of music, of the only art I can truly enjoy, and when I first held you...I knew you were the most beautiful and pure thing I'd ever experience for the rest of my life. I didn't deserve you then, and I definitely don't deserve you now," Matt began, his words soft even though she knew he was angry.

"Arise, soldiers of Christ, throw away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light," Cecilia quoted from memory, both Maggie and Matt's eyes widened slightly. It seemed her time in Sunday School truly did pay off.

"Why didn't you tell me about Fisk?" Matthew questioned. Cecilia rolled her bottom lip between her teeth as she adverted her eyes down to the cup of tea that her grandmother had placed before her.

"Because it's not fair that he's out again, it's not fair because you've managed to build a happier life since then. And he just gets to come back and ruin it!?" Cecilia questioned, her voice strained with emotion. She knew that her father's life had been nothing but difficult, and he deserved to rest. He deserved a chance at being happy and normal.