Ghost Flowers

23. Cully's Father's Day

After only half an hour, Cully was annoyed at Simone and Rodney's house. Her dad appeared to be suffering from a hangover. It seemed like the baby was constantly crying. Additionally, she found it hard to speak alone with Simone.

Maureen was still out of town for work. Troy spent the night at Nick's, and his family invited him to the waterpark in Clear Water. Nick's family knew how Troy felt lately with the new baby and his parents fighting more. They wanted to do what they could for him. Even Michael didn't seem to care if Troy was there to celebrate Father's Day with him.

For the last five minutes, Cully gave Simone the parent signal. Since they were kids, they used a hand signal to tell each other when they needed to say something in secret. Finally, Simone noticed it after she got Jackson settled down for a nap.

"Rodney, why don't you take dad outside and show him your new lawn mower?" Simone looked over at her husband.

Michael groaned. He didn't want anyone to know he was hungover, even though it was apparent to them all. Being back out into the sun would make his headache even worse. After getting a glass of water, he slowly followed Rodney outside. He squinted against the bright sunlight. He knew he had to act like everything was okay but he struggled.

Once the men stepped outside, Cully sat beside Simone on their white couch. She thought having a white sofa with a baby was a horrible idea. But oh well, not her house.

Two years ago, her long-time boyfriend, Rodney, proposed on Simone's high school graduation day. They got married later that year. Not long after, they discovered Simone was pregnant. They bought their first home a few months later. They lived on the other side of Unity, towards Sumner.

"You see how dad is?" Cully asked Simone.

Simone answered, "Yeah, I didn't think he drank anymore."

"Yeah, well, that's mom all the time." Cully explained.

Simone rolled her eyes. "Don't exaggerate Cully."

"Ask dad if you want. The past few months, Mom has been coming home late almost every night. She goes out and drinks after work. She's been driving like that." Cully was getting upset at Simone for not taking her seriously.

"Mom seemed fine to me at the hospital." Simone pulled her blonde hair back and picked up a magazine from the coffee table. She looked a lot like Maureen.

"That's because I made sure she drank lots of coffee and water." Cully put her hand over the magazine and pushed it down. "I'm serious Simone. Something's wrong. They barely talk. If they do, they're fighting. Dad is miserable. Now, it looks like he's drinking too." Cully paused and mumbled. "I even had to tell him to stop flirting with Savana."

Simone froze. "He was what?"

Cully leaned back into the couch. "He was flirting with Savana. I told her to stop flirting too. I hate that everyone thinks our dad is hot."

"You need to watch your friend," Simone warned.

"What do you mean?" Cully asked.

Simone sighed and set the magazine back on the coffee table. She checked to see if their dad was still outside with Rodney. She could see them through the patio doors. Rodney drove his new lawn mower out of the shed, and Michael looked like he would pass out from the loud noise.

"When I was in high school, the girls talked about dad all the time. I know how annoying it is. One of my best friends, Laurel, was the worst. She flirted with him whenever she came over and wasn't afraid to make it obvious." Simone explained.

"That sounds familiar." Cully folded her arms.

"Well, you need to make sure it really stops. Because after we graduated, Laurel went into the bar and started hitting on him. He was drunk and they ended up making out. Someone saw them and told mom," Simone said.

"No! What the fuck? So dad cheated on mom?" Cully felt sick. It couldn't be true.

"Mom was pissed. I heard them arguing about it the next day. A few days later I asked Laurel about it. She admitted it and said she'd do it again. So, I punched her in the face and said if she ever came near dad again, I'd do worse." Simone straightened.

Cully was amazed. "You're a badass." She actually thought her sister and Savana were a lot alike.

"She must have thought so too. I haven't seen her around since." Simone smiled. "The fucking slut."

Cully frowned. "What about dad though? He's flirting back, doesn't that seem creepy?"

"No, he's just being polite. And he was really drunk when she kissed him. She pretty much assaulted him." Simone explained.

"Okay, but get this. Mom didn't even know dad wasn't home the other night. She wasn't home when I got back the next morning. And Troy said he didn't see mom the night before or the next day. I think mom spent the night somewhere." Cully explained as she tried to keep her voice down.

"Did dad say anything? Did he ask mom about it?" Simone asked.

"Well, no, I don't think so," Cully said.

"There you go. Nothing to worry about. Mom probably just forgot about dad going there or something." Simone tried to calm Cully down.

Cully wanted to believe it was all a misunderstanding. But she was still suspicious of something else going on.

"Just keep an eye on Savana. It's girls like that who are the reason they're called 'homewreckers'." Simone picked up the magazine again.

Moments later, Rodney and Michael stepped inside. Rodney closed the door a little too hard. Michael flinched and held his head. Then they heard the baby start crying again.

"That was on you." Simone pointed at Rodney. "You put him back to sleep."

Rodney sighed and walked into the baby's room. Michael sat down in the recliner and leaned back. He hadn't had this bad a hangover in a few years. Michael remembered what had happened the last time. It was the worst fight he and Maureen had ever had.

It was a fool thing to do to get involved with that slut, Laurel. Last night, he almost made the same mistake with Savana. But Maureen wouldn't look at him anymore. He was so lonely. He just wanted to be wanted.