One Detention Saved My Life

Chapter 5

My eyes flutter open, to reveal that I'm laying on a tan sofa. My head feels cold, almost as if someone put an ice pack on it. I see Dad sitting in a tan chair right next to me.
"Tim, you're awake. I was so worried about you. Kelly is a nurse and said you were going to be fine, but I still had my doubts."
"Where is Kelly?" I ask, looking around.
I winch. My head is still pretty sore. And knocking off what I now know is an ice pack off my head only makes the pain worse.
"Woah, whoah, whoah, take it easy, Tim. I told Kelly to go home. I said I could handle you myself."
I look up at Dad's face, it's black and blue from where I hit him.
"I-I h-hurt you. . . I'm a monster!"
"My face doesn't even hurt that bad."
"Liar! What are you going to say when people ask about your face?"
"I'll tell them that I fell down a flight of stairs."
I laugh. "You really think they will buy that story?"
"If they don't I'll tell them to mind their own business."
"If that suits you. Anyway, I have to study for a test that I have tomorrow."
I start to to get up off the couch, but dad puts his hand on my chest to stop me. I'm too weak to fight.
"Let me get off this sofa. I have a test tomorrow!"
"You're not going to school tomorrow. I think it's best for you to take it easy, and heck maybe tomorrow you and I could do some baking."
"Don't you have to work?"
"I talked with my assistant manager and asked if he could take my place tomorrow, and he said yes. Kelly said I needed to be a more supportive father, and she's absolutely right. In your lifetime Tim, you'll learn that women are always right."
"I already know. Five years ago I fell in love. Her name was Chelsea. She had just moved to Erie because her parents had inherited a house."
"Five years ago you would have been in fifth grade. You didn't know what true love was."
"Don't interpret me. This is my story to tell."
Dad, nods his head as if to say go on.
"Well, one day we were walking home from school, and I saw a shadow of a teenaged girl in Chelsea's bedroom window. I told Chelsea about the girl, and she was thrilled that someone besides herself saw her. I vowed that day that I would help her get rid of the ghost."
"Wait, you actually saw a ghost?" Dad asks in disbelief.
"Yes. Well, from that day on Chelsea started digging. She found out that the ghost's name was Abigail Nicely, murdered at the age of seventeen by Mom. Chelsea didn't want to tell me the truth, because that would hurt me, so she lied. And after that our friendship started to go down hill. The next thing I knew, Chelsea got pushed down the stairs by Abigail."
"Does Chelsea recover?"
"Chelsea, does recover, only to get possesed by Abigail. I didn't know that at the time though, and I trusted Abigail. She had me falling in love with her. She kissed me, and I was so starstruck that I invited her over to my house. Later I found out that Abigail was Chelsea, using me to get revenge on Mom. Abigail started beating Mom up, and I punched her in the face to get her to stop."
"How does the story finally end?" Dad asks getting impatient.
"Well, Abigail releases Chelsea after that. About a month later an exercism is performed.Abigail refuses to leave without her boyfriend, which would have been my teacher, and throws a knife at him. Chelsea can't let that happen so she steps in front of him, taking the blow. Chelsea dies. My teacher finishes the exercism, and Abigail crosses over into the light."
"Tim, I'm so sorry about Chelsea."
"Mrs. Thomas has to live with the loss of her daughter everyday."
"That was Mrs. Thomas's daughter?"
"Yep, and her own sister is the one that killed her daughter."
"So your mother started it all? Your mom told me she had a dark past, but she never told me why."
"Yes. Can we please not talk about it anymore? My head's killing me."
"Sure thing. Are you hungry? You haven't eaten anything all night."
I shake my head yes.
"I have chicken noodle soup in the fridge. Is that good?"
"That's fine."
Dad, gets up and heads for the kitchen. I just sit on the sofa in silence. He comes back five minutes later with a tray of piping hot soup.I take a small bite of soup.It's packed full of flavor.
"So what you think?"
I lick my lips. "The soup is delicious. Did you make it yourself?"
"I made it myself two days ago."
"Wow, is their anything you can't make?"
"I can make just about anything, but I prefer baking."
"Show off," I reply.
Dad laughs. "Well, you asked."
The rest of the night we watch Seinfeld and The Big Bang Theory. I don't know which one I like better. They're both funny in their own way. I guess what's important is that they make me laugh. And I guess that I like to see Dad happy too. Do I fully trust him? Not entirely. Do I think that he's made horrible mistakes? Absolutely. Will I ever be fully able to love him? Only time can tell. Time is one of those things that is unpredictable. One minute you're life is fine, the next it's in complete chaos.