No Longer a Daddy's Girl [Christian Fiction]

Part 2 - In Hiding

When Grayson walked in the door of the pharmacy where he worked, the general manager was on his way out. "How's it going, Alvin?" Grayson greeted as he walked past.

"Goin' well, Gray."

"Any news on that transfer?"

"Still waiting for a spot to open up."

"Al, it's been a month. There's one of these pharmacies in almost every zip code. Surely there's a spot open somewhere. I don't care where."

Alvin gave Grayson a dour expression and motioned him farther away from the door. "Gray, I gotta be honest with you. You deserve that much."

"What?"

"I don't think the area manager is gonna approve a transfer."

"Why not?"

"Your attendance. It's been a problem for the past couple of months. The AM doesn't want to move that problem to another store."

Grayson's face sunk. "Al, you know I've been having problems with my daughter. Some days, I'm just so depressed I can't come to work. But I'll work that out."

"Yeah, I know about your daughter." Alvin looked around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. "What I don't understand is why you don't do something about it. That's your daughter. If I had a daughter like yours—as beautiful as yours—well, man, I'd be out there trying to get her home. We offered you a leave of absence so that you could do that, and you don't take it? What kind of father leaves his daughter out there like that?"

"She chose her road. She's gotta travel it to the end."

"C'mon, man, that's a bunch of—well, I can't tell you what it is, 'cause you are a church-goin' man. But that girl's only a minute past eighteen. She doesn't know what she's doing. You're her father. You should be protecting her. Get out there and find her."

"So, who do you want me to be? Liam Neeson?"

"Do what you gotta do, man. That's all I'm sayin'."

Without another word, Alvin walked away, having stated his point. And Grayson understood it. There were many days when he was tempted to do exactly as Alvin had advised. But every time his mind started to become settled on that course of action, there was an urging in his spirit that coerced him to stand firm. He had worked especially hard to place good values in his daughter, to keep her around positive people, to ground her in spiritual community. He never neglected her, never let a day go by without saying he loved her, always listened to her, even when he was certain she was wrong. Grayson himself was raised by parents that he considered neglectful, and he did not want to perpetuate that cycle with his daughter.

His mind went back to a memory of when Lonette was twelve. Lonette had invited Grayson to a father-daughter purity ball sponsored by their church. The ball was designed to enhance the relationship between fathers and daughters. Grayson made a pledge at the event that he would model purity and integrity for his daughter, and Lonette answered by making her own pledge of purity. Afterward, they danced for over two hours. Though Grayson had two left feet on the dance floor and spurred his daughter to laughter most of the night, his spirit was soaring high. When he left the ball, he was certain that his daughter would become a shining example of Christian womanhood. He had no inkling, at the time, he'd be standing in front of his workplace, being chastised by his boss because his purity-pledging daughter decided to go renegade.

He had about fifteen minutes before his shift, so he made his way to the back-office computer, the grungy one shared by everyone and used for everything from employee training to wee-hour porn surfing. Grayson was interested only in checking his daughter's Facebook page. He had seen no updates for several days, and tonight, nothing had changed. No selfies of her with celebrities. No photos of extravagant meals at four-star hotels. No shout-outs to artists whose recordings hit the top of the charts. It was not unusual for her to go for a couple of days without posting, but there had been nothing for over two weeks. He checked her Instagram page and her Twitter feed. Nothing.