A thousand nights

XV

To say that I was tired was an understatement.

My whole body ached from the uncomfortable position I slept in during the previews night, and I was covered in dust and filth; a little souvenir from both villa age and the sweet words of Mallory Grace Johnson. I carefully opened the wooden front door of my house, making sure that only as little as the noise of my breathing could be heard. The moment my foot stepped in the doorway a strong smell of pancakes hit me straight in the face, making its way up my nostrils and consequently awakening the disobedient dormant monster that was my stomach. This also made me realize that either there was a thief who was bold enough to prepare himself breakfast in a house he's just robbed or dad had decided to cook, on the first day of the year. I rolled my eyes, hoping that he wasn't actually considering following the ''New Year, New Me'' nonsense. I then braced myself to the possibility of facing a reckless day thief.  

'PARKER, GET UP!' I heard my dad's voice say. I sighed as I took off my shoes. 'I don't know what has got to this kid' he muttered, 'PARKER IF YOU DON'T COME DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW, IT AIN'T GONNA BE PRETTY'

Taking off my jacket as well, I hurried towards the kitchen, pulling my best impression of myself just woken up.

'What's up Dad?' I said with a quite credible hoarse voice. Dad was placing on the table a plate stacked with pancakes, a few blueberries and next to it a cup of milk. There was an identical plate in front of it with a cup of coffee instead. I rubbed my eyes, confused at the perfection in front of me, what was he up to? One thing I knew for a fact in life was that dad didn't do certain things for nothing. He approached delicate things for him to explain in a particular way, and somehow they all had something to do with food.

'Happy New Year, Park' he beamed, 'Come on sit, or otherwise it's gonna get cold'

I obeyed confused.

He sat in front of me and started eating, as I stared at him with suspicion in my eyes. He took out his phone and selected a random app, all the while trying to do his best to look calm and nonchalant, even though I could tell that something was off.

'Tell me' I finally said.

'Tell you what exactly?' He asked, his eyes scanning his phone's screen.

'Tell me why you've done this' he looked puzzled 'the breakfast'

'There is no reason' he simply said placing the phone down 'I just wanted to prepare a nutritious breakfast for my son and that's what I did' I don't believe you.

After all these years I couldn't possibly believe that he would do something like this just to be... nice. Even when he made me The Sandwich a while ago, it was a statement, an obstacle to overcome. 

'How was your date?' I asked, taking a sip of milk. I shuddered, the taste of sleep and milk in my mouth was not the best combination. I could have just gotten up and brushed my teeth, but I decided to stay put and listen to dad, for once I was interested in how much fun he had ditching me.

'It was a mess' Dad laughed shaking his head slowly 'but it ended up in being one of our best ones'

'What happened exactly?' I said. I ignored the taste in my mouth as I took a bite of pancake 'Did you and Lauren had an argument or something?'

He shook his head and put his phone back in his pocket.' Not at all' he paused, 'I got to the restaurant late'

'How late? Like ten minutes late?' I asked.

'More like the restaurant was closing when I got there and Lauren was nowhere to be seen' Dad drank his coffee. I nodded, showing that I was listening, it sounded improbable that a restaurant would be close that early on New Year's Eve, but I didn't inquire further.

'Where was she then?'

'In her car, reading' it looked like reliving yesterday's moments was making dad quite uncomfortable, his cheeks had turned a light shade of red. 'She then told me that she only had the appetizer, paid the bill and left the place' he paused 'I felt horrible'

I laughed out loud at dad, who looked so frustrated because of a woman. The fact that he was less smooth than me, a seventeen-year-old with years of inexperience, made me feel somehow not as pathetic as I believed I was.

'ANYWAY' Dad said loudly, which was a clear message that he had had enough of my snickering. 'We went to Mac and drive, and we ate a big Mac in my car with the firework display in front of us' he announced the last bit proudly as if to show me that he wasn't a complete disaster after all.

'How romantic' I fished the last bit of pancake in my plate. I was staring at my empty plate, hoping that a fresh stack of steaming pancakes would appear in it, when dad asked ' What about you? How was your night?'

'Boring' I said automatically and then more calmly 'I did what I do every year you know? Stare at the ceiling of my bedroom for a couple of hours, watch the family Guy marathon on TV and then sleep as everyone celebrates the New Year' I sighed dramatically. It wasn't a lie after all. For the past eight years, I had spent every single New Year's Eve like this, as if it was a normal routine like avoiding the jerks in school. But this year was different. I wanted a difference, and dad wanted it too, apparently. For the first time, he hadn't come home drunk and vomited on the way to his bedroom. Was it possible that Lauren was transforming him into a better version of himself?

'I'm sorry to hear that Park' he said lowering his gaze to the table 'This year will do something fun on the thirty-first' He looked at me 'I promise' I felt a familiar warmth spreading inside me. Maybe Lauren was really turning him for good after all.

'Thank you dad' I almost choked on those words 'I-I've gotta go now' I pushed myself up and without looking at dad's beaming face I climbed the stairs to the upper floor. I reached my bedroom door and literally threw myself on my unmade bed and laid there. Even after eating such a fantastic breakfast, my eyes were still tired.

I found myself smiling as I covered my aching body underneath the thick layers of the duvet. My mind travelled automatically to Mallory and her fiery hair and what had happened the night before, avoiding the words she told me this morning.

Without even realizing it, I fell into a reassuring sleep free of nightmares, for once.