Genesis

CHAPTER 3 Hold On Loosely

Dad only lived about ten minutes from the restaurant so I was there before I knew it. He worked from home a couple of days a week and this was one of those days. I walked up the stairs to the porch and tried the door. It was unlocked so I let myself in.

"Dad..." I called.

"Down here," he replied from the basement that he had transformed into a huge, fully functional home office.

I was down the stairs in about two seconds. "Hi, Dad. Are you busy?"

"Never too busy for you, Essie. What are you doing here? Do you need something?"

"No, Dad. I don't need anything. I just wanted to see you and hang out for a while before I'm gone for good."

"Don't say that, Ess. You'll break my heart. You know you can come visit anytime you want."

"I know, but it won't be the same. I won't be able to just drop by like this."

"I know. I wish you didn't have to go. But it's a great career move for your mother and she's really excited about it."

"Yeah. And I'm happy for her. I am. It's just that... I'm really going to miss you and all my friends and my senior year. You know I was going to be the editor of the school newspaper this year."

"Maybe they'll need an editor at your new school," he offered hopefully.

I just gave him a look.

"You're right. I'm sure they have someone in place at this point. I was just trying to be optimistic."

"Thanks, Dad. I'm sure it will all work out fine," I said cheerfully and changed the subject. "What are you working on?"

My dad was an architect at a firm in Boston. "The city wants to expand the aquarium but there's a limited amount of space, of course. I need to get creative."

"I can't wait to see what you come up with. Will you email your design when you've finished?"

"Of course. I love that you're interested in architecture."

"I guess I got that from you," I said smiling.

"I guess you did at that." He sounded proud. "Speaking of, did you hear about the fire at the old shoe factory downtown last night?"

"I saw it in the paper this morning and stopped by before breakfast to check it out. What a shame. I hope the owners will decide to restore it."

"Me, too."

"Well, Dad, I've got some shopping to do, so I'll let you get back to work."

"Okay, honey. I'm glad you stopped by. Let me give you some money for whatever you need."

"You don't have to do that."

"I want to. Make me happy. Here," he said handing me a hundred dollar bill.

"Dad..." I protested.

"Take it and buy something nice from me."

"Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome, Essie. I love you."

"Love you, too," I said and turned to go.

"Come back soon. I want to see as much of you as I can before you leave."

"I will, Dad. I promise. See you."

"Okay, then. See you soon."

Back in the car once again, I put in an old cd soundtrack and cranked it. I loved the effect that music had on me when I was stressed. It made me temporarily forget about whatever was bothering me at that moment as I immersed myself in the lyrics. Linkin Park's "Leave Out All the Rest" started playing. It always gave me pause when he sang, "I'm strong on the surface, not all the way through..." because that's how I saw myself. I smiled now, remembering a t-shirt that my dad had bought me that said, "When I'm sad, I just stop being sad and be awesome instead".