Flower

Chapter 1: Flower

  "All flowers seem perfect.  Their gentle colors to their perfect green leaves; their sweet smells drawing you in to smell them, but not all flowers are perfect.  There is always an imperfection, whether it’s a rotting petal or chewed leaves. Yet we humans think they’re perfect.  How can this be?  We see the imperfections and we still think their perfect."  My step-dad recalled.

            "Oh, really?" I asked, smiling as I packed my backpack for another day of senior high. My mother was in the kitchen brewing coffee as my step-dad was reciting another one of his quotes that he liked to make up. My mother's short brown hair bobbed around, lightly brushing her shoulders.  She was not as tall as me, with a small body frame to go with that.

            My step-dad was much taller with a shiny, cue ball head.  His hands were large, but strangely nimble.  Scars dotted his hands and a long one crept up his right arm, into his shirt. He told me a piece of glass had scratched him at work, but I didn't believe it. His skin was mocha brown that made me feel warm and safe.

            "Of course! If you take a flower, it isn't perfect." He plucked a rose from the vase on the table. "Take this rose for example. You can see one of the petals has browned."

            "Yeah, that's one petal." I laughed as I stuffed my calculus book into the bag.  I zipped it up and slung it on my shoulder.

            "Yes, but the flower is not perfect, yet we seem to think it may be." I giggled into my hand.

            "Whatever you say Roy, I got to go." I called out and grabbed my keys off the rack.        

            "I'll drive you," Roy suggested, his voice changing from light to dark. He smiled, but his eyes looked sad or worried.

            "You don't trust me driving?"

            "No, I just want to drive with my favorite daughter!" He cracked a grin and the darkness in his voice was gone. I shrugged it off. He grabbed his wallet and shoved it into his back pocket.

            "Just don't recite anymore quotes." I teased as we climbed into my 2005 Jeep Wrangler. "Don't change the radio stations either!"

            "You just can't trust me!" Roy joked as he put the car in reverse and drove me to school.

                                                            ***

            When we pulled into the parking lot, Roy asked me, "When does school get out?"

            "2:50." I replied.

            "I'll come pick you up at 3 then. You know how work is."

            "Alright," I leaned forward and kissed his shaven cheek and hopped out.

            "Have a good day at school," Roy called, his voice sounding quite sad like he was seeing me for the last time. I walked away from the car, but before I could reach the doors, my stomach lurched with pain. I nearly toppled forward.  I stopped and looked behind me. Roy was already pulling out of the parking lot, so he hadn’t seen me. I sat my backpack down and clutched my stomach, waiting for the pain to go away. After a moment, it did. I straightened up, inhaled and slung my backpack on my shoulder. Must be a cramp I thought to myself.

            Walking into my school, I swerved straight for the choir room hallway.  I was a music nerd and besides, I didn’t want to run into the girls that own the senior hall.  Those girls ruled the school and were not to be messed with.  They were all seductively slim and lured men into thinking awful thoughts. I opened the door, and nearly ran into Jase.