I was all alone. Outside I could hear my father and boyfriend fighting. They were always fighting about something, but I didn’t care, I was gonna marry Eric no matter what it took. Eventually Eric got in his truck and drove away angrily. Now what was that about this time? , I thought. Eventually my dad came inside and slammed the door behind him. I heard him walk heavily up the stairs to the room that I was sitting in. He flew open the door and started up. “I don’t want you seeing that boy anymore. He is a bad influence on you with his bleeding heart tattoo and that awful to god nose piercing he got when you guys first started dating three years ago. He won’t remove them and I’m sick of it, therefore, you may no longer see him. Period.”
“Ok, first of all that “awful to god piercing” he has is the result of peer pressure and being a stupid 14 year old boy, which might I add, he grew out of a while ago. Secondly, his tattoo is in memory of his dad. He said when he lost his dad it was as if a hole had opened up in his heart, like all hope was lost, and when he met me that hole closed up. I love him and he loves me and I’m sorry but you will never change that.”
“You two don’t know the first thing about true love, I mean ya’ll are only 17”, and with that he stormed out of my room and shut the door with a slam.
Don’t know the first thing about true love, eh? Ha, we’ll show him, I thought. But first I need to play dumb, act like I don’t know what it is. Stump dad and make him think that he is right for once. Ya, that’ll show him. I walked down the stairs that led into the kitchen where he was sitting. “Hey dad”, I said, “I’ve been thinking about what you said, about Eric and I not knowing what true love really is, so what is it?”
Dad sat there for a moment and thought. “It’s umm……it’s like when you……it’s hard to explain”
“You don’t know what it is, do you?” I asked.
“If course I do!”, he boomed, “It’s just hard to explain, ask me later when I have had time to think about it.”
I don’t think he knows what it is.
As I was going back up the stairs to go to my room, my cell phone rang. When I finally got it out of my pocket, the screen read “Eric”. “Hello. How are you?” I said while running the rest of the way to my room.
“Hey. I’m sure you heard your dad and I fighting again”
“Ya, I did”, I said with a sigh.
“I’m so very sorry you had to listen to that again. I promise we won’t be fighting anymore.”
“Why? Did you finally agree to take out your piercing? Did you finally convince my dad that it’s not hurting or influencing me in any way? You know after you left he came up to my room and told me that I was no longer allowed to see you. He said you were a bad influence on me. When I told him that we loved each other and that there was no way he could change that, he just replied with, we don’t know what true love really is cause we are only 17 and stormed off. When I asked him what it was he couldn’t tell me, all I got was, ask me later. I don’t think even he knows what it is.”
“Well, no I wasn’t able to. Anyway, I was gonna say that you are gonna move in with me since I got my own apartment today. That way we can live like the married couple we will be very soon. The day you turn 18, we are going to the church and getting married and I don’t care what your dad thinks either. To this I say, come outside.”
“Umm…ok?” I walked down the stairs and walked out our front door. Underneath the cherry blossom tree we have in our front yard was Eric. I hung up my cell phone and walked over to him.
