Sit, Stay, Roll Over ✓

(35) Sunshine

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[16 YEARS AGO]

DAMIEN NICHOLAS COLLIN'S POV

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING there pops?" I asked as I walked towards my father who was apparently lying under the pickup truck he bought just a couple of months ago.

     He doesn't respond to me, but after a while, he pulls himself out from the truck and looks at me, his face covered in dirt. "Just giving this bad boy a quick check-up before heading out to the city since I have a delivery to do today."

     "You're heading to the city?! That's fucking awesome! Let me come with you!" I shouted in excitement, and dad glares at me before taking a small towel so he could use it to wipe his face. "Nicholas, watch your language. If your mother could hear you, she would have smacked you."

    "But you cuss all the time," I replied, and this time, dad hits me with his towel, making me laugh and move away from him.

     My father starts walking away so he could head to the river bank, so I jogged beside him and asked, "Dad, can I come with you? I wanna see the city again."

     "Nope. Last time you wandered off and I had to look for you all day."

    "No, I promise to just wait in the truck. I promise."

     Dad goes to the river and washes his hands and his face again. After cleaning himself up, he takes a deep breath and looks at me. "You promise?" He asked, and I started jumping for joy before I could even answer his question.

     "Yes! I swear! I'll stick to you like fuckin' glue!"

     "Language!" Dad scolds again, and I just scratched the back of my head and chuckled. He then sighs and massages his temple before walking back to his truck. "Fine, you can come with me."

     "Thank you!" I quickly replied, grabbing my dad and hugging him tightly.

     "Alright alright, no need to get excited," he then tells me, pushing me off and ruffling my head like I was still a six-year-old kid.

     "So, can I drive? Uncle Vic's been teaching me for a while now and I think I'm ready," I then say.

     "That's a big no, Nicholas. Roads here are very different than the roads in the big city. I don't want you hitting the truck and scratching it, especially when I haven't even paid it fully yet," my father explains, making me pout.

    "Oh come on, please! My birthday's coming up soon, so at least let me drive. And besides, this is a good practice. If I get to drive in the city, then I can do a few deliveries for you instead," I genuinely say. For a second I thought that dad would finally agree to it, but then he massages his temple and tells me, "I'll think about it. Just help me load the truck first."

     Well, I guess that's better than nothing.

     "So, when are you going to ask that woman out on a date?" I asked while carrying some boxes to the back of the truck.

     "Woman? What woman?" Dad asked like he heard the most ridiculous thing in the world.

     "Come on, when you drove me to school, there was this grade school teacher who definitely had a little crush on you. Whenever you drive me and not uncle Vic, she'd always have red lipstick on," I say, making dad laugh.

     "A woman wearing different colored lipstick doesn't mean he's trying to impress a man," he then tells me.

     "Well, I don't know. But she looks at you differently, and I want a baby sister. I think mom wouldn't mind," I continued to tell him, and dad hits me with his towel again.