Sadistically Sweet (Watty Awards Finalist 2012)

Twenty-four Hours

Nathander's (Haitlin's Dad) Point of View

--

I opened the passenger door of the car and slowly sat down.

"So any danger?" my partner asked with a huge grin on his face. 

There was a burglary call from an elderly woman, but this woman was crazy. She called the station nearly every week with some kind of threat, but nothing ever happened. I don't know if she wants attention or is just paranoid, but whatever it is; we always come. This time she heard someone banging on her back door, trying to break in. It was just a tree branch.

"No. Crazy ol' bat just heard a branch hitting her back door," I replied, buckling my seat belt.

"Sad, she is the first call we get all week and it was a bust," Bud sighed.

"Yeah. I miss the old days when calls were actually important. Now it's just paranoid old ladies and teenagers."

"Money is money."

"I just miss the days when I actually enjoyed my job."

"We enforce the law, however little there may be. Don't do anything drastic, I still need you."

I looked over at my partner. 

"I know, I just miss the feeling of saving the day. Even at home everything is drifting apart," I told.

I looked out the window as we rolled up to a stop sign, right across from the park. Empty. I guess the rain scared everyone off, at least it stopped by now.

"Oh yeah, what's that about?" Bud asked.

"Well Gregory is back from college but we don't know why. He won't even tell us why, but I suspect he got kicked out."

Greg was smart, as in genius.  He got excepted into every college he applied to, but he chose a party school. I wouldn't put it past him to get drunk and do something stupid. Had so much ahead of him but now it might just go down the drain.

"That boy of yours sure is interesting. I hope he isn't in trouble. I wouldn't know what to do if anything happened to Wyatt."

Wyatt was Bud's only son. Nineteen years old and carving out a decent path for his future, while my son gets drunk. Don' get me wrong, I love my kid, but damn. He had so much more potential. 

"He your only problem? What about Haitlin and Lorena?" Bud interrupted my thoughts.

"Lorena is never the problem," I answered. Lorena was my wife, a stay at home mom who knew how to run the house when I was away. Even after twenty two years, I still love her.

"Is Haitlin arguing with you again?"

"Yeah. I don't get it, she used to be daddy's little girl and now she's so distant. We argue over everything and I feel like I barely even know my own child anymore," I said.

Bud just chuckled.

"Well she is a teenage girl. Women are hard to understand, but teenagers are beyond reason."

I crossed my arms at his words. Overhead the sky dimmed and rain began to fall.

"I just feel like I am a bad father because we fight so much."

"The fact that you worry means you're a good father. You are there for both your kids even when they do wrong, while so many other guys don't even know their kid's names," Bud said.

"Maybe I'll feel better after I have dinner and get some sleep," I said to get him off my trail.

Before he could reply, my phone started humming. Plucking it out of my pocket I read 'Lorena' on the caller id. I wonder why she is calling.. Right about now everyone should be finishing dinner.