The Preachers Daughter

Chapter Twenty Two

(Four Years Later)

"Andrew get closer!"

"Zoy!", he wined. 

"Come on, so I can take the picture!"

He rolled his eyes and stood closer to his prom date and smiled. Poor girl. One of her most memorable nights are going to be ruined because Andrew wants to have an attitude. Every time I ask him what's going, he tells me it's nothing. In the years he's been with me, he's given me no issues. And we always agreed to be open minded and talk about things. Him keeping something from me is worrisome and I can't shake the feeling no matter how hard I try.

I remember my senior prom.  No one asked me to be their date so I ended up going alone. I was bored and miserable and wished my parents hadn't spent so much money on a waste of time. Annie ended up texting me telling me to come get her so we can do something crazy. I ended up picking her up, prom dress on and all, and we sat on the roof of some building eating snacks and talking about life. That might not have been a lot, but it meant everything to me. Back then time was so simple. You could sit outside with a friend and eat Cheetos until both your parents called wondering about what we were doing. And thinking about it only made me miss Annie more. She told me she needed to figure things out about her sexuality and I hadn't heard from her since. I think it had a lot to do with my new source of income, she just didn't want to tell me.  

I snapped the picture quickly and nodded for Andrew to follow me off to the side. He damn near dragged his feet over to me. Once he was in front of me, I fixed the lapel of his jacket, smiling when looking at his tie.

"What has you feeling humorus?", he asked me.

"Just remembering that Sunday you were struggling to tie a knot in your tie".

He slowly cracked a smile.

"What's wrong Andrew?"

He sighed. "It's just that ... it's been four years and I still hadn't heard from my dad. I know eventually he started to write but those letters aren't enough".

"Andrew, none of this is his fault".

"Then why isn't the person who's fault it is in prison instead of my father?"

Shit. I didn't want to make this moment more worse than what it already was for him. I could open my big mouth and tell him that I'm the reason his father is missing out on one of the most important moments of his teenage life. I could tell him that his mother is dead and he should stop getting his hopes up about her coming back. But that would make me a shittier person than I already am. I believe there is a time and a place for everything. 

"I just wish he were here", he said softly.

"I understand, trust me I do. But let's put what we can't control in the back of our minds, okay? I want you to take the beautiful young lady and have fun tonight".

He rolled his eyes. "I don't even like her".

"Then why the hell is she in front of my house with her loud ass mother?"

"I only asked her because I knew she'd say yes. She's always at my games cheering me on, always supporting me".

"Then what's the problem? She sounds great".

"It's overwhelming. I just wanna chill".

"Well, why don't you tell her that? You never know, she could be the one".

"Finding the one is the last thing I'm worried about".

I watched him turn around and go back towards his date and get into the limo I rented for him. I was proud of the person Andrew was becoming. I wasn't sure of the path he wanted to take after high school. We honestly never discussed it. I need to make it a point to. My parents never asked me what I wanted and God knows I don't want to do a repeat of what they did. I feel comfort knowing that he has enough instilled in him that whatever he decides, he's going to be smart and safe about it.