Everything I Don't Need

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The rest of the weekend went quickly and uneventful. With the arrival of Dwayne, Daniel spent the night catching up with his older brother. I went to bed early letting them continue their conversation. The sex plan was forgotten. I didn’t mind though. We had plenty of time. I hope.

            “We are going to patrol the area,” Julie pulled into my driveway. “You don’t need to worry, okay?”

            I nodded and got out of the car. We said our goodbyes and I watched as she pulled out of the driveway. I was sure she was just going to dump her car and come straight back. I wasn’t worried.

            I sighed and headed up the sidewalk to the front door.

            “Is that you, Case?” I heard my dad in the living room.

            “Yeah,” I mumbled. I made my way to him.

            He was watching the Browns play their Sunday afternoon game. He looked away from the screen, “How was your weekend?”

            I shrugged, “Uneventful.”

            Dad nodded, “Um, your mother’s lawyer called.”

            I raised my eyebrows, “And?”

            Dad shook his head laughing slightly, “You won’t be going back to New York until your old enough to be an independent.”

            “So I’m stuck here with you?” I was being sarcastic.

            I was glad dad caught on to my joke. He rolled his eyes, “Yeah you got it so bad here.”

            I smiled, “Can I ask you something?”

            He hesitated but nodded, “Go on.”

            “We haven’t really talked about the whole ‘you being my dad’ thing,” I mumbled. I knew it was time to quit talking around each other. We both avoided the subject until this point.

            “That wasn’t really a question,” my dad pointed out.

            “You know what I meant,” I mumbled.

            My dad sighed, “You might as well take a seat.” He paused while I took the time to sit in in the recliner across from him. “Your grandparents, my parents, are very cynical people. Their only interest was keeping the family name at the top of the dinning lists in all of the top restaurants in New York.”

            “You lived in New York?” I interrupted him.

            He nodded, “Born and raised in the city. Your grandparents had large estate right outside of Manhattan. I met your mother senior year of high school. It was never really love. We just happened to be at the same place at the same time.

            “We were attending the end of the year party for all the seniors and everyone was either drunk, high, or both. I don’t really remember much about that night. I do, however, remember the call I got from your mother three weeks later. She was pregnant. And I later found out you were going to be mine.”

            “So you knew about me?” I didn’t know if I wanted to hear the rest of the story.

            I sighed in relief when my dad shook his head. “Like the little frat boy I was, I ran to mom’s side. She was very understanding about it all. I should have known she was a little too understanding. And no later than two weeks after telling my mom your mother called to tell me she had a miscarriage. Most of me was relieved. But there was the slightest bit that was sad.”