Ramblin Man

Pt 2. Dear Prudence

"i love you and miss you dad" i wipe my tears from my eyes and kiss the whiteish gray engraved headstone surrounded by white roses. His favorite.

The car ride home with my mother was silent as usual. We keep to ourselves for the most part. We say our hellos and catch up on how we've been but besides that, it's almost like she's just a roommate. That's why i appreciate Jake, and how long we've been dating. He was there for me when my dad died, him and my father even played the guitar together. My dad was honestly the reason me and Jake meet in the first place. If he were around i think he'd be proud of me, he'd appreciate how close me and Jake have become and how he's always here for me unlike my own mother.

I don't hate my mom, I understand being a widowed mother is hard. i honestly expected this the first year, but it's been a little over three. She started to use alcohol to cope with the pain, but she realized that this new habit wasn't going to bring dad back. So she eventually quit all together. She will occasionally have a glass or two, but never as bad as she used to be. Thank God.

I arrive home, and go to my room. I open my window to let in some cool air. As i turn back around i caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I've never noticed how much i looked like my father. I had his small button nose that curves up just a little at the tip, I had his plump reddish lips that sat together perfectly, I even had his big hazel eyes that would sometimes turn grey. I take mental notes and compare me and my father, but soon my cold room is changed by a warm feeling wrapped around me. I feel my dads presence in my room.

I eventually lay down on my bed, thinking of me and my fathers memories. I remember one Christmas right before dad was suppose to take a business trip to New York, my mother bought him this 1960s Wittnauer Chronograph. My father could never find one, but my mother managed to work her magic and eventually came across one. I remember how special it was to my dad because his father owned the same exact one.

I leaned down beneath my bed, lifting up a small wooden box. It had all my valuable memories and most prized possessions in them. I had my movie tickets from my first date with Jake, polaroids of Jake and I, my dads watch, and other little valuables i kept so dearly. I place them back into their places and begin to put them underneath my be-

click click click

I quickly look up, blinded by the bright glare of a flashlight. I quickly raise my hand to cover the beams away from my eye. It's Jake trying to get my attention. I rush over to the window and push my self a little out the window pane.

"Jake what do you want?"i say in a annoyed but playful voice.

"did you already forget?" he said placing his elbow on his window sill, while also placing his chin in his palms.

I stare at him with a puzzled look on my face i thought to myself we're we suppose to hangout? no, did we have a date? no, what is it the- that's when it hit me

"The song!" i yelled out

Jake stood up quickly while placing his index finger on his lips. Signaling me to be quiet. I get the message and cover my mouth quietly giggling to myself. He then moves his finger from his mouth, to me, signaling me to "Come here"

"No Jake it's late and I'm tired." I say as i begin to yawn.

He places his two feet out the window while still sitting on his window seal.

"Jake! What are you doing?" I ask as i watch him look at the ground.

"well you won't come over here so i'm coming over there."  he states as he jumps out the window landing on some rose bushes.

i roll my eyes and sit on my bed waiting for him to climb into my window. Jake pokes his head through the window, a rose hanging from his mouth. As he climbs through the window he hits his head on the top part of it and goes face first into the wooden floor. I jump up and run to him while helping him up.

"Jake are you okay?" i ask in a concerned voice

Jake then proceeds to get on one knee, looks me in the eyes and says in a British accent. "i have thee a rose for me lady" he smiles while he gets up. Then reaches for my hand and places a kiss on it before giving me the rose.

I take the rose from him, close my eyes, and inhale the scent of the rose. The sweet smell resembling a honey meadow fills my nose as i exhale slowly. I feel eyes burning into me, I look up to find Jake staring at me in awe.

"what are you staring at?" I ask as he continues to stare.

"you have a booger in your nose." he chuckles as he winks at me.

"shut up!" I laugh as I take a pillow and hit him.

"ouch! You know i'm only picking with you." he says as he pretends to wince in pain.

I reach under the bed and pull the small wooden box out from underneath the bed. As I open it I place the small white rose in it.

"Why are you putting the rose in there?" Jake asks curiously.

"It's a little memory box i guess you could say." I pulled out our movie tickets, polaroid pictures, our prom tickets, and my fathers watch along with many other things.

"woah you kept all our pictures and tickets?" he says as he tilts his head to the side and slowly smiles.

I nod slowly moving closer towards him. He leans himself against my headboard, putting my memory box on his lap, while wrapping his arms around me. I lean back into his arms and watch as he goes through my memories. He picks up my fathers watch and inspects it. His eyes widen as he recognizes the type of watch it is.

"This is a 1960s Wittnauer Chronograph! Do you know how much these are worth?" He says eagerly as he sits up and looks me in the eyes.

i move over and look back at him. "I know they're worth some money but i'm not sure how much, how'd you know what kind of watch it was?" I asked

"My grandpas had one, those things go up to almost nine thousand dollars." He put the watch back into the box before turning to me again and saying.

"Whose was it, Your grandfathers?" he asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Close, It was my fathers. Its the only thing i have especially since he never really liked to buy himself anything or take presents." I look down at the watch, then back up to him.

Jake lays back down, crossing his legs, tucking his hands behind his head while looking up at the ceiling fan. I lay right beside him and place my head on his chest and move my fingers up and down his chest.

"Enough about the box, what song did you want to play me?" I quietly ask while listening to his heart beat slowly.

Jake wraps his arms around my waist, kisses my forehead, and whispers "I'll show you another time, for right now let's just enjoy the moment."

After sitting in silence for a few minutes, I hear Jake quietly snoring. I slowly remove his arms from around me, placing them on the bed. I get up and close the window to prevent the room from getting any more colder. I grab my tie dye blanket and place it on Jake before crawling back into bed with him. I nuzzle up against him before reaching over Jake to turn my lava lamp off.

"Goodnight Jake." I whisper into his ear before softly kissing his lips and closing my eyes.