Broken

Chapter Twenty-One

"Your dad is Gary Lathrop," said my dad as he pointed his fork at Justin.

We were all sitting at the round dining table that hardly had enough room for three. It used to be me, Grandma, and Grandpa. Although, there were many nights Justin joined us and somehow we made room for him. Dad had made pasta as promised and it was to die for.

"That's him," said Justin. I thought even my dad would be able to tell that was a sore subject for Justin by the way his voice changed. I was wrong though.

"He was a lot older than me, but everyone knew him here in Bridge Wood," said Dad. "He was like the best quarterback to ever play at Bridge Wood. I was at the State Game when..."

"Dad," I interrupted. He quickly looked over at me with a surprised look in his eyes. I had only meant to interrupt him, but I realized it was the first time I had called him Dad. He blinked and must have figured out why I interrupted him. He looked back at Justin.

"Who did you say your mom is?" Dad said, changing the subject. It was not much of a subject change, but I knew it was good enough.

"Shelia Lathrop," he said. "Used to be Shelia May. She isn't from Bridge Wood, so you probably don't know her."

Dad nodded, "You said you play football, right?"

"Yeah," said Justin. "Wide receiver."

"That's what I played," said Dad. "Is Coach Murray still there?"

"He is," said Justin. "I think he's retiring after this year."

"He's a damn good coach," said Dad. "Are you guys in town Friday night?"

"No, we're over in Ten Hills," said Justin. He looked over at me and I knew exactly what he wanted.

"Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to go," I said as I looked at my dad. "I know its your last night here and..."

"I'd love to go," Dad said. "I haven't been to a high school game since I played. I'd love to see Coach again too and maybe see if you're any good at catching the ball."

"He's good," I said.

"I'll be the judge of that," said Dad.

I didn't realize how much of a football fan my father was until we got to that game. Time between the dinner and the football game passed incredibly fast. The only thing that happened out of the ordinary was on Thursday. It was Justin's first day back at school from his suspension. It was also Cody's first day back. Despite not swinging a fist, he still managed to get as many days as Justin. Maybe he deserved it for what he said, maybe he didn't. I was indifferent about the whole situation now.

I walked into school with Justin that day. We were laughing about something my dad said the last night at dinner. The dinner went well. Justin had managed to get Dad to talk about himself. He told us about his work and how much he loves New York. It was nice to hear about his life. Although it had me thinking about how things would be from now on. I felt like he would always be in my life, but I was unsure of how much considering there were almost two thousand miles between us.

"There is no way your dad and his friends jumped off Tenley Bluff," said Justin.

"I think he actually did," I said.

"How?" asked Justin. "You've seen that place when we've went to Lake Tenley. It's got to be like forty feet above the lake."

"I think the water used to be higher," I said. "And there weren't those rugged rocks under the bluff back then."

"Still, I would have never guessed anyone related to you would be cliff diving," said Justin.

I laughed, "Is that cliff diving?"