friday 11:47 p.m.
Levi tried to ignore his grandmother's knocks on his door as he smoked his weed and listened to "Bambi" by Jidenna. He knew he came home later than his actual curfew, but he didn't want to deal with the disappointment of his grandmother right now. She might understand that he was just consoling her friend, Hazel. But she would still somehow make it about him rebelling because of his father.
Honestly, Levi could care less about that man. He lived on the other side of town with good money in his pocket and barely tried to come to see him. His father thought that throwing money and a brand-new car at Levi would make up for the fact that he is barely a father.
Eventually, Levi's guilt got to him. He put out his blunt and got up from the couch. On his way out the bedroom door, he made sure to turn off his music before pausing by the stairs. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to talk to his grandmother.
Levi knew that he could not give his grandmother everything in the world, but the least he could give her was respect and love. She has been taking care of him since his mother left when he was seven years old. God knows that even at that time his father was still never ready to be a father. He was too much of a coward for that.
Levi made his way downstairs and saw his grandmother sitting at the little dining room table near the kitchen. She had her hands folded in her lap as she just looked at her mug full of tea. She had not noticed Levi standing at the bottom of the steps, so he watched her and saw how sad she looked. He felt guilty for being so careless. He promised her his sophomore year of high school that he would stop acting so "rebellious" as she would call it. That was when she started trying to keep him open to his father.
Levi quietly walked over to the table and stood on the other side of the table, refusing to meet her eyes. "Sit Levi. Please." Her voice sounded sad and far away, which scared Levi. It was like her happiness was drained out of her.
"Look, Granny, I'm sorry for coming in later than usual. It's just I was at Hazel's house making sure that she was ok. I don't mean to disrespect you and your rules. I promise-"
"Your father will be staying here for a few weeks." Levi's head snapped up quickly, looking at his grandmother with disbelief.
He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He decided that what she said was all in his head because there was no way she would let that coward anywhere near Levi. She knew how he felt about him, even though she tried so desperately to get him to move past his anger. She wanted him to confess how he felt about his father, but that was something Levi would never open about because his father -- if he could call him that, didn't deserve those feelings.
"He wants to bond with you and make up for lost time. I know you're angry but--"
"Angry? I'm far beyond angry with that man. He wants to make up for lost time and I'm damn near a grown man? He was never there for the first 14 years of my life, always in a whole other state doing conferences cause being a father was too much to handle. And when he finally came back, he still didn't even bother being a father. So, to say I'm angry is an understatement."
Levi felt blindsided by his grandmother, but at the same time, he could not find it in him to be mad at her. At the end of the day that was her son, and she loved him past death just like she loves Levi.
His grandmother looked out the patio screen door with a sad look on her face. "I know how you feel about your father. But... You guys need to form a bond. And when I'm gone, I know that you will not even talk to him. So, it's best to do this while I'm still here, we don't know when anyone's last day on this earth is Levi."
