Boy Meets Girl (Shawn Hunter from BMW Love Story)

chapter two

     That night, I worked on my essay for history while I was home alone. This was a typical school night for me because my mom was a surgeon and constantly worked long hours. Oftentimes, I just stayed in my room, listened to the Backstreet Boys on my CD player, and did my homework until I fell asleep. As a natural introvert, this made me content. The only part that bothered me was rarely seeing my mom, but I guess that is the price I had to pay.

     The new house my mom and I moved into was a massive two story, six bedroom home. It was smaller than my home in Worchestor, but just as breathtaking and majestic.

As I continued writing my essay, my thoughts were interrupted by the telephone. Startled from the alarming sound, I cleared my throat. "Hello?"

     "MJ, is that you?" A familiar voice said, causing me to light up like a firework.

     "Dad!" I shouted, jumping out of my seat and onto my bed. I had not heard from him in months since he was stationed in Afghanistan. It would be an understatement to say that I missed him.

     "My MJ! How are you, baby?" My dad smiled. "I'm sorry I haven't spoken to you in a while. I hope you know that I miss you so much."

     "I'm good Dad, I'm fine. How about you?"

     "I'm doing great. I wanted to tell you that I got promoted to the Lieutenant General of the Marine Corps!"

     "Dad that is amazing!" I screamed. "I am so happy for you, congratulations! You deserve it."

     "Thank you baby, now I heard it was your first day of school. I want to hear all about it," he told me, making my heart swell. My dad was the most important man in my life, and he treated me like I was the apple of his eye. It hurt like hell to rarely see him, to hear his voice once in a blue moon.

     "It was fine, I met this girl named Topanga today and she was super nice. I met some other guys too and they were cool," I explained as I rolled over to lay on my back.

     "Guys? Hmm. Were any of them cute?" He asked mischievously. I paused, knowing I was walking into a trap. "Your silence speaks volumes, my dear. I knew it!"

     "Dad, it's not like that," I tried to say but my dad laughed.

     "You know my rules, MJ."

     "No boys until I'm 30," I recited as I rolled my eyes playfully. "How am I ever going to grow up, start a family, or have kids if I'm not allowed to date until I'm 30?"

     "I guess that will be a problem for you to solve at 31," he remarked. I shook my head and laughed. The man had jokes.

     "Dad, you are impossible!"

     "No, I just want the best for my MJ," Dad said genuinely. "No boy will ever be good enough for you, my dear. Don't ever forget that."

     "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, have you told mom about your promotion?". My dad's tone soon changed at the mention of my mom. I could tell something was off.

     "Um...no I haven't told your mom yet."

     "Why not? Is everything okay?"

     "Of course, baby. Everything is fine, it's just that me and your mom have busy schedules so it's hard to continuously communicate with her," he explained. His response triggered a large lump to develop in my throat.

     "But you will try harder to talk to her, right?"

     "MJ, I-"

     "Dad, do you promise?"

     "Yes, I promise. I've gotta go, MJ. I love you, my dear. Goodnight and stay away from boys."

     "Goodnight Dad," I said as the call cut shortly after. I stared at my ceiling and closed my eyes tightly, trying my hardest to imagine a world in which parents realized that their kids could tell when things weren't fine. Call me intuitive, but it wasn't difficult to read between the lines. My father's shift in tone, and his awkward pauses at the mention of my mom really made me question everything.

     All at once, the garage door opened, signaling that my mom was home. My eyes opened with a jolt as I sat up from my bed. I listened closely as my mom trudged into the kitchen and threw her keys onto the counter. "Mary Jane, I'm home!" She yelled from downstairs. "I know you're up because I can hear the Backstreet Boys playing from your room. Come down!"

     I sprang up from my bed and walked outside of my bedroom. I gazed as my mom took off her lab coat and sprawled out on the couch. "Ugh, I am so exhausted! I had three surgeries today and each one took something out of me I tell ya. Never become a surgeon, okay? Seriously, all I wanna do is sleep for the next hundred years and-

     "Mom, Dad called," I interrupted. My mom paused for a moment and then spoke up.

     "Well, what did he say?"

     "He called to ask me about my first day," I said.

     "Well, that's good. So you had a good first day?"

     "I mean yeah it was fine. Dad also called me to tell me that he got promoted to Lieutenant General..." I said in hesitation. I was not sure how my mom would react to the news. My mom got up from the couch and went to the bar to pour herself a drink.

     "Lieutenant General," she said as she poured herself a glass of wine and chuckled.

     "What's funny about that? Lieutenant General is a really high rank. Aren't you proud of him?" I stated as my voice grew anxiously.

     "You understand that now that he got promoted you're going to see him less often?" My mom questioned as she took a sip of her wine and winced.

     "No," I answered. "Dad didn't tell me-

     "Of course he didn't tell you that part! Why would he?" My mom shouted as she started laughing to herself again. My lips fell into a frown as I watched my mom gulp down a cup of wine. She poured herself, yet another glass. "Anyway, are you going to tell me more about your first day?"

     "No, I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm feeling pretty tired," I lied through my teeth. Mixed feelings plagued my mind, giving me a mild headache. It was now obvious that things were not as great as my dad wanted me to believe. My heart began to beat out of my chest.

     Baboom. Baboom. Baboom.

     My heartbeat was beating so loudly I was surprised my mom couldn't hear it from downstairs.  "Whatever then, goodnight," my mom snapped as she chugged another glass down. I stood there for one more moment before turning on my heels and marching into my room.

     At 12AM, I was wide awake with my eyes glued to the ceiling. I pondered about what I could have done in another life to send such an unsettling curse upon myself. I mean really, who did I offend? Moving to Philly was the first sign of my bad karma. It seemed like my life went down a steady decline from that point on.

     Worchestor was my everything. It was the place where I was the majority, where my parents lived under the same roof, and the place where I was genuinely happy. Worchestor was home. Worchestor was my home. I felt broken.

     Coming to Philly made me realize that I had left a part of myself in Worchestor, a part of me I was almost certain I would never get back. And with that thought, I wiped away the tear that strolled down my cheek and slept to avoid the pain.