“I’ll get it,” Mom said, squeezing my shoulder. “Eat another slice.”
Through the narrow hallway, I could hear the front door open, followed by my mother’s surprised intake of breath. “This isn’t a good time.”
Santo. He’d come all this way. Anger energized my limbs for the first time in days. I pushed back from the table and marched toward the door.
“I don’t need you to protect me,” I called to Mom as I rounded the corner. “I can tell him myself that—”
I froze, the words dying in my throat. Standing on our porch wasn’t Santo, but my father. He looked older than when I’d last seen him.
There were more lines around his eyes, and his once-black hair was now peppered with gray. He wore the same cologne he’d always worn, that spicy sandalwood scent that used to mean safety before it came to mean abandonment.
“Tia,” my father said, looking older than I remembered. “You’ve grown so—”
“What are you doing here?” I demanded, crossing my arms.
His eyes flicked to my mother. “I was in the neighborhood. Thought I’d stop by to see how you both are doing.”
Mom’s face was carefully composed, but I could see the tension in her shoulders. “Kevin, I told you over the phone this wasn’t a good idea.”
“Can I at least come in? Just for a few minutes?” he asked, his attention clearly more focused on my mother than on me.
“No,” Mom answered.
But as I stood there, feeling the weight of all I’d carried these past years—the betrayal, the heartbreak, the loss—something clicked. Maybe it was time to release more than just Santo.
“He can come in,” I said curtly, walking back to the living room without checking if he followed.
My father settled onto the edge of the couch. I sat across from him, arms folded across my chest. Mom positioned herself in the doorway between the living room and kitchen, leaning against the frame.
“I appreciate that you’re reaching out,” I said, surprised at how level I could keep my voice with the man sitting so close to me. “But I have no interest in rebuilding this relationship.”
“Tia,” he started, but I held my hand up.
My father’s jaw tightened, but I went on. “All the times I needed you, and you weren’t there. All the important milestones in my life, the events where a girl needs her father by her side... and you weren’t there. You have no idea what color dress I wore to prom, no idea who my best friend was in high school, or the name of the boy who took me on my first date.”
Mom shifted, her expression changing to sadness.
“You know nothing about me.” I could barely keep the disdain out of my voice. “And it’s not just the fun stuff. When Mom had her car accident while I was in high school and I was alone and scared, you never showed up. When I had a cancer scare at nineteen, you couldn’t be bothered to answer my countless calls.”
Mom’s eyes glistened at the memory, but she remained silent.
“You missed my high school graduation. Your only interest was to demand proof that I was still continuing my education to justify paying child support. You didn’t show up to either of my graduations... or to offer condolences when my best friend died.”
That last hurt deeply then, and hurt now. “You prioritized your second family and ignored my existence. Maybe it would have been more beneficial for you if the cancer had killed me.”
“Tia—” Mom said softly, her face pained at my words.
“None of that is true!” my father protested defensively. “You didn’t like my wife.”
Mom straightened up, eyes hard. “Don’t you dare try to blame my child for your messy-ass wife, Kevin. You knew the woman you married and you’re using Tia’s devastation over our family breaking up as an excuse.”
“Do you remember our last conversation? The one where I begged you not to move away?”
“You didn’t understand.” His drawl thickened with emotion. “Ashley got a higher payin’ job, and it was better for us to move. You were almost grown, and you were doin’ just fine—”
“I was twelve!” I retorted hotly, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks. “And if that wasn’t enough, after you moved away, you wouldn’t even take my calls. I was out of sight, out of mind, wasn’t I?”
“I took your calls,” he defended.
