He leaned forward and stare at me with piercing eyes. “Why do you want to know?”
My eyes widened at his response, mainly because I didn’t know he’d say something back to me.
I folded my arms across my chest. “Because I want to know. You’re a party pooper.”
“Man, whatever. I’d like to be alone.”
I nodded, respecting that. “How’s your sibling?”
His eyes nearly bucked out of his head at my words. I hadn’t expected myself to ask him that, but it slipped out. I wondered if he’d answer me. If he didn’t, I’d be okay with that too. It helped that he talked a bit but not as much as I’d like him to. He was no doubt a tough nut to crack, but I wouldn’t give up.
He tilted his head. “Why do you want to know?”
My mouth dropped as I gazed at him, unable to say anything. That was the last straw. As much as I tried, I couldn’t shake this man. I’d rather give up while I had the chance. I saw that he wouldn’t talk to me. What little I did get out of him counted for something.
I waved a hand in front of me, finally finding my voice to say something to him. “You know what…” I chuckled lightly. “Don’t even worry about it. Enjoy the rest of your night.” With that, I walked away from him without looking back although it was tempting to do so.
I hadto count my blessings for everything that happened in my life. My father was well and would be leaving the hospital soon. We’d been talking more, and I always wanted that. I was at the hospital visiting him. It felt strange, getting to know my father all over again. He wanted to build a relationship with me, so I had to give this all that I had and more.
“Where’s Brenda?” I asked him. It wasn’t like her not to be here.
He shrugged. “I’m not sure.” He ducked his head and sighed deeply.
It sounded like there was a story to that, but it wasn’t my business. I was only here to talk about our relationship and nothing more. I could only hope everything was okay with them.
“Oh. If you see her today, make sure you tell her I asked about her.”
He nodded. “If she decides to stop by. We’ve been having problems in our marriage.”
I shook my head not needing to know that. If my father and I were closer, I’d ask him why, but we weren’t.
“Oh. Sorry to hear that.”
He shrugged. “I don’t want to talk about Brenda or my marriage. This is our time together. A time that should’ve already been established, but I take the blame on that.”
I pressed my lips together, not knowing what to say. Even though I agreed with him because it was his fault, we weren’t close or had a relationship.
“How have you been? Are you still working at Tito’s? Your mother told me you had a job there.”
I folded my hands in my lap. “Yes, I still work there. One of the best bartenders that works there too.” I’d tell anyone that. Many of the other bartenders wanted pointers on how to make their drinks a certain way. I’d give them a few tips, but they couldn’t get all my secrets.
“That’s good to know. I might stop by there one of these days. You know I don’t drink that much.”
I stared at him with my head tilted to the side. “No, I don’t know that, but I guess that’s good to know.”
He dropped his head. “You’re right. You wouldn’t know that since I never made an effort with you in the past. Even when I tried, I always backed off. I have no reasons as to why.”
I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from getting emotional.
“I wish there were more ways to tell you how sorry I am for treating you how I did all these years. The only thing I can do is show you that I’m serious about having a relationship with you.”
“That’s all you can do at this point. Your words means nothing to me. After all the times you’ve let me down, I got to see you change and mean business in getting to know me.”
He nodded. “That’s something I can do. I’m serious about this, Chy.”
“Okay, Dad. I hear you. We can only see how this will change over the next few days, weeks, months, or years.”
I didn’t know what else to say on that matter. The nurse came in and gave him some medicine to take. I knew that was my cue to leave since the medicine made him drowsy.
