“I was young. I don’t remember a lot.”
“You know I loved your mother very much, don’t you?”
“Yes, Dad. I know you took it real hard when she left.”
“I never wanted the three of us to break up, but she did. You didn’t know a lot about your mother. I shielded it from you because I didn’t want to taint your love for her, but she really was a slut.” His voice was cold and detached.
A shiver ran down her spine. “I don’t think that matters now.”
“Yes, it does. People always paint a dead person as a saint even if he was a bastard in life. It’s human nature to do that, I suppose. I’m not that way. Your mother didn’t care about you. She was planning to leave us… you behind.” He chuckled when she gasped. “You didn’t think I knew she had a lover? I did. Everyone did. It was the talk of the town, and I was made out to be the cuckold husband. You were too young to understand any of it. It’s too bad your mother was killed, but I can’t help but feel that she got exactly what she deserved.”
“I know you’re angry, Dad, but how can you say that?” she whispered.
“In all the years we were together, I never once cheated on your mother. Not because I didn’t have the chance—I had a lot of women hit on me when I was out on the road—but I never strayed. I loved her. And what did she do? She let another man touch and fuck her. What she did was disgusting and wrong. And eventually, the bad always end up punished.”
Fallon had called her father to commiserate and talk about the times they shared with her mom. She hadn’t expected his cold fury, his spite, and his detachment.
“And you need to get your ass home and stop fucking the scum. You’re turning out to be just like your mother.”
“I have to go. I just wanted to tell you about Mom,” she mumbled, then disconnected the call. A few seconds later her father called back, but she let it go to her voice mail. She went back into the living room and curled up next to Diablo on the couch.
“How’d it go with your dad?” he said as he caressed the top of her head.
“Strange.”
“Do you think he’s involved?”
“I didn’t before I called, but…. It was just a strange conversation, that’s all. He said he knew my mom was having an affair. I know she didn’t think he knew.” She rubbed her temples. “It’s just too much to think about right now. I can’t believe my dad would do anything like that. He’s just still angry about my mom having an affair. I guess I can get that. Time sometimes doesn’t heal all wounds.”
“Yeah. Betrayal’s a hard one to forget. I don’t think people ever do. They may say they do, but when trust is broken, it’s almost fuckin’ impossible to mend it back again.”
“It is. I’m sure that’s what’s going on with my dad. Me telling him about my mom opened the old wounds. The anger is still there. I know he wouldn’t have hurt her. He loved her too much.”
She burrowed into him deeper, loving the way his closeness, his scent, and his touch made her feel like she’d finally found her place in the world. She looped her arm around his waist, and as her eyelids drooped with the drone of the television, she welcomed the refuge of sleep.
