“Watching your child do something you know they’ll regret.”
And that does it. I agree to go. I don’t want anything to be harder for her, especially when it comes to Dad.
I get back downstairs in time to hear Danica telling Dad about her new boyfriend. “His name is Archer,” she says.
“Archer is a profession, not a name,” he says, in typical Dad fashion.
Before I can stop myself, I’m playing along. “It’s more of an Olympic sport than a profession, really.”
“Summer or winter?” Dad asks.
“Summer, for sure.”
Dad and I smile at each other until I remember I’m not supposed to smile at him anymore. It would be so easy to slip back into this rhythm with him.
Danica rolls her eyes in our general direction. “Anyway, Archer is his name, and he’s great.”
I walk to the door, ready to leave. Danica and Dad hug and say goodbye. Mom and Dad just nod at each other. And we’reoff.
——
It’s only a fifteen-minute walk from our apartment complex to where we’re going. Here’s how we spend the first five minutes:
Dad:How’s school?
Me:Fine.
Long, awkward silence.
Dad:I heard from Danica that you’re ballroom dancing. How’s that going?
Me:Fine.
Longer, more awkward silence.
Dad:How are your friends?
Me:I think you can guess the answer to this one, right?
He stops walking.
I stop too. “It’s not like you can bribe me into forgiving you with tacos, anyway,” I say.
He throws his hands up. “What can I bribe you with, then?”
I fold my arms tight across my chest and stare down at my shoes. Decaying jacaranda leaves, more brown than purple, litter the sidewalk. It’s funny how they’re so beautiful on the tree and such a nuisance off of it.
“Can we call a taco truce for the night?” he asks.
The last time I heard him sound like this was when he promised me and Danica that he didn’t love us any less just because we wouldn’t be living together anymore.
I sigh and agree to the truce with a nod.
He smiles like I’ve told him he’s best dad in the world or something.
I really miss thinking that he was the best dad in the world.
We start walking again. “Should we devise a conquering strategy?” he asks. At my confused look, he goes on: “We need to decide which trucks to partake of and in what order.”
