His silk striped pajamas looked like they had been worn for days. His cheeks were sallow. His voice scratchy and soft.
“I think you need to rest some more. Can’t you reschedule the meeting?” I pleaded, surprised at the rising panic in my chest.
His knuckles turned white as he pivoted toward me without letting go of the arch. “Business continues whether I have a cold or not.”
“It’s not a cold,” I argued. “You can barely stand.”
He closed his eyes. But before he could fire back at me, I saw his knees buckle. I rushed toward him. “Dad!” I caught him before he slumped to the floor.
He groaned. It took all my strength to maneuver him back to the bed.
“Just leave me alone, Kennedy.” He swatted at me when I pulled the comforter to his chest.
I placed my hands on my hips. “You need to cancel the meeting. I need to call a doctor for you.”
His tired eyes lifted. “I can’t cancel the meeting.”
“You can’t see anyone like this. They’ll take one look at you and think you’re on your deathbed.”
Something in his eyes shifted and I felt the zing again. What the hell was going on?
“You’re still a child.” Insulting me wasn’t going to work.
“Far from it. What can I do to convince you to stay in bed, or at least call a doctor?” He didn’t have the strength to make it to the shower. He would collapse before taking the first step on the staircase.
He grumbled and coughed again. I waited.
“You say you’re not a child. Prove it.” His voice was strained, but it was still sharp.
I folded my arms. “What does that mean? Anyone would take one look at you and tell you the same thing I’m telling you. You should not work today. Probably not for a while. You can call me names. I’m not wrong. You have to cancel the meeting. Reschedule it.”
“This is why you’re a child,” he seethed. “You don’t understand what’s behind everything I do.”
“Enlighten me.”
“Our name is our legacy. I’ve tried to teach you that since you were born. We have our name. Sometimes that’s all we have.” He reached for a glass of water. “You take the meeting.”
I blinked. “What?”
He nodded. “It’s time you start training. I let you go to college. I’ve let you have a regular life. But our expansion in New Orleans needs complete focus. We could do this together, Kennedy.”
I had never been privy to his business plans.
“What’s the meeting about?” I dragged a chair across the floor to sit close to him.
“One of the well-established families has made an invitation. It would be suicide to reschedule.”
“You’re trying to impress them, or they are trying to impress you?”
He growled. “Are you able to take this seriously?”
“Yes,
of course I am. I’m just trying to understand all the angles.”
“At least you’ve learned to size up the competition.”
“If I take this meeting for you, will you promise to rest?” I asked. “Otherwise, I’m not doing it and I’ll call an ambulance if I have to.” It was the first time I had threatened my father with something I could actually follow through on.