Breath Of Life

I shake my head. “I can see where you’re coming from, Mom. I know you feel this is what needs to happen, but I’m not interested. It’s all water under the bridge.”

I turn to look at my father. He’s aged well over the years. His hair is a salt and pepper medley woman like, and the wrinkles that stand out make him appear more distinguished. He’s kept his six foot two frame trim. Dressed in a pair of khakis and a crisp white button-up shirt, he’s more relaxed than I remember him being growing up. I have to hand it to his new wife, Kathy. She’s gotten him to loosen him up. That it came at my family’s expense is the thing I can’t forgive.

Why not just divorce? What purpose did cheating serve? There was no love lost between the two, clearly. My parents’ dealings with one another were luke-warm, at best, and icy toward the end. I’d hate to try to guess how many women there were before he landed on Kathy.

“Are you going to punish me for the rest of our lives over the things I did wrong?” my father asks quietly.

“Let’s not pretend it was a small thing. You didn’t miss my big games, but you did you cheat on my mother, humiliating her in front of the entire town who knew damn well what you were doing, and put me down every step of the way.”

“No, I tried to mold you into someone set up for success.”

“At the expense of my happiness? We both know I wasn’t cut out for the doctor or lawyer route, so why force the issue? Because it hurt your pride that I wasn’t like you.”

“Oliver, there were a million other things you could’ve done. You had limitless potential. I knew that, so I made sure you had the grades and the extracurricular activities that would allow you to pursue a college degree, or at the very least get you into a trade school.”

“Or neither of those two options, because we see I took an alternative route.”

“Which was a huge gamble.”

“That paid off,” I counter.

“Luckily for you, yes it did. For a million others it didn’t.”

I roll my eyes. He takes me back to being a pre-teen living under his roof dealing with his stifling rules.

“Listen, we’ll never agree on how to succeed in life. I understand that. The difference of opinions is no reason why you and I can’t have a meaningful relationship.”

“I really can’t do this right now, Dad,” I say as I blow out my breath and look up at the ceiling.

“Then when?”

My phone rings and I latch on to the distraction. I pull it from my pocket, and the blood drains from my face.

“I have to take this,” I say as I walk past him and out on to the back patio.

“Detective Kunes?”

“Mr. Hemmingway, I think we have our man. Can you come in for a lineup tomorrow?”

“Absolutely.”

“How does noon sound?”

“Perfect.”

“I’ll see you then.”

Vindication is so close I can almost taste it. I return to the house where my father is standing closer to my mother than I’d like. I never thought he paid for the humiliation he caused us, or the way he’d done her wrong. It bothered me. It was like the story where the villain prospered, and the hero died. Only, Mom didn’t die, she simply shut down and hardened her heart to another chance a love. The similarities between us is staggering. She had a busy life full of family, friends, and activities, but I can tell she’s lonely. I want more for her than a life lived alone. She deserves to be loved by a man who’ll appreciate her.

“Mom, I’m not sure what you’re expecting of me here.” I cross my arms.

“I know you hate to be cornered, so I’ll put this out there and leave it. All I want you to do is think about fixing this with me,” Dad says.

I open my mouth to shred him to pieces, but stop when I see my mother’s hopeful gaze.

“Fine, I’ll think about it. Are we done here?”

“Yeah, we’re done. Thanks for trying to help, Deborah.” He squeezes her shoulder and heads for the door. I watch him leave, confused by the exchange.