"I was running by now, thinking maybe he
didn't realize it was me calling to him, but I couldn't
get to him before he started the truck and pulled away
from the curb. With all my might, I shouted. "'Daddy! Daddy!' I stopped when my lungs were ready to burst, my ribs aching, and I watched the truck go down to the next corner, turn and disappear. The rain came down harder and harder so I had to go inside. You couldn't tell the difference between my
tears and the raindrops streaking down my face." "What happened to him? Where did he go?"
Misty asked, her eyebrows knitted with concern. "Momma heard stories that he was with another
woman and he went north to San Francisco, but I
never knew if the stories were just some gossip or
what:'
"Your father just picked up and deserted you
and your brother? That's what you're telling us?" Jade
asked, still sounding skeptical.
"He wasn't the first husband and Daddy to do
that," I told her. I looked at them. "Your parents
dese
rted you, too. They just did it more respectfully
or, what word did you use yesterday, Misty, civilly?
Something like that anyway," I said.
"Isn't that against the law?" Jade asked Doctor
Marlowe. "What her father did?"
"Well, Star's father would be what we call a
deadbeat dad and yes, what he's done is against the
law," she replied. "There's even a federal law against
that now."
"Did your mother have him arrested?" Jade
followed.
"She went down to welfare and reported her
situation so she could get some money, but it didn't
get put at the top of anyone's list. It wasn't exactly
what you would call a high priority," I said. "Men are creeps," Jade muttered.