Page 102 of Pulse
I go to Burt’s chair and kneel beside it. He pats my hand and frowns.
“I’m sorry to see you go, sweet pea,” he says.
“I’m not gone yet.”
Troy makes a face that only I can see. I roll my eyes at him.
“We’re just getting the basic stuff today since we aren’t working,” I say. “It’ll be a couple of weeks before I’m completely out. But then I’m just a call away. And you better believe I’ll be here to celebrate all kinds of things. Like sunny days and that I got up in the morning, and we’ll have two pieces of cake when Troy makes me lift weights.”
Troy shakes his head, resolved to my hatred of weightlifting.
Burt shifts in his chair. “I’m sad to see you go, but I’m proud of you. I didn’t have any kids, thank God, but if I had, I’d hope I’d have a girl like you.”
“Damn you, Burt,” I say, sniffling.
He chuckles. “Come and see me.” He points at Troy. “You, too. I want to make sure you kids are all right.”
I stand, squeezing his wrinkled hand. “I’m sorry again for?—”
“Get her outta here, will ya?” Burt asks Troy.
Troy shakes Burt’s hand. “It was nice meeting you.”
“You, too.” Burt nods at him. “Happy to finally see her with someone who’s worthy of her. Take care of her. She’s mybest neighbor.”
“I will. Don’t worry about that.”
Burt winks at me, then turns on his television.
Troy holds my hand as we leave.
We step onto the sidewalk beneath one of the massive trees lining the street. Our steps are slow and unrushed. It’s a nice change of pace from the past few days.
“Who’s that?” Troy asks, nodding to a dark-colored SUV crawling up the street. He shifts his body so that he’s between me and the SUV.
It rolls in front of my house and stops, and then my father steps out of the driver’s side door.
My heart pounds. I have no idea why he’s here. I haven’t talked to him since before I left town. After everything that’s happened, I’m not sure what he’ll say.
“Hi, Dahlia. Hello, Troy,” he says.
“How do you two know each other?” I ask.
My dad smiles. “We had a long chat last night.”
Is that so?
I look curiously at Troy. He doesn’t look at me.
Troy kisses my cheek. “If you’re okay, I’m going to make sure your friend hasn’t hogtied my brother.”
I laugh. “That’s a good plan.”
“Nice to see you, Mr. Dallo,” Troy says.
“Likewise.”
They shake hands before Troy walks off.
