Page 46 of Restless
Startled, CJ turned, surprised to find his father dressed in scrubs and holding a mug of coffee.
“Dad?” He glanced over his shoulder at the double doors, then back at his father. “I-I thought…” A horrifying idea occurred to him. “Oh my God, Dad! Is Mom…Is Jo…fuck, Iwasdreaming, wasn’t I? Wh-what happened?”
Suddenly, Dad was there, gripping his face between his hands and looking at him.
“Breathe, son,” he said gently. “Just breathe. Your ma and lil’ sister fine. I go spend time with her while your ma sleep at night. I tell her about you and the boys and Reb and Megan. That time for me. When I see her durin’ the day, that time for Megan, ‘til she go herself. Hear me, boy?”
CJ nodded, on the verge of losing his shit and feeling like a pussy.
“You good?”
“I don’t know,” CJ said after a moment.
“You on your way to school?” Dad asked, releasing his hold on CJ’s cheeks, but laying his hands on his shoulders.
“I’ve been up half the fucking night. I’m taking today off.”
No arguments, just acquiescence. “Got something to do with your black fuckin’ eye?”
“N-not really.” CJ studied his father. He had dark rings around eyes dull with fatigue. Like Mom, he’d lost weight and looked as if he carried the world on his shoulders.
Bowing his head, CJ stepped back, and Dad dropped his hands to his side. “Don’t worry about me, Dad. Take care of Mom and Jo. They need you.”
Dad turned away and snatched his coffee mug from the small table that sat between two chairs, one of which Bishop now occupied.
“You here for a reason, CJ,” Dad said gruffly and sipped his coffee. “You ain’t goin’ to school for a reason.”
“I’m worried about—”
“Ain’t doubtin’ that, but you here cuz you need me.”
“You’re taking care of Mom and Jo and protecting them. I’m taking care of you and everyone else and protectingthem.”
For a moment, Dad remained silent before he smiled, and pride gleamed in his eyes. He gave CJ a one-armed hug. “You do me proud, boy. But talk to me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Your ma beat Death again. Your lil’ sister won against that motherfucker, too.”
“Death, be not proud,” CJ said quietly. “Sooner or later, it takes us, Dad.”
“As long as I go before your ma, it don’t matter, CJ.”
“Mom won’t feel the same way.”
Dad smiled and drank more coffee. “Megan’ll fuck me up if she heard me say that shit.”
“Mom’s three feet four inches, Dad, and you’re twelve feet ten inches. How canthatshortie fuck you up?”
“Cuz shemyshortie,” Dad said, snickering. He finished the coffee and set the mug back on the table. “Megan gonna be wakin’ up soon, so—”
“Oh, I’ll go and come back to see Mom at the usual—”
“Ain’t meant that, CJ. It just seem like you need to talk to me without your ma hearin’. And if I let you leave, knowin’ you ain’t goin’ to school, and Megan find out, she ain’t gonna be happy. She wanna see you before she see my ass.”
“Nah, Dad. She’ll savemyass before she saves yours, but she wants you to be the first person she sees when she opens her eyes and the last one she sees before she closes them at night.”
“She love you lil’ motherfuckers—”
