Page 156 of Not Another Yesterday
Even after I dragged myself into bed, I just… couldn’t shut my brain off. I kept thinking about the trip. About my uncle. About what I might find in Camden.
Cat wasn’t at the apartment when I got home—she stayed at her place last night. It made sense. I got in late, and I was heading out early, but still… I would’ve loved to crawl into bed next to her. Just to feel her warmth. To hear her soft breathing.
There’s no one and nothing that calms my nerves quite like Cat. She’s always been medicine for my soul.
As promised, my dad was outside the apartment by seven. We hit the road a few minutes later. I crashed pretty hard in the passenger seat and slept most of the way.
I only wake up when my dad gently nudges me.
“Bud, let’s eat something. What do you think?” my dad says as I blink awake and squint at the morning light.
“Okay, sure,” I mumble, my voice rough with sleep. I rub my eyes. “How far out are we?”
“A couple hours, maybe.” He eases the Tahoe off the freeway. “You slept quite a bit. How was your night?”
So, I tell him. About the packed bar. The back-to-back parties. The idiots who thought a full-on brawl was a solid way to end the night. I talk about Tyler and the beer bottle. About staying until almost four to deal with the aftermath.
My dad lets out a low chuckle as he pulls into a dusty parking lot in front of a small roadside diner. He throws the Tahoe in park and turns to me. “I was one of those idiots once.”
I stare at him. “Are you serious?”
He laughs, already opening his door. “Dead serious. I was maybe twenty-one, stationed in Germany. Got absolutely shit-faced with a few officer buddies one night. Tried to make a move on this gorgeous German girl—blonde, blue eyes,perfectass.”
“Jesus, Dad. Too much info,” I groan, laughing despite myself.
He grins as we both get out. “Hey, I’m just sharing my worldly wealth of knowledge with you. I’m not in intelligence for nothing.”
“Oh, sure. So documenting women’s bodies around the globe is part of your official duties for the U.S. military?”
“Well, it’s nottechnicallyin the job description, but I like to think it’s implied,” he says, walking toward the entrance.
I shake my head, still chuckling. “Right. Got it.”
“Anyway,” he says as he holds the door open for me, “turns out this girl had a boyfriend—Hans or Otto, probably—and hereallywasn’t cool with me hitting on her. Me, being a dumb twenty-one-year-old with more testosterone than sense, thought a fight was a brilliant idea. Didn’t end well.”
“You got hurt?”
“Black eye. Bad concussion. Two of my buddies needed stitches. It was a whole ordeal—and then came the discipline,” he says, chuckling again. A waitress gives us a nod, and my dad points toward a small booth by the window.
We slide into the worn leather bench seats across from each other. I grab a menu from behind the salt and pepper shakers.
“I have to say, Dad… I’m kind of enjoying hearing about this stuff,” I say as I flip it open.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean… this might sound weird, but I feel like I don’t reallyknowyou,” I say, brow creasing.
My dad presses his lips together and nods slowly. “I feel the same way about you, Ran. I guess… that’s what I get for not being around while you were growing up.” His voice is low, full of regret.
“I guess so,” I murmur, and we both fall quiet, our eyes scanning the menus but clearly not really reading them.
The waitress comes by to take our orders, and once she leaves my dad excuses himself to use the restroom. I watch him walk away, then pull out my phone and send Cat a quick update.
He returns a few minutes later, sliding back into the booth just as his phone starts to ring. He answers it immediately.
“Hi, baby,” he says with a smile. Penny, I assume. “Yeah, we’re about two hours out. Ran and I just stopped to grab something to eat… How are the boys?”
He chats with her for a few more minutes, his voice warm as he talks about my twin half brothers, and I try not to listen too closely.
