Page 48 of The Handoff

“So, have you been going to your classes?” she asked, and I realized she’d regained her composure and was just staring at me. “It’s tough, right?”

I choked, “Yeah, because I haven’t been to all of them since I started college. Imagine going to classes and being four years behind.”

She didn’t answer, but it was as if on cue when David appeared with, as I suspected, some snacks and her tea.

She held the cup as if her life depended on it and then she sipped it. As soon as she put it down, we both looked at her. David was still standing as if he was frozen after he put the tea on the table and waited anxiously for her to speak.

“I’m just going to spit it out. I tried this with Daxon, and it didn’t work. Your dad’s dead and he didn’t leave you a penny.” Her eyes shifted between the two of us, as if she was waiting for us to speak.

“Is this the big drama? When?” David asked.

“Four weeks ago. I just didn’t know how to tell you boys.”

“Tell us what?” I asked.

“Dad is dead and that he didn’t leave us anything,” David said.

I took a deep breath. I hated him being a smarty pants. There was a time and place for all of it, and this wasn’t the time. Yet, I should know better; he couldn’t resist himself.

“Why should we care? We haven’t seen the man for six years. If he didn’t give a shit about us when he was alive, why the hell would we care if he’s dead? I just don’t understand what’s the big secret or why we should be upset that he didn’t leave us anything. It’s the last thing we’re worrying about right now,” I said. My eyes darted to David as the last part was a stab at him for fucking everything up.

“I was afraid you would say that.” She sighed. “This was exactly what Daxon said, so it’s true, you all feel the same way about your dad.”

I shrugged. “Well, I agree with him.”

“But he’s still our dad,” David said as he bent down and took Mom’s hand.

Sucker!

He was trying to make out that he was the better one of us three. He had a tear in his eye, but knowing him, it was probably a fake one. I started to feel as if David didn’t have any feelings, he thought he was the smartest one of us three. I had a quick vision of him fucking Lisa and sticking his finger up in the air at me.

Look, my thick brother, I’m sticking it to your girlfriend!

I chuffed, “Why, ‘cause his sperm produced us? He’s a piece of shit, and I hope he had a painful death. How did he die?”

“Car accident,” she whispered.

“Good, couldn’t have happened to a better person.”

“Dane, you don’t mean that!” David screamed as he jumped away from Mom and drew closer to me. “All said and done, he was still our dad.”

“He left Mom penniless, with not one child, but three. Moved to damn England with all that money with a new wife. I’m surprised she didn’t give birth. He didn’t want to be with Mom. Fine, I get that. But we were his kids, and he treated us like that. So now we have to feel sorry because he’s dead. I just want to know where he’s buried so that I can go dance on his grave!”

It was then that I felt a fist on my face.

“Shut the fuck up! He was a shit, but he was still our fucking dad, whether you like it or not.”

I didn’t know what shocked me more, David defending Dad or punching me. I was just about to do the same in defense, but Mom must have read my mind as she jumped up between the two of us.

“Stop it! This was a big mistake! Dane, go cool off wherever you’ve been staying and David, go to your room and calm down!”

He laughed. “I’m not a little kid anymore, you can’t tell me what to do. I’ll do one better and leave.”

I could feel the gust of wind as he grabbed his keys and headed out of the apartment. It was as if Mom was holding her breath until he left. She rushed to me and held on to me. I wanted to attend to my eye, it was hurting like crazy, but I knew that it was nothing compared to the pain that Mom was going through now, because I realized she wasn’t crying because of the way we had reacted or even the fact that he had left us with no money—which was something she should have expected. He didn’t care about us, he took all their money and left.

I suppose once upon a time my parents married out of love. It was then I realized the reason she had been down lately, even though he had moved on. She never dated after he left. She still carried a torch for him, even if he didn’t feel the same way about her anymore. She loved him; she was crying because the love of her life was dead. She didn’t deserve to feel the pain she was feeling at the moment because he was a piece of shit—this part of the equation I knew for sure, he confirmed it when he left and he was no longer a part of our lives.

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