Friday, February 23, 2018

around and around we go

around and around we go




"I see." Ollie nodded when his Dad told him about Dewey's breakup.

"And..and he might think I'm sleeping with his Mom, too." His dad shrugged as he went to pour himself a cup of coffee.

Ollie squinted hard, watching his dad at home in Betty's kitchen. It was still her kitchen. Even Ollie felt he was just visiting. This wasn't really his home.

"Are you?" Ollie wanted to know how his dad wormed himself into being in the master bedroom, upstairs.

"Maybe." He shrugged again. "It's just..sleep, you know."

"Oh, really?" Ollie crossed his arms and was in a pout.

"Stop looking at me, like I'm some sort of Casanova." Those bedroom eyes of his dad must have been charming.

Ollie rolled his eyes and sighed.

"You, probably have a woman in every place, you visit." Ollie told him.

"It's not like that." His dad looked a little sad that Ollie would come to such a conclusion. His dad got out a package of mint cookies and pushed them on the table toward Ollie, as if he better eat before he said anything else he might regret.

"Yeah, right." Ollie looked his dad over, as if he couldn't hide anymore secrets from him.

"Stop, trying to figure me out." He sat down at the kitchen table and sipped his black coffee. "I've never been that lucky." He said he never was a good provider. "I'm sorry about that. I wanted to..to help you..and the best way I knew how..was to hope you'd find great parents."

A lump of emotion wedged in Ollie's throat. He knew he'd be crying any second. If only he could hug him, but it was impossible. His dad didn't give hugs. It would be awkward.

"I'm sorry that didn't happen." He told him. "Maybe..maybe..that's what my mom thought too ..and well, no one was taking in half-breeds at the time."

"What?" Ollie didn't know to laugh or cry. He sat down at the table across from his father. "What are, you, talking about?"

"Um, if..if my father's people would have taken me. I might have grown up on a reservation near the badlands." His dad said, but he wouldn't look at Ollie.

Now his dad had his attention. This was freaking him out. Ollie did his best to stay calm. All this time, he imagined his ancestors being from a faraway land, not right here in the states.

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