Shoe Strings

Braves game coming
from the back bedroom and knew Ty was getting comfortable.
    “I didn’t expect you to be gone for an hour.”   Cal glanced at the mantle clock when it
chimed the half hour.   “Or damn near
two.”   He shut the door and moved
into the den where Jesse sat on the couch, absently flipping through the
paper.  
    “I didn’t realize I was breaking curfew.”  
    “Look,” Cal said with a pained expression on his face.   “I don’t mean to pry, but what’s going
on between you and Lita?”
    Jesse wanted to laugh, but couldn’t muster the energy.   He knew they were treading near
dangerous territory.   “Since when do
I need to ask your permission to spend time with a woman?”
    “I’m not suggesting you need my permission to spend time
with her, son.   I want to know what
you think you’re doing with a vulnerable young woman who’s only here for a few
more days.”
    “She’s made plans to leave?”   Jesse could feel something akin to panic
begin to simmer in his gut.
    “No.” Cal paced in front of the couch where Jesse sprawled.   “But you know she’s not here forever.”
    “She doesn’t live on Mars, Dad.   She lives in Atlanta.”
    Cal stopped pacing and faced his son.   “Are you saying you intend to see her
after she leaves?”
    Jesse shoved the paper off his lap.   He couldn’t explain to his father his
intentions toward Angelita any better than he could explain them to
himself.   “I have no idea.   What’s with the twenty questions?”
    “I just don’t think you should get involved with her.”
    Jesse sat perfectly still, his eyes on his father.   He waited for Cal to give him a reason,
a valid explanation, as to why he should stay away from Angelita.   His father couldn’t possibly care one
way or the other.   Just as he
expected, Cal stood silent, looking irritated and uncomfortable.
    “Oh, I get it.” Jesse stood up to face his father.   “You don’t want me to do the typical
Jesse Bloodworth love ‘em and leave ‘em routine, right?”  
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”   But he did, Jesse could see from the way
Cal’s eyes darted down and around the room.   They landed anywhere and everywhere but
back on Jesse.   “I simply think
you’re wasting your time.   Someone’s
going to get hurt if you don’t back off.”
    “You mean Angelita’s going to get hurt.   Because God knows I couldn’t possibly
care about her, want to spend time with her, get to know her outside of the
bedroom, right?”
    Cal snorted and returned his son’s stare.   “You don’t exactly have the best track
record, now do you?”
    Here we go, Jesse thought.   They’d danced around this for years and
it seemed Angelita had cracked the wafer-thin layer of restraint between
them.   “What do you think I’m going
to do, Dad?   You think I’m going to
sweet talk her into bed, knock her up, and walk out on her like I did with
Kerri Ann?”   He spun around and
headed out the screen door to the deck.   He needed room to move and fresh air to calm his boiling blood.   Besides, if they were going to get into
it now, he sure didn’t want Ty to overhear their conversation.
    Cal was right on his heels.   “Don’t you throw that crap in my face and
walk out of this house.   You stand
up like a man and tell me how it is if I’m so off base.”
    “You can’t for one minute let go of the past, can you?”   Jesse moved to stand in front of Cal,
their faces only inches apart.   He
had to fight the urge to poke his dad in the chest.
    “No, son, I can’t.   I can’t throw caution to the wind and walk out on my family when things
get tough or uncomfortable.   I’m not
made that way.”
    “No, you’re not, are you?   You’re made one way and only one
way.   You’re rigid and shortsighted
and unwilling to look at a situation from any other perspective than your
own.   Well, things aren’t so black
and white in my world.”
    “Is that the best you can do?”   Cal sneered and turned to leave.   “Platitudes?”  
    Jesse screamed at his back.   “I messed up, okay?   I was miserable, working at the bank,
stuck in a bad marriage, and in denial that Mom was dying.”   Cal spun around at his mention of Ellie.   Jesse took a deep breath, lowered his
voice, and looked his dad in the eye.   “When she was gone, I couldn’t do it anymore.   I couldn’t pretend everything was okay
because it wasn’t.   Kerri Ann