Carmen:Can you send me
the hospice address?
I want to visit as soon as I’m home.
Marcus:Already texted it to you.
Carmen:Of course.
Marcus:Go enjoy the rest of your trip.
And try not to kill each other
before you come home, yeah?
Carmen:No promises.
I hung up, grabbed my laptop, and opened the link Marcus sent to my email.
A new facility, huh?
I bet my father was happy to get out of that prison. When he got arrested, I was so young. Too young to understand what mytestifying against him meant, but old enough to remember the way he vanished—one day there, the next gone.
In truth, I forget what he looked like back then. I would’ve forgotten what he looked like now if it weren’t for the photos he’d email me sometimes. He’d gotten so thin, I prayed for a memory of a time where he wasn’t—a happy memory.
My mother never said much about him to me, so it was like I was getting to know a new person.
Now he’s being moved somewhere nicer and closer, maybe getting to know him wouldn’t be so difficult.
The place looked more like rehab than prison—fresh air, a garden, yoga classes. He might even be able to start a course when he gets better. He was incredibly proud of me for getting into Law school, especially since he never even finished high school. Maybe he could finish his degree there.
That made me smile.
But I couldn’t stop thinking…what would our relationship be like when I got to see him in person?
We haven’t seen each other face to face in years, and the thought put me on edge.
Doubt: It will work itself out.
Wow. That’s surprisingly nice.
Doubt: I can be nice sometimes. Not everything deserves a bitchy comment. Besides, running around in your fucked up mind makes me yearn for a moment of peace. Maybe closure with your dad will bring that to me.
Shut the fuck up. I’m perfectly sane.
Doubt: No, you’re not. Not even slightly.
Anyway! I hope it will all work out. Because…deep down…I really wanna hug my dad. It’s been so long.
Pushing down the thought and sniffing back the pending tears, I started a group FaceTime. I needed something to take my mind off this.
Within seconds, Alyssa’s face filled the screen first.
“Hi, hi!” she chirped, grinning as the rest of the girls popped in. “How are you guys?”
“Miserable,” Jayda muttered. Her voice was scratchy, like she hadn’t slept. “I had to put Tyler out.”
I blinked. “Wait, what?”
