Chapter 24 #3
Up on the wood-paneled walls were portraits of our family.
Me and Alannah from little girls to our graduation days, photos of my parents on dates, some cute ones from their youth I’d never seen before.
There was a photo of my mother and father seated on a fountain, she was leaning back and her legs were in his lap and my father was smiling as he rubbed her feet and glanced her way.
I had never known them to be so affectionate and intimate. It was such a cute old photo. I felt no shame in turning to my father and asking for a copy. “Can I have one? I don’t hang enough pictures up at my place, and that’s so cute.”
My father glanced at the memory of him and my mother and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll get on it.” He came back to me, a softness to his eyes. “So, uh, new boyfriend, huh?”
I hung my head. What was this, another lecture? “Yeah, Daddy.”
He reached out, tipping my chin up to see into my eyes. “Unlike Corde, I like this one.”
“Corey,” I breathed out, hiding a smile. “And yeah, Ezekiel is…”
“A man,” my father finished. “Nice to see you finally left those boys at the schoolyard where they belong.”
Ezekiel was nurturing, supportive, sexy, smart, all the things you could dream of in a man. I didn’t know if it would last, but this one was the one I wanted most to work.
“How’s the shop?” my father asked next.
“Good, we’ve been getting steady traffic thanks to Paisley and Ezekiel collabing at his club,” I said.
My father held his hand up, stopping me. “Just asking. You don’t gotta report to me.”
My hand began to shake. “I know you think it was easy getting the store, but it takes a lot of energy to run it on our own.”
“I don’t doubt that, Nas,” my father said gently.
He took a deep breath and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
“Listen, it shouldn’t take your sister coming down for a visit for us to see you.
For us to see your new boyfriend. You and your sister can use each other as a crutch all you want, but your mother and I are still gonna be hard on whoever you bring through that door.
Thankfully, this time you both chose right.
Oisin seems like a strong young man, and I like that Ezekiel doesn’t run over you. ”
I didn’t know what to say, because for once, my father wasn’t disappointed in me.
“Thanks,” I said softly.
“So why the distance? Why this wall between us?” my father asked.
Weakly, I felt tears coming to my eyes. “I just don’t want to feel like I’m a failure.”
At once, my father brought me into his chest as I began to cry.
“Hey now. You’re not.” He wiped at my eyes and held me at arm’s length, so he could look at me eye to eye.
“I’m hard on you, because I want the best for you.
I don’t want you or your sister depending on some man to take care of you.
I don’t want my girls thinking they need men for anything.
I want you to be strong and independent, and you’ve shown me that.
You and Paisley built Shéc and it’s succeeding. I’m proud of that. I’m proud of you.”
Like a river, my tears flowed because I couldn’t remember the last time my father said he was proud of me.
I hugged him close and felt so much stress lift from my shoulders. “Thank you. Thank you.”
He rubbed my back. “I’m sorry it hasn’t been clear. I’m sorry I was more rude than tough—I was out of line. I just got worried the path you were on wasn’t a good one, but I should’ve handled things better, and I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t make the best choices, but I learned,” I said as I pulled myself together.
“I’m proud of you,” my father said again. “And I love you. I’m so very sorry for ever making you feel less than. I was out of line, I was an ass, and you have my complete permission to knock me upside my head if I ever step out again.”
I couldn’t imagine hitting my father. “Daddy.”
Like a papa bear, he grabbed a Kleenex from the coffee table and cleaned up my face and I felt like a little girl all over again. “I think our tenant/landlord relationship has gone on long enough, don’t you?”
I paused, unsure if I heard him. “Excuse me?”
He chuckled as he handed over the tissue.
“I’m stopping the rent agreement. We only started it to show you that you couldn’t just be lazy if you weren’t in school.
You’ve held your weight without fail and have never been late on rent.
I trust you in your life choices, Nastasia, and I’m going to step back and let you have your house in peace. ”
“The house is mine?” I asked incredulously.
My father nodded. “I need to sign over the title officially so you can handle the taxes, but yes.”
I couldn’t believe it. I rushed over and hugged him again. “Oh my God!”
His laugh shook us both and I didn’t think I could ever let go. “All the money you’ve been paying us for the last four years is also yours. Your mother’s been holding it in a savings account for you. We just wanted you to be responsible, and now that we know you’re safe, you can have it back.”
I was feeling so much at once, I thought my heart would burst. I didn’t care about the money or the title of the house officially being mine, I was just elated to know my father was proud of me, that he loved me, and that in his own stubborn way, he’d always cared.
Love. Love beat money and materialism any day.