The Road Home by Erin Zak

Author:Erin Zak [Zak, Erin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635556346
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2020-04-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Gwendolyn can no longer handle it when her dad traipses into the house around nine. He’s been absent for the past twenty-four hours, and she is furious. She flies down the stairs and heads into the kitchen. Her socks slip on the floor as she rounds the corner, and she braces herself on the wall. He’s standing at the fridge, bent over, staring at its contents. “Where the fuck have you been?” She whispers because her mother is finally sleeping after getting home from the hospital, but she is seconds away from yelling.

He glances at her before he bends again and continues staring into the fridge. “I’ve been very busy at work.”

“You’re a goddamn liar,” she says with a forcefulness she has never used on him before. “It’s summer. I know what happens at the university in summer. A lot of fucking nothing. So tell me the truth. What is going on?” She watches him pull out three Tupperwares of leftovers. Food that friends have brought over to be helpful. Food she has made even though she hates cooking. Food she feels very strongly about not sharing with him since he hasn’t helped at all. “That is not for you.” He continues to ignore her and turns to the counter. The door to the fridge is standing wide open, so she slams it. The glass containers in the door rattle, and she shakes her head. “Are you going to answer me?”

“You’re being irrational.” His voice is so calm. Of course, he hasn’t been through the wringer for the past day and a half.

“Mom was in the fucking hospital, Dad. And you were nowhere to be found. I called you and called you. I needed you.” She’s fighting the emotion rising up her throat. She doesn’t want to cry because he doesn’t deserve to see her like that. But dammit, she loves her dad, and why is he being like this?

He grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her into a hug. He’s crying, and she can no longer hold back the emotion. She starts to sob as she hits him on the back. The blow is not nearly as hard as she wants it to be because she’s exhausted. But it feels good to take her anger out on him, even if it is a pitiful attempt. “I’m sorry,” he whispers through his sobs. “I can’t handle this, Gwennie. I can’t do this.”

“You can’t disappear, Dad. You can’t. I need you.”

“I don’t know how to deal with her like this.” He loosens his arms and pulls away. He cries like she does, all over and all at once. No single tears. It’s a waterfall, or it’s nothing. Who is she kidding? It’s always a waterfall. She’s been a crier for as long as she can remember. And her dad was always the one to calm her down, to walk her back from the precipice, and now she’s having to do it for him.

“Dad, you need to help. You have to.

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