Like Father not like Son

A shorty story

The apartment was small and clustered with blank canvases. The canvases with actual paint on them were stacked in the corner near the TV. You look around, you've stayed here before but everything is so unkempt and messy now. The dining table is full and you notice the mold growing on the plates. It must have been weeks since your dad last cleaned his apartment and now you`ll be sharing it with him. He's in his room doing who knows what but you have your suspicions based on what your grandfather has mentioned before. After cleaning the table and washing the plates you open the doors to the den, a tiny room used as a painter’s graveyard. You remove just enough stuff to be able to blow up a mattress. Why couldn't he have done this before I arrived? He knew I was coming didn't he?  Before all the internal questioning is over dad comes out of his room with a blanket and pillow.

“Did you forget that I was coming today dad?”

“Of course not kiddo, I’d been looking forward to this ever since I found out”

It all seemed strange to you seeing your dad like this, so messy so untidy. You know you haven't seen him for a while but your short term memory suggested that he had everything together and was doing well for himself.

“It’s been a long day kid, how about we go over to the Fox and grab a drink?”

“The Fox? Sure...let me just grab my jacket from the couch.” As you grab your jacket you make sure you have your fake id in it. Then it hits you, you`re 18 and underage, does dad know that? Does he not care or did he forget another important detail about you? You don’t question him as you both leave and make for the elevator. The ride down seemed longer then it should have been, the silence making it worse.

            In Front of the building the night air hits you hard forcing you to zip you your jacket. Calling a cab you both jump in and make way to the Fox. Still silence. Still a sickening feeling inside you that your dad seems more like a stranger then the man who took you to every soccer game you had as a child. Inside the Fox you sit at a table alone while dad is talking up a storm with the young blonde by the bar. You pretend not to care but you can't keep your eyes of him while clenching your fist. His total disregard for you and your late mother leaves a worse taste than the drink you have in front of you. It’s only a couple of hours with him and you can`t recognise him. Whoever your father was he's gone, replaced with robot, a silent forgetful robot.

After you finish your drink you step outside for some fresh air. Your mood hasn't changed but you feel you need to step out for a moment. A few deep breaths later and you've regained your composure, it's only then that you see a woman, lighting a cigarette, staring at you puzzled. You shake your head in a ‘what do you want’ kind of gesture but she keeps staring. Eventually she walks over and offers you a cig. “Smoke? You look like you need one.” You've never smoked before but she's waiting with her lighter in hand, what the hell you think, you've already ousted your robot dad what’s the worse a simple smoke will do? She lights it for you and you take one inhale before coughing up a lung. You're bent over trying to breath; she's patting your back, that’s when you notice her legs, her long thin legs. You control your breathing once again, embarrassed by the coughing but she’s smiling at you.

“Hi I`m Tammy”

“I`m Kade” you reply still coughing up that last piece of your lungs.

“Not much of a smoker are you Kade?” she says giggling slightly.

“No not really, not much of anything right now”

“That’s sad Kade” She reaches an arm to wrap around you and you notice the tattoos all over her hands and forearms. It doesn’t faze you, nothing did in that moment, you forget the coughing fit, the abandonment feeling, all the troubles of the world melted away by this stranger, this girl wrapping an arm around you. It seemed like an old friend, it was natural and you suspected she felt the same way. Not much has been said between you but enough was there for you to follow her into the bar.

            Your dad is at the table alone, you lose sight of Tammy but you see her walking through the doors behind the bar, reappearing dressed as a waitress. She sees you and smiles but its work time for her so you sit opposite your dad. He offers you another drink; you accept the offer only for the purpose of staying and watching Tammy.

“Do you always stare at the girls Kade? Or do you talk to them?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well ever since Tammy over there has been back on shift you haven’t stop staring at her”

“We met outside, only exchanged names nothing serious”

“Kade, I`m going to tell you something as your father, Tammy isn`t good news, i want you stay away from her.”

The words echoed in your head, what did that mean? You wanted to ask him but before you could a tall man dressed in a black leather jacket and black hair approaches the table and starts talking.

“Hey Tommy, how you`ve been?”

“Same ol same ol, you know how it goes Henry, can’t get a gig or a sale anywhere in this city.”

“I hear ya Tom; the city kills its talent and rewards the morons on TV.”

They talk more about the struggles of starving artists while my eyes wonder over to Tammy again only this time i realize she’s left already. 

I turn back to the conversation, Henry has pulled out a baggie and they head to the washroom together. Sitting alone again, I’ve had enough; I leave and make my way back to the apartment and my blow up mattress in a cramped den.