Ethan Knight is living his life just as he imagined it. Being the captain of the basketball team, he has to make sure they win this year's championship, which will further solidify his chances of being drafted, his dream for as long as he can rememb...
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I look away from my mother and towards the door, to see him standing there with his hands in his pockets, looking at my mother with a condescending smile on his face.
My mother doesn't turn around. She remains rooted in her position but acknowledges my father with a shake of her head and closes her eyes in frustration.
Glancing toward Chase, I finally see him look a little nervous. He knows my mother will always be on his side, but my father would rather have me date a cactus than him.
"Don't." Mom mutters, still not turning around.
Dad starts walking towards us and settles beside me with his body a step ahead of me, almost shielding me.
"Don't what, Caroline? Don't reveal your hypocrisy?" His head tilts slightly to his left, staring at mom as she finally opens her eyes and stares back with equal ferocity.
"Don't come between my daughter and me. I'm trying to have a conversation here." She says, gritting her teeth.
"Conversation? Sounded like accusations to me." Dad mused.
"Please, Philip." She shakes her head like she's so done with us. "I'm just trying to convey my feelings to her. What's so hypocritical about a mother talking to her daughter?"
My dad chuckles.
Actually chuckles.
I can practically see the fumes coming out of mom's ears when she hears that sound.
"There she goes throwing around the M word." He chuckles some more, and I had to grip the railing behind me to ground myself because oh my god, this is going to blow over so bad. "You're here trying to convey your feelings while you're completely ignoring the feelings of your daughter."
"I'm not ignoring her feelings. She just doesn't know what's right for her." She throws her hand in the air as if we simply can't understand her logical point.
Dad takes a look at me before a smile takes over his face. "Caroline, believe me, she knows what's best for her." He looks over to where Chase is standing and trails his eyes over him. "She's already making better choices. Choices that even you and I couldn't make for her."
My mom starts to speak, but Chase clears his throat, interrupting her. She throws him an irritated look before raising her eyebrow.
"I think this is a private conversation and maybe I should leave." He gestures to the door with his thumb and jerks his head.
"For once, you thought right, Chase. Please leave." Dad tells him in a firm voice.
Nodding his head rigidly, Chase walks towards the door, but right before he's about to step out the threshold, Dad calls out to him, making him turn around.
"If I see you around Iris again or even hear that you tried to approach her, physically or telephonically, I'll gladly do what Iris stopped me from doing all those years ago. You just might lose a limb or two in that process." He says and even from so far away, I could see Chase's eyes go wide. He knows Dad's talking about the night I found him cheating on me. "Am I clear?"
