No matter how much his late wife's actions have impacted his relationship with his son, because she is no longer here, he must forget about the past and make amends on his own.
"I'm going to ask you one more time." Evan gritted his teeth, "what are you doing here?"
"I called, I wrote . . . you wouldn't answer, E." Joseph sighed, "I took matters into my own hands and I came. I wanted to see you, I wanted to try and get past what happened. I came to build a relationship with my son."
Evan shakes his head, stepping back, "well, you mine as well go back to where you came from because I'm not interested."
With no remorse in his words, he turned and walked away.
"Evan, don't be like that," Joseph chased after him. "Are you really going to hold the past against me for the rest of your life?"
Evan ignored him as the two approached the entrance of the hospital.
"Uh, excuse me," the receptionist at the desk stopped them both. They turned around to see she had a small slip in her hand. "Your hospital bill needs to be paid, sir. Do you have insurance?"
"No, unfortunately, I don't," Joseph walked up to the desk.
He was pretty young when he started traveling the world. He didn't stay in one place too long and he worked small jobs just to be able to get from place to place, thus him not being able to pay for insurance.
"I can pay with cash though," he sighed.
As he began to search his pockets with his uninjured hand, Evan turned away to leave him there, only for a frustrated sigh to stop him in his tracks. He turned to see Joseph's hand balled into a fist.
"God damn it, I must have dropped my wallet during the fight." He held the bridge of his nose in frustration.
His night seemed to only be getting worse.
In the midst of trying to come up with a solution, he felt the sound of something being slapped on the desk.
He dropped his hand from his face to see Evan sliding his credit card toward the receptionist.
"I got it covered," he said with an emotionless expression on his face.
Though Joseph knew he was only helping him out of the minor goodness in his heart, he was appreciative and couldn't help to smile.
"Thanks, E."
Evan furrowed his eyebrows as the receptionist went to make the transaction, "aren't you a little too old to be having bar fights?"
Joseph shrugged, "saw a hot girl getting harassed by a drunk douche bag. I couldn't just sit there, somebody had to step in."
Evan nodded, considering he would probably do the same thing. "Did you get her number at least?"
"Nope, I got arrested, my wallet stolen and a sprained wrist instead. Saved the girl too, so I guess it's a win-win," he shrugged.
"You must have hit him pretty hard," Evan chuckled.
"A left hook right to the jaw," Joseph reminisced with a smile as he gestured his movements with his arm.
Evan rolled his eyes at the fact his father actually considered the altercation funny.
Though Joseph was an older guy, he was young at heart. Bars, women, clubs, you name it, he was in for it. He was always ready to have a good time, which made Evan think he was so immature; especially because Evan was more on the conservative side.
When Evan turned sixteen, Joseph began to add his crazy stories into his letters to him. He's been arrested for all types of petty dumb things like a college student would. He even dressed like he was a college bad boy. T-shirts, leather jackets, jeans, and biker boots. Can't forget his tattoos, which he took pride in.
While Evan thought he needed to grow up, Joseph was more laid back and considered himself a man just trying to live his life to the fullest.
Their different personalities is another thing that caused the two to bump heads.
"Here is your card, sir," the receptionist returned to the desk.
"Thank you," he gave a small smile.
"You guys have a good night," she waved.
"You too," they said in unison.
Joseph stood their awkwardly, watching Evan turn away. He tapped his nails on the desk, hesitating to ask Evan for more of his help.
"Hey, E," he blurted out, following his son outside.
Chapter Four
Start from the beginning
