Chapter Three: Manny
"Dad!" My voice is definitely going to be gone by the end of today. The amount of times I have yelled today is absolutely ridiculous but here I am again yelling.
"Dad! Cookie where's dad?" Jumping out of my arms he runs towards the basement door. "Good boy." Rubbing the top of his head I toss him a treat from the stash on the table. We always keep them handy because much like me Cookie does not play when it comes to his food. Leaving him to run around the living room I go to find the man who is clearly ignoring me.
"You have one kid. One."
"With the personality and energy of seven."
"Wow keep talking and your nursing home won't even have shuffleboard." With his hand on his chest, he stared at me with fake hurt in his eyes. He is probably more ready than I am for school to be back in session. In his words, he was tired of seeing my face. The amount of love my father shows me is amazing.
"What can I do for you, my one kid?"
"What are we doing for dinner tonight?" Sitting on his desk I fold my legs underneath me. The only items on the desk is a picture of the six of us at the diner. We attempted to have a "family" dinner which ended with ketchup on my white shirt and the waitress giving Uncle Mike her phone number. Let's just say family dinners were had in the house from then on.
"Didn't you just get home?"
"Yes."
"Weren't you with the boy?" The boy, his affectionate nickname for Nile.
"Yes."
"I thought the only benefit of you having a boyfriend was that it is now someone else's job to feed you. What is he good for?" Kissing. I think to myself but I know that's probably not the response he was looking for.
"You really want to know?"
" Chinese or you want me to cook?" Ignoring my question he pushes me off the desk and towards the stairs. "It's a good thing I know my kid or else you would have given me a heart attack."
"Do you want to cook?" The smell of fresh paint filled the kitchen. Somehow my father woke up one morning and decided that our kitchen needed to be renovated. Knowing that there was no way to talk him out of it I just smiled and nodded my head. Fast forward two months and our kitchen cabinets still don't have doors. However, he swears it will all be done in two weeks. In his words, the kitchen will be ready for me to invite all my friends over. What friends?
"Actually Manny, I put that dress you wanted on your bed go try it on so I know whether or not I have to return it."
"Now?"
"Yes, If I have to return it I rather do it today cause I'm going to return those pants."
"Are you really returning grandma's gift?" Nodding his head he pulled out some pots and tried to find a spot not covered in sawdust to put his ingredients. Deciding that laughing was only going to get me in trouble I do as I'm told. I'm actually surprised he got the dress because If you asked my dad what he hated more the mall or clowns the mall would win hands down. We were having a conversation about the first day of school and he asked me what I was going to wear. As though the shock on my face insulted him he promised to buy the exact outfit I wanted.
Honestly, after everything with Darren and Nile my dad was being more attentive than usual. Something in him wanted to make it up to Nile by being the best dad he could. It's crazy how we try to atone for someone else's mistakes. My dad had done nothing wrong but somehow he felt that he needed to work to be forgiven. Pulling the dress out of the bag the thoughts of our conversation filled my head. In my eyes, there was nothing my dad could do to make me think he was more amazing than he already is.
Pulling on the dress I stare at it in the mirror. The outfit I had in mind and with the dress alone I could not see it. Throwing my hair in a bun I try to envision what I was going for when I saw the dress at first.
"Dad!"
"I'm changing my name!" He yelled back "Come show me before you panic."
The man knows me what can I say. Dress on I run to show him and get his opinion. We have a system in place. I show him an outfit, he gives me his opinion and I ignore it while waiting for Lex to text me her opinion. It works. This way I get the advice I need and my dad feels involved. If anyone were to ask him he wouldn't even argue. In his words his fashion sense is questionable, that's why my mom used to buy every single article of clothing he owned. She chose everything for him from the tux he wore to get married to what he wore the day I was born.
"So what did Lex say?" Smiling at him I check my phone. The purple case on the phone scratched from I dropped it on the sidewalk. As thought my clumsiness needed an added bonus I tripped picking it up. I wonder who decided that I needed an extra boost of clumsiness when I was being created. Couple that with my inability to walk in a straight line and you have a hot mess.
"She likes the dress but thinks her jean jacket would be better with it. She's on her way."
"What are you guys doing tonight?" Chopping ingredients up he starts fixing what I think is pasta. Watching him cook has always been one of my favorite things. Dad is happiest when he is cooking. His cleanly shaven face relaxed as he focused on what he is making. Moving around the kitchen with ease he tried his best to avoid the mess his renovations have made.
"We didn't have any plans. Dad who taught you how to cook?"
"Your grandfather. He worked in his father's restaurant and later went on to take it over." Handing me a piece of bell pepper he continued the chopping up his ingredients. His pointed nose wrinkled as he concentrated on what he was doing.
"Nana ever tell you the story of the first time they met?" Shaking my head no I steal another piece of pepper. "Your nana and her parents went to the family restaurant and grandpa was the waiter at the time. His father thought he was too young to be a chef, so he worked as a waiter and helped his dad in the kitchen in between tables."
Oh nana did tell me this story. She talked about how much of a brat she was to grandpa and the way he took it as a challenge. Her parents knew they would end up together but if my grandfather had a say he would have spit in her sandwich. Nana spilled her drink on the table and sent back her meal almost three times. In her words "at the time she didn't know how to handle being around such a cute boy."
"That's where you get your clumsiness from."
" Wow thanks dad." Throwing the half eaten pepper at him I aim for his head but he catches it with ease. So I just missed out on the athletic ability? I should probably focus on what he's doing. Cooking is definitely one of my weak spots but I guess I never had to. Dad has cooked all of the meals in our house for as long as I could remember. If you ask him he would say my mother couldn't boil water. However, the truth of the matter is dad loved cooking so much he never let my mom cook. Most of my memories always included my dad in the kitchen, mom and I sitting in the kitchen working on something. Most of the time we colored pictures or made bracelets. Mom always had a new project she wanted us to work and would let me help.
Dad always had a new recipe he was trying out. There was never a dull moment in our house. I try not to think too much about the way life used to be but sometimes I couldn't help it. There were very few moments but sometimes I forget that it has not always been just me and my dad. It was easy to do because my mom has never been to this house. She knew nothing about this town and nothing here reminded me of her. There was only one picture of her up in the living room and one in my room. I'm positive we have albums with her but we never look at them. Dad rarely spoke about her but I knew he wanted to.
"You're in your head again panda. What are you thinking about?"
" Nothing." I lie.
"I'll get it out of you later."
"Honey I'm home!" Lex yells closing the door behind her. "Mr.A, can we get a new door since we're doing all of these renovations?" Pulling out a stool she sat next to me stealing food.
" Lex you don't live here."
"Wow, I'm hurt, but back to the door."
"She's not lying that door is heavy. Do you have the jacket?"
"Yeah, try it on." The faded blue jean jacket is baggy but will go well with the black dress. She was right. Throwing the jacket on and posing in front of them I wait for their responses. However, I'm already in love so either way, this is going to be my first day of school outfit.
"What do you guys think?"
"I like. What shoes?"
"If anyone cares, your father approves of the outfit as well." Rounding the counter I kissed him on the cheek before grabbing Lex and racing out of the kitchen.
"What do you want to do tonight?"
"I was told to give you this." Handing me an orange envelope with my name written on it Lex smiled at me.
"What is this?"
"Open it and follow the directions."