Shaped Me

One Kid

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.