“In a nutshell—that my father doesn’t want me.”
Chapter Fourteen
The Comfort in Uncomfortable
New Orleans was amazing, but I was happy when we finally crossed the Red River into Oklahoma. Another hour and change, and we’d be home. I couldn’t wait to sleep in my own bed again, but more importantly, to see if that box in my closet was even still there. On the drive back, I rode with Dad, and in between reading texts and writing them, I picked his brain about a few things.
Drew: My mom is driving me crazy!
Me: Why lol
Drew: She is asking some REALLY uncomfortable questions.
“Say goodbye to Texas,” Dad said gleefully. He was happy to be going home too.
“Bye, Texas, I won’t miss your pungent cow manure aroma,” I said as we came off the bridge and onto Oklahoma soil, “Hello Oklahoma, I’m back.”
Me: What kind of questions? It can’t be that bad!
Drew: Eden, she’s asking me if we are planning on being intimate and if she needs to go out and buy me condoms, and the worse part, I have nowhere I can run to escape this!
I had no idea what to say to that, so I pocketed my phone while Dad was still chuckling at my little comment about the smell. “So are you ready for school to start,” he asked me as he changed lanes.
“I can’t believe it’s only a week and a few days away, this summer has flown by! I’m excited about exploring what my options are after I graduate. This year is when the field trips to college campuses start and when military recruiters visit the school to talk to the juniors and seniors. I figured I might as well get an early start by learning what I can this year to prepare for next year. I’m interested in college, but I am also interested in joining the military—I was thinking maybe the Marine Corps,” I said and waited for his reaction. I wasn’t waiting long.
He cleared his throat in the way he usually did when I’d thrown him for a loop but didn’t want me to know it. “The Marines, huh,” he pondered aloud and spared me a quick glance, “Why not another branch, like Air Force, or Navy?”
Because she’s being a conniving little brat and trying to pull information out of you, this is just the part where she's easing you into it. Echo’s voice carried a note of veiled pride. He never did have a clue when it came to someone playing him for a fool!
“Well,” I started aloud but paused like I was thinking about my answer. It was mostly for Dad’s benefit because I turned my thoughts inward to address Echo. Echo, you wouldn't want me to slip about hearing you in my head again, would you? We both know what will happen, now don’t we? Dad will ensure that I take my pills daily, and within a week, I will barely be able to hear you anymore.
You wouldn’t! I could hear the shocked challenge in her voice, but I didn’t have to say a thing. She would be able to tell from my emotional arc that I was dead serious. I felt her presence shrink back and become quiet.
“Eden,” Dad asked, and I looked over to find him looking at me instead of the road.
“Dad—you’re driving,” I said, gesturing in front of us. He reluctantly faced the road again. “To answer your question, it just seems the most interesting, you know?”
Which was technically the truth, it was the most interesting since I’d discovered he’d been a Marine. It had been four days since I’d walked in the strange memory sequence. I was still baffled by just how different it had been from the rest.
“Hmm, okay, well, do you have any questions, about the Marines,” Dad asked, and I inwardly celebrated because that was the opening I needed to get him to voluntarily hand over the details of his time in the service.
I laughed somewhat sarcastically to add to the effect that I wasn’t supposed to know what I already knew and said, “What do you know about the Marines, Dad?
He straightened in the driver’s seat and puffed out his chest. It made me want to giggle, but I resisted the urge, he looked hilarious. “I’ll have you know I served three years in the Marine Corps!”
“What?” I shouted with feigned astonishment, but luckily he didn’t pick up on the fakeness of it. “No, you didn’t either.” He frowned and I felt a twinge of guilt. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
He glanced at me briefly and then, with a determined nod, said, “Yes, Eden, I’m serious.”
I didn’t have to fake emotion for anything else from that point on. The rest of what Dad had to say I was hearing for the first time. “Why only three years, why did you get out,” I asked as he took the exit to get gas. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out.
Drew: Oh, thank god, I could kiss your dad for exiting; now maybe I can get mom to swap with you and end this misery!
I just shook my head and shoved the phone back in my pocket. Dad didn’t say anything for a while, just stared out the windshield until he pulled up next to the pump, put the car in park, and then faced me completely.
“I got out—for you, Eden. When Echora—when your mother died, I was already home on leave. Mom and Pop were too old to be raising another baby, especially with Pop being sick like he was. We all knew he didn’t have much longer on this earth. So I exhausted all
