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Chapter Eleven
Dane
My dad is right.Regardless of how I feel, the world keeps going and I keep pushing on. Before I know it, another year passes, and I’m still doing the exact same thing with my life.
I go to work, but now I act like I actually want to be there. I show up early and stay late when needed. I pick up any extra shifts I can, hoping to prove to my dad I’m ready.
When I turn twenty, he decides to start training me for the management position. I go in early every morning, so he can give me another lesson on running a bar. When I get to the grill, I lock the door behind me since it isn’t time to open. Whistling, I head back into the office to see what today’s lesson entails.
As I open the door, I see the back of his chair. Usually he spins around to face me, but it’s so early, the old man has probably passed out again. He’s getting old and needs to retire, which is another reason I’m looking forward to managing the bar soon. He deserves to rest. He’s spent his whole life working hard and taking care of me and Mason.
“Dad, did you have a rough night last night?” I ask, walking up behind him and shaking his shoulder.
His head leans back against the black, leather desk chair, and his skin is pale.
I shake him again. “Dad?”
He doesn’t move. I look closer and see his chest isn’t moving. “Dad!” I scream while spinning his chair around. The quick movement causes him to slump over, but he’s still not moving.
In a panic, I rush for the phone and dial 9-1-1.
I talk to the responder, and she asks me to check for a pulse while the ambulance is dispatched. I place my hand on the inside of his wrist but feel nothing.
My dad is dead. He’s cool to the touch. He’s gone.
I drop the phone and fall to the floor, scurrying backward until my back hits the wall. Tears sting my eyes as I look up at him. Thoughts swirl around in my head so quickly, I can’t even process them, and I hear nothing but my heart hammering away in my ears. My whole body tingles with fear and sadness.
He was a constant in my life. I knew I could count on him for everything. If I needed some sense knocked into me, he’d do it. If I needed help, he was the one I called on. But now, I’m alone. I have nothing.
A pounding sound fills my ears, but I don’t move to check it out. I can’t. I’m frozen in fear, in grief.
The pounding starts again and again. I finally snap out of it, realizing it’s the EMT’s. They can’t get into the bar because the door is locked.
I run to the front and unlock it. They rush inside. Without a word, I point toward the office, and they run in that direction. I fall backward, landing on a barstool. I lay my head against the bar, praying to wake up from this nightmare.
“Excuse me,” a soft voice says.
My head pops up to see a little, blonde girl standing next to me.
“I’m sorry, but he’s gone. We’re waiting on the coroner to pronounce him.”
I nod, and tears stream freely.
Time moves so fast, but it still feels like it’s sitting still. As employees come into the bar for their shifts, I fill them in and send them home, opting to keep the bar closed today. It is the first day it’s been closed since my dad opened it only a couple years ago.
I know my dad would probably slap me and say this isn’t worth the business lost, but I don’t see it that way. I look at it as a moment of silence for his dedication.
When my dad’s body has been taken away, I walk back to the office and sit in the chair across from his desk. My heart is breaking, but I’ve cried so much now, I can’t cry anymore.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Mason says, walking into the office.
“I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry,” I say, not taking my eyes off that black desk chair. I’m still in shock.
“God damn it, Dane! It’s not just about you, you know?” Something crashes behind me, but I don’t flinch or turn to see what it was.
There’s a long silence before then he sniffles behind me. I stand and turn around to face him. He’s sitting on the floor, his back to the door. A big hole is in the office door, and now I know what the crash was. Falling to the floor beside him, I pull him against my chest. “I’m sorry, Mase. He’s gone.”
His tears soak through my shirt. “What happened? He was fine this morning.”
