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“What can I do for you, Dad? I know you're not just here to talk to me about who I'm dating. I know you don't care, so out with it.”
He smiled. “I really don't, as long as it's not her. You can have your little dalliances, but just remember that at the end of the day, you're representing the family. Make sure you make the right decisions.”
I can't even count how many times I had been told to worry about the family before my own needs. When I first decided that I wanted to become the guitarist and the singer, my family had been very unsupportive. It was a hobby, a phase that I would grow out of. They never imagined that I would want to make music for a living.
After working on it for years, the band was finally more than just a few guys in a band. We were playing gigs and even making some money. It wasn't near as much as I could make if I worked with my dad at the company, but there was no amount of money that could pay for the freedom that I have now. The fact that it drove my father crazy was just a bonus.
“I am not making any decisions. I have no desire to get married. We were just having fun and you interrupted it. Once again, what are you doing here, Dad?”
“Besides the fact that it's my house?”
I gritted my teeth. Of course, he was going to remind me that I was saying in his place. Everything was his, so it was easy to imagine.
“Right, so you came up to Laurel, just to take in the views at your house?”
“No, son, I came because I need you to make a presence today. I've got a lot riding on a meeting and the man's daughter will be there. I need you to use some of that charm on her. She is from California and should be fun.”
I looked at him a little strangely. “If I didn't know any better, Dad, I would say that you are trying to pimp me out.”
Gerald smiled. “You can see it however you want to, as long as you make it there.”
I agreed to come, because I didn't really have a choice. Whatever it was that was going on, it must have been pretty important for him to come all the way to Laurel to get me. It wasn't too far out of the city, but it was pretty damn far from my father.
“I will be there, Dad. What time?”
“Now, son. Take a shower, get dressed, wipe that damn girl off of you, and get your ass down to the company. We have a lot to do today.”
I agreed, even though I didn't really work for the company. That was one of the biggest contentions between us. He wanted me to take over and start to learn the business, but I had no desire to. I wanted to make music, and making money wasn’t a huge drive for me. If we did get solvent, that would be good of course, but at the end of the day, I had to believe that there was more to life than making paper.
Dad left not too long after he arrived. Like a whirlwind, he came in and destroyed everything and left without an apology. The more I thought about it, the more upset I became. He shouldn't be able to just come in here and change my whole day, but he did. The house and others like it were some of the reasons I still did these things for my dad. I needed a place and although I loved music, it still wasn't working out quite in the way that I wanted. That meant going with dad’s crazy schemes for a little while longer.
When he left, I sat back down on the chair and wished that I could call Molly. We were in the middle of something great and even though it wasn't serious between us, it didn't mean that I wasn't craving her just the same. I had work to do. I had to go and impress somebody's daughter, so that their father could make my father richer. Sometimes it all seemed like a waste of time.
Even though I didn't have much time to spare, I grabbed the guitar off of the couch and started strumming. Before long, I had plugged it back in and I was now drowning out all of my thoughts and feelings with loud music. I don't know why, but my father was probably the only person that could get me so worked up.
He made me crazy, which was probably one of the driving forces that turned me to music to begin with.
