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I was flabbergasted.
Were we moving? This didn’t make any sense, therefore, I turned to him and asked, “What’s this?”
He smiled down at me, and said, “You’re eighteen now. You amaze me every day. And since you won’t let me get you a new car because you love the one you have, this was the next best thing.”
And with that, my dad laid a set of keys in my palm.
A set of shiny keys.
“Daddy?” I felt tears prick my eyes.
“I’m so proud of you sweetheart. So damn proud. You kicked ass and are about to graduate high school with two years of college classes already under your belt. You’re kicking ass at it. Working your ass off. You’ll graduate a semester earlier than the others will. You volunteer your time. You help out anywhere you can. You just fucking amaze me, sweetheart.”
I couldn’t help it. With my new shiny keys in my hand, I jumped up into my dad’s arms and then cried into his neck.
His big body shook with laughter, “I take it you like it.”
I nodded but then blubbered, “You didn’t have to do this. It’s too much.”
“It's fucking not. You never ask me for a damn thing. You didn’t ask for your car, you worked at the garage for it. You don’t ask for anything. You deserve this baby.”
When I didn’t say anything, he asked, “Now, are you ready to see the inside?”
I could only nod against his chest.
Letting go of him, I wiped my cheeks, then stepped to the front door, and put the key in the lock.
As soon as I turned the doorknob, I was shocked way the heck out that it was all already furnished.
My dad laughed at my stupefied expression. “Lena picked the furniture out. She knows you really well. Prospects under Lena’s direction boxed up your bedroom, and I know for a fact that Lena handled your feminine shit that you wouldn’t want anyone to see, except for another girl.”
After I got a tour of the house, the sound of bikes rumbling could be heard.
Dad laughed and then shook his head, “They didn’t waste any time getting here.”
Smiling, I raced out the front door and waved at everyone.
Pizzas and beer, soda for me and Lena was the perfect housewarming party. And with one other person here it would have been magical.
And it hadn’t hit me until that very moment, that Tank never let me know that he made it there okay.
Lena and I had our own little dance party right there in my brand-new living room.
I also found out that my dad had bought these five acres and had this house built for me.
And it was my name on the deed. No one else.
His words to me that night while we stood on my front porch were, “I don’t care where you go in life. I don’t care what dreams you want to chase. I want you to know that you will always have a safe landing to come back home to. And if something ever happens to me, I don’t want you to ever worry about anything being taken away from you.”
After I had waved my dad off, Lena told me she was staying the night so she could help me move anything around if I didn’t like where something was placed.
Luckily, that hadn’t been the case so we both had just binged on Netflix and ended up falling asleep in the living room.
Today was Monday which meant we had five more days until graduation.
Walking into class, I took my seat and pulled out the printed syllabus for my next four classes starting in spring at college.
Taking out one of the books I needed, I got to work, hoping I could get ahead in those classes.
