Are We There Yet?

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Are We There Yet?

The 'fun' began when my kin picked me up from the airport. I was graced with a long drive through the city and finally the backwoods of Indiana. My Aunt Debby had allowed her son, B.J., a very inexperienced driver, to take the wheel. He proceeded to take us on a three-hour detour through the most derelict parts of Indianapolis- finally ending up lost in the outskirts of some unknown township.  We stopped at the only place that looked inhabited; a lone gas station in the middle of what looked like nowhere. Quite angry by this time, I chewed hard on my bubble-gum, wishing I were that bumblebee I just saw whiz by.

"Deb, can’t you just drive? I want to get to the party before it is too late!"

Deb gave me a look of confusion before explaining that B.J. was doing his best and we should be patient with him. That is good and fine when you do not have somewhere to be.  I cried silently, tasting my salty tears. I reminded myself why this party was being thrown; to celebrate the life of my father, whose birthday had just passed.

“Celebrate!" I snorted out loud, again bringing a glance from my aunt. I looked out the open window to spot B.J. still talking with a gas attendant in dirty overalls. He couldn’t even get simple directions! I bit my lip. A deep sob escaped me, causing my Aunt Debby to turn in her seat and cast me yet another of her looks.

“Stop looking at me like that,” I demanded.

“This is no fun for me either, but we can’t just fall apart now can we?” 

Can’t we?  I thought bitterly as I watched B.J. heading back to our car with an unhurried slow gait.

We started out again, this time with the detailed directions the man in overalls was kind enough to scrawl out on a crumpled up piece of paper. All my inept driver had to do is turn right a few times and it would lead him directly to the highway ‘home’.

I sat back in my seat and pondered how I could possibly be related to these people when they were so obviously different than I. Maybe it was because I escaped that small town in Indiana in my youth. Being raised in California, I felt I knew a lot more about life than the small minded, overly-religious people of my hometown. I thought of my father and the party being held in his honor. My father was a complex man, like a phoenix being born out of ruined ashes; he transformed himself from what he was to what he became. He escaped the small town and the poverty that held his family in its grips and moved on to make a name for himself. True, his name was only known to a few but it had became a proud name for a proud man to bear. Why did he choose to return to that hated town?

Lost in my thoughts, I had not noticed we had arrived at our destination. I stepped gingerly out of the car. I had not seen these people for years and had it not been for my father, I would have been happy to never see them again, but it was my father’s party after all.

I stepped through the threshold of my father’s home. I had only seen pictures of the house he was so proud of renovating. People stood around chatting, holding drinks in their hands and sampling from a large meat platter on a side table. My eyes darted from place to place as I walked forward, stumbling over my grandmother’s poodle, which let out a loud yelp. Again I felt eyes on me as I walked toward my father. My eyes were getting misty and my heart felt tight and heavy. It had been so long since I had seen my dad. Feeling great guilt, I looked at the coffin displayed in the middle of the living room. I knelt before it.

“I am sorry I am so late Daddy," I sobbed. “Happy Birthday.”




Note: The theme is a surprise party. The surprise is on the reader as it is not what you expected, I hope. We had to use certain prompt words. While most of this story is true, I took liberties with the ending. My father was already at the funeral home and I knew this on the drive (yes, the drive was mostly true, minus the bee buzzing by my head and a couple other small details. I was in a hurry to get to the funeral home because I was hoping to see my father who had just recently died. I flew from California to Indiana and was subjected to a 4 hour drive, which was basically a trip around in circles....leading nowhere until I made them stop and get directions. It was also not my father's birthday. But, hey...I followed all prompts.  (word count 722)