Page 276 of Under Her Skin
“We never did that again, though. One spanking was enough,” Kent says as he puts the steaming plate full of brisket on the table, then goes back for the beans as the microwavebeeps.
“It wasn’t the spanking of myself that stopped me. It was hearing you two cry like you were being beaten to death that stopped me. That was the last time any of us were spanked, I do believe,” I say, then place the last two plates on the table and take mychair.
“I never got another one,” Kate says as she starts making herplate.
“Hey, wait!” Kent shouts at her. “We have to say grace,Kate.”
She puts the spoonful of potato salad back in the bowl and nods. “You’re right. Especially today. Man, I can’t believe he’s gone. I just can’t believe it,” she says and picks up the napkin I gave her to wipe her eyes, which are springingleaks.
“Hey, no crying at the table, sis,” I tease her. “You know the rules in pops’ house. Only good words are spoken at the table. Now tell me your best time withpops.”
She nods, then takes a drink of her beer. “My best time with pops, huh? There are so many of them, I don’t know if I can pick a best one. But I think one of the top best times I had with pops was when he took usfishing.”
Kent puts the beans on the table and sits down. “Yeah, fishing rocked with him.” He reaches out for our hands, and we each take one, then he looks at me. “You get to do this now that he’s gone,Blaine.”
“Say grace?” I ask as I shake my head. “I don’t know what the hell tosay.”
Kate makes a snorting sound I assume is some kind of a laugh. “Just say what pops used to say. Wing it, Damien. I don’t think the meal will burst into flames, having one of Satan’s disciples praying overit.”
I hate when she calls me that name, and she knows it. It’s no secret that all of my family thinks I’m heartless and must be demonic to do the things I do in business and in my personal life too. The name calling is something I usually don’t put up with,though.
The occasion calls for me to laugh her off, so I do just that. “Okay, Kate. Let’s see what I can come up with. Bow your heads and close your eyes,” I tell them and watch to make sure they do. Then I bow too. “Lord, you’ve gained an angel in our father today. We know he’s safe and happy in your hands now. We’ve found this food he prepared before he left us. Now, we know it’s three days old, so if you could bless it to be sure it doesn’t make us sick, we’d all really appreciatethat.”
“Say something about us being thankful, Blaine,” Kentwhispers.
“And we are thankful, Lord. Not only for this food, but also for having our father for the amount of time you let us have him. He will be missed. He was a great man, a kind man, and a wise man.” A knot forms in my throat and I have to stop and clear it. “Amen.”
This not crying at the table is a lot harder than I thought it’dbe!
Chapter3
BLAINE
November10th:
Hurrying to turn the lamp on beside my bed, I sit up, trying to catch my breath. As the light comes on, illuminating my bedroom, I look around to be sure I’m really in my home on my estate rather than in my childhood bedroom with my father sitting on the edge of my twin bed, talking tome.
Every damn night since we buried our father, I’ve had the same dream. Pops comes into my bedroom, the one I had as a kid, and sits down and starts talking to me about right andwrong.
My head is aching with how much has been put into it, even though it’s not real at all. My heart is aching as well. I don’t recall ever feeling as much as I have in the last fivedays.
It’s hard to believe my father is more with me now than when he was alive, but that’s how I feel. Yesterday I went to the corporate office, and when I found one of the employees from the Houston store in the reception area, I stopped to talk to him—an unusual thing forme.
He told me he’d asked his manager for some time off with pay so he could go see his younger brother in the hospital. The manager had told him it was against our policy to give employees leave with pay foranything.
I had to take him into my office because he started crying, and I found myself feeling terribly for him. He told me his ten-year-old brother had been diagnosed with the same disease that hit him at that exact age. He explained how the disease changed him, taking away his ability to walk and leaving him paralyzed from the waist down because it attacked his brain. It also took away some of his mental capabilities, and he wanted to be with his brother to help him understandthings.
The young man told me things that made me see life in a new way. He told me he wanted to tell his little brother how he was still a viable human being and that he would be one too. Walking and being able to use your brain as well as you used to isn’t as hard as it seems to be. At least he gets to keep onliving.
I sat there and listened to him tell me things I’d never taken the time to listen to from any employee before. And I found myself writing out a policy to allow leave with pay for certain things—family = members facing challenges with their health being one ofthem.
And before he left my office, I had him give me his parents’ phone number so I could call them. Without even thinking, I told them I’d be paying for their son’s hospital bills and anything he needed to help him deal with this terrible thing he’d been afflictedwith.
Danny Peterson gave me something that day—he gave me an insight into what kinds of things he and others like him face. I felt as if I’d been given a gift—the gift to understand others and have empathy—I’ve lacked my wholelife.
With pops coming to me in my dreams every night, I’m feeling like I need to make a lot of changes. It’s as if I’m being given the opportunity to start on a new path—one I didn’t realize existedbefore.
Looking at the clock on my nightstand, I see it’s six in the morning and make a snap decision to call my brother and sister to see if they’d like to come with me to breakfast. It’s early enough to catch them before their workdaysbegin.
