"I am thrilled that you and your son Nick could make it tonight," said my Basketball Coach Niles shaking my dad's hand as if he had just met the president. We took our seats at the fancy table decorated with a red table cloth and two candles placed in the center of the table.



"This is my wife Laurie," Coach said smiling tenderly at his wife as she extended her right hand to greet him. Her fluffly blonde hair and very blue eyes made her look like one of those dolls. She didn't look old at all. Her skin shone from the flickering candles.


"Pleasure to meet you," my dad said smiling as best he could. Such a fake smile I thought to myself. I cant believe my dad even agreed to their invitation. He's always going on in disbelief to how I even made the Varsity Basketball team. Raving on about how naive my Coach was for allowing me to play on it. My dad wasn't always like this. When I mentioned the part about entering high school and things taking a major turn for the worse, well...I didn't just mean my friendship with Cathy.


"Well, you probably know that Nick has become one of our most improved players on our all star Basketball team," said Coach proudly. His wife sat quietly next to him beaming at me. I sat there, my foot tapping (a nervous habit) and my back against the chair, nervously unsure of where my Coach was heading. He glanced over in my direction his eyes sparkling.

"Hello I'm Kristen, I'll be serving you today. Are you ready to order drinks?" the tall red-head waitress asked in a thick southern accent.

"Yes, my wife and I will have sweetened tea please," he said. It was extremely weird, almost awkward seeing my Coach not in his usual sports uniform. Tonight he was wearing actual dress clothes and he was actually talking. Not screaming for once in his life.

"I'll have beer and he'll have water," my dad said. Sure, start making my orders for me why dont you? Oh to make it even better, why dont you attach a leash to my neck and just totally and completely take control of my life??

"Well, the reason we asked you Mr. Shade-" "Call me Sam"

"Sam. We think...we know that Nick has the potential to get a full basketball scholarship. Since his Senior year is just around the corner we have gotten in touch with some of the best coaches at colleges..." As my coach continued to ramble on, he was totally oblivious to what he was doing to me dad. I could feel him tensing up. My stomach twisted. The knot growing as my coach continued to talk about all the possibilites I had. I sat there dead still anticipating the disapproval words my dad would respond with.

"...and thats why we thought it would be best to ask your first. There is a summer program that is taken place at the University of San Diego. It's only for the college students there, but they're trying out a new system and are allowing exceptionally good players like your son to attend." He paused waiting for just one sign of happiness or excitement from my father. His face remained blank and emotionless.

"Um, if its money your concerned about, we wouldn't mind paying half-"

"Its not that," my dad interrupted his voice sounding impatient. Please dont make a scene or at least make me look like an idiot I pleaded in my mind. I had not said one word the whole night. Mainly to the fact that last night I had been getting really drunk at Megan's party, when I told myself I wasn't going to. But then one drink led to another and I found myself dancing and drinking and having a blast. Thank goodness Erica had called, saying something had come up and couldn't make it. She actually sounded panicky now that I think about it. Probably a broken nail or something.
"I'm thrilled that you think so highly of my son, but personally, I dont think he's necessarily ready for this big step just yet"
My stomach churned with anger. How the hell does he know whether i'm ready or not! He hasn't been to a single one of my games!
"Not ready? I have been training every day for the past year and a half, how can I NOT be ready?" My voice raising louder then I wanted. My hands were tightened in a clenched fist underneath the table. My dad's face tightened even more, which I didn't think was possible. My coach and his wife stared at me as if I had just slapped their faces.
"May I be excused?" I asked reaching for my cell phone and straining to get up from my seat. No one said anything. I concluded that it was my signal to leave. I rushed past the staring faces and into the men's bathroom. Was it me or did it just get really quiet out there? The bathroom was decently clean and had a faint smell of Aerosol Spray. The three sinks on the left were white with drops of water and soap splattered across the countertop. I walked pass the stalls making sure none of them were occupied. When I knew for sure there was no one around, I quickly went into one of the stalls locking the door securely. Apparently the last person here didn't know how to handle toilet paper very well, considering it was stuffed in the toilet and scraps all over the floor. He leaned against the stall door, glancing at his phone. At that exact moment, a familiar voice echoed throughtout the bathroom.
Nick, are you in here?" I could hear his footsteps nearing closer towards me. I opened the door and stepped out.
"Lets go, were leaving"
The ride home was deafening. Funny part was not a word was spoken the whole ride until I made it worse by blurting out
"I have a game Thursday night. Maybe for once in your life you could actually come to one so i can prove to you how good I've actually gotten," I said staring out the passenger window, way to scared to look at my dad straight in the eye.
"You may have gotten better, but you'll never be as good as you used to be," he said matter of factly.
"You mean I'll never make it because Daniel never did." The minute those words came out of my mouth I regreted it instantly.
"Daniel! This has absolutely nothing to do with him and his damn mistakes! He's the last thing on my mind and I plan to keep it that way. I told you we dont speak of him around me or anyone else for that matter, you got that?"
"Hey! Look at me!"
I relunctantly turned to him in disgust.
"He's your son for crying out loud-"
"Nick! Do you understand me?"
It was pointless. I couldn't get through to him. First it was mum, then Daniel and now I was going to be next.
"Yes."
The night remained twice as worse as it was before. The knot in my stomach was bigger than ever and my chest was aching. My dad is the one person who makes me angrier than anyone else. I dont know why. Since half of my life he's barely been around in. Sometimes I think I could have been better off with no parents at all.