The man’s voice is deep and crashes around the room like a rogue wrecking ball. He is missing most of his teeth which makes conversation difficult, and asking him to repeat his words only results in yelling the same barely decipherable utterances again.
A bald man with glasses pops his head into the open doorway and asks, “Everything ok in here?”
The man is pacing, he has a large presence and moves with a force that doesn’t stop easily or make detours. He is a straight through the mountain, never mind the winding road that wraps around it, kind of guy. He stops moving and looks down at the man.
“Shoore ith, thank you ferry mush.”
The man’s daughter is sitting on a chair, a softer and smaller version of the man. She holds her purse on her lap and waves the little man away. She knows how her father must sound from the hallway.
“Everything’s fine, it’s just my daddy acting up.”
The unwanted visitor nods at the seated woman, “You just call if you need anything.”
Something deflates in the visitor’s chest as he walks away, he is disappointed and dissatisfied. He wants to be helpful and save a damsel in distress, but is once again thwarted by the damsel. He wonders why no one wants to be saved, particularly by him, for the rest of the day.
Back in the room, the man is gathering his personal things and dropping them into a plain canvas bag that cinches tight with a draw string. Once he finishes with that task, he opens a cabinet door and peers inside at an assortment of supplies.
“Daddy, what are you doing?” his daughter asks.
Instead of answering, he goes onto the next cabinet. He peers inside and is again displeased. He opens a third cabinet and grunts with delight. It is filled with an endless supply of Boost drinks in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors.
“Baby, gimme a bag.”
“Daddy, what are you doing?”
“What? Do you want these?” He generously offers his daughter the cans of chocolate Boost held in both hands.
“No, those are not…
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do,” he says with amazing clarity, reading his daughter’s mind.
He rummages around in the first cabinet, finding a clear bag with a company logo printed across the front of it. One by one, he unloads the cabinet of its burden and transfers the cans into his bag.
“Why else would they be here?” he asks with a shrug.
The woman shakes her head and laughs with a sigh, there is no point in arguing.
“Right, Daddy.”
hoosiersunshine13 