League Night Again

Jennifer stepped onto the rickety front porch and paused just for a moment before going in, pushing on, she called out, “Dad, are you home?” She heard a familiar silence and was both relieved and anxious. Dropping her books by the door, she made her way upstairs and called out once more before opening the door to her father’s bedroom, “Dad?” The door creaked open and the room was empty.

Jennifer gathered up 3 pillows and headed into the bathroom. Inside, she closed the toilet lid down and placed the pillows into the mostly dry tub. Picking up her pace, she started back downstairs. She packed two lunches for tomorrow and put them into a brown bag. She wrote a letter ‘D’ on one of them and placed them both into the refrigerator, and then started making dinner.

A note on the calendar reminder her it was league night for dad. She ate alone and left a covered plate of food on the counter, before she scooped up her books and went upstairs to her room. She locked the door behind her. She woke up with the still light in her room. The numbers on the clock read 3:14 am. It was quiet and a relief. She got up and moved quietly through her father’s room. She looked into the bathroom and saw him sleeping on the pillows in the tub.

The next morning, making breakfast, her dad entered the kitchen. He was craning his neck back and forth trying to work the kinks out. He said, “I fell in the tub last night, luckily it was a soft landing. What on earth compelled you to put pillows in the tub?”

She didn’t look up, but replied softly, “This has happened before” and handed him a lunch.