Political topics were not something my father and I discussed. I don't know why; we just never got around to it. I always thought my dad didn't care much about politics. However, in the truck, driving to the store, he was livid.
What's he talking about?" I asked, almost fearfully.
Who the hell cares? What does it matter? He don't know nothing," my dad spit out at me.
Okay, let's just turned it off," I said, reaching for the radio.
You like that guy? You think he's so smart?' he snapped.
Uh, no, dad. But we don't have to listen to it if it's going to get you upset," I told him.
You gonna listen to that guy and suddenly get smart and decide you know more than anybody else?" he looked at me. His face was red and his eyes were big and almost frightening.
No, dad. Let's just not listen if you don't' like him."
So you like him? You think he knows everything?" Again, my dad was raising his voice. His eyes were looking ahead while he was driving. His hands gripped the old steering wheel and his posture was perfect as he seemed to be sitting on the edge of the seat, ready for a fight.
No, dad. Let's just not listen to him or talk about it and get the fishing gear."
He's a fool...
She listened to that guy and that's when she got in her head that she wanted to work and make her own money and buy her own clothes. She started working and stopped cooking and cleaning and taking care of the house. Forget the stove, let's just use the microwave, she tells me. Why, all hell broke loose because of that idiot on the radio!" sat next to my father on the crinkled old bench seat while we waited at a stoplight with the smell of tar stinging my nose. My mind tried to put together the pieces of the puzzle my dad had just thrown out.
When did mom get a job?" few months ago. Early spring. Not too long after you left for college."
Why didn't anyone tell me?"
You was off at college doing your own thing and I was hoping that it might just be a phase she was going through but it's been a long one and I ain't liking it one bit. And it's all that blowhard's fault!" he pointed at the radio again. I looked at it as if it were going to tell me the truth that I already knew.
I'm sure it's a phase," I said as he pulled into the parking lot of the store. The truck stopped and we sat there in silence with the hum of traffic all around us. The heat was stifling but not nearly as stifling as the truth my father could not see.
