[352 words]
Dad was on his way.
Dad was on his way, said, Trust me, Elise. Said stop your bellyaching, said For crying out loud I’m on my way.
Worrying is ungodly, Dad said. Worrying is not trusting god, not trusting dad, not trusting god-dad.
Dad was on his way, he said, and we would talk about what was happening.
What was happening?
Nothing is happening, Dad said. You have to believe me.
Believe me, nothing’s happening.
These church people, these women, these heifers, they like to gossip.
Your mother, ever since she got sick, she’s saying crazy things.
What’s happening is these heifers are ganging up on me.
What’s happening is they’re listening to Satan.
What’s happening is they’ve turned away from god. From me.
From god-dad.
Dad is on his way, Dad has an appointment in Mount Vernon and then he’s coming.
Dad’s on his way. He said he’s on his way.
He’s on his way.
Is Dad on his way? Appointments can take awhile.
They can slow dads down.
Traffic can slow dads down.
Important things can come up for dads.
Did I somehow miss god-dad, after his appointment and traffic and important things?
Did god-dad arrive and I was on the phone or in the bathroom or sitting on the floor of my closet with the lights off or throwing up in the sink, did god-dad arrive and I missed him, like the Second Coming, like The Rapture, only it’s just god-dad who disappeared?
Dad was on his way, said he was on his way, he said Believe me, he said Trust me Elise, I’m on my way.
But.
My condo is dad-less.
The freeways are dad-less.
The cheapo motels along the interstate are dad-less.
Dad’s house is dad-less too although it still smells of Dad, of aftershave and toothpaste and poop.
The absence of Dad fills space.
The absence of Dad swells, it balloons like a blister, like an infected, picked-at sore.
Dad said he was on his way, said to trust him, he said Believe me Elise, I’m getting in my car right this minute.
And, he went.
Elise Glassman is a neuro-divergent, New Orleans-based writer whose stories and essays have appeared in The Colorado Review, Main Street Rag, The Portland Review, Per Contra, Spank the Carp, San Antonio Review and most recently, Aji Magazine. She is an assistant fiction editor at Pithead Chapel. Find more at https://sites.google.com/view/busysmartypants/home.
