Joy and Sorrow chapter 6 Audobon Park

Everett jogged leisurely through Audubon Park. The sky was powder-puff blue with fat clouds that looked as if a lunch lady had plopped mashed potatoes on a blue plate.Statues of naked cherubs playing with turtles took his mind off the reason he was there. Because of the sweltering heat, the walking path was nearly vacant, but the pecan and oak trees give him enough relief to make the run bearable. The six miles Everett would run were a cakewalk compared to what he'd endured in the past week.

After Karen had finished a blood orange and a banana muffin, he handed her the divorce papers. It was cold, the way he'd executed his master plan, but to be fair,it was at least the thirtieth time he'd broached the subject of divorce. Karen was usually high on a lethal cocktail of pills by noon.

The debacle that had taken place in his kitchen ,played out like a scene out of a Stephen King novel. Karen responded to the affidavit by throwing the contents of all the kitchen cabinets on the linoleum tile , and chucking his cell phone down the garbage disposal. Usually, they would have screaming matches ,which ended with the two of them listening to Tanya Tucker's " Love Me Like You Used To ",and engaging in epic makeup sex. But this time was differant, his heart wasn't up for anymore shenanigans, Everett wanted out. The conversation with his daughter, had solidified that resolve.

It had been the evening of the day that Kera graduated from high school. Everett had just recently finished scraping a zonked - out Karen off the front lawn. His daughter was sitting on the steps of his office, an extension of the garage. The Bjork video of " Human Behavior " featuring an animated hedgehog, on the small office TV behind her.Kera wore a black floral mini-skirt with pink tights and a matching baby-doll T - shirt. She was doodling a caricature of herself,with a giant head and puppydog eyes.

"It is bizarre how little she looks like either of them, " he thought, biting discolored cuticles.

Aside from the stud in Kera's nose,the girl resembled a younger version of Everett's mother. With her square jaw,and her dark hair cut in a choppy bob.

Kera looked up as he approached the steps." Dad, I'm leaving," she said. Camp Rama Darom hired me to teach archery over the summer and Brooke's mom is taking us," She didn't look up at him, just fingering her beaded choker.

Everett was too shocked to speak for a moment. Then, the only thing he could think of to say was ," Is it safe up there, what if something happens to you ? " How could this happen ? His baby girl never made a move without consulting him first.

" Anything is better than here," she spat out. Living with Mom is like being trapped in a nuthouse somewhere, with a python on the loose. Maybe you can deal with her , but I can't. Thank God Uncle Joel lets me stay there."

Kera stared at him like she was daring him to say something, but he didn't get the chance. He couldn't see who the driver was before the car pulled away and was gone.A car pulled up to the curb, and his daughter stomped off and got in.

Everett had wanted to tell Kera, that she was the main reason he stayed married to her mother so long. Everett didn't want his daughter growing up in a broken home, blaming herself for a divorce like he had. His own father abandoned the family when Everett was eleven.He mowed lawns to help his mother, who taught music at a high school, and violin lessons to untalented brats on the side. They had been okay eventually, but the way the neighborhood busybodies gossiped about his mother irked him even today.

Everett was hoping in vain, the sweet woman he had once been married to would return. He remembered Karen singing a beautiful rendition of " We Got Tonight " by Bob Seger on a long car ride. She was wearing hot pants with pantyhose,staring at the stars studding the black canvass outside.

What a mess he'd made of things,Everett ran on another quarter mile, and then he stopped, stretching his tight muscles remebering the aftermath of his daughter's leaving. He'd dialed the phone number of the camp to no avail.He had dialed the phone number of the camp to no avail. Letters were sent back, returned to sender stamped in red ink.

" Oh Kera, will come around, soon as she needs money," a friend had told him.

But she hadn't. Standing in the park, trying to slow his breathing, Everett cursed the beautiful day and wept bitterly.