Chapter 4: My Dad, My Hero

I smile as Grandma Ross sings happy birthday to me with a shaky voice due to her age. She is the glue that holds our family together with Mom's side of the family. Dad's side is basically only dad. He was an only child and his parents both passed away. My aunt Nell seems to be bored with it all. I'm sure Grandma Ross made her come due to it being my sixteenth birthday. Aunt Nell is dating yet another rich business man from New York City. That is where she lives. She rarely makes it out to Green Grove. She hasn't been here since the year my mom died.

Aunt Nell looks a lot like Grandma Ross did when she was young. My mom did too. However, if you ask anyone that knew of them, they would tell you that my mother was the most beautiful of all the Ross women. Nell always seemed jealous of her older sister. Mom never noticed how truly gorgeous she was though. Oh by the way, mom wasn't driving her car the day she died. She was driving Dad's old car. It was because mom's car was broke down and rusty. Anyway, you'll know why I brought that up later.

I happen to be enjoying my mini birthday party. Rico, Tyler, Phoebe, and Sarita attend along with my family. My family consists of Dad, Clara, Aunt Nell, Uncle Pete and his wife and my three cousins, the new boyfriend of Aunt Nell, and Grandma Ross. My cousins are 17 and 20. Two girls named Mandy and Candy, who are twins. Jeremy is the only male cousin and is 20. They are Uncle Pete's and his wife, Sarah's, kids. Anyway, they are stuck up more than I think Regina Crane is.

I walk into the kitchen to see if my aunts and grandma need help cleaning up. I stop abruptly when I hear the gossipers talking about their favorite conversation. That would be the PORTER family.

"Judy could've done much better. Vikram Desai wanted to date her in high school. It was before Karen came back from that summer where she blossomed into the beauty she is. Remember?" Nell places a pan in the cupboard. "She picked Samuel knowing he had nothing to offer."

Sarah has to add her opinion. "Vikram was crazy over Judy too. Of course, Judy was homecoming queen and head cheerleader. Vikram was captain of the soccer team. They would've have made a perfect couple."

"Judy loved Samuel, Nell." Grandma Ross is always the voice of reason. "Samuel loved your sister more than life."

"Yeah. A lot of good that did. If he had enough money to get her a decent car, she'd still be alive." Nell tosses down a dishrag. "If her car didn't stall, she may have been able to get out of the way of the other driver."

I feel my fists tighten to those words. NO ONE knows if Dad's old car stalled or not. It did use to stall so that is Nell's theory. However, Dad had fixed the stalling before he let mom drive it. Personally, I think the drunk driver was speeding and mom didn't have a chance. It is the drunk driver's fault not my dad's.

"Look how these children live, Mom." Sarah states. She calls my grandma mom despite the fact she is only her mother in law. Sarah is a kiss up to the max. "Did you see what Lacey had on? Does Samuel shop at a flea market for that girl's clothes. Not to mention that Clara looks like a twelve year old boy not a young lady."

"They had their chance to move in with me." Nell sighs as she leans against the counter. "I would have dressed those girls properly. I feel for Judy's daughters. She'd roll over in her grave seeing how Samuel Porter is raising them."

That is when I hear enough.

"Excuse me." I say vehemently. "But we are Samuel Porter's daughters too. The last time I checked, we are the ones that didn't want to live with you! Dad gave us the choice. We chose him. We wanted him! Dad does great by us. Mom was happy with him!" I'm screaming and I know it. I'm glad dad is outside with Uncle Pete and the others. I don't want him to hear this. "We are happy and have everything we need. So get the stick out of your butt..." ONLY I didn't say butt. "and realize that my mother was happier with Samuel Porter than you will ever be with your men who throw cash at you like a common Hooker." I didn't say hooker either.

I see Grandma Ross snickering behind her hand. Nell's mouth has fallen open but she is too startled to speak. Sarah is holding her chest like she is having a heart attack. I turn to walk away but stop to say one more thing. "Besides, I'm glad mom and Vikram didn't get together. Because there would be no Danny Desai or Clara and me. OR worse, he would be my brother. And I wouldn't be able to dream about having sex with him."

I have no idea why I said that last part except I actually let it cross my mind when I heard Vikram used to want to date my mom. It also threw another punch at pristine Sarah. She actually believes that her two teen girls are virgins. I think they lost that when they were fourteen. Poor delusional Aunt Sarah. I storm out knowing that Grandma Ross is following. She grabs my shoulder and stops me. I'm probably in trouble for the language I used.

I turn to stare at her knowing my eyes have tears behind them. "I'm sorry, Grandma. I should've respected you more."

"You're fine, child." She says as she pulls me to sit on the sofa. "Your family is fine. Sarah and Nell don't know what they're talking about. Your aunts are nosey busy bodies that have no clue that love doesn't come with how much you can own materialistically but how much you own someone's heart. They haven't experienced the loss of love like you have." Grandma chuckles but I can hear the tears in her voice. "Judy adored your dad. Grandpa Ross, God rest his soul, and I were dead set against them dating at first. Did you know that?"

I shake my head no then allow her to continue. "Samuel didn't come from money like us Porters. He worked hard though. We thought Samuel couldn't give Judy all the things she was accustomed to. However, we soon saw that he gave your mom more joy than the richest of men. It hit us the first year they were married. Your dad was only a deputy when he got shot trying to stop a gang rape of some girl. Judy was beside herself. We knew right then how much she loved him. But that wasn't what got us. It was Samuel. He refused to go to the hospital until the ambulance driver called Judy to tell her he was alright. His only concern was his new wife not that he was bleeding from a gunshot wound. Your mother had a police scanner so he knew she'd be listening. She got rid of it after that. Any way, he was fine but Samuel's main concern has always been your mother and you girls. We saw that over the years. It made us respect the man he is. Grandpa Ross died loving that man like his own son. I'm glad Judy got to see how fond of Samuel my Henry was." Grandma Ross embraces me. "By the way, he saved that girl too. He fought those men off with a wound."

Dad interrupts us. "Lacey, come on out here. All of you." I look to see Sarah and Nell walking in the room. I won't apologize because I'm not sorry for what I said to them. "I want to give Lacey her gift."

We all head out to the yard. There in the driveway sits a car with a big bow on it.

Clara proudly states. "Sarita, Phoebe, and I made the bow."

I squeal when I realize that it isn't only a car but my mom's old car.

"Daddy!" I scream as I hug him before running to the car. "How did you get this fixed?" I ask excitedly noticing the new paint job and hearing the motor roar when dad starts it up. Dad is my hero.

"Well, it was Danny Desai that did all the work." Dad smiles as I look at him confused. He continues. "The kid is great with cars. He rebuilt the engine , all the body work and painted it. All I had to do was buy the parts and paint. I had some money saved up for that. When I offered to pay him all he wanted was copies of two old photos. One of your mom holding you girls and one of your mom with me. He said he was working on some project for your birthday. So it was easy enough to pay that price."

I feel my heart racing as I realize the locket was from Danny. Dad suggests I try out my car. I get in the car. I squeeze the locket around my neck as I take a deep breath. The car still smells like Mom.