This was no ordinary week.
It all started with my drive back home from the office. I'd just got off the freeway after witnessing a horrific car crash, and was feeling angst-ridden. Life had a grip on my neck and I could barely breath. My heart was still pounding and my chest was tight so loosened my tie and took ten deep breaths. The monotone hum of a twenty-year existence at the same job can drive a man to do strange things, as I was about to find out. I finished my tenth deep breath and was feeling extremely light headed as I drove past the neighbors' house. I saw their dog grinding into a stuffed toy animal on their porch. I couldn't believe it. He was going at it and my neighbor just sat there like everything was normal watching their cute little dog hump a toy. He wasn't even laughing; he just had this sick smile on his face. What was the world coming to?
Jann, my wife, was still at work. Our daughter, Katelyn was on summer break, but was rarely ever home. She usually was off at the beach, tanning that perfect 10 body of hers. She was getting ready for college by being as lazy as possible. But I was surprised she still didn't have a summer fling. Already three weeks into her vacation and no sign of love. I guess she must have been going to a private beach. She always had ex-boyfriends calling the house asking for her current cell number. She told me not to give it out, so they were out of luck. She always seemed to have a boyfriend, but not now. Strange.
I threw my brief case down on the couch and headed for the shower. The warm water rolled over my head, through my hair, and down my back. I finally started to relax.
After drying off, I heard a knock on the bathroom door. "Honey, is that you?" I asked. "Dad?" I heard Kate's soft pleading tone. My little girl always talked in that cute little girl voice when she needed something. So I threw a towel around my waist and opened the door still dripping wet. Kate was in tears.
"What is it, honey? Tell me what happened. Are you okay?" I said as I moved my arms around her shoulders. "Yes Daddy." She replied nervously.
"Tell me what's the matter." I tired to appear strong and caring, even though I was really worried about her. She had that puppy dog look, and I knew she was in trouble.
"Dad, please don't be upset with me." She heisted. I waited patiently, or at least looked calm on the outside, but inside I was spinning. What happened to my baby girl? As a father, I had to be an expert at putting on that invincible face; I had to look strong even if I didn't feel it. I was her superhero and was good at it because I had years of practice.
"I crashed my car. I'm okay, but the car was destroyed. Mom is going to kill me." She handed me the mechanic's estimate for the cost of repair. My mouth dropped. "Oh, god...", I stammered. She replied, "The Mechanic says the engine needs to be rebuilt and it needs a lot of body work. What are we going to do?"
I stood there a moment, not sure what to say. Thoughts raced through my head. What are we going to do was right, we have barely enough money for Kate's school, how are we going to afford buying a new car, or fix the old one? That was asking for a miracle.
I looked at her for a long minute. She had that lost and frightened look. The kind that was genuine. I could always tell when she was faking. "What are we going to do Daddy?" Her eyes were pleading with me to find some solution, but I had none. I just stood there with my arms around my little girl, still dripping wet. I took a deep breath and tired to think hard, but my mind was blank.
"If Mom finds out she'll make me stay home for the entire year to save up money while the rest of my friends are off at school." She cried. The tears welled up in her wide eyes and she tugged on my arm and pouted. "Dad, say something."
"It looks like its time for you to get a job, pronto." I said. That was it; it was all about the money. If I were making more, there wouldn't be any problem. I'd buy her a new car, end of story. But that wasn't the case. She and I both knew how broke we were, how long we'd been saving to send her off to college. This was a tragedy.
"But Daddy, I can't make enough money, I only have a month before school starts again." She protested. I saw I had to be firm so I cut to the chase. "That's true. But we are strapped for cash. You know that. It's hard enough that we mortgaged our home, and we still can't cover all our bills. You Mother and I are in debt and we just can't cut it."
