Half life

It's Already Late

"Thank you dear." Dad said, after I handed him his phone.

"You are welcome Dad" I said still standing close to him

"Let me call my mechanic to come and help me fix the car. I just can't fathom what is wrong with it. I just ran some maintenance on it last month so seeing this car breakdown now is perplexing to me" Dad said with a voice full of anger and frustration while scrolling through his phone.

"Hey Bro could you please drive down to 73B6 Road, just after the conjunction I think my car broke down because it refusing to start and I just can't determine what is wrong with it" Dad gabbled into his phone after placing a call.

"Alright I'll be waiting but please hurry up my daughter is also trapped here with me and she is already tired. You know what it means" Dad added then took the phone down from his left ear.

"I'm so sorry for putting you through all this stress my princess but don't worry the mechanic guy will soon be here. Perhaps you shouldn't have even followed me to the hospital for the second time only if I knew this was going to happen" Dad lamented

" It's fine Dad. It wasn't your fault anyway so it ok besides I'm not complaining am I?" I said calmly with a smile

" Well yes you aren't complaining but this stress is too much for you already" Dad said

" No it's fine. I'm alright don't worry your head about me" I cooed

" Well if you insist. I won't worry again" Dad said and walked over to the trunk of the car

I stood there awkwardly for some minutes before walking to meet him.

I got there and saw him leaning against the trunk with his eyes tightly shut and his hands folded across his chest as though he was thinking about something or have fallen asleep so I tapped him gently on his shoulder and muttered,

"Dad are you feeling tired?"

"No I'm not. I just want to relax a little" Dad said with his eyes still tightly shut

" Oh ok. I actually thought you have fallen asleep" I stuttered

" No I haven't. I'm still wide awake" Dad replied

"Well I was thinking maybe you should just go and rest inside the car so don't your legs don't ache you" I said calmly

"Umm... thanks dear but I'm fine here and don't worry about the leg aches I'll manage" Dad said, opening his eyes

" Alright if you say so"I said and walked away to sit in the car.

_____

*Some minutes later*

"Oh you are here. Thank you so much" I heard a voice mutter as I flew my eyes open.

"Jeez I can't believe I fell fast asleep without noticing when the suppose mechanic finally came or was I hallucinating?" I said underneath my breath after letting out a wide yawn then stepped out still rubbing my eyes.

It was now already dark and the moon was stealthily shinning up at the center of the sky while the stars formed an emblem around it as they gave out piously their bleak light.

"Just hold on" A voice I suppose was the mechanic's told Dad

who was frantically shining the flashlight from his phone into the bonnet for him to see as I walked over to the front of the car

"Amanda is that you?" Dad asked giving me a quick glance

" Yes Dad" I replied casually

"Ok dear don't worry he is working on it already we will soon be going home but if after trying it doesn't work out we will just go home in his car then I'll return here tomorrow to decide what to do with it." Dad said

" Ok dad" I replied folding my hands across my chest

"Is she your daughter sir?" The man asked pausing briefly to look at me

"Yes bro. That's Amanda my beautiful daughter" Dad replied with a smile

" Wow. I never knew you had a daughter" The man said then continued working on the bonnet.

"Yeah I do. But I guess I have never told you about her until today right?" Dad said

" Yeah you haven't sir" He replied

"Ok but now you know" Dad said softly then chuckled

"Yeah. Could you please go and try to start the car" The man requested

" Oh sure. That won't be a problem" Dad said and walked to the driver side then tried starting the car but it didn't work

"Try again" The man urged.

Dad tried again but it didn't still work.

"Well sir you can come back now. I think I know the problem now" The man said

" Oh really? you think you do?" Dad asked with a glint of happiness in his voice as he walked back to the front of the car

" Yes sir but..." The man stuttered

"But what bro?" Dad asked with a coarse voice

"Unfortunately sir, we can't fix that today." The man said coldly

" Well I have no problem with that as far it can be fixed" Dad replied

"Ok sir the car just needs a little reworking on its engine and of course that won't be possible tonight so I will like to be on my way now" The man said and closed the bonnet

" Aren't you going to give us a lift home again?" Dad asked sharply

" Oh yeah I actually forgot. I'm sorry sir." The man said apologetically

" You better be" Dad said teasingly and they both bursted into laughter

"Alright sir let's go" The man said after the laughter had died down

" Ok. Amanda go get your things let's go home. Uncle here has actually asked to give us a lift" Dad said calmly

" Oh really. What about our car? Are we going to leave it on the road this way?" I asked in a tone full of concern

" Well yes dear, the thing is the car can't be fixed tonight so we have go home. Nothing will happen to it. I'll come for it by tomorrow morning and then maybe we can be able to fix it too."Dad said

" Ok let's go then" I replied and started for the car parked right in front of Dad's I presumed belonged to the mechanic guy.

"How did you know this was his car?" Dad asked when he inched closer after locking up his car.

"Well I followed my intuition." I said with a sense of pride.

" Wow, intuition indeed. What do you know about intuition?" Dad teased

" Well nothing really but I know that they never lie" I said

" That is pure crap Miss Amanda, professor college of psychology. There is no such thing as intuition" Dad said sarcastically

"Wow really? how sure are you?" I asked irked

"Yes I'm sure. Go sit at the back Miss Amanda" Dad said after the mechanic guy started his car

"Ok sir" I replied then shoved myself into the backseat

"Thank you Bro" Dad muttered as he sank into the owner's seat in front

"It's nothing Sir." He replied and then set the car in motion.

The drive home wasn't all that a quiet one as they kept discussing about random things and laughing hysterically like two new love birds while I listened from behind.

After what seemed like ages I decided to make an attempt to win over Dad's attention so I cleared my throat and shifted uneasily on the chair then I asked,

"Dad are we still going to go give Perrie her food again?"

" Well I don't think so. It's late already and we can't go back there tonight besides the car broke down so how were we going to get there?" Dad asked turning to look at my direction

"But Dad...?" I stuttered

"Huh what is it Amanda?" Dad asked nonchalantly

" Are we going to watch her starve just like that?" I asked looking at him in a cursory manner

"Look stop making it look like I'm the bad person here. We aren't starving her. I mean we tried but it wasn't your fault nor mine for the car to have break down in the middle of our journey to get some food for her" Dad said.

" Well but we can still do better." I said calmly

" Oh really? You think so? fine then go ahead and get her something to eat since I'm so very wicked and heartless" Dad retorted

" No Dad it hasn't gotten to this. I meant no harm I just wanted to make sure she eats before sleeping that's all" I said

" And I'm also telling you that Amanda isn't hungry. She is just a very cunning person who desperately needs attention and that's why I can't fall into her trap." Dad said solemnly

" But Dad you can't just conclude yet. She maybe truly hungry" I said

" Well in that case if she is so hungry as you think she is then, let her go get something to eat by herself afterall she has legs too" Dad said

" Fine. I'm not going to say a thing about it anymore" I replied then kept sulking quietly

"Please don't be offended by my daughter and I discussion we are actually arguing about going back to the hospital or not" Dad said and took his gaze back to the road

"No I'm not sir. It's fine" The man said, driving as he peered at Dad through the corner of his eyes.

"Thank you bro, we have been at the hospital all day, keeping umm"Dad stuttered as struggled to find the right word to use to describe the situation

"Ok. We were actually coming back from the hospital before the car broke down. We have been there to attend to some issues before the car broke down and funnily enough we may still be going back there tonight" Dad said

"Wow isn't late already. I mean considering how far spent the time is" The man said

"Well it is late but somehow I still need to go back there. I have to go give a relative of mine some homemade food. She haven't had dinner." Dad explained.

Really? I guess I didn't hear him well. Did he just referred to Perrie as his relative?

I don't seem to understand what he meant by a relative. Well I'll have to ask him anyway.

"Dad!" I called softly

"Yes dear" Dad replied turning to face me

" Are you referring to Perrie as a relative?" I asked peering at him

" Well yes she is our relative in some way" Dad said and turned back to face his front

"Are you being serious?" I asked perplexed

"Amanda please don't interrupt me when I'm talking to someone" Dad said

" Ok sir I'm sorry Dad" I replied

but he didn't reply but instead looked away and the drive continued in silence

"You can pull over. Let's just walk home from here so you can at least go home on time" Dad said as we got into the street leading to our house

" No sir don't worry. I'll just drive you guys home. There is still plenty of time left for me to go back home" The man said

" Are you sure about that?" Dad asked lying back in his seat

"Yes and if you still want to go back to the hospital, I can drive you back there" He added

" No bro. You have done alot already for us. I can't risk keeping you even up to a second extra." Dad said and he nodded

When we got to front of our house he pulled over and we came out of the car then thanked him profusely and watched him reverse his car before we then headed for the house.

"I just can't believe my eyes that I'm finally home!" I half yelled as we stepped into the house

" Oh wow! I guess you missed home so much then"Dad said, switching on the lights in the sitting room

"Of course I did but missed my room more" I replied, heading for the stairs

"Oh I see you are very tired so go and rest already. Tomorrow is school and of course will be a very busy day for everyone as well" Dad said then sat down on the sofa

" Yeah. That's true" I replied and started climbing the stairs even though the pain from the fall at the hospital have surged and my leg was hurting badly

"Wait dear. You seemed to have forgotten something" Dad said then I stopped abruptly and turned to face him

"Really? what could that be?" I asked, afraid that he might have noticed the injury on my leg

"I won't remind you. I want you to think" Dad said with a sense of humor

" Umm...Dad I can't I'm so tired and the only thing I can think of now is how to get some good sleep and nothing else" I replied scratching my hair

" Well then you won't be going to bed anytime soon" Dad said casually

" Seriously? But why Dad?" I asked staring blankly at him as I tried to process the joke he was trying to pull at me

"Because you can't remember it and you have to tell me that before you go to bed" Dad said with an evil grin

" Really? are you sure I have an idea about it?" I asked, still not getting what he meant

" Of course you do and it's so funny how you can't remember it" Dad said

" Well maybe you should then tell me or give me some hint about it" I said looking at him

" Oh well I'm sorry this time darling, I can't help you" Dad said and chuckled

Jeez...what could it be then?

Is he referring to the injury on my leg or something? Should I just tell him about it and then go to bed in peace? I soliloquized as I stared blankly into space

"You still don't have an idea huh?" Dad asked after a few minutes have passed

" Yes I don't think I have an idea about it" I said admittedly.

" Well I don't believe you my dear" Dad said and stood up

" Oh well then tell me Dad because nothing is coming into my head as we speak" I replied

" Of course I'll save you the stress so you can go to bed and rest because it's late already and most importantly, I don't want you to go to school late tomorrow" I replied

" Ok then that will be nice of you Dad. So tell me I'm all ears" I said, slightly pulling my ears to show sign of interest

"Oh well. You simply forgot to say goodnight to me and you want to go to bed without doing that huh?" Dad said and chuckled

"Gosh... just because of that?" I asked

"Yeah of course" Dad said

"Ok goodnight Dad" I said and continued climbing the stairs, excited to know that he actually didn't see the injury.