Chapter 7 - THE DAY I CALLED RAY DAD
It happened by accident.
Of course it did.
Ray was underneath the kitchen sink swearing at a pipe.
Water covered the floor.
Danny held a flashlight pointed everywhere except the leak.
Cara sat on the counter eating cereal.
I walked in.
“Dad, Mom says—”
Everyone froze.
Including me.
Ray slowly slid out from beneath the sink.
Water dripped from his hair.
“What did you call me?”
I felt my face burn.
“Nothing.”
Danny shouted:
“He called you Dad!”
“Shut up.”
Cara screamed:
“DAD!”
“That’s literally what you call him!”
Chaos.
Ray looked at me.
I expected him to make a joke.
He didn’t.
He simply said:
“You were saying?”
My throat tightened.
“Mom says dinner in twenty minutes.”
“Got it.”
Then he went back under the sink.
That was it.
Later, I found him outside taking garbage to the bin.
“Ray.”
“Yeah?”
“About earlier.”
“You don’t have to explain.”
“Did it bother you?”
He looked surprised.
“Bother me?”
“I don’t know.”
He leaned against the fence.
“Ethan, you can call me Ray until I’m ninety.”
“You can call me Dad tomorrow and Ray next Tuesday.”
“None of that changes what I’m doing here.”
I swallowed.
“Okay.”
Then:
“Dad?”
He looked at me.
I smiled.
“Trash bag’s leaking.”
He looked down.
“Damn it.”
May you like
Perfect.
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