5. Why I love my dad
When I was about 15 or so, my family was invited to a wedding out of town. I was super excited to get dressed up and see my friends who lived in the area. The wedding was great, but for whatever reason (maybe work?) my dad decided we should drive back that night. We all complained that we were tired and just wanted to crash at my grandparent’s place but he was adamant so we headed home.
For whatever reason we had taken two cars. I think my dad met us down there, so he had his truck and my brother rode with him. I was in the van with my mom and my sister.
Around 12:30 or 1:00am my dad calls my mom and says he needs to stop for gas. They discuss the closest station and agree it’s in a not-so-nice part of Palm Beach county. Kind of this weird ghetto strip that runs between it and Boca. My dad pulls into the station first and parks at a pump, but my mom’s tank is full so she parks the van sort of out of the way and gets out to go buy a cup of coffee and talk to my dad.I’m just sitting in the front seat with my sister kind of falling asleep in the middle row of seats when this skinny, greasy looking guy comes around the corner. His teeth were yellow from cigarettes or something worse, and he got this freaky smile on his face when he saw me. I told my sister to grab my phone, call my mom and hide under the small pile of pillows we had in the van.
“Hey! Hey, you got some change? I need to buy some gas!”
I quickly pretend that I’m deaf and sign whatever I know (I hadn’t been learning very long) so I’m throwing out things like “Cookie tomorrow mom dad bear play”. The guy comes up to the window and starts knocking on it, then motioning for me to roll down the windows or unlock the door. Honestly I don’t know what the hell he was thinking.My sister is hiding under her makeshift shield and I can hear her finally connect on the cellphone just as the guy TRIES THE FUCKING DOOR OF THE VAN. I just scream, “DADDY” and around the pump comes my dad, wrench in one hand and phone in the other.
Now, my dad is a big guy. He’s close to 6′ 5″ and he’s built like a tank. My friends joke that he looks like a mafia boss or something. I only hope that creep was pissing himself when my dad comes around the pump and says, “Is there a problem here?”
The guy instantly jumped away from the van and put his hands up. He tried stammering out that he just needed some money for gas until my dad came even closer and said, “So you felt the need to ask this young lady when I’m RIGHT over there?”
The guy booked it.
I don’t know if he was homeless or crazy or both, but I’m glad I’ve got my dad.
