BRENTON
“So…” I sat down across from Candace, swirling the spoon around my ice cream rather than eating it. “Aside from your mother, how have you been?”
Candace plopped a giant scoop of her strawberry swirl cream into her mouth just as I had finished asking the question. She held her finger up at me with a sly grin on her face. After three days of Candace moping around the house with Samson and her cell phone, I had finally convinced her to go out for ice cream with me. I had tried to connect with her at home, but I was only talking to typing thumbs and a glazed over expression as she texted her boyfriend, most likely.
“Fine. Trying to keep myself busy now that school is out. I wanted to get a job at the mall, but that didn’t work out.”
“Why not?”
Candace rolled her eyes, now playing with her own ice cream.
“Mom has been using my car.”
“What? Why would she do that? We bought that car for you, specifically for you to be able to get a job!”
When I said we, I really meant me. I had purchased that car for Candace on her sixteenth birthday. Amber kept calling her a spoiled brat who didn't deserve the freedom a car would bring her. Amber of course refused to pay a cent for it, but I convinced her to let me buy Candace a car by telling her it would mean Candace wouldn’t be home as often.
“I don’t know.”
“How do you not know?”
“HowwouldI know?” Candace’s tone grew frustrated.
“Sorry. Your mom just frustrates me sometimes.”
“Clearly,” Candace said. “Me too.”
“Can you tell me more about what she’s been doing?”
“Like what?”
“Well, why specifically did you want to leave early for the summer?”
“I don’t know, dad. Just because.”
“Could you be a little more descriptive, Candace?”
“Oh my god. I’m using this time to get away from mom, so I don’t really want to be constantly talking about her if you don’t mind.”
“Alright, that’s fair. But you need to start communicating with me more, Candace. Especially when it comes to your mom. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Well, good thing we don’t need to worry about it for the rest of the summer then,” Candace said as she flipped her sunglasses over her eyes.
I left the topic of Amber alone for now, not wanting to push Candace into suspicion. I hadn’t wanted to tell her about my battle for full custody. Part of me didn’t want to let her down in case I wasn’t able to succeed. I didn’t want to get her hopes up. The other part of me was worried she wouldn't want to come live with me full time. After all, it would put her further away from her boyfriend and friends.
“So, tell me about your boyfriend. Alex, was it?”
“Um, yeah Alex. Why do you want to know about him?”
“Because I’m a concerned father.”
“Concerned about what?”
“Well, for one, the fact that you seem to be sleeping over at his place fairly regularly.”
“Wow. Look, Alex’s parents are totally fine with it. Why can’t you be?”
“Maybe because I haven’t yet talked to Alex’s parents.”