It woke him up. He wasn’t sure who or what it was but it wouldn’t stop. Someone was repeating his name.
“Justin,” it said again, “Justin.”
He reluctantly opened his eyes, only to find a tall dark figure hovering over his bed. He groaned, trying to retain his focus. It was hard to see with such little light in the room.
“C’mon, get up,” he heard. Then he felt the weight of the figure as it sat beside him on the bed.
“Dad?” Justin squinted. He vaguely remembered his dad leaving last night. What was he doing here?
“Hey buddy,” Randy ran his large hand through his son’s curls, “get ready, I’m taking you somewhere.”
“What? Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” Randy smiled.
“Huh? What time is it?” Justin sat up and looked at his clock. It was almost 3 AM. “But dad it’s-”
“I know son, I know,” Randy got up, “just get ready okay? Don’t make too much noise; you wouldn’t want to wake your mom.” He winked at his son, before leaving.
Justin was confused as ever. What could be so important that his dad would wake him up at this hour? And where were they going?
Nevertheless, Justin got out of his bed and slowly made his way to the bathroom. He tip toed over the sink to brush his teeth and washed his face. He then changed out of his Superman pajamas, and into a long sleeved white t-shirt and a pair of old jeans.
“Hey kiddo, you ready?” Randy called as Justin put some socks on.
“Yeah, almost. I just need to do something real fast,” he said.
“Alright, I’ll be in the car outside.”
Justin finished putting on his left sock and turned off his light switch. He slowly walked to his parents’ bedroom, or what actually seemed to be more of his mother’s now. Opening the door, he could hear his mother snoring lightly.
He hovered over his mom, studying her face. He could tell she hadn’t been sleeping long; her face was strained and pale, she looked at least ten years older.
“Mom,” he whispered, “dad and I are going somewhere. I don’t know when we’ll be back. I… we love you.” He kissed her cheek briefly before shutting the door.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Are we there yet?” an impatient Justin asked.
“Almost,” Randy said over the radio.
They drove down a dark, unfamiliar street, lined with trees and various signs. Turn after turn, bump after bump, until finally Randy pulled up to an old large white building. He turned off the engine, and grabbed a small green sack, tucking it under his arm.
“C’mon, follow me.”
Justin hopped off of the ’78 red Chevy pick-up and followed his dad around a dark corner. Randy checked the area before stopping in front of a ladder that seemed to lead to the roof top.
“Here son, climb up,” Randy told him.
“You mean like… climb up there?”
Randy sensed the fear in his voice, “Yup. Don’t worry I’m going to be right behind you.”
Justin swallowed hard. He felt his hands twitch as they came in contact with the cold rusty metal. Bar by bar, the duo made their way to the top.
The rooftop seemed to be about sixteen stories above the ground, floored with concrete, with a small storage shed in one corner and a couple of benches lined against the wall.
Justin took in the sight; from where they were standing, they had a pretty good overlook of the town. The night seemed calm and quiet… something Justin needed.
“Come and sit,” Randy said, emptying the contents from the sack onto an old wooden bench. “I packed us some food.”
“Dad, where are we?” Justin asked, taking a brown paper sack from his father.
“We,” he said putting on a faded blue cap, “are at the very old McLaughlin factory.”
“What?” Justin took a bite of his sandwich. Good ol’ PB&J.
“You see,” Randy replied, “this is an old boarded up factory that used to produce cotton and such. Started way before even I was born. You’re gramps used to work here; he used to help out with delivering things.”
Justin sat in silence, chugging down some cold milk.
“So anyways, when the company went bankrupt and my parents were going through money problems and having trouble raising me and my sisters,” Randy said, “my mom and pops would be fighting day in and day out.” Randy sat quiet for a moment. “Hey buddy, hand me the radio would ya? It’s in the bag.”
Justin reached into the bag and pulled out the small radio, setting it between him and his father. Randy extended out the antenna, and turned it on. He then turned a small knob, searching for a good song. He stopped immediately when the Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” filled his ears.
‘Alright, Beach Boys!’ Justin thought.
“Alright, Beach Boys!” Randy said aloud and smiled.
Balling up his trash, Justin almost forgot what he meant to ask, “So why’d you bring me here?”
“Well, when my dad wanted to just get away from it all… he would take me out here. We’d sit on the rooftop. Talk and eat for a few hours. Then we’d go home right before your granny would wake up so she wouldn’t find out where we were. It was our way of just forgetting things. Our little secret.”
“So this place is pretty special to you, huh dad?”
“Yup. I was hoping this could be our little place to go too,” he saw Justin nod in approval. “You know… I came out here the day your mom and I got married.” Randy leaned back against the wall behind him.
“How come?”
“I was a nervous wreck. Here I was, about to give my word, my promise, my love… my forever to who seemed to me, to be the most perfect woman in the world. That’s a pretty big deal son.” Randy heard a cricket chirping in the distance. “You know… a few times I even thought of backing out.”
“So what happened?”
“Well, I sat up here on this roof for a good two hours, wondering what I was gonna do… if this is what I really wanted. Then I realized that your mother was probably one of the greatest things that would ever happen to me. Well, plus her dad would kill me if I broke her heart,” he laughed. “So I went to the church without a second thought, we got married, had a great time. Then your mom and I…” Randy stopped when he noticed the curiosity in Justin’s face, “ahem… ate ice cream and watched cartoons.”
Randy pulled out a toothpick from his shirt pocket and chewed on it, “You know what though son… I’m glad I married your mom. I mean, without her, I wouldn’t have a lot of the good things that life has to offer. Like a family; a great son.”
“Then how come you keep fighting?” Justin blurted out without thinking.
“You saw us? I thought I heard you,” Randy sighed heavily, “I don’t know kiddo. I wish your mom and I got along like we used to but there’s just too much.”
“But I thought you loved each other!”
“We do Justin, we do. But sometimes for one weird reason or another… love doesn’t work out like that. You can’t always tell yourself that just because you love someone… that it’s a good enough reason to stay with them. I mean, it should be. But it isn’t. Sometimes people are put into our lives for certain reasons… not because they’re meant to be there. You’ll figure it out when you grow up. But you have to remember… love isn’t for everyone.”
“How do you know when love is for you?”
“You don’t. It happens when it happens. You’re lucky when you find someone that really does love you though… like Cassidy.”
“Cassidy?”
“Yeah, I mean sure ya’ll are youngsters right now, but you never know what might happen later on,” Randy winked.
“Yeah right. That’s so gross dad,” Justin cringed. Cassidy was his best friend, nothing more, nothing less.
The song then changed to Chris De Burgh’s “Lady in Red”.
Randy hummed along before saying, “You know… I was going to take you out fishing but it’s practically winter. Maybe some time in April, how’s that sound?”
Justin nodded, “Sounds good.”
“Alright then. Just you, me, and the wide open lake. My pops used to take me fishing too.”
“When you guys wanted to forget about stuff?”
“Nah, just for fun,” Randy chuckled and glanced at his watch, an anniversary gift from Lynn, “Uh oh. Looks like we better be going.”
“No! But we were having fun!”
“I know, but don’t worry. I’ll bring you back another time. If we don’t leave soon, your mom’s gonna find out and we’re busted.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Randy and Justin quickly and quietly slipped into the house, succeeding to not wake up Lynn.
Justin changed back into his pajamas and Randy tucked him into bed.
“Dad, you’re leaving?” Justin asked, knowing the answer.
Randy’s heart broke hearing the sadness in his son’s voice. In his ideal world, he wouldn’t have any of this happen. But he wasn’t a miracle worker.
“Yeah, kiddo,” Randy voice cracked, “I gotta go. But I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
“But I don’t want you to leave.”
“I don’t want to go Justin, but I need to.”
Justin lay in silence. He knew his father was right. He couldn’t stay here… both Randy and Lynn needed their space.
“Thanks dad,” Justin said, hugging his father.
“For what?”
“For taking me out to the factory and talking to me. I feel a lot better now. I love you dad.” Justin squeezed his dad tighter, feeling his eyes begin to tear.
“I love you too son. I gotta get going… I’ll be back,” Randy said, leaning down to kiss Justin’s forehead, “take care of your mom okay? And remember our little secret…” He ruffled Justin’s hair once more, before exiting the room.
Justin smiled to himself, and curled up to his pillow. He hoped to catch a few hours of rest before church. He sighed, and closed his eyes as he drifted off into sleep, with the gurgling sound of his father’s red pick-up truck growing fainter and fainter.
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