Lie

"Yeah, sorry father. I can't do dinner tonight. I'm...just swamped with work." You make eye contact with Derrick who is laughing while drinking a can of soda. He accidently snorts some of the soda and it goes up his nasal canal. He bends forward both pain, but laughing hysterically. You can't help but smother a laugh.

"Is something funny to you son?" His tone pointed, "I just drove all this way out here for you to tell me that you wouldn't even care enough to spend time with your old man."

That was your father for you, constantly blaming other people, acting like he was the bothered party. The drive was fifteen minutes tops in addition to just assuming that as a college student I would be free to spend time with him. He was constantly up your ass complaining about you to your face in high school and now that you were in college, it seemed like he demanded that the same from you. He wouldn't listen to setting boundaries, you weren't sure why you kept giving your time to him. He was toxic AF. Heaven forbid he ever found out you were gay. He would both demand more of your time and tear you down more than he already was. No wonder mom was drunk as a skunk half the time.

"It's not funny father, you just aren't being respectful of my time either."

"Are you talking back to your father over the phone."

"Nope" and with that you hang up the phone. Derrick looks back at you. His nose is red from the soda incident.

"Sorry," He says, "I hope I didn't get you in trouble."

"I'm the one who should apologize for talking on my phone at a party. We should...