I’m the Only One

She watched his shaky hands as they took the effort to cautiously return his teacup to the table without spilling.

“Ahhh. Katie.”  He pleasingly smiled over at Kit again as he turned to her. “Why don’t we have dinner here tonight?”

“Oh sure Daddy.”

“I…ahh….I would like to try out your new chef, and your sister here has a prior engagement with…Ms. Kennard.”

She bit down on her lip, hard.  Because it shocks her every time and never fails – that arrogant and compulsively strained breath he takes just to say Tina’s name. In the beginning, and for years she put up with it, it was passable with her, but these days, these days no matter how many times he does it, it gets to the core of her heart every single time.

“Daddy do you think you can call her Tina?”

He turned from Kit and looked at her.

“That’s her name…Tina. For the millionth time, her name is Tina. How long have you known her?” Her voice slightly rose, unintentionally, and it was really more from the stagnant ache inside her chest than from her anger.

He looked surprise. “Very well…Tina.”

The stress he uses for saying Tina’s name neither disappeared nor even slightly diminished and her heart deeply sank under the weight of her father’s barefaced callousness – and even deeper when he calmly and collectively turned right back to Kit. 

“Katie, will Benjamin be able to join us?”

“You know what… I’m just gonna leave you two to plan your evening.” The chair behind her almost flipped over from the speed at which she stood up.

“Behhtte?”   Seeing and knowing exactly what was happening, Kit pleaded as her sister angrily stood up and faced them and it was just before Melvin feigned his own innocence of the situation.

“What’s wrong?”

Bette looked down at her father’s face. His vast contribution to her wreckage was as plain as day to her now.  Fortunately, her eyes were wide open these days. It had taken her a while, and had cost her a lot, but she was finally seeing clearly.

“You have no regard for what I’m going through Daddy…none.”

“Bette.” Kit tried again.