Taking care of Christine had begun as a very difficult task. It took a lot of patience on my part to put up with her in the beginning. I worked hard to let her know that I would always be there for her. It took months before she finally trusted me and begun to respect me as a parent. After that it had been easy. I had punished her a few times but I had never yelled at her or threatened her in any way. I didn’t understand why parents said that raising teenage girls was more difficult than raising teenage boys. On a Thursday in early October, a month after Christine started her junior year I found out why.
I had been home about half an hour from work and I was really looking forward to the weekend. I heard some loud talking outside and ignored it for about a minute until it turned into screaming. I looked out the window and saw Christine and Emily pushing each other and yelling. I looked like a fight was about to start.
I ran outside, still in my work clothes and put myself in between the girls and pulled them away from each other. Neither was relenting to the fact that I was there. It looked like they were ready to start throwing punches. Over their voices I heard Karen screaming at Emily. Between the two of us we managed to pull the girls apart and send them into their respective houses. I stood there looking at Karen.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I looked out the window and they were both ready to throw down. I came out and got between them. I have no idea how it started.”
“Look at you. One of them scratched your arm. You’re bleeding.”
“I’ll be alright. You go take care of Emily. I’ll go talk to Christine.”
I went back inside the house and directly to the bathroom to take care of my cut. After it was bandaged I went to talk to my niece. The door was closed and I could hear the loud music clearly. I knocked on the door.
“Go away!”
I tried to open the door anyway but it was locked.
“Christine, open the door.”
“No. Go away.”
I went to my room and got a pen. I came back to Christine’s door and popped the lock, opened the door and let myself in. She was in bed crying.
“Get out. You can’t come into my room. Leave me alone.”
I walked over to the stereo and shut it off.
“What was that all about? Why where you fighting?”
“I wasn’t fighting. I was defending myself.”
“No, you were fighting. Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, I don’t. I just want you to get out.”
“Okay, give me your car keys.”
“Why?”
I reached for her purse and dumped the contents on her bed. I grabbed her keys, took the car key off the keychain and then grabbed her cell phone. I put those two in my pocket. I went over to her desk, disconnected her laptop and picked it up. I unplugged her small TV and grabbed that too.
“I’ll be back for the stereo. You can close the door but do not lock it.”
“Why? Where are you taking my stuff?”
‘You’re grounded.”
“Until when?”
“Until this cut on my arm heals and then a month after that.”
I went to my room and took out the battery for the phone and laptop. I hid those in my nightstand. The other stuff I put on the floor of the closet.
When I went back to Christine’s room the door was shut and locked. I went downstairs and grabbed the tool box before coming back upstairs. I popped the lock again, let myself in and disconnected the stereo. I put those in the hall while I got to work on the door knob.
“What are you doing now?” asked Christine.
“I told you not to lock the door. Apparently you don’t want to listen. So I’m taking your door knob too.”
“Are you kidding?”
I didn’t respond. I just continued working until I had the thing off the door. I put the stereo in the corner of my room and the doorknob in the tool box. As I was returning the tools to the downstairs closet I saw Christine at her door.
“I hate you.” And then she slammed the door in my face.
I made myself some dinner and called Christine down but she said she wasn’t hungry. I wrapped her plate and put in the fridge.
I spent the next hour reading a book and enjoying the absolute quiet in the house. These moments were rare. Karen called me at nine and asked me to meet her outside at the fence.
Karen and I compared notes on the girls’ punishments. They were very similar, except Emily still had her door knob. Emily hadn’t alluded to what had started the argument. Both girls were silent about it. I gave the key to Christine’s car to Karen. That way Christine wouldn’t be able to find it even if she trashed my room.
“Your girl is watching us through her window,” I whispered to Karen.
“So is yours.”
“You think this has something to do with us, meaning our engagement?” I asked.
“I don’t know. You did ask them first and they gave you the thumbs up so I can’t see why they would have a problem with it now.”
We talked for a few more minutes but I could see Karen was getting cold so we kissed goodnight and I let her go back inside. I turned and looked up at Christine. She turned away from the window but I had already seen her. I wondered what this was all about as I went inside to ready for bed.
After a week, my niece was still not talking to me except to tell me how much she hated me, to let me know I wasn’t her father or to tell me to get out of her room. She had been slamming doors for most of the week until I told her that if she didn’t stop I would take her bedroom door of the hinges. Most of the time I was home she would stay up in her room. She wouldn’t even come down to eat dinner with me. Granted she always ate the plate I left in the refrigerator for her but I never even heard a thank you from her.
The second week it seemed like some of the anger that had been feeding Christine’s behavior had subsided. That’s when I decided it was time for me to take action. On a Saturday morning at around ten I woke her up and told her to get showered and dressed.
“I don’t want to. I want to sleep,” she replied.
“Christine, I wasn’t asking you. It wasn’t a request. Now get out of bed, get cleaned up and get dressed. Put on some nice clothes. You have an hour.”
I made some breakfast for me while Christine was in the shower. I ate quickly and then started making her breakfast. She came down in a skirt and nice top, grabbed the toast off the plate and announced she was ready. Internally I was a bit pissed that she wasn’t going to eat the breakfast I was making her but it wasn’t a good time to get angry. I turned off the burner, grabbed my keys and wallet, and headed out the door.
She didn’t ask where we were going and I didn’t offer the information. I knew how curious she was though and the thought of not knowing where we were going must have been eating at her. I stopped at the flower shop, jumped out of the car, bought a bouquet and handed them to her as I got back in.
“I don’t want your flowers,” she stated.
“Good, because their not for you.”
“Oh are they for your girlfriend?”
“No, not for her either.”
I continued driving until we pulled into a cemetery. Christine was well aware of this place. We were going to go visit her parents. I parked the car near the plots we were looking for.
“Come on, kiddo. Let’s go. Bring the flowers.”
At the plots Christine wasn’t really sure what to do so she just stood there holding the bouquet. I cleared both plots of fallen leaves and twigs. When it was clean I instructed Christine to place the flowers at her mother’s grave. She placed them leaning against the marble headstone before stepping back to her original position.
“Hey guys. I thought you might want to see Christine. She’s been doing well. Her grades are pretty good. I think she has a boyfriend but she’s not talking very much to me lately. She’s really growing into a fine woman. I miss the both of you. I hope you’re
taking good care of each other. I’m trying my best to take care of your daughter.”
I kissed each of their gravestones and turned to Christine.
“Take your time. I’ll be waiting by the car.”
I walked away and didn’t look back. I sat in the car with the engine running listening to the radio. Twenty minutes later Christine climbed in. She had been crying. Neither of us said anything as I drove away.
Our next stop was a diner near the house. The place was full but I still asked for and waited for a booth. When we were seated we ordered quickly and sat there silently. I was waiting for Christine to say something. It took her until we got the food to finally open up.
“Emily said that after you and her mom get married she would be your daughter and I wouldn’t matter to you anymore.”
“And you believed her?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Almost from the moment I started working I thought I would be all about my career forever. I knew then I would never have time to get married and have a child of my own. So when your dad and mom had you I just thought of you as mine. You know, the child I would never have. When your father passed it was almost natural for me to step in. I didn’t know how to be a dad but I knew that if I took care of your mom, she would be able to take care of you. So I started putting money into your college fund. I send money to your mom. I would even come over and buy you groceries. It was the only thing I knew how to do. Losing your mom though was tough for me. I loved her, I really did. You’re my girl Christine. I’m not leaving you and I’m not going to trade you in. You’re mine.”
“I just don’t want to lose you either.”
“I’m a package deal, honey. Karen doesn’t get me without you also. The same goes for her. I can’t have her without her daughter. I have an idea. Why don’t we sit down with Emily and her mom tonight and discuss it, okay.”
She nodded her head. Now I had to talk to Karen. I doubted she was going to like what I had in mind.