sawdust, swanning golfers and the bacon sandwich betrayal

when. yer dad has more nerve than dick tracey

The sun was shining, the birds were singing. A gentle breeze danced across the tops of the green grass.

It was a beautiful day.

And?

And everything was wrong.

Covered in sawdust, I was at the mall. Having spent the morning building a fence, I was looking for food.

The first issue? It was Thursday, not Friday.

The second? My dad was not hanging out with me at the mall.

Sure, I saw some of the old farts that knew him growing up there. But there were no greetings, no mumbled barely decipherable from the thick North End accent.

No.

There were just crowds of people and me.

Alone.

At the mall.

I’d gotten used our tile floor shuffles inside, hiding from the cold winter winds. Me usually leading the charge to the food court, him grumbling good-naturedly behind. Hiding from the cold winter winds was a team sport back then.

Now?

I was alone at the mall waiting in line - a chump, like the rest of the chumps.

Oh sure, I’d been ditching him recently too. I’d spent time working and helping my mother in law in Ch…