Sometimes…when it’s cold outside…I think of him…,she said…,Think ’bout how he used to pick me up from school on Fall afternoons when the sun was still out…just ‘fore it turned dark…we’d go by Sonic and pick up a chocolate shake…split it…with two straws…said he liked doin’ things together…

And he’d drive me all over town…take me over to the shopping center and let me pick out somethin’ I wanted…, the young girl smiled…, pair of sunglasses…a new diary to journal in…, maybe some shoes if they didn’t cost too much…he was frugal with a dollar…sometimes…, batted her lashes over her pretty blue eyes…

But…there was never a time I felt unsafe with him…no sir…I did not…he’d drop me off at home and tell me goodnight…give me a hug…kiss on the forehead…always asked if there was anything else I needed…asked if mom was taking care of me…told me to let me know if she ever got out of line…she used to bring home strange men every night…think he knew that…

Haven’t heard from him in awhile now…a couple of months…thought he’d forgotten ’bout me…thought maybe he’d just gotten tired of everything and just left town…used to complain a lot…said life wasn’t worth livin’ much anymore…, the blonde haired girl teared up…, said he wasn’t gonna be ’round much longer…felt it in his bones…didn’t think he’d go off and do somethin’ like this…where’d ya find him at…

Found him in his pickup truck…out by Highway 30…parked alongside the road there ‘fore the retirement community…

Oh…I see…well…goodbye daddy…goodbye…hope you’re happy with your new home…