Shattered (22 page)

“You were wonderful,” he tells me afterward. “Beautiful.” “Thanks.” I don’t bother to tell him the places where I messed up or that I hope to do better tomorrow. Instead I just bask in his praise.

“You could probably dance professionally.”

I laugh. “Oh, I doubt that.”

“Wouldn’t you want to?”

“I’m not sure. It takes a lot of work and devotion.”

“Will you continue dancing in college?”

“I’ll keep taking dance, just to stay in shape. And who knows, I might even major in it. But not to dance professionally. Although I think it’d be fun to teach dance someday.”

“Have you heard from your dad?” He pulls into the parking lot of a new sushi restaurant. Daniel asked me earlier this week to pick out a place I wanted to eat at tonight, because tomorrow night, Aunt Kellie and Uncle Don plan to take me to their favorite steak house to celebrate after the recital.

“I think my dad’s still giving me the silent treatment,” I admit as we walk up to the restaurant.

Daniel shakes his head. “I just don’t get that.”

“I hurt him,” I confess, “badly.”

“Even so.”

After we sit down at our table, I change the subject by bringing up graduation. As class president, he has to deliver the final speech. “How’s it coming?”

He groans. “I don’t know. I’m on about my fiftieth draft.”

“Just speak from your heart.”

“I want to say something memorable.”

So while we eat sushi, I try to help him remember events in high school that seem memorable to me. But the more we talk, the more I realize that memory is subjective. And I’m certain that my most memorable thing during all of my high school years will always be the death of my mother.

. . . . . . . . . .

Because Madame Reginald wants the dancers there an hour early, I decide to drive my mom’s car and meet up with my aunt and uncle later. This car is slowly feeling more and more like my car... and yet I can feel my mom’s presence in it, too. As I pull out of the driveway, I know I’m about to have another “conversation” with her.

“I so wish you were here with me tonight,” I say as I drive toward town. “I would give anything to have you at the recital, Mom. Aunt Kellie keeps telling me that you
will
be there. So I’m going to believe that. I’m going to look out into the audience and believe that you’re out there. And just between you and me, Mom, I’ll be dancing for you tonight. I hope I make you proud.”

It’s hard not to bring up the hurt I feel knowing my dad won’t be there. But if she really is listening, and I hope she is, I don’t want to burden her with this.

“Tonight is for you, Mom.
All for you”

And as I dance later, I can feel my mom’s presence, not somewhere out in the audience but right there on the stage with me. I feel her warmth, I feel her love, I feel her pride. So much so, that by the time I take my final bow, my eyes are blurred with tears.

And when I see someone coming toward me on the stage, with a huge bouquet of red roses, I think it’s Daniel and I can’t believe he’d do this. But as the man gets closer, I’m shocked to see that it’s my dad.

Like me, his eyes are filled with tears. With the audience still clapping, he hands me the bouquet, then hugs me tightly to him. “I’m so sorry,” he says into my ear. “I’ve been a stubborn fool. Please forgive me.”

Before I can respond, he steps back, moving away from me and waving his hand toward me like I’m supposed to be the star. Feeling awkward, I take another bow, and the audience continues to clap. Naturally, they have no idea what’s going on up here between my father and me. Their applause is simply to show appreciation for all the dancers, who are coming back out to take their bows.

Finally, the curtain falls, and Madame does her usual speech, praising us for all our hard work this year. Then we present her with our appreciation gift, which is usually picked out by my mother, but this year Faith’s mom took care of it.

As soon as I can, I slip away from the stage to seek out my dad. I can’t believe he came tonight—or that he brought me roses and actually apologized to me. As soon as I find him, I hug him again. “I’m the one who’s sorry,” I say as I lead him to a quiet corner. “Please, please, forgive me.”

He nods. “I already have.” He retrieves a handkerchief and wipes his eyes. “Your mother paid me a visit the other day.”

“What?
”

He makes a crooked smile. “I woke up from a nap, and it was almost like I could hear her talking to me, telling me to
shape up.
She reminded me how precious you are,
her little treasure.”

“She said
that?”

He shrugs. “Something like that. Anyway, she got my attention. And I realized, not for the first time, that I am partially to blame for what happened. I was a negligent husband to your mother, Cleo. If I’d been around more, she might not have obsessed so much over you and your safety. And if I’d been more available to you, well, things might’ve gone differently. You might not have done what you did. Your mother might not have done what she did. I have to take a good portion of the responsibility in all this.”

“But you can’t blame yourself for other people’s choices,” I tell him. “That’s something I’ve been learning. We can only control ourselves.”

He nods. “That’s true.”

Then I tell Dad about how I felt that Mom was here tonight, how she was with me on the stage.

“Well, you were always her little treasure, Cleo.” He touches my hair. “I suspect your mother is always going to be nearby... protecting you.”

“Kind of like an angel?”

He smiles. “Maybe so, Cleo. Knowing your mother, she’d be doing everything possible to be near you. I wouldn’t be surprised if she made an attempt to talk God into letting her become your own personal angel.” He chuckles. “Not that it’s possible, but if anyone could pull that off, it would be your mother.”

And it could be my imagination, but sometimes it does feel like she’s with me. Like when a warmth comes over me for no particular reason, I imagine it’s my mother nearby. Aunt Kellie says it’s because my mom loved me so much that she planted a bit of herself inside of me. Whatever it is, I appreciate it.

There have been moments, those special times when a girl needs her mother by her side, that I felt Mom right there with me. When I graduated, she was there. When I turned eighteen, she was with me. I felt her looking on as I blew out the candles on the lopsided chocolate cake Aunt Kellie made.

I’ll always miss Mom’s physical presence, her hugs, her smiles... even her hovering. And I’ll always regret making a bad choice that day. But my consolation is that someday I will be with her again. Someday she will welcome me into heaven.

Until then, and with God’s help, I will try to make her proud.