Parental Intruder

November 2, 1978, Friday, New Paltz, NY

Conor had his last soccer game, losing to the top seed in the playoffs in the last minute of a hard-fought game. He told Kai that some of the guys were getting together after the game to relive the season, and he’d stop by to see her afterward. Later at the pizza restaurant, Conor only a few months away from the legal drinking age, was able to buy several pitchers of beer and the guys had a blast.

∞

After the party, Conor slowly drove over to Kai’s house. He went around back and slipped into her room through the slider as usual. She wasn’t there, yet he heard the water running in the bathroom and sat on the bed to wait for her to come out.

When the door opened, a middle-aged man about his height, and several pounds heavier, walked into the room. He had a crew cut that gave him a square head, he wore rimless glasses, and a buttoned-down shirt with three pens clipped into the breast pocket. He also wore a disgusted expression on his face as he looked down at Conor sitting on Kai’s bed.

“Who the hell are you,” the man asked in a gruff manner.

Conor tried to stand up, but the man stood over him, so close that he was unable to stand without bumping into him.

“My name is Conor Walsh, sir, I stopped by to speak with Kai.”

“Do you make a habit of walking into someone’s house without knocking or ringing the doorbell? It’s a good thing I don’t own a gun.”

Thinking quickly, Conor figured this was Kai’s father, and he probably had no idea who Conor was, or that he was dating his daughter.

“No sir, I came to borrow a school book for a class project. Kai said it would be inside the slider, and I was to take it if she was unavailable. When I heard sounds in the bathroom, I thought I’d wait to let her know I came by. Is Kai at home?” Conor asked.

“It’s awfully late to be doing school work, and have you been drinking?” the man said while sniffing closer to Conor.

Right then, the bedroom door opened, and Kai breezed through it. She stopped suddenly with the scene that confronted her. The man took a step toward her allowing Conor to stand. He picked up a book near her bed.

“Hi Kai, I stopped by to borrow that book we talked about earlier. It’s late and I’m going to take off. I’ll see you tomorrow in school. Thanks a lot,” Conor blurted out as he reached for the slider.

Picking up on his line of thinking, Kai jumped in.

“Wait Conor, I need to discuss something with you before you go.” She looked at her father.

“Can I speak with you in the hall please?” she asked in a way that was more an order than a question.

Conor stood by the slider as Kai and her dad moved out of the room and closed the door. He could hear what sounded like a loud forceful discussion going on between the two. A few minutes later the door opened and both of them came back in. He noticed Kai’s hands were shaking nervously.

“Conor, I’m Kai’s father,” the man said with an expression better suited to someone who lost his car keys. He held out his hand and Conor shook it.

“I understand you two have been in a relationship for quite some time. Not aware of this I snapped at you earlier. Now that I know, it won’t happen again.”

He looked over at Kai before saying, “You’re welcome in our house.”

There was a pause, and Kai flashed an angry, stern look at him.

“…anytime,” he finished.

He glanced at Kai, and she stepped out of the way as her father walked out of the room. Kai shut the door. With her back to the room, she exhaled a long loud breath while leaning with arms extended on the closed door. Looking down at the floor, she maintained this posture while she spoke.

“I’m sorry Conor, that should never have happened. I didn’t tell him about us, not because I was hiding you from him, it’s because I don’t want anything to do with him. He’s hurt me so much that the less I have to speak with him the better. It was not fair to you.”

Conor walked up to Kai from behind and wrapped his arms around her. She turned around and put her arms around his neck and began sobbing uncontrollably. Her whole body shook with powerful emotion as the tears flowed down her face.

He’d only seen the bright light of her soul and the dark pain she was releasing showed him how fragile his confident best friend really was. The degree of her unhappiness cut him deeply, and he cried right along with her. All he could do was hold her. He felt powerless.

When she was able to slow the tears, she told him she wished she had a family like his. All she ever knew growing up were arguments, disapproval, and conflict. She told him it all stemmed from her father, and she hated him for it. His verbal abuse was like growing up in a psychological war zone. She said she planned to tolerate the situation until the school year ended and escape to a new life.

Finding a soulmate in Conor was unexpected, and complicated her plan, in a good way. She kept this thought to herself and knew it was a bridge she’d have to cross someday.

Once calm, she told Conor it was the first time her dad had been in her room, and seeing a stranger in the house surprised him. He promised he would never enter her room unless she was there and gave him permission.

He wiped away her remaining tears and deadpanned, “Well, at least we got meeting the parents out of the way.”

He knew how to make her laugh, and she chuckled while kissing him several times on his face.