Tripping on Tears by Day Rusk Read Free Book Online Page B

the hood of my car. I also noticed that the beautiful black, stylish dress that Safia had been wearing wasn’t on her anymore, but she was dressed in jeans and a simple shirt; a casual look that said, ‘I’m not going out on a date tonight.’ It was obvious that to get out of her parent’s house, she had to wear that, and had changed into her dating clothes after she’d left the house. Seems like a lot of work for a date with me.
    It didn’t take long after they exited the donut shop that Safia noticed me standing there by my car. She smiled at me, but looked a little puzzled. Kareena nudged her towards me. Taking that cue, Safia walked across the parking lot toward me, a slightly confused look on her face.
    “I thought you’d be gone by now?” she said. “Is everything all right?”
    “Not really,” I said.
    I don’t know where I got the courage; I don’t know why I did it, but without any further hesitation, I put my arm around her, pulled her to me and kissed her. Much to my surprise and relief, she kissed me back.
    I felt great.

 
    CHAPTER Six
     
    MEETING A woman, someone special, changes a man. I mean we each probably change in different ways, but it does have an impact. Before we’re interested in someone, life is a little more carefree, our attitudes different – but afterwards, you find yourself focusing on the simplest things; things you would let slide if there wasn’t the prospect of moving from single guy to guy in a relationship. Suddenly I was focusing on little things like should I do the dishes or leave them overnight in the kitchen sink; should I vacuum the area rugs and dust, or do I really like the dust balls blowing across the living room like tumbleweeds in a Western? I was a big fan of Westerns growing up, but not quite sure if she was.
    And what about my magazine collection?
    Are they acceptable and proper if a young lady was over and flipping through them?
    I guess I was lucky. I was raised by a Father who was a little more refined in his ways. As a young man he was a hell raiser, getting into a lot of fights and what not, at least based on what my brother and sister and I were told, but by the time he got married and became a father, he’d settled down. He was never the stereotypical baseball cap-wearing, pick-up truck driving, beer drinking, a ‘man’s got to be a man,’ and ‘men don’t cry’ kind of father. He showed us a lot of emotion and was always one for a good hug – one of the things I miss about him now that he’s gone. He was a big bear of a man and he could give you the best hugs ever.
    As I was saying, by the time my Father had married and started having kids, he had settled down. He taught my brother and I to be gentlemen, so we never developed some of those male attributes I saw in other friends of mine whose fathers were definitely different. For instance, one friend, whose father seemed to spend his days drinking and living off of disability checks, was more inclined to drink himself. He was highly intelligent and well read, but with a rough and gruff father, I believe, he tried to convey that same image to the world of himself - and loved to drink. We’d get together at his place for a Sunday, maybe watch some football, and he’d spend all day drinking one beer after another; and it never looked like it affected him. If I did what he did, they’d be wiping me off the floor.
    Another friend, my best friend in high school, well he grew up without a father. It was a rough upbringing, his mother worked hard and they had a nice apartment, but I found his attitude in regards to women, dating and marriage was a little unconventional. He was one of the horndogs always looking to get laid. And it seemed in this quest, he wasn’t too particular; as long as the individual was female, he was good to go – big, small, short, tall, it really didn’t matter. He was also interested more in pornography. I remember one time he was telling me he bought a couple of