You don't know my Dad

I glanced at my phone after it buzzed, seeing the address that dad had sent. He was always over the top, and Thanksgiving seemed to boost that energy. Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I got into my car and drove to the address. The GPS took me to an abandoned warehouse by the docks, with almost no lighting. Of course this is the spot dad picked. I parked next to the row of luxurious but nondescript black SUVs, my tan Honda Civic starkly standing out. The moon refused to peek through the clouds, and the breeze from the ocean carried a light but chilled wind. In my infinite wisdom, I had opted to not bring a jacket. Feeling the chill, I quickly walked around the building until I saw a small door with a red light above it. Come on, don’t you think this is a little too obvious? I could see right through dad, I knew exactly what he was trying to do. I shook my head with resignation as I entered. 

A large chandelier hung in the middle of the warehouse, shining down on an opulent dining table covered with an immaculate display of fine dining. Every person surrounding the table wore a tuxedo or ballroom gown, making my button up and slacks look very out of place. I shoved my hands in my pockets as I made my way to the table. The head of the table was addressing his guests, a very satisfied smile across his face. He was saying something about how the family was stronger than ever and how he couldn’t wait to pass on the mantle - 

He cut off as he made eye contact with me. I stared at him calmly. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been in this kind of situation. I would be lying if I said my heartbeat didn’t speed up a bit in that moment. The man squinted in the light as he looked at me and finally spoke, “Wait, who are you? What are you doing here?” 

Everyone at the table turned sharply to look at me, their eyes boring into me intently. I couldn’t help but grin and say, “Oh don’t mind me, I’m just here for the show.” 

I lifted my hands slowly out of my pockets in resignation. Everyone at the table immediately began pulling their weapons out. They quickly produced guns from coat jackets, thigh holsters, and some secret compartments under the tables and chairs. I had to admire their creativity with these things. I counted silently in my head as the dining entourage leveled their weapons at my head. 5… 4… 3… 2… and…

Glass shattered from above as dad flew in, dropping adeptly on the table and throwing his bolas at the man standing at the head. The bolas wrapped fiercely around the man’s body and his chair, effectively keeping him in place for the time being. Dad stood tall, wearing a completely black metal suit that was absolutely intimidating. He let people at the table stay in stunned silence before continuing. “Surrender now. Otherwise, it’s going to hurt.” 

I had to actively prevent myself from groaning. I hadn’t heard something that cheesy since before I made it to college. The two guests closest to me decided that a guy in a button up and slacks looked like an easier target than the Night Phantom himself, so they very predictably began shooting at me. Years of training kicked in, and I had them disarmed and coughing on the floor in a couple seconds. Hmmm, that felt like it took longer than usual.

I looked up to see that dad had already taken out the rest of the dinner party. I didn’t want to admit it, but he definitely still had it. He calmly nodded acknowledgement to me as he stepped off of the table and pressed a finger to his ear, contacting the police and letting them know where to find tonight’s big catch. I knew we had to leave quickly, so I cleared my throat. “How about the diner you would always take me to? The one on fifth?”

A thin smile greeted dad’s lips, and he nodded before shooting a grappling hook at his rooftop entrance and zipping out. I jogged out of the warehouse and hopped in my car, pushing its little engine to make it out and on the streets before a large swathe of police cars swarmed me. 

A few minutes of driving later, I managed to find the last spot in the diner’s limited parking lot, and I looked up to see if I could see any secret jets or helicopters parked on the rooftops. I made it to the diner’s entrance without finding any silhouettes, and I walked in to see dad at our favorite booth. He was out of costume and wearing a tight, black, long sleeved shirt with some regular jeans and sneakers. You would think he was a normal dad if he wasn’t quite so muscular. I sat down across from dad as he perused the menu. It was a meaningless action; he had photographic memory and perfect recall, but I don’t think dad ever felt too comfortable face to face with me. 

I cleared my throat before speaking. “So, uh, the new suit is looking pretty good.”

Dad’s eyebrow raised questioningly before he lowered the menu and looked at me. “Well I would hope so. It’s cutting edge level nanotechnology that I wear literally all the time. It reinforces my body, so I can do cool stuff like…” He dropped off quickly and corrected himself. “I mean yes. Ludwig designed it of course. How’s stuff going at the firm?”

I chuckled a little at my dad’s self correction but I answered truthfully. “Eh, it’s good. Accounting is a completely different world than crime fighting. My manager Jake can be a real asshole sometimes, and resisting the urge to judo flip him can be tough sometimes.”

Dad chuckled a little at that. “I get what you mean. Sometimes I feel that working with the board is so far removed from my other life. I try to do good but I have to fight with old men who only want money.” He paused before continuing. “I’m sorry I dragged you into tonight. The Mahone family needed to be taken down.”

I offered up a hand to stop his apology. “Dad, it’s okay. I had fun. It made me think of old times.” I looked at him and smiled reassuringly.

“I’m glad to hear that, Spencer.” He smiled a warm smile. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to come back again? It’s not the same without you here.”

“Dad, I really appreciate it. It means a lot but you know I can’t. I’ve lived this way my whole life. Now, I get to be a regular person, doing regular accounting with a regular and sometimes annoying boss. I have a regular girlfrie-”

“You have a girlfriend? Since when? Why didn’t you tell me about it?” He interrupted, a bigger smile growing on his face.

“Yeah, Katie, remember? I tried calling you a month ago to tell you.” 

The smile dimmed from dad’s face as he realized. “Ah, Spenc, I’m sorry. You know how things get.”

I shrugged it off. “It’s ok, dad. I get it. That’s why I do accounting now.”

We chuckled to ourselves as the waitress came and took our orders. The chef worked quickly as we caught up. We delved into our Thanksgiving meals as dad recounted recent villain encounters and the latest superhero drama. 

I found myself enjoying the conversation and it felt like for the first time, I understood my dad better now than I ever had. For the first time, he felt like a normal dad, even if we were talking about superhero stuff. Before we knew it, the diner night shift was changing and four hours had passed. I saw dad becoming uneasy and I excused him, knowing full well that he had been violently resisting the urge to respond to the police scanner that was surely blasting in his ears. He smiled thoughtfully at me as he exited the diner. Before he was out, I yelled at him. “Hey, how about you come over and meet Katie for Christmas?”

Dad stopped in his tracks and looked back at me. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.” He flashed a smile and continued out the door, disappearing around the corner.