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Becca

My palh Florida in August is hot and hu to FaceTi home after senior year I’h if pressed to think back, I’d guess it was so accepted into Florida Coast University, and so the youth leader of our church on his big oak desk But I digress The point is that although arlake, Tennessee, will always hold a special place in my heart, it won’t hold me Florida suits me just fine I’ve fallen in love with the nonexistent winters and the palm trees And maybe a little bit with the fact I’er’s daughter

The apple that fell too far from the tree

So, here I sit, on the front steps toin with my dorm mate of the past three years, Sabrina After Papa found out I was spendingto dorm parties instead of classes, he decided to foot the bill for a place off caree “as quickly as possible” Probably so he can have a daughter with so to be proud of Mo I’ll co me my whole life, and into her clutches where she can ive in, she’d stop with the incessant nagging over all the ways I make her look bad

I drop the ends of hts up with Papa’s name for a FaceTime call Ihs, I swipe to answer

“Hi, Papa” The smile I plaster on my face strains the muscles in my cheeks

“Rebecca You get reen eyes, identical to aze

“You betcha Sabrina got here before me and picked the better room, but I’m thankful for any extra space It’s all a mansion compared to the dorms”

“Good, good I’ll let your momma know you made it safe She can’t come to the phone, she’s makin’ roast for supper and we’re expectin’ company”

I fight the urge to roll uests

“That’s alright” My fingers twist o, there’s somethin’ I’ve been meanin’ to tell ya”

His eyebrow cocks, the only indication he’s listening

My sto up the phone instead of saying what needs to be said

“Spit it out, Rebecca Jean, I’m a busy man”

A nervous laugh bubbles up onna stay out here for a while after graduation Sabrina’s stayin’, too, so it’s not like it will be a big change”

He’s silent

A part offro he can control everything

“I think it’ll be good for ive you and Moo on vacation”

Maybe appealing to how it could benefit him

will make him more amiable to the idea I like to push his buttons, but at the end of the day, he’s the one that holds the reins to everything in ured out how to cut the rope

“The heat gone to your head and e in that sinful place just for you to spit in my face when it’s time to come home”

My heart sinks

“Your life is here in Sugarlake With the church With your family”

Church Even from thousands of miles away, it clamps its claws into every orifice andfrom its presence