for several seconds. I allowed the silence to continue until he was ready to say something. “Well… next time someone robs you, I expect to hear about it from you.”
My laugh came out as a groan. “Fine. I hope that never happens, but if it does, I’ll be sure to let you know. So other than berating me, was there something else you wanted?”
“Well… I guess… yes. I’ve decided on the subject of our next golf lesson.”
“You mean life lesson?”
“One and the same,” he snapped.
“Okay, what is it?”
“I’d rather not tell you about it over the phone.”
I was losing my patience. “Then why did you call?”
“Because I was hoping we could move our fourth lesson up a week. The timing is better this way.”
“But we’re scheduled for next week.”
“I know.”
“So… you want me to come today ?”
“In about thirty minutes… I was hoping.”
I exhaled loudly. Although the thought of going to play golf with my father—especially when he seemed to be in a bad mood—didn’t excite me, I reasoned it was better than sitting around all day fuming about that dreadful teenager. Plus, it meant that I could get more scorecards a week early. “Fine,” I conceded. “I’ll see you there.”
Erin was none too happy that I was leaving so unexpectedly. She’d already put a list together of things she wanted me to accomplish—change all the locks in the house, install a burglar alarm, little things like that. She was clearly miffed that I was going to “have fun” playing golf without consulting her first. I promised I wouldn’t have any fun, and assured her that everything she wanted me to do could wait until the following weekend. She didn’t give me her customary kiss good-bye.
London was waiting on his usual bench when I arrived. “You’re fifteen minutes late,” he said brusquely.
I responded in kind. “I was given short notice.”
“Well we have to hurry. I have another appointment in twenty minutes, so we’re only playing one hole.”
I shook my head and sighed. The man never ceased to amaze me. “You brought me out here today for one stinkin’ hole? I paid for eighteen and we’re playing one?”
He nodded as he stood up and motioned for me to follow. We walked away at a brisk clip; so fast, in fact, that we went right past the first tee box. “Where are we going?”
“Hole number two,” replied London.
I hated the second hole, and he knew it. Among all the holes I’d ever played before giving up the sport as a kid, that one had always been my nemesis. It wasn’t necessarily the most difficult hole by standard definitions—it didn’t have any bunkers, there were no water hazards or hills to navigate, and the fairway was as straight as an arrow. Unfortunately, that straight fairway was also narrow to a fault, making it ridiculously hard for my misguided shots to find. “Sounds like fun.” I shrugged.
As we walked along the far left side of the first fairway, en route to the second, London tried to strike up a conversation. “Kids can get into all sorts of trouble, can’t they?”
“What?”
“I mean, like that girl and her boyfriend last night who took Erin’s purse. You never can tell what sort of dumb things kids are going to do.”
I stopped walking. “Is this part of today’s lesson?”
A hint of a smile betrayed London’s otherwise serious face. “You’re catching on.” The smile faded in an instant. “Now keep walking. I’m running behind schedule.” He went a few more paces as quickly as he could, and then spoke again. “When I read the article about the robbery, I kept asking myself what I would have done with you if you’d been a rotten teenager. What if I’d learned that you were robbing innocent people in the middle of the night? Or what if you’d gotten caught up in drugs, or alcohol, or anything like that? You were a pretty good kid—all things considered—but what if?”
“I wondered those same things last night. What
My laugh came out as a groan. “Fine. I hope that never happens, but if it does, I’ll be sure to let you know. So other than berating me, was there something else you wanted?”
“Well… I guess… yes. I’ve decided on the subject of our next golf lesson.”
“You mean life lesson?”
“One and the same,” he snapped.
“Okay, what is it?”
“I’d rather not tell you about it over the phone.”
I was losing my patience. “Then why did you call?”
“Because I was hoping we could move our fourth lesson up a week. The timing is better this way.”
“But we’re scheduled for next week.”
“I know.”
“So… you want me to come today ?”
“In about thirty minutes… I was hoping.”
I exhaled loudly. Although the thought of going to play golf with my father—especially when he seemed to be in a bad mood—didn’t excite me, I reasoned it was better than sitting around all day fuming about that dreadful teenager. Plus, it meant that I could get more scorecards a week early. “Fine,” I conceded. “I’ll see you there.”
Erin was none too happy that I was leaving so unexpectedly. She’d already put a list together of things she wanted me to accomplish—change all the locks in the house, install a burglar alarm, little things like that. She was clearly miffed that I was going to “have fun” playing golf without consulting her first. I promised I wouldn’t have any fun, and assured her that everything she wanted me to do could wait until the following weekend. She didn’t give me her customary kiss good-bye.
London was waiting on his usual bench when I arrived. “You’re fifteen minutes late,” he said brusquely.
I responded in kind. “I was given short notice.”
“Well we have to hurry. I have another appointment in twenty minutes, so we’re only playing one hole.”
I shook my head and sighed. The man never ceased to amaze me. “You brought me out here today for one stinkin’ hole? I paid for eighteen and we’re playing one?”
He nodded as he stood up and motioned for me to follow. We walked away at a brisk clip; so fast, in fact, that we went right past the first tee box. “Where are we going?”
“Hole number two,” replied London.
I hated the second hole, and he knew it. Among all the holes I’d ever played before giving up the sport as a kid, that one had always been my nemesis. It wasn’t necessarily the most difficult hole by standard definitions—it didn’t have any bunkers, there were no water hazards or hills to navigate, and the fairway was as straight as an arrow. Unfortunately, that straight fairway was also narrow to a fault, making it ridiculously hard for my misguided shots to find. “Sounds like fun.” I shrugged.
As we walked along the far left side of the first fairway, en route to the second, London tried to strike up a conversation. “Kids can get into all sorts of trouble, can’t they?”
“What?”
“I mean, like that girl and her boyfriend last night who took Erin’s purse. You never can tell what sort of dumb things kids are going to do.”
I stopped walking. “Is this part of today’s lesson?”
A hint of a smile betrayed London’s otherwise serious face. “You’re catching on.” The smile faded in an instant. “Now keep walking. I’m running behind schedule.” He went a few more paces as quickly as he could, and then spoke again. “When I read the article about the robbery, I kept asking myself what I would have done with you if you’d been a rotten teenager. What if I’d learned that you were robbing innocent people in the middle of the night? Or what if you’d gotten caught up in drugs, or alcohol, or anything like that? You were a pretty good kid—all things considered—but what if?”
“I wondered those same things last night. What
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