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Dolly's 14th Part I

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Three footsteps into the driveway was all it took for our dad to come out of the house screaming. Sure, with your gift at hand, I was hard to miss, but even so, I had to give it to the old man to have his head on a swivel at all times.

"Are you out of your freaking mind, Gia?"

"Oh, come on, Dad! Do we have to do this every year? You know I'm going to get Dolly something special for her birthday. And this year, it's even more important, given the recent flowers incident and all. So, let's skip the whole Tarantino dialogue and jump to the part where you reluctantly accept. What do you say?"

As a kid trying to push your parents' boundaries, you learn to read the small telltale signs in their expression. For example, how Tini bites her lip when she wants to say yes to one of our crazy schemes but is not sure if that would be the 'good parenting' thing to do. Right now, as the Californian sun beams on him, I'm reading a lot from our dad's face. The pulsing vein on his forehead is a good friend of ours; we met many times before, but the uncontrolled twitching of the eye is a newly invited guest. I'm not a psychologist, but I think the man will perhaps need more convincing than usual.

"You have to admit, it's a pretty good gift, no?" I asked, knowing that it was already, but wanting for him to at least take note of the fact.

"No! NO! You can't just... this is not... people are going to notice, Gia!"

"We are not that interesting, Dad! No one is watching us, and no one will notice." I answered, although I know he's got a point there. People will notice for sure.

"No! NO! You can't just... this is not... people are going to notice, Gia!"

"Er, Dad? You're glitching. You said that already."

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