Family Story - 005

Coming to stand outside Tayla's front door, I was suddenly hit with a wave of nerves. It may have been just a little bit too late, but my subconscious started screaming: 'this is happening? I'm meeting Tayla's parents! I'm going to screw up. There's no way this can possibly go well. They're going to hate me!'

Those kinds of things.

As Tayla opened the door, I was frozen for a second or two, but there was nothing to be done about it. Not that I really wanted to, but it was too late to run away, wasn't it? With a deep breath to calm my nerves, I took a step inside, and followed Tayla down the hallway.

At the first door on the right, I followed Tayla out into a main living area.

Christmas tree.

The first thing I noticed upon stepping into the room, was the large Christmas tree that dominated the space. The ceiling was higher than in most other homes I'd been in, but the star on top of the tree was within two inches of touching it. Most surprising of all, the tree itself was real, not fake. I don't think when I was staying, we ever had a real Christmas tree. We just used model plastic ones.

"I- We're back," Tayla spoke, drawing my attention away from the tree.

A quick scan of the room, and I saw Tayla's mother, who I vaguely remembered (mostly because she looked like an older darker haired version of Tayla), in the kitchen. She must be cooking our dinner. It smelled great.

I must really be getting spoilt.

"Welcome back, Tayla."

She beamed at the two of us, "and, Alexander wasn't it? It's good to see you again."

"Thank you for having me."

A man, who could only be Tayla's father, stood up from a couch at the far end of the room. He lowered the volume on the television that he must've been watching, and walked over to us.

Tayla's father didn't look much like her at all. He had more tanned skin, and golden eyes, unlike the pale complexion and grey-blue eyes that Tayla and her mother shared. His hair, however, was the same shade of brown as Tayla's.

"I'm happy to meet you, Alexander. I never got the chance before, so I didn't get to say it, but thank you for all you did for Tayla."

He extended a hand towards me, which I accepted. He gripped and shook my hand quite firmly.

"You don't need to worry about that, I just did what anyone would," I replied, "and I'm also glad to meet you."

"Even so, I really am grateful."

I looked towards Tayla. She was smiling, but when she saw me looking at her, she turned away, pouting.

"Stop it, dad, your embarrassing me."

I almost laughed, but I held it in.

"What's wrong with me expressing my gratitude?"

"No, just stop."

"What's wrong with me expressing my attitude?"

"What kind of attitude are you expressing?"

…

I guess it isn't just the hair and forceful nature that Tayla gets from her father – those bad puns, if you can even call it a pun, must be his doing as well.

About ten minutes later, the four of us all sat down for dinner. Tayla's mother served us beef Bolognese. I had to try my best to not start watering at the mouth. It must've been almost four months since I had such delicious food.

Probably since I'd had something other than frozen pizza or fast food, truth be told.

I'd been worried that it might be quite awkward, but that wasn't the case. Tayla's parents, Krista and Devon (her mother told me their names), for their part, tried hard to make sure that it wasn't awkward for me, keeping the conversation going. They had a thousand questions, though none of them were too probing. If it was embarrassing for anyone, it was probably Tayla. Devon certainly poked fun at her quite a bit, though I got the impression that she usually gave as good as she got.

After we'd eaten, Devon asked if we could talk in private. Of course, I couldn't refuse, even though it made me incredibly nervous. Though, I'm sure it'll be fine. He seems nice enough and relaxed enough of a person.

Devon led me upstairs, and out onto the roof. I was a bit surprised at first to find that you could walk straight up onto the roof, but in truth, it was more like a veranda than anything. A small part of the roof that was horizontal, and barricaded by a bannister. Being up on the roof, it was possible to look out over the surrounding area. There weren't many multi-story houses in this suburb, so I could see for quite a distance. The evening sun in the west, poked through from among the city centre's small collection of high-rise blocks. Out in front of us, to the north, was simply a large expansive and vast sea of streetlamps and living room lights glowering in the red tint of summer evenings. Looking east, it was possible to see where the sea of lights ended.

The sea, the real one. It looked almost purple, due to the lighting at this time of day.

Whilst I was admiring the view, Devon walked to the edge of the veranda, and pulled something out of his pocket.

"Cigarette?"

"No, I'm good."

Wait, he offered me a cigarette? He knows I'm not old enough to legally have one, right? Not that that's what stopped me. I just feel like I've already had more than enough firsts today.

Devon carefully and deliberately lit his cigarette before putting his lighter away. He then proceeded to drag twice while leaning over the handrail, before he finally spoke again.

"I know I already said this, but… I really am grateful for everything you've done for Tayla."

"Really, I just did what anyone would do."

"Is that true though? I don't know if I would've done the same. For my own daughter, of course, yes. But to you, she was a stranger. It had to have taken a lot of courage to do something like that."

…

I don't know what more I can say to that. I can't just keep repeating myself, after all.

"It isn't just that, you know. I've heard a lot about you from Tayla. I was always under the impression that she was looking at you in an overly positive light because you were her saviour, but now that I've spoken to you myself, I'm certain that isn't the case. You really are a man among men."

"Well, I simply did as I wanted to," I spoke up, stepping forward to join him at the handrail.

"I wasn't always like this. When I lived in Wellington, I was a shallow, callous, and cold child. I purposefully made the choice to change myself when I came to this city. I was certain that I was better than that, and I've done my best since then. I've tried to be kind and honest to everyone I meet. To be the best version of myself."

As I was speaking, I started to realise something. Something that should've been quite obvious to me the whole time, but that I now saw that I'd never quite understood.

"But hypocritically enough, doesn't that mean everything I've done since coming to Christchurch is self-interested? That probably isn't how you would describe someone who really is the person Tayla makes me out to be.

When you really come down to it, I'm just… a fake."