Chapter 1: The first phone call of many

It was right before Thanksgiving- I think around the 22nd of November that my mom called me. I answered and immediately I knew something was wrong. I said, "Hello. Mom said, "Hi". And with that one word I knew something was wrong. The last time she sounded like that my Grandmother was in the hospital on her death bed. Shit.

"Your Dad is in jail," She said.

Okay, lets pause for a minute so you can get a good idea of the dad I grew up with. The man I call Poppa. They called him Preacher Tim (no that's not his real name but I feel kinda bad using any one's real name). He looks like Santa Clause without the beard. Really he does. Big belly, big laugh, white hair, blue eyes. He was always calm, gregarious, funny, a little shy at times. Just a big jolly old guy. Oh and he gave those big bear hugs- you know the ones that make you feel small and safe and a little out of breath. He was just your typical Bible belt, God loving, family man. He once stayed up with me all  night because I was so afraid the house was going to catch on fire. I was like 6 and had just gone through fire safety day at school. My teacher scared the holy moly out of me with all the fire talk, so Dad stayed up and comforted me in a way that only parents can do. My dad was always my big safe Poppa that made everything better. Okay, back to the story...

"WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?!?", I exclaimed. I know, I know, I shouldn't have cursed in front of my mom, but it just slipped out. I mean she could have told me I was adopted and I think I would have expected that before this.  My world begins to spin at this moment, and didn't stop. Oh and by the way, during this conversation, I have a very demanding 2 year old "requesting" my undivided attention. As I juggle holding the phone frantically trying to navigate the Video On Demand menu to find something, ANYTHING for him to stop demanding, and putting cheese slices onto a plate- "NO! Not the monkey plate MOMMY! STICK CHEESE MOMMY!" God help me. With that, my mother begins to tell the story...

"Well your father came back from the airport and said that there was a warrant for his arrest. He said it was some judgement against him for not finishing contracting work. He told me it was all BS and he was going to prove he did do the work. But he told me the judge wanted him to spend the night in jail as a punishment, so he couldn't stay at home for the night. I didn't tell the kids he was home because he was going to be out at his one night jail stay tomorrow."

Okay another pause. I have a 13 year old sister and a 11 year old brother. Same marriage with kids decades apart. It just happened that way.

Mom continues, "Then the next day he came back from his night stay at jail and was really hungry because they didn't feed him in jail. He asked me to take him to get some food, so we hopped in the car and went to a fast food place. Then we were sitting at a stop light and I noticed these police officers next to me looking in the car. I thought that was really strange, so I kind of waved at them. Then the light turned green and we went. Next thing I know the police pull behind me and turn on the lights. I pulled over and they asked Dad for his license. Then they arrested him."

Waves of confusion wash over me....

"Well what did they arrest him for Mom?" I asked.

"I don't know Samantha. We just have to figure out how to get him out of jail."Mom said.

"Just let him stay there. He's safe and alive right? So let him stay and we'll figure out what to do." I said.

"We can't let him stay there Sam. I gotta go the kids are walking to the car."

And that was the end of the conversation. My dad is in jail for something. My first thought: You don't just go to jail for nothing. Nobody is that unlucky. Right??? What the hell did my dad do? How do you even get someone out of jail? I should have watched that Aladdin Bail bonds commercial more closely. I  should google it.

"NO MOMMY SIT DOWN WATCH MICKEY WITH NOAH!"

And this is the part where life gets a little foggy. I think my body put me on a pause, and I just did my normal activities. Until tomorrow, when the plot thickens. (Can you hear the Days of our Lives theme song, cause now is the perfect time for that.)