Tell My Dad (10 page)

A
pril waved
. “Bye, Daddy!” before going into her classroom. Harrison smiled, waved back, and slowly walked to the car.

“Is she your only child?”

Harrison turned around to see a lean, tall woman.

“Hi, I’m Ms. Williams, the principal.” She shook his hand warmly. “Don’t worry. We will take good care of your little angel!”

“Oh, I’m sure you will! Sorry, was that too obvious?” Harrison wondered.

“You mean, seeing you concerned?”

“Yeah. Am I the only father worried about leaving a child in the school?”

“You would be surprised. Kids take it cool. Parents take it harder though!”

“Maybe. My wife used to tell me guys become soft once they have daughters.”

“Yeah, I heard that too. Is it true?”

“In my case, it’s true. I was already soft. After April was born, I became softer. Almost to the point of being scared of everything when it comes to her.”

“I’m sure your wife will balance you out. I bet she isn’t as anxious as you!” Ms. Williams chuckled.

Harrison paused for a moment and sighed. “Actually, she is gone. She was killed on 9/11.”

Ms. Williams was visibly shaken. Her smile immediately disappeared. She gasped for a second. Then, she touched Harrison’s shoulder. “Oh…I am so sorry. I can’t even imagine what you are going through.”

Harrison saw tears were starting to come out of Ms. Williams’s eyes. She had looked so strong just a minute ago.

“Thanks, Ms. Williams. This is a difficult time for us. I really hope that school will let April forget what she lost.”

“Yes, sure, Mr. Harrison. Please take care.” Ms. Williams shook his hand and walked toward the school office.

Harrison looked in the direction of the classroom and sighed. He walked slowly to the car, lowered himself into the driver’s seat, and smiled wryly at the elderly woman who sat in the passenger seat.

“You look sad, Harry.”

“No, Mom. I am not sad. I’m just thinking about what April is doing.” Harrison started the car.

His mother smiled. “I’m sure April has made a friend already. She is such a happy child!”

Harrison nodded and added, “Thanks, Mom, for coming over. I wouldn’t have survived without you after Taryn was gone.”

She controlled her tears and looked at the passing trees on the right. She looked at the blue sky and said, “Taryn was a wonderful person. I miss her a lot.”

Harrison slowed the car and stopped at a traffic light. “I don’t know if all this is cruelty or fate. God gave me a wonderful life but took it back just like that…”

She looked at him. “Life is very unpredictable, Son. There must be a reason for everything.”

The traffic light turned green.

“I don’t believe that. What could be the reason for taking Taryn away from me? Hmm? Forget me; taking her away from
April
is very cruel. I don’t believe in God anymore, Mom.” He pushed the accelerator pedal and sped up the car.

His mother didn’t say anything. It was difficult to believe in anything when loved ones were suddenly taken away.

Harrison looked at his mother sniffling. “What happened?”

“Hmm, nothing. I was just thinking maybe…if you had stayed in Rio, your life would have been better. You don’t need to go through this.”

“That’s not true, Mom. I don’t think I would have been happy if I hadn’t met Taryn. We were married for only two years, but I feel like I knew her forever! I don’t think anyone else could have given me the happiness she gave me.”

Tears flowed down from her eyes.

“Why are you crying now, Mom?”

His mom sniffled. “I don’t know how you are going to bring up April all alone. Poor girl lost her mother already.”

“I am not alone, Mom! You’re here, remember?” Harrison tried to cheer her up.

“Hmm, but for how long? I have a visa only for six months. I will be gone in three months.”

“We will see. My lawyer told me we can ask for an extension.” He turned around in the corner. “Okay, Mom. You have the keys, right? I’ll be back by six o’clock. I’ll pick up April on the way. Vegetables are in the fridge. Call me if you need anything.”

His mother got out of the car slowly. “Okay. Bye, Harry.”

Twenty-two minutes later, Harrison pulled his Honda Accord into the parking lot of Palo Alto Business Center. His Blackberry chirped. There was a text message from Russell Edison, chief financial officer of his start-up. “We’re ready and waiting for you.” Harrison quickly pulled his laptop bag from the front seat, clicked the car remote to lock the car, and briskly walked toward the main building. A minute later, he pushed the elevator button and waited. He was ten minutes late already, and there was no sign of the elevator coming down. He lost his patience, walked to his left, and climbed the stairs fast to reach his office on the fourth floor.

As he swung open the door, the receptionist smiled. He nodded gently and walked toward the conference room facing east. The conference room had a big oval table, which was surrounded by numerous leather chairs. Everyone looked his way as he entered the room. Investment bankers from Goldman Sachs sat on one side of the table. The other side was occupied by his management team.

He apologized as he walked toward the only vacant chair in the center of the table. “Sorry, folks. The 101 is totally backed up. I think this is another sign the economy is picking up in the Bay Area!”

Everyone laughed.

“Did you check the housing prices on the peninsula? Even a two-bedroom condominium in San Mateo goes for four hundred and fifty thousand!” an Asian woman sitting in the corner said.

Everyone laughed again.

“No kidding!”

Harrison felt happier when he saw everyone in a good mood. He had quit his job in Cisco after Taryn died to take care of April. He did not want to leave her in day care. He had worked from home as a consultant for a few months before he came up with an algorithm to shrink the amount of disk space needed for computer data. He had founded a storage networking company from his garage three years ago. He got his first client in five months when he proved that his start-up could reduce the storage needs by a factor of twenty. Six months later, he got funding from a top-notch venture capital company in Palo Alto. He was able to distract his mind from the personal tragedy; work became his therapy. The start-up grew ninety percent every year and got serious attention from Wall Street in less than two years.

Rocky Davidson, a well-built guy in his thirties, stood up and shook Harrison’s hand. “Thanks, Harry, for giving us the opportunity to take your company public.” Rocky was a Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) alumnus. He had met Harrison back in the fall of 1995, when he interviewed him as part of the Stanford GSB admission process. The two had remained good friends since then.

Rocky clicked his mouse to start the PowerPoint presentation. “We’ll start the road show next Monday. Here is our game plan!” For the next ninety minutes, he detailed the plan to cover twelve cities before taking the company public in the NASDAQ stock exchange in December.

“Our plan is to decide final pricing by early December. The first trading session will likely be in the second week of December. The stock will start trading just in time for the Santa Claus rally! If all goes well, we will see a sexy price jump on the first trading day!” As Rocky concluded his presentation, everyone applauded.

* * *

H
arrison put
the phone alarm to snooze and tried to go back to sleep. He had been awake until one o’clock in the morning preparing for the upcoming road show. April had to be at the school by eight o’clock sharp. It had been only two months since she started school. She loved everything about it, except getting the late pass from the school office. “April is very punctual even at this age!” his mother had said proudly at dinner the previous night.

He felt the soft pillow on his leg as he stared at the ceiling. April hit him with the pillow. “Hey, Dad! Get up! Remember, I go to school!”

Harrison pushed his head to the bed’s headrest and stretched his legs. “Come here, my angel.” He extended his arms toward her.

April ran to him, jumped on his lap, and squeezed his nose. “Why are you still sleeping? You are not responsible, you know.”

Harrison laughed. “Really? Who is responsible then? Would that be you?”

April shook her head. “
No, silly
. Mommy!” She pointed her little finger to Taryn’s portrait on the wall behind the bed frame. Then, she put her head down and was silent in sadness.

Harrison quickly broke the silence. “Well, Mommy taught me to be responsible. I will try to be more responsible, okay?”

“Okay. Now get ready and drop me at the school!” She grabbed his eyeglasses from the side table and used both her hands to place them on the bridge of his nose.

He adjusted the rim of the glasses, picked up April, and carried her to the living room. “Mom, I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes. April needs lunch. I have a lot of meetings today. I arranged for the school bus from today. Only for the return trip. You remember the bus stop, Mom?”

His mother smiled. “Yes. You have shown me twenty times already. I know how to walk from there to here.”

It was six minutes before eight o’clock when Harrison reached the school. He could see Ms. Williams in the distance. She was giving instructions to all volunteer students about how to regulate traffic in the school parking lot. April got down from her seat and grabbed her backpack. “Bye, Daddy!”

Harrison waved back. April smiled and walked toward the school. He put the car in drive and slowly moved the car. Just then, he noticed April had stopped walking and was staring at him. When she saw him looking at her, she smiled again and sent a flying kiss. He waved again and watched April disappearing into the crowd.

* * *

I
t was
a new experience for Grace Azevedo. She went to the bus stop thirty minutes early and waited for the school bus. The bus came five minutes late. For the last five minutes, she had been wondering whether she was at the right bus stop. She felt relieved when she saw April climbing down from the bus. April ran to Grace and hugged her. “Hey, Grandma! How was your day? Are you bored? Do you want to see my painting? Ms. Lewis told me it’s fantastic!”

Grace laughed. “Sure, let’s walk to the house and eat some food. Then, I will see your painting.”

“Okay. I’m sure you will love my painting.”

“Of course. I know you are an artist, April!”

“Did you walk too much, Grandma?” April tilted her head sideways and smiled.

“No. It was not bad. We are almost there, dear.” Grace adored April’s smile.

When they reached the house, Carol, the girl living in the next house, waved her hands and ran toward April. Carol’s family had moved from New York to San Jose last year. They were born in the same month a few days apart. “Hey, April, do you want to play?”

“Okay. But I need to eat first. I am
very
hungry! You know, Ms. Santos did not let us even drink water in the class.”

“Really? That is mean.” Carol walked with April into her house.

April threw her Minnie Mouse–themed backpack on the couch and ran to the bathroom. As she washed her hands with soap, a smile formed on her face when she remembered Ms. Lewis dancing and singing, “Stop germs! Stay healthy! Wash your hands” in the last period. Then, she ran to the kitchen, grabbed chocolate chip cookies, and munched.

“You need to eat slow, April. At this rate, you are going to choke!” Grace came closer and adjusted the hair falling onto April’s forehead.

April stopped for a second and looked up. “No, Grandma, I am just fine. You have no idea how hungry I am!” She wiped the cookie crumbs from her lips.

Grace gently ran her hands through April’s hair. “I think I should wash your hair tomorrow.”

“Okay, let’s talk about that tomorrow. I need to go! Carol is waiting for me!” She ran to the living room and stood in front of Carol, who was obviously bored, flipping through a
Parenting
magazine that had been lying on the coffee table. “Come on; let’s go!” April grabbed Carol’s hand.