Chapter 3: Ruben

When I was in the seventh grade, Eddie, my best friend, told me he found a clipping in his mother's stuff that told about my dad being arrested for assault with intent to kill some man. I didn't want to believe it but he showed me the clipping. I read it over twice, and it was true. My dad was arrested after almost killing some guy with my baseball bat. It happened when I was nine and that was the last time I saw him. He must have gone to jail right away because I remember he never came home after that. At the time, mom wouldn't tell me what happened and said it would have to wait till I was older.

I kept the clipping and when I went home that night, I asked her straight out to tell me what happened. She wasn't going to do it but I kept at her till she made me sit down and then she told me the whole story.

She said it was all her fault, and it was because she made a very bad mistake. She was in bed with her old boss when dad came home and saw them together. She said he had a 'breakdown' whatever that was but that it wasn't dad's fault. He had been working at the hospital for over thirty hours without sleep and he wasn't himself that day. She said when he walked in and saw them together, he just snapped. He took my baseball bat and hit the man several times before she made him stop.

She said the man recovered without any problems but that dad was so upset that he had hurt someone that he couldn't get over it and wanted to pay the price. She told me she tried to get him off with a lesser sentence but dad was too angry to accept her help and wanted nothing to do with her after what he saw. Instead, he insisted that he was guilty and they sent him to prison for seven years.

I listened, understanding what it was she did. I read stories and I saw what people did on the internet. I knew she had sex with that other man and I knew that meant she had cheated on my dad. She admitted it and didn't try to worm out of it. I thought that was pretty cool of her, even if it did make me mad at her. I asked why he wouldn't see us and she said it was because he was too proud to have me see him in jail like that. When I asked if she ever went, she looked very sad when she said dad wouldn't talk to her at all. He hadn't spoken to her since that day he saw her with that other man.

I asked her why he wouldn't talk to her and all she said was that dad couldn't forgive her for what she did to him. She said he was hurt very much and that he wanted to forget about her. She didn't say he wanted to forget about me so I filed that away for later. After I thought about what mom told me, I decided that it was the reason I would hear her cry sometimes late at night. I knew she missed my dad, because I could hear her talk to Aunt Eileen about it. Aunt Eileen was still friends with me and mom even after mom hurt dad, who was Aunt Eileen's brother. I heard mom tell her one day that she had some pictures of me she wanted Eileen to send to dad. Eileen said she would do that. I felt better that my dad would know what I looked like. I hoped I looked like him.

I didn't say any more about it to mom and I let her think I had forgotten all about it but I hadn't. I talked to Eddie about it and he suggested I talk to one of my teachers, one that I liked real well and who treated us kids like adults. He was cool and I knew I could trust him. I told him where my dad was and I asked him how I could get in touch with him. He told me he would check into it and get back to me.

It was a week later when he called me to stay after class. He told me then who to call for information. I thanked him and began to make my plan. Eddie came up with this idea that I buy one of those cheap phones that you could buy almost anywhere. He said all I had to do was pay for it up front and I would then have so many minutes to use before it was time to either buy more or just throw it away. I had enough money saved up to do it so we went to the CVS and bought one.

I waited until I was alone and called the Department of Corrections in Columbus and asked for information about Carmine Montoya. When they asked my relationship, I told them I was his son and I was eighteen. They believed me and gave me the information. I knew where he was and how to call at the prison, but when I did call, they said that dad had left clear instructions on who he would accept calls from. I wasn't on the list. They refused to talk to him for me so I asked them if I could still call for information about him. They said I could.

After that, I called every few months to see if he had changed his mind or if they might have said something to him but nothing changed. It remained that way for the next two years, the time between my calls getting longer and longer with each failure to talk to him. That was until the day I called on my fifteenth birthday. That was the day they told me that my dad had been released on parole a month ago. He was out of prison! He was free! That was the best birthday present I could have wished for. When I asked if they had a number where I could reach him, they gave me one. I had a number to call to reach my dad!

I decided that I wouldn't tell mom. She would try to stop me from contacting him. I knew that for sure. She would tell me it would hurt him if I were to call him. He wanted us to go on without him, she said. I heard her, but I wouldn't accept that. No way! Not my dad! I was going to talk to him if it killed me. And anyway, she was the one sending him my pictures so he had to think about me when he got them. So there!

I called the number they gave me and I got this man who said he was dad's probation officer. After I told him who I was and that I wanted to talk to my dad, he said he would get in touch with dad and tell him. But he told me it was dad's decision if he wanted to call me back. I did understand what he told me but I could hope. I gave him the number and he promised he would call dad and let him know it was me. I hung up and felt excited now. I was close to talking with my dad! I hadn't seen him since I was a little kid and I really missed him. I could still remember him coming in my room at night and kissing my forehead. Sissy stuff, but I loved it. I never told anyone but I did.

It was a week later, a week that seemed like it took forever to me, that I got a call on my cell phone. I still had it and kept it turned on and charged even though I never used it to call anyone else. It was just for my dad. I was walking home, my friend Eddie with me when it rang. I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, paralyzed. It was dad! He called me! What do I do? I stood there stupidly staring at Eddie until he said, "Answer it stupid!"