christopher calderson | four ; fin

You know those jokes people make about how their dads went out for smokes and never came back? Well, I haven't seen my Dad in almost a year. He did smoke, so I guess it's an option, but honestly he's just that type of guy. Adventurous, I mean. Maybe a little reckless at times, and my Mom said he was selfish and that's why she never married him.

To be fair, the whole like... serious Dad thing is still new to him. I lived with Mom until she got too sick, and my living experience with Dad was limited to awkward silences inside of shared tents on weekend camping trips, or sleepless nights on the sofa bed in his bachelor pad. He wasn't ever home a lot, even then. Left me there for an entire weekend with a box of uncooked ramen and a case of sports drink and his vinyl collection when I was twelve. Honestly, I kinda begged him to let me stay, though. It was one of my first steps toward trying to feel independent. I couldn't figure out how the stove worked, though, so I just sprinkled the flavoring over the uncooked noodles and ate it like a rice cake or something. It's honestly not bad!

Also, Dad's never been gone this long, and I'm convinced he's in trouble. He was in hot water with a lot of different people- that happens when you are good at finding stuff other people want. Expensive stuff. Now, you're probably thinking, um, report him missing to the authorities, right? Yeah, well the law doesn't bother with the outer banks. They don't do rescue missions, only man hunts. If I wanted my dad found, I'd have to report him for something, which we don't do where I'm from. You see, a lot of his adventures aren't exactly... legal. Not technically illegal, once it's explained around, but you know, the issue is that he isn't here to explain around anything right now. So then that means everyone keeps looking at me for answers. And I'm pretty stupid! One time my teacher tried to set up a meeting with him and I had to literally run away because I didn't know what else to say. I told her later that I just remembered I left the sink running but who the hell knows if she believes me.

School officials are starting to question my forgeries of his name, wondering why he isn't showing up for any conferences. Keepers came by to remind us we're behind on all the bills and I had to hide under my bed for ten minutes before they gave up knocking and left a written notice. His boat hasn't been sighted since the night he went missing, and most people who know he's gone think he ran away. I know him better than that, okay? He's still learning but he's... he's trying his best.

I've seen bad dads. I know what they look like. I know what the marks they leave behind them look like too. Tian's bruised cheek, or his busted lip, or his blackened eye, the holes in the walls, the sour smell of beer breath in the air while he sleeps the day away on his recliner and Tian has to figure out his next meal alone again. My dad might be gone, but Tian's life might actually be better if his was too.

Oh! I guess I should explain: Tian is my best friend. His name isn't actually Tian, it's Christian. When we met in kindergarten, we both went by Chris, and we decided that wouldn't work, so we started going by Topher and Tien. And we've been thick as thieves ever since. We're all close like that, though. Four of us, little deviants to society because we don't have money and still dream. They're all trying to help me hunt my dad down, and though we aren't any closer to finding him now than we have been, we've found some pretty cool stuff along the way. We're regular treasure hunters now, prowling the swampy waters of the outer banks, looking in all the places no one else bothers to look. We found an entire spool of copper wire half-buried by time in the muck, and the my portion of the profit from that alone was enough to at least catch up on bills. I figure it'll give me at least as long as I had when Dad went missing until I have to pay again.

But I don't need to think that far ahead! Because we are gonna find Dad way before then! And once we save him and get him better, things are gonna go back to being normal.