A Father`s Daughter! Vocal Contest submission!

A Father's Daughter!

(In the background all you hear is the sound of his old fashioned wall clock, ticking... ticking away… Tick,Tick,Tick,Tick.) He is sitting in his chair at the table reading the paper and drinking his coffee as he has done 100's of times before. But on this day everything was about to change his life forever, there came the sound of the doorbell and a strong knock at the door. He put his coffee down in its usual place and folded the ear of the paper as IF to decide whether or not to answer the door! But for the life of order and solitude that he lived, answering the door was of course no option, he must! Except for holidays & celebrations he never really had unexpected guests, he's lived in the same house in the country, following the same routine(s) for over 20 yrs.

Without another moment's thought about it, he put the newspaper down pushed his chair back from the table and got up and went to the door, there he put his hand out and grabbed the door handle and said… “Just a minute!” He unlocked the door with his other hand and turned the knob and opened it, and there standing in front of him was a pretty young woman which gave him instant goosebumps, the hairs stood up on his body everywhere for she… she looked just like him! Confused but with no time to ask the many questions that immediately started crossing his mind he looked at her politely and said, “Can I help you?” When all he really wanted to do was ask her all the questions now flooding his mind!

“Are you Richard Prior?” She was trying to remain serious as she asked him this, but it was a bit difficult of course for the obvious reasons. And it seems she gave it all away by her physical disposition and the look on her face. He was quick to answer, “Richard Pryor is black and was one of the greatest actors and comedians to ever walk the face of the earth, I'm white and don't have a lick of humor in my funny bone that could stand up to anything that man did in his life! I recognize that look on your face; I've gotten it all of my life, you get used to it. But to clear up all the confusion please note that he spells his last name with a y and I spell mine with an i, just to clarify once and for all, that we are not related!”

Lisa then replied, “Yes I know the last name is spelled differently, I apologize for how that might have sounded when it came out, it was not my intent to make a joke of it, but you must realize how cool it is for me to finally meet the man face to face who gave me (I think) one of the coolest last names on the face of the earth!” She broke out in a large smile as her eyes glowed and danced from the light shining in her face that was beaming out from the inside of the house behind Richard. “Your last name?” (Things were now beginning to get interesting!) Lisa moving things along said, “May I come in? I think we need to sit down for this next part? Don't worry I don't bite and I'm not some kind of dangerous serial killer or ax murderer or something!”

Richard spoke, “Oh yes, where are my manners, come in, and no of course I wasn't thinking anything like that!” He took a step towards the wall and opened the door wider to let her in. “Thank-you!” She took her shoes off while he closed and locked the door behind her. When he was done he stepped out in front of her and stretched his arm out pointing to the inside of his house; letting this pretty stranger step into his world he said, “Right this way!” Lisa nodded her head and was quick to follow his steps into a large dining area, where his coffee still sat on the table and the paper still laid out on the tabletop. He was quick to return to his seat as he pointed at all the other chairs around the table saying, “Sit anywhere you like.” (He took a sip of his coffee...)then said, “Rats! My coffee is cold now; I need to heat it up, please get comfortable, I will be right back! Shoot, where are my manners? Would you like a cup of coffee?” These words she heard as he was walking away into the kitchen.

“Yes, please! I think this occasion is definitely a moment that calls for a cup of coffee, 2 1/2 sugar, 2 cream.” She told him, to save him from asking the obvious question. She touched the back of the chairs 1 by 1 as she moved down the length of the table until she found that sitting in the chair on the opposite end of the stunning classic dining room table, where she could see Richard in clear view straight ahead of her is what suited her feelings for what she was about to embark upon with him. Lisa put her big purse up top on the table and opened it, she put a hand inside and retrieved a medium sized legal brown envelope. Pulling it out of her bag completely she laid the envelope down on the table and moved her big purse out of the way by sticking it on the seat of the empty chair to the left of her, she pulled her seat in a little closer to the table put her hands together in front of her on top of the envelope, remembering she needed to breathe, so she took in some air and just waited for Richard's Return!

* * * * *

Richard returns with 2 hot mugs of coffee, made to order; he puts his mug in place and chuckles in acknowledgement of where Lisa chose to sit. “You can sit closer if you like, I don’t bite, but I can relate! I too like to sit where I can see everyone and everything in clear view.” By the time he was done speaking he was standing next to her and put her coffee down in front of her. Lisa said,“No, I'm quite alright for today, right where I am!” She picked up her coffee in a sort of toast kind of manner and took a sip. When she finished she added “Very good coffee!” Richard replied with, “Thank-you” as he turned and walked away, but continued speaking saying, “Now what brings you here; that my table is blessed with your visit today?” He tried smiling but it was a nervous smile, thinking of her words at the door telling him her last name is the same?

Lisa, with her quick assessment of the man she was looking at and the environment she now found herself in, felt it was safe to proceed with what brought her to his house on this day. She took another sip of that good cup of coffee, after which she took a breath; then put one of her hands on the envelope and pushed it across the table to where he was NOW sitting once again drinking his coffee as she spoke.“I was given this envelope just recently, my Mother passed-away and apparently this envelope had some kind of legal binding clause that was only to be lifted in 1 of 2 ways for it to be delivered to me. 1. I turn a certain age and 2. That she passes-away! Evidently though I'm well above 21 yrs of age she managed to find a way to fight to keep this envelope from reaching me until the lawyers’ for her estate finally gave it to me just a few short weeks ago.” When Lisa stopped talking all you could hear between them was the sound of the envelope sliding across the table. Those few seconds for Richard felt like one of those slow-motion moments you see on TV or the movies where it seems like time is taking forever.

When the envelope reached him on his side of the table he put his hand out on the envelope and picked it up! He read where it came from in the left corner and saw who it was addressed to in the center, it was addressed sure enough to one Lisa Prior! Before opening it and removing the pages within, he took a sip of his coffee and caught a deep breath. Lisa said, “I'm sorry for this, but since this is all very new to me too, I just thought it might be easiest if you read what is there for yourself; easier to start off with less talking I think, for I'm sure we will be doing enough of that soon enough seeing as how there is so much time to catch up on ahead of us to do!”

Richard pulled all the papers and the pictures that were in the envelope out. There he saw pictures, some of which he recognized and remembered immediately, others which he's never seen at all. He took the pictures and put them aside and picked up the legal documents and started to read. Lisa just sat there across from him on the other side of the table in silence, listening to the clock tick, drinking her coffee, and waited. Richard after several moments of silence and flipping through papers finally puts them down on the table and moves his head and gaze towards this lovely young lady sitting there with him; being tongue tied himself, and not knowing where to start, stammers out the words a little loudly due to the anxiety…

“SOOO, YOU'RE MY DAUGHTER?”

“According to those papers and the pictures of Mom holding me as a baby in the hospital I was born in! She raised me to believe that the other Richard in her life was actually my father. There were enough similarities in looks that it was quite believable to the untrained eye! But when you compare the picture of him to the ones’ of you, I could see, easily, that I was yours and not his. And then there was the tremendous difference of talents, intelligence, interests; that Richard and I were completely different personalities, like the distance of this table between us. Even if I was sitting next to him or across from him that's how far away it would always feel, anyway. In short I have just basically spent the last 30 something years of my life living a life that was a complete lie! Seeing you sitting here alive and well just carries with it all the years I have lived without knowing who I really am, it means I only know half of who I am, my Mother's half! It means I have no idea who I am supposed to be today and what I should be doing or where I should be doing it? It means everything I learned growing up knowing the other Richard doesn't apply to me! So now I have to start all over again with you, but now, with one great thing to our benefit, (n0t saying it to be mean, but rather just too be honest) that SHE’S not IN the picture at all to get in the way!”

Richard picking up the pictures and looking through them while Lisa was talking, started shaking his head because he most certainly remembered that woman in the picture holding their daughter, and he started shaking his head in disbelief at what that woman did.“No, No, No, No, No, No, SHE DIDN`T, she didn't do what all this says she just did!? How could any woman with a heart and soul do such a thing? (It wasn't a question he was looking to have answered, because it clearly had already been) Do you think your Mother is going to go to HELL FOR THIS?” And then he went back to shaking his head and looking at the pictures some more.

Lisa now speaking said, “Well, RICHARD, I believe that door to heaven literally slammed in her face many years ago,what she's done to my life, no amount of prayer or bible reading could ever turn the tides or damage back on now. Right till her death bed, she just had to get that last kick in the teeth. She clearly wasn't the Mother or person I TRIED SO HARD to hold on to, wanting to believe she was, and she clearly had bad feelings about you and everything I represented there, (whatever happened between you 2!) that she was willing to do this to me too, not just you! I got used to her pathological lies and constant moving us around, and the way she couldn't keep a good man in her life, but THIS, NEVER, could I have imagined or guessed that all that she did was BECAUSE of THE SECRET she was keeping from EVERYONE, not just you and me!”

Richard jumped in here and spoke, “Well, that's just it, let me start right there clearing a few things up for you about whatever happened between your Mother and me. You're old enough I believe to handle the truth and based on the life you've just lived with her I'm thinking you might find what I say to be a bit of a relief instead of raising more complications! But as for your Mama and me, well darling there was NOTHING between her and me, well that's not to say we didn't wind up in bed together I take on all full responsibility for that, for we most certainly did. But it wasn't anything serious or ridiculously romantic like meeting on a vacation in Paris, Love at First Site, standing in front of the Eiffel tower sort of thing ... sorry to burst your Mama's bubble but her & I we were just a drunk'n stupor!”

Still talking he goes on to say, “Back in the days when I still had a fools dream of making it in the music business I was touring any of the bars or dive holes I could get booked in, and your Mama and I met in one of those dive holes and we got to talking and drinking and she was more like one of them girl groupies, who follows certain bands around and my band was one of them, it was my autograph she wanted, and well honey back then she was cute enough for girls who hang out in bars like those and wanting my autograph was cool enough for me that it lead to a few drinks to many which lead to obviously making how do you say it... (A LOVE CHILD) is what babies like you are called! Because Lisa you are most certainly one lovely young woman and have carried the light and love of my soul in you, all the days of your life. In short I am glad you are here, trying to straighten out YOUR TRUTH and who you are and who you want to be. You are one of those good mistakes many a man has made before me that live(d) without ever knowing, we'd done such a thing, as make a life. And I am willing to answer all your questions and help you in whatever way you need me too, until you are satisfied.

I have no idea why Helen would do such a thing to either of us, it's not like we ended on bad terms, but my life in music just carried on and she... well, she was a groupie who lived a free lifestyle and came and went as she pleased too. This, eventually, led to her complete disappearance from my life. I most certainly DID WONDER what happened to Helen, I did after all fall into bed with the girl, I wasn't void of any feelings? Helen most certainly could have come to me and asked me for help whatever her decision! But as I think back on it right now, I'm guessing I CAN PINPOINT what led to her making up her mind to drive a wedge between all of us, so big, that you and I could not & now never will, forget it! Oh… I guess I should ask, what did she die from?”

Lisa (with a winced look on her face of an obvious understanding of why he was asking answered only with 1 word!)“Cancer!”

She then returned to remembering to ask him the following, “Well... what is it, what do you think, the reason is for all this?” Then she moved on with the rest of her thought, “As far as learning my Mama was a groupie when she was young, YES, that is very believable because she loved to date them musician type, but unless those kind of men are rich and hugely successful (though they may be good between the sheets) they are not so good as reliable men or father's, they are so poor they have to come live at Mama's house because they can't afford their own!”

Richard quipped, “IS THAT WHAT SHE TOLD YOU? My word child, the world you had to grow up in, for that I am so sorry! After your Mama and me had been together that last time, she got a little weird and all girl like on me and she started in on me asking those questions about LOVE & MARRIAGE and whether I'd ever be willing to settle down with one girl, I said YES; EVENTUALLY, but that I wasn't ready right then at that time in my life. I was only a man of 21, just legal around the world but she never acted like she was expecting me to pop the question or anything like that, I never could have guessed where she was in her head, but I'm thinking she was smart enough to have realized that those feelings and thoughts she was having, were not there, for me, towards her at that time.

I'm also thinking she might have already known she was pregnant and might have been aiming to tell me, but because I failed to answer her questions and behave the way she wanted me too, she chose to not mention it and when she started to show, she just chose to never return to our regular watering hole? But remember Lisa this is all purely speculation, now that she's gone from both our lives forever, we never will, really know? So, we are just going to have to learn how to make the best of it, between us on our own!”

Lisa replied, “I like your answer, it is sound and logical and resembles girls who lived lives like that in those times. I'm thinking I can accept, and live with your conclusion, so Richard I say, let's you and me agree to agree on this one?” He said, “Done, Agreed! (Now smiling, by this point in the conversation, newly fathered for the 8th time his face was glowing and looked much like a light bright, as it were!) Continues by saying, “Aren't we supposed to shake hands on things like this or something? It's not like this sort of thing is a habit of mine or yours, obviously, but I am pretty sure there is some form of formal etiquette in order here?”

Lisa smiled with a little laugh and nodded her head in agreement before speaking the following words, “I guess a good hand-shake IS IN ORDER, since we've not formally introduced ourselves with one since the moment you opened the door!” Richard pushed his chair away from the table and got up and walked over to the other side. Lisa, looking up at him smiling back, got up from her seat and took the hand he put out toward her into hers and like thunder clapping when their hands finally met for the first time, something electrical, something magical, started to happen between them! While they were still shaking hands, Lisa said, “Hi, My name is Lisa, Lisa Prior... I'm YOUR DAUGHTER...(a slight pause for a breath) and I'm glad to FINALLY MEET YOU... DAD!”

Richard, no longer alone in his big house since all his other children grew up and left home, was happily sinking in the change that's about to happen in both their lives, all those years of stories and pictures to have someone NEW, someone SO PERFECT, to share it all with, said back to her, “Hi, Lisa, I'm Richard, I'm glad to finally meet you too, I look forward to getting to know you as your Dad (just like a line out of the movie Annie) he added, I think I'm gonna like you here!” Lisa, looking around at the house she was now embraced in, stammered out a few more similar words while smiling back at him, “I… I think I'm gonna like it here too!”

Then, like at the beginning, when Richard sat alone, there was once again nothing but silence, only now, between 2 people, instead of just him and THAT, that's when you could hear it ONCE AGAIN; the sound of that old fashioned clock on the wall behind them ticking... ticking away... Tick,Tick,Tick,Tick!

The End!

Writing By,

Jennifer Cooley!

www.futureproductionsonline.com