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Allison sat on the front porch with a cigarette burning between her thin fingers. She could hear her mother, Katherine, cooking dinner inside. The bangs of the pots and pans brought memories of when she was young. Her mother would be preparing the night’s meal while her father sat in his recliner reading the newspaper, nonchalantly picking at his nose and smearing the snot on his flannel jacket. But that scene disappeared so suddenly when he disappeared while Allison was fifteen. No trace was found of Wes Parks.

That was ten years ago and she accepted that he had just run away, abandoning his family. She felt nothing towards him anymore. His memory went away like the ashes of her cigarette in the cool breeze. Allison crushed the burnt out butt of her cigarette in the clay ashtray that she remembered making in her art class for her mother who smoked two packs a day of Marlboro.

She stood up from the top step and went through the screen door into the warm living room. The aroma of something delicious filled her nostrils as she slid out of her sweatshirt and laid it on the back of the recliner that had once been her father’s aura of solace. Allison quickly shook the memory of her father out of her head and headed into the kitchen. It was warmer in there and the smell was much stronger.

“That was your fifth cigarette in the past ten minutes, Suge,” Allison’s mother said without looking up from the frying pan that held the cooking pork chops.

“Yeah…well, you’ve never been a paragon of resisting cancer either, Mum,” Allison retorted. Katherine snorted as she flipped the chops out of the pan onto a paper plate. Katherine Parks was a tall but round woman of the age of sixty-five with a head full of gray hair that usually fell to her shoulders. Now it was in a ball helter-skelter like with a black ribbon holding it in place. Her hands, rough but graceful in movement, were decorated in wrinkles and on her middle finger was a ring sculpted to resemble a silver rose. For as long as Allison could remember that ring had been on Katherine’s finger. She still did not know how her mother acquired it, but Allison knew that when she was a child it held her gaze many times. If the light shone just right on the silver flower then it would cast beautiful colors on the wall. What is up with me today? Allison thought to herself. For some reason or another, she was becoming all nostalgic.

“Allison? You all right?” Katherine sat down the plate of pork chops on the table with a bowl of mashed potatoes as she looked at Allison with concern.

“Yeah, I’m good, Mum,” she quickly replied. Katherine tilted her head and grunted.

“You just got that look that your dad used to get when he was…thinking. It kinda worried me a little. You sure you’re okay?” Allison nodded and sat down at the table. Her mother stood for a few seconds staring at her then sat down opposite of Allison. They ate in silence for awhile then Katherine whispered inaudibly. Allison lifted her head to see that her mother was staring at her gravely. “Did you hear me, Suge?”

“Uh un,” Allison said looking back down to her plate, knowing full well what her mother was going to bring up.

“I said that I asked you to drive four hours to visit because I have to tell you something…Something very important. You want to know what happened to your father, don’tchu?” Katherine stopped so Allison could nod then continued. “Well, if you’re finished eating, let’s go outside and I’ll tell you everything.” She stood up and pulled out the pack of Marlboro reds from her pocket along with a Bic lighter. Katherine pulled out a single cigarette and lit it with shaking hands. Exhaling a cloud of smoke, she nodded towards the front door. Allison lifted her tired body out of the chair and walked in the direction of the door. Her mother followed, taking puffs off of her cigarette as if it would become contraband the next day.

Allison pushed open the screen door as it let out a screech of protest. “Have to oil that thing soon, I guess,” Katherine said. They sat down in rocking chairs that had been built by Allison’s father. Katherine slowly rocked back and forth, smoking like a train. Allison, however, just stared into the horizon as the sun was going down.

“Okay. I have something I need to get off my chest…Something you don’t know and something you don’t remember,” Katherine whispered, her head bowed.

“Is this about Dad?” Allison asked while she kept staring into the sinking sun. Katherine exhaled loudly but with composure.

“Mmhm…I just want to be sure that before I die that I tell you all of what happened. I won’t leave out a single thing.” Allison turned her head slowly to her mother who was looking her dead in the eyes. “Are you ready for this, Suge?” Katherine inhaled the puff from her cigarette as her daughter nodded slowly. “All right,” she whispered, jutting the burnt butt into the clay ashtray. Katherine began to twist at her ring as she began the story that would end in Allison’s father’s death.