MORE OF RIVER AND PATRICK PLEAK!!!!
IM OBSESSED!!
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rebuilding takes time. time that patrick was more than willing to spend.
river ended up canceling on his dad last minute for their hang out on saturday. whether it was karma or him truly being busy, patrick sat there staring at the message wondering if this was how river had felt during all the time he had canceled.
this one set back didn’t stop him from calling again.
“hello?”
his son’s voice echoed through the phone.
“hey, riv.” patrick cleared his throat. “i, uh, got the whole weekend off before training starts again. did you wanna maybe go…. fishing?”
patrick will admit he last minutely googled “bonding activities to do as father and son” and saw fishing as the first one. something he had always heard his classmates talking about doing over break with their own fathers.
“……fishing?”
“yeah, it could be really fun. you, me, out on the open water. you know?”
“dad, do you even know how to fish?” patrick could hear the skepticism in his voice.”
“of course i know how to fish!” he did not know the first thing about fishing.
after a short moment of silence river answered back sighing. “fine.”
“nice, nice. don’t, uh, worry about gear or anything i’ll take care of that just pack a bag, and i’ll see you on friday.”
“yeah, ok, friday. bye dad”
the dial tone interrupted patrick’s goodbye, and he let out a sigh. step one, get river to say yes, was complete. now the next two days patrick spent watching hour long videos on fishing, and ordering more gear than needed. what he didn’t do was check the weather. it would be raining all weekend starting friday, and when he went to pick up river that afternoon it was pouring.
-
“dad, should you be driving in the weather?” patrick nodded, “yeah, it’s fine. the rain will most likely stop half way there.” the rain didn’t stop half way there like patrick said, in fact it only got worse. the windshield wipers worked overtime to give the diver a clear view. and by the time they pulled up to the cabin the wind had picked up and thunder was booming.
“just leave your stuff in the car we’ll get in the morning.” patrick’s yelled over the loud rain, unlocking the cabin door.
it was dark until patrick switched on the light. the cabin was rustic while still looking modern. “you ok to sleep in that?” patrick asked, referencing to the clothes that sat dry under his soaked jacket. “yeah.” river responded. the weekend was starting off the opposite of what patrick had imagined, but he didn’t let it get in the way instead he place a hand on his son’s shoulder giving it a fatherly squeeze. “come on i’ll show you to your room.” river had to fight back his wince from patrick’s touch.
the floor creaked under the weight of the two men’s feet as patrick led the way to the guest bedroom. “i’ll see you in the morning.” patrick opened the door to a nice sized guest room. “night, dad.” the door shut in patrick’s face and he stood outside it for a moment questioning.
was he too late? has his years of absence created a tear to big to mend? would this ever get less awkward?
on the other side of the door, river stood looking around the room. to his left a queen size bed sat against the wall, the rectangular windows lined the wall across from him, and it didn’t look like the rain was letting up. he wanted to call his mother, but the zero service bar on his phone told him he couldn’t. river collapsed onto the bed after removing his jacket and shoes, sleep came quicker than he expected.
-
river woke up to the sound of his door opening.
“was just dropping off your bag. when your ready come down there’s a diner near by we can get breakfast.” patrick placed rivers bag by the edge of the bed.
“ok.” he replied in a voice full of sleep.
the diner was busy with people, locals. the air smelled like bacon, eggs, pancakes, and coffee. two plates of a grandma style breakfast sat across from each. one paired with a plain black coffee the other with a cup of orange juice.
“you reach your mom?” patrick asks.
river nodded, taking a seat at the booth.
“she ask about me?” the question made river’s face twist. “you wish.” he muttered. there was once a time where river wanted nothing but his parents back together, but the thought of it now made him uneasy.
“ok!” patrick clapped his hands together catching the eye of some of the other patrons. “so there will be a little drizzle today, but it shouldn’t get too bad. after breakfast we’ll head down to the dock, rent a boat.” patrick recited the days criteria.
“mm, i don’t know how i feel about being stuck on boat with you in the middle of nowhere.” river joked. of course he trusted his dad to know what he was doing…kind of.
“should have thought of that before coming all the way out here, hmm” he said before taking a bite of his pancake. the boy in front of him could help but crack a smile. light conversation continued over breakfast and all throughout the ride down to the dock.
patrick, obviously rented the best boat they had, sat though a quick demo on how to use it, then he and river set out onto the lake.
the low hum of the boat engine took up most of the quiet, and when they were out far enough patrick turned off the engine and looked over at his son. river had his coat pulled up to his chin, his teeth chattered slightly from the cold, and a redness was creeping over his nose and cheeks. patrick picked up the two fishing rods.
“ok, first take this.” he handed one of the rods to river. “and then you hook a piece of bait onto the end.” patrick pointed to the container of bait that river opened and immediately made a gagging sound. the worms were wiggling and squirming all over each other.
“they’re moving!”
patrick nodded. “yeah, it’s live bait, best for catching fish. just pick one up and stab it on the end of your hook.” he demonstrated by grabbing one of the worms, fighting back his own urge to gag as he pierced the small animal on the end of his hook.
“you try.”
reluctantly, river repeated his father’s actions until they both had their bait on their hooks.
“now what?”
“now, we cast our line and wait,” a swoosh whipped through the air as patrick throw the fishing rod from over his shoulder to the front, sending the line into the water. and they waited, side by side. staring out at the open water. the both of them really underestimated how boring fishing would be. especially since they weren’t the closest. the nature sounds made up for the silence.
“river?” patrick’s voice cut through the air. “can i ask you something?”
“yeah.” he whispered, hands gripping the fishing rod just a bit tighter.
“how come you…stood me up that last saturday?” the question took river off guard. he had a reason, a good one, but he didn’t know if was ready to reveal it. “i was busy.” the answer didn’t quite satisfy patrick, so he despite his better judgment he pushed. “it’s ok if you didn’t want to hang out with me that day it just…. i don’t know. it hurt since we had plans.”
river scoffed, head thrown back and eyes rolling. “welcome to my world.” the implications of his words were not lost on patrick, and it made him bite his inner cheek. after a while river groaned. “i was at the doctors, ok.” patrick head snapped up at that. “doctors? why, did you get sick?” river shook his head.
“no, uh, last year during a game i tour my acl pretty bad, but played through the pain which only made it worse.” he took a break. “i was benched the whole rest of the season, they didn’t know if i could play again, but i did my pt and got better. i was better. until it started hurting again.”
patrick sat in silence imagining a 15 year old river, acl torn and throbbing in pain as he played. “why wasn’t i told about this? your mother should have told me about this.”
“don’t.” river stopped him. “i told her not to tell you, ok. only her and my coach knows, no one else.“
“i’m your father i think i deserved to be in the know. you could have been seriously hurt.” his words came out sharper than intended.
river sighed, he’s had this talk already when he told his mom not to tell patrick. he was not interested in having it again. “i know that, but you not knowing was just one less person fretting over me and making it worse. plus i didn’t….. i didn’t want to you to think i was weak or something.” he trailed off at end, embarrassed by his slightly younger selfs insecurities.
“river.” patrick’s voice was soft. “i would never think that. you’re an athlete we get hurt, and it can be really fucking scary. and i wish you would have told me, but i’m glad you’re feeling better—you are feeling better right?” river nodded. “just a little sore now. i should be fine to still work towards going pro.”
pro? that made patrick sit up. “you wanna go pro?” river looked at him like he just asked the dumbest question. “duh. i’m not playing baseball as just something to do, it’s something i want to do.” patrick’s hums, he remembers being that young and eager to jump straight into the tennis world. win a bunch of trophies and bask in the fame that came with. if only he knew the struggle it would take to get him there.
“just make sure you finish college first, ok. i know it can be tempting to want to start as soon as possible, but there’s nothing wrong with making them wait for you.”
“but you didn’t go to college.”
patrick huffed a laugh. “and see how that turned out for me. i didn’t make it until way later in life. you’re fucking smart river, smarted than i ever was at your age, so do something with it. i don’t your only skill in life to be hitting a ball with a bat.”
a rough jerk on rivers fishers line interrupted the soft moment bringing them back to reality. “what was that?” another tug, stronger this time, had river jumping to his feet. “fish! it’s a fish!”
patrick stood up too, abandoning his own fishing rod. “wind it river, you got to wind it!” he encouraged.
river took hold of the handle and began winding it. his hands moving in fast circles as he tried to pull the fish out of the water. “it’s too strong!” he strained. “no no, you got it, come on!” with the adrenaline pumping through him and the cheering coming from his father, river managed to get the fish to the surface. it’s was a decent sized bass with green scales. it flopped like crazy on the floor of the boat before it took its last breath, it’s eyes going dead.
“holy shit.” patrick exhaled
“are we gonna cook it now?” river asked, chest still heaving from the previous event. patrick nodded. “well we can’t throw a dead fish back in the water.”
-
“how’s your trip going?” they were back at the cabin now, freshly washed up and changed as river talked on the phone with his mom.
“good, i caught a fish! it was crazy. we took those cheesy fish pose pictures with it, i’ll have to send them later. dad’s trying to cook it now, thinks he’s a pro after watching some videos.”
patrick stood in the kitchen, knife in hand while he hunched over watching a youtube video on how to cut open, clean, and cook a fish.
“that’s good, i’m glad you guys are having fun. and your dad, how is he?”
“why?” he pulled a similar face he did in back in the diner.
“because, river, we were married once i still care to know how he is.” river looked back at his dad in the kitchen who was still figuring out how to remove the bones. “he’s fine. i’ll see you soon, ok. i love you.”
“love you too.” his mothers words echoed back.
as he hung up patrick called out to him from the kitchen. “riv, come help me with this.”
the weekend had gone better than they both expected, and more fishing plans were made to happen.
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