Read Rhythm for Free Online Page B

not happy with their situation. They were, said
both of them, they just felt that they would be happier if they had
a child.”
    “Okay. Go on,” she asks me to continue.
    “Isaac came when Dad and Mom were forty years
old that’s why they named him Isaac—because they had him in old age
just like Abraham and Sarah in the Bible. I told them they weren’t
that old like them but disregarded me, so Isaac. He’s adorable
since day one. They always say that he looks up to me, but what
they don’t realize is that I look up to him. He’s teaching me many
things even he’s younger by ten years.”
    “Wow. Your family seems super close and that
you love each other so much,” she observes.
    “Yeah, definitely,” I acquiesce.
    “What I do not understand is why did you
leave them behind?”
    I shake my head. “I didn’t. I’m just
studying.”
    “You could attend your senior year in high
school and college there,” she insists.
    “I could, but like I said, I wanted to learn
how to be independent, and I want to be where you are.” I smirk.
“About my senior year in high school, have I not told you?”
    “What?”
    “I was a hopeless case. They needed to place
me in a new environment. All I did then was make trouble. I was
trouble.”
    She blinks rapidly, grasping my new
revelation.
    “C’mon, Rip. Do I look like a troublemaking
kid?” I chuckle. Her face looks like she’s imagining me punching
someone to death. “Rip, I’m kidding. There’s no drama behind my
transfer from Pennsylvania to Michigan. It was a plain, “Dad, Mom,
I want to live on my own.” I was still in high school, so of course
I needed to convince them. And transferring to a place where some
of your relatives lives made sense.”
    “You were not a troublemaker?” Is that a
disappointment in her tone or relief?
    “Never.”
    “You just want to live independently? You
left them for independence?”
    I can sense that she’s troubled with the fact
that I left my family. I don’t want her to feel bad.
    “Look, babe. I’m going home after college. I
want to live and grow old there. I look forward to live with my
future family in my hometown.”
    I hope that her mood will change with what I
have said.
    “Oh,” is her only reply.
    Her mood worsens. Shoot. “What did I
say that warrants that reaction, honey? Please be honest,” I
appeal.
    She hesitates for a moment but vocalizes her
thoughts. “You look forward to live with your future family in your
hometown.”
    “And?” I signal for her to keep talking.
    “And . . . I feel that I am not part of your
future.”
    I am shocked by her declaration. “Why would
you feel that?”
    “Uhm. I don’t know. I just don’t feel like
it.”
    “Rhy, of course I consider you as my future
family, but right now, I don’t want to scare you by making plans
about going home with me. I don’t want to pressure you.”
    “Really?” she confirms with a hopeful
tone.
    “Really.”
    I smile at the thought of bringing her home,
introducing her for the first time to my family. I know that they
will adore her.
    “What are you thinking?” she interrupts my
line of thought.
    “You really want to know? A little warning,
this may be a little advanced for you.”
    She nods.
    I take a deep breath. “I was thinking of
bringing you home and introducing you to my family—I’m looking
forward to that day.”
    “You think we’ll reach that point?”
    “Of course, but don’t worry, no pressure on
your part. I will never make you do something when you’re not
ready.”
    “You know what? I’m also looking forward to
that day. I want to meet your family.”
    Is it possible for a guy to blush because I
swear, I’m blushing. “You’re doing crazy things to me, Rip.”
    She convulsed with laughter. “Are you really
blushing? I want to see you blush often.” She fixes her gaze on me,
straight in the eye, as she taunts me. “Grant, I want to meet your
dad, mom and Isaac.”
    “Stop it, Rip,” I warn