Your dad’s on TV.
“Are you seeing this?” your sister asks over the phone.
You’re seeing this. He’s being interviewed by Anderson Cooper for rescuing puppies from a house on fire.
“I just hope my daughters will let me back into their lives,” your dad says to Anderson Cooper.
You tell your sister you don’t like the way this looks.
***
You’re on TV.
“Are you going to accept your Dad back into your life?” Anderson Cooper asks you. “He did something good for puppies.”
You tell Anderson Cooper that if he did something good for some dogs, but he never did anything good for you or your sister, that means he treated you and your sister worse than dogs.
Someone behind Anderson Cooper throws a tomato at you.
“Are you seeing this?” your sister texts you, forgetting that you’re the one she’s looking at live on her TV screen.
***
Your Dad’s on TV.
“I want everyone to leave my daughters alone,” he tells Anderson Cooper. “I did a lot of bad things in my life, and if they can’t forgive me for them, even after I saved some puppies, then that’s their right.”
Anderson Cooper says, “No, I’m sorry but that’s bullshit!”
“Anderson, take it easy,” your Dad says.
“I fucking won’t,” Anderson Cooper says. “I don’t normally do this, take sides and whatnot, but come on. Would they rather the puppies had died? Is that what they want?”
“Are you seeing this?” your sister asks from the other side of the couch. She moved in with you. Her and Stan are having trouble again.
***
Your Dad’s on TV.
“Until there’s definitive proof that that’s me on that video recording, I stand by my assertion that it’s not me,” he’s telling Anderson Cooper.
In the corner of the screen is a surveillance video of your Dad carrying puppies into a house and then setting the house on fire. Then he’s shown waiting around for some people to show up and turn on their smartphone cameras. Then he runs into the house and runs back out with the puppies.
“It really looks like you,” Anderson Cooper says.
“Well, I maintain that it doesn’t look like me. Look at me. Am I wearing a hat, like the guy in the video?”
“If it was you, I think your daughters need to know,” Anderson Cooper says. “They need to realize how far you’re willing to go to get them back in your life. I mean, you were ready to kill puppies.”
Your dad isn’t sure how to respond so he says, “Maybe?”
“That’s a lot to have on your conscience,” Anderson Cooper says. “If those puppies had died, you would have had to live with that, all because you love your daughters so much.”
Your dad says, “So whether I set the fire and rescued the puppies, or I didn’t set the fire and rescued the puppies, my daughters should let me into their lives again.”
“You’re goddamn right!” Anderson Cooper shouts before throwing his mic at the wall and stomping around cursing while your dad chases after him, trying to calm him down.
“Are you seeing this?” your sister asks Stan over the phone. They’re trying to work it out. You hope they do.
***
You’re on TV.
“Empty your pockets,” the corrections officer says to you. You watch yourself on the closed circuit monitor as you drop your keys and loose change into the bin. Then you walk through the metal detector and into the visitors area.
“I just wanted the chance to say I’m sorry,” your Dad says when you sit at the table with him.
You tell him that you accept his apology, and he shouldn’t feel the need to do more dangerous stuff just to get Anderson Cooper to convince you to reconnect with him.
“He parked outside my house for a week, spraypainting ‘Bad Daughter’ on my front door. It was awful,” you tell your dad.
“He gets results,” your dad says. “That’s why he’s the best reporter in the biz.”
Across the room, another inmate picks up his visitor and throws him against the wall.
“Are you seeing this?” your dad asks.
You put your hand on his. You’re seeing this. You’re right there with him, seeing this together.
Happy Your Dad’s On TV Day!