Shade

Madeline Turner had never had her mother. She knew her mother, Julia, died when she was a baby, she knew it was because of cancer, and she knew her mother fought very hard to stay with her. But that was it. Madeline's father, Richard, had worked many hard years to create a life for Madeline that allowed her to have everything she needed. She had plenty of food, her own room, and plenty of (secondhand) clothes. She went to a private school. Madeline even had the opportunity to go to the University of Georgia as long as her father covered what scholarships could not. But, Madeline never took it for granted.

Madeline knew the expense her father went to to give her a good life. In the backwoods of Georgia, Richard Turner worked from dawn to dusk, constantly had to have his little girl carpool with other students, and never took a vacation or day off unless it was for something important to Madeline. In the whole twenty years Madeline had been alive, her father had taken ten work days off. Five for birthdays, three for dance recitals, and two when she had a stomach bug. Richard even moved across the county to have a house closer to her and bought her a husky to convince her to live at home.

Madeline knew, once she graduated, that she needed to prove what she had done with her life was useful to be sure her father knew how much his support meant to her.

So, Madeline got a job.

And, not just any job.

Madeline became the… manager of a retail store in Seattle, Washington.

You see, our sweet Maddie did not graduate college. In fact, she dropped out at twenty when she learned that her father had had a heart attack and landed in the hospital a few days after the start of the spring semester. Her father begged her to stay in school, to not throw away all of his hard work.

Madeline did not listen.

"Madeline, you need to be in school. Not worrying about me. I'm almost completely fine, darlin'. Please go back." Richard would beg her constantly, every day. But, Maddie simply turned away.

"Daddy," she would say, "I love you more than God loves attention so just be quiet. Now, the doctor said for you to exercise and to stop workin' so damn hard. So do it." And that would be the end of it for a few hours.

A few months later, Richard was back up and running, literally. The doctor had told him he needed to work out, loose the extra weight he carried, and to start eating healthier foods. Since Richard was approaching sixty-five, he had to be extra careful about taking care of himself. So far, in three months, he had lost twenty pounds by running and eating better.

"Daddy, I'm real proud of you."

Madeline stood in the middle of their small, two bedroom house watching her father on the treadmill his company had bought for him. Because he had worked so hard for so many years, when Richard suffered his heart attack at the plant, the company made sure to take care of him.

Richard paused the machine.

"Well, little missy, I guess this was a long time comin'. But I think we have a bigger topic to talk about. When will you be goin' back to school?" Richard looked sternly at Madeline, silently criticizing her for worrying so much about him. Since she had started school, Maddie had been working at a mall right inside Atlanta, maybe an hour away from their home. She had quickly risen through all of the ranks and landed in the assistant manager position.

"Well, Daddy, I don't really know. You know, I got some news from that application I sent into the head company…" Madeline tugged at her dress, concerned with what his reaction may be.

"What is it?" Richard was cautious. He knew Madeline had wanted to move up in the ranks at her job, but his whole life had been geared towards her going to school.

"I got the job." Madeline bit her lip and leaned on the counter to her left. Richard sighed.

"You know why it is so important to me that you go to school. What could you possibly have received to want to take a job over that?" He asked.

"I got an offer to be the store manager in Washington."

Richard felt a tug of war in his chest. His only daughter had gotten the job she set her mind to getting, but in return would leave him and really enter the world.

"Maddie, I don't like it. I don't like you leaving me so soon. I don't want you alone. But, if I tell you no, you'll never know what could have been. Make a good decision, I'll ask God about it too." Richard wiped his head with his rag and slowly moved towards his room.

"Just make sure to take your damn dog." And with that, Richard disappeared and Madeline smiled.

Her father just wanted what was best, and that was okay.