Yani had arrived at the arranged meeting place fifteen minutes early. Gianno’s was her mother’s favorite and couldn’t believe that’s where her dad chose to meet her. She sat at the bar which faced the door so could see her father when he came in. The reservation was set for two at eight, and in he waltzed with some frail woman, tripping over her own feet just to smile in his face. She got up pulled down her dress and checked her hair and teeth in the glass behind the counter; head up, shoulders back and with a smile that could fool anyone she headed towards him.

“Hi dad,” Yani said managing to unclench her teeth and speak even though she was still a few feet away.

“Eight o’clock reservation for Palmero,” he said to the hostess.

Gritting her teeth Yani grabbed his shoulder and spoke again. “Dad, Hi.”

“Yani, sweetheart, how have you been?”

“Good dad, we missed you. The kids really miss you.”

“Right this way,” the hostess interrupted. They followed her to their table, her father pulled out her chair and proceeded to his.

“So how was Germany?” Yani said.

“It was good, how are the kids?”

“Well Randy is playing football and Aubrey is running indoor track.”

“And you?”

Yani didn’t want to tell him that she lost her job waitressing and was now stripping at Change for 100 on the boulevard. “Ummm, I’m good. The money from the diner is keeping food on the table and I take morning classes now so I can be at home with the kids.”

“You are just like your mother, you know how to keep a family together.”

“But I’m not their mother, they want a parent not me,” Yani said picking up her menu and deciding to pick the most expensive item it, one night of a treat wouldn’t kill her.

“I know that, but you know I have to work.”

“And work is more important than missing Aubrey’s eighth grade graduation and Randy’s piano recitals?” Yani said from behind her menu.

Her father didn’t say anything to her surprise. It had been two years since he had seen the kids and Aubrey was now in the ninth grade and Randy in the fifth. They meant the world to Yani. She was at every game,talent show, spelling bee, school plays, there for Aubrey’s first date and Randy’s first fight. Her father had missed the same moments when she was a child and it was like movie playing over again for the millionth time. The waitress walked over to the table.

“Hi, my name is Cindy and I will be your server for the night. Can I start you both with something to drink?”

“Yes I would like water with lemon,” said Yani still looking at her menu.

“I’ll have the same,”said her father.

“Are you ready to order?” Cindy said.

“I’ll have the hawaiian marinated chicken with green beans and a roll please,” Yani said closing her menu and handing it to the waitress.

“And for you sir?”

“I’ll have the steak medium rare and mashed potatoes and green beans.”

“Okay, your food will be out shortly,” said Cindy pivoting on her right foot and heading towards the kitchen.

From across the table Yani could hear a mumble about being gone for two years.

“Yani, I’m trying.”

Yani didn’t raise her eyes to look at him, she barely acknowledged the fact that he was there. “Try harder.”

“Yani what do you want me to do? Quit my job?” Her father raised his voice a level and slammed his hand on the table. “Someone has to make money since your mother left, and I’m sorry for being a “burden” by asking you to watch out for your brother and sister while I handled business, but I guess you can’t handle that.”

“Can’t handle it? Who watches them everyday? Who goes to parent-teacher conferences? Who fixes them food? Who helps them with homework? Who takes them to the doctor? Who goes to recitals, plays, games, track meets, and does hair and make-up for first dates? I do, that's who. Not you. Not mom. Not a single family member. I do it and I do it all alone. I’m nineteen and I have been raising your children.”
“You don’t pay any bills Yani. You aren't paying rent, you aren't doing anything else but going to community college and living at home,” her father said fiddling with his napkin.
“And why is that? Lets see I gave up going to New York just to ‘help you out for a few
months’ that was two f*ing years ago.”
“Don’t give me your sacrifice list I don’t have sympathy for it. The diner isn’t hard work and besides there is nothing hard about Randal Lee Community College.”
“The diner? I haven’t worked there in over a year. I was fired for taking food home feed the kids. I work at Change for 100 on the boulevard and the only reason I can get on that stage every night is because I know I have to feed two kids and keep a roof over their head as well as paying school fees and sport fees. So when you think you are going to tell me what I don't have remember who is feeding your children while you are walking the streets of Paris, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and everywhere else.”
Cindy came to the table with water and a waiter behind her with both plates. She sat the
water on the table and instructed the gentleman where each plate went. “Enjoy” she said while walking away. Yani didn't take her eyes off of her food, as far as she was concerned the conversation was over and there was nothing more that needed to be said. She wore her pride on her sleeve like a stain that wouldn't go away and nothing would break her today, not even her father.

All of the taps of forks and knives throughout the restaurant seemed to be in unison. The silence was thick and the breaths taken by them both were heavy. The mumbles of different conversations buzzed around them. Yani could feel her father’s gaze. He was right she was just like her mother and she hated it. She argued with Yani’s father in the same way and would not look at him after proving her point. Sitting in her favorite restaurant wearing the dress she left her made Yani feel as though she was her mother.

“We just want you to come home,” Yani said after finishing her meal.

“That’s why I asked you here.” Her father said pulling an envelope out of the inside of his suit jacket and sat it on the table.

“You’re coming home?”

“Not exactly,” he said pushing the envelope across the table.

“What’s this?”

“Plane tickets, I want you and the kids to move to Germany with me and Helen.”

“Germany? Helen? Who the heck is Helen?”

“My fiance.”

Yani shoved the envelope into his cup of water slid her chair back and stood up. Slamming both of her hands on the table she looked her father directly in the eye.

“I be damned if I pack my children up and take them to two strangers to raise them, do us a favor and never come back, we’ll be just fine without you.” Yani grabbed her purse and headed for the front door. She stopped halfway there and walked back to the table.

“Oh yeah, thanks for the birthday dinner, I bet you didn't even even remember.” And off she stomped again.