Interview of Howard Barlow two

Walking out of the dressing room that he was provided, Howard took a deep breath. Thinking over the question of Winnie’s suit. Why would anyone say that it hadn’t been seen in so many years? It was the first thing that you saw when you came into the restaurant. The only thing he had to change about Silvy’s appearance was her head. After the incident it was unusable. Nor would he want to use it even if it wasn’t. The thing held too many memories of his wife, and he couldn’t bring himself to reuse it.

No matter how much his brother-in-law begged him to.

It also felt scummy to him. Using the very last thing his wife’s head had been in to continue their business. Disgusting. It wasn’t something that he should ever do or even think of doing ever. Thought made him angry to this day. But he did his best to keep his composure as he headed back towards the stage. Not wanting to give Kathleen the satisfaction of seeing him even the slightest bit upset. That woman would probably jump all over it and start prodding him for more information about Winnie’s suit. Who knew with a woman like her? Hell, she might still have some she was dying to demand of him.

Howard:*straightening his tie for another time as he neared the stage*”Sorry about that, Ms. Kathleen.”

Kathleen:*pushing up her glasses with her middle finger with a fake smile plastered across her face*”Oh, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. It was me that was so insensitive to your feelings Mr. Barlow.”

Kathleen:*setting her hands in her lap as she stares him in the eye*”It was a bit thoughtless of me to ask of you. I won’t ask you that again.”

Howard:*not entirely certain if her smile is genuine but appreciated the apology*”Thank you. That’s very kind of you.”

A few seconds later the cameras were rolling once more on them. Kathleen keeping up the fake smile as she sat up straighter. Howard doing his best to smile once more. Not entirely certain if it were real enough to fool anyone. But hoped that Kathleen wouldn’t be calling him out on that if she noticed. Luckily it seemed that Kathleen was far too in her own world to even begin to care about Howard’s issues. Or about his face. Quite possibly she wasn’t even paying him much attention to care.

Kathleen:*reaching over for her clipboard*”Now, we’re back. I would love to ask you Howard about your relationship with your oldest daughter, Melanie.”

Howard:*turning towards her a little surprised that she would bring up their relationship*”Oh, what would you like to ask me about her?”

It wasn’t entirely surprising that she would bring up Melanie once more. As he was the one to do so first. But it still was a little more surprising that she would ask about their relationship at all. Howard really hadn’t anticipated that she would even really care. But did his best to keep the surprise of this question off his face. Keeping the showman’s smile that he had learned to slap on when out of his Copps suit.

Kathleen:*glancing over the question for a brief moment*”Would you say that you were the best parent for her after the incident at Silvy and Copps Burger Joint? Was it difficult to care for her along with your other five children?”

Kathleen:*staring him right in the eye*”Or do you feel that you may have neglected your parental duties to her in favor of them? Maybe even asking her to help you with them?”

Howard:*taken a bit off guard*”I never asked her to help care for her siblings. I had my brother-in-law do that along with our other family members. In fact, I made a point to have father-daughter outings like I did with her little sisters.”

Howard:*toying with his tie once more*”I tried to make sure that every single one of my children had time with me. One on one.”

It was something that Winnie and he had discussed before she passed. That way it would make caring for their children more even. At least in their eyes it had made things a lot more even. And when his wife passed, he never thought of making Melanie a parent. She didn’t deserve to be put in that sort of position. Melanie was a young girl who deserved to be treated like the child that she was.

It was one thing he never compromised on.

Kathleen:*a bit skeptical that he would do that for Melanie*”Hmm…are you absolutely certain that is what happened? That you’re not remembering it wrong?”

Howard:*a bit annoyed that she was insinuating that he might be lying*”I’m very certain that I didn’t force my daughter to take a parental role in her siblings lives. Or be more grown up then she absolutely had to as a child.”

Howard:*keeping his composure the best that he can to avoid a scandal*”Just why are you asking me this? What exactly brought you to the conclusion that I was somehow doing this for my daughter throughout her life?”

Kathleen:*a little surprised that he was being direct but keeping her calm demeanor*”I meant nothing by it sir. But it is a question that people at home need to know. Many have wondered how you balanced being a single father to so many children.”

Kathleen:*putting on a fake sympathetic tone*”It would be so understandable that you somehow messed up with your daughter. Some parents have a difficult time with two or three children. I couldn’t imagine how everything was with six of them.”

Howard could tell that she was trying to rile him up for whatever reason that she could come up with. Possibly to label him as an aggressive man or an abusive father. Quite probably both. If he were judging by the look in her eyes that was probably it. Either way he wasn’t going to give her the reaction she desired. Not now or ever.

Howard:*slipping on a tight smile*”Oh no. They were all wonderful children and I’m lucky to have such loving family members. It took a village to raise them. And I’m grateful for how they all turned out.”

Howard:*cocks his head to the side as he stares deep into Kathleen’s eyes*”Do you think my children were some form of burden for me, Ms. Kathleen? Is this why you asked me that? I don’t see why else you would.”

Kathleen spluttered something that he didn’t completely understand. Nor did he feel that he would ever really understand. That didn’t matter. What mattered was the fact that he felt that he had won. And that his wife would possibly be proud of how he handled the whole interview. A feeling that didn’t dissipate in him as he continued to answer her questions. Once that was over, he stood up to leave when she stopped him.

Kathleen:*standing up as she held a hand to him*”I do hope you don’t take this to heart, Howard. I was only asking what the studio wished of me. I never at one moment thought you were a bad father to your children.”

Howard:*not believing her in the slightest bit but decided to take the highroad*”Oh, no. It’s perfectly fine Kathleen. No hard feelings in the slightest.”

The older man shook Kathleen’s before leaving to go home. Hoping that his oldest daughter would be seeing the episode. Quite possibly record it for him so that he could watch it later. That way he could see how he handled it. Take notes on what he could do better for the next interview. If there would ever be a next interview. Then ask Melanie on how she felt he handled the whole thing from her perspective.

It took over an hour to get home and when he arrived it was nearly dark. His daughter’s truck was already in the driveway. Along with his youngest child’s car. His youngest child was his son, Kevin. That wasn’t good. Kevin usually had the night shift at some run-down building. He never mentioned to Howard what this place was. Or why he had chosen the night shift specifically. But the older man felt that it wasn’t really his place to ask him. Instead, he just elected to park his vehicle and head inside to face both.

Howard:*finds them both in the kitchen as Melanie is making food for them*”Good evening kiddos.”

Melanie:*smiling as she fixes what smells like scrambled eggs*”Hiya, Dad!”

Kevin:*still wearing his full security uniform and drinking coffee*”Hey, dad.”

Howard:*sits down next to him*”Hey. Everything okay Kev? You look miserable.”

Kevin:*shrugs off his security jacket*”Yeah. Just something weird happened at work yesterday and I’d rather not get into detail about it.”

That was really all he needed to hear from his youngest child. Instead, he just nodded his head as his eldest served them scrambled eggs. A few minutes later she also set out some warmed sausages from the microwave. Along with a few pancakes.

Melanie:*sitting to the right of him at the table*”I saw your interview a little while ago, Dad. And I got a few things that I need to say about it.”

Howard:*freezes with the fork up to his mouth then sets his bite of food down*”Oh. I suppose you have some critiques of what I could do better?”

Melanie:*cuts into one of her pancakes*” Well, not exactly…”

With this, Kevin quickly downs his drink before getting out of his chair. Headed over to the sink to dump his cup and hurried out without touching his food. Even his youngest knew this wasn’t something he should stick around for.

Melanie:*setting her fork and knife down*”I think you were a little unfair to Kathleen. It feels like she was just concerned about me and everyone. It’s not wrong of her to assume you may have had some trouble raising us.”

Howard:*nodded his head at this*”I understand and I will send an apology through email. But it was hard to not be upset with her when she assumed that I ruined your childhood. That was a little much.”

Melanie:*picks up her fork and stabs a bite sized piece of pancake*”I guess so. Still seems a little over the top to me.”

With that they fell back into silent eating. Howard snagging the plate of food that his son didn’t want anymore. Feeling he deserved it for putting up with that reporter. Once they were done, they took their plates to the sink. Both were washing them as they fell back into silence. Soon as they were done Melanie packed the leftovers. Figuring that Kevin could have them tomorrow morning for his breakfast. If he were feeling like eating something for once.

Melanie:*shutting the fridge door as she turns towards Howard*”So I’ll be going to the restaurant first thing tomorrow morning. I want to make sure that everything is set up for the celebration.”

Melanie:*bites her bottom lip in thought for a long moment and deliberately avoids eye contact with Howard*”There’s also something that I want to tell you. It’s important and I know that you’re not going to be happy with this. And please promise to not be mad.”

Howard:*surprised at how nervous she was with what she had to tell him*”You know that you can tell me anything, sweetheart. I promise that I won’t be mad.”

Howard:*walks up to Melanie and gently touches his daughter’s shoulder*”Now please tell me what’s wrong?”

Melanie:*gently pushes his hand off of her shoulder*”I’m going to be retiring Silvy the wolf and putting her in storage. It feels morbid having mom’s old suit where everyone can see it and it doesn’t even look like how it used to anymore.”

This wasn’t anything that Howard had expected from his oldest child. He hadn’t liked the suit either at times. But he never wanted to put her into storage where he would never see it again. As sometimes he was grateful that he still had his wife’s old suit. But he wasn’t going to berate his daughter for her choices. Even if he felt they were hurtful.

Howard:*gently patting her back in a reassuring manner*”That’s fine. I’ve never been all that comfortable with her there anyways.”

Melanie:*looks up at him hopefully and smiles nervously*”Are you sure? I mean I could stop the workers and keep her there if you prefer?”

Howard:*shaking his head*”No, no. It’s fine. I can live without it there and it’s your restaurant now. You run it how you feel you should.”

Melanie:*hugging him with a small smile*”I love you dad. Thank you for being so understanding.”

Howard:*smiles back and hugs her*”I love you too Lanie. I’m going to go get ready for bed now. Today’s been so busy. Have a good night.”

Melanie:*letting go of him and watches him leave the room*”Good night, dad. Sweet dreams.”

Howard mirrored this before heading up towards the bathroom to brush his teeth. Keeping the door locked as he leaned against the counter. It felt wrong letting her remove the statue from the old place. But it was probably for the best. No one needed to see that morbid reminder of his late love. Especially not him. And it wasn’t like Melanie was getting rid of her permanently. Just putting her in storage. He could easily visit the suit if he were feeling nostalgic. There was no reason to feel upset at all.

So why couldn’t he stop himself from crying?