Rick never knew his father until he landed at JFK international airport in New York City. His father met him and his mother at the airport. His father is a tall medium built man. The first thing Rick noticed about his father was that he smoked.
He could smell the smoke on his breath. His father was wearing a brown suite and looked extremely uncomfortable. As they drove home from the airport Rick was fascinated by the Whitestone Bridge. He'd never seen a bridge so long, so high above that water with so many lights. He was amazed that people had to pay to cross hit. He thought to himself over and over, "This is it, this is America, the place I heard so much about." To Rick's surprise, his father dropped his mother off and then took him. Rick thought that the three of them were going to stay together. This was something Rick never thought about, as far as the relationship between his mother and father.
On the way home in the car after his father dropped his mother off, his father revealed to Rick that he had a younger brother and sister, age, 4 and 2, respectively. That was a big shock to Rick and he thought it was the best news in the world. He always wanted a brother and sister and now BAM he got them. Rick was very naive at ten years old and never thought to himself that his father was married to another woman.
Later that night, Rick saw his brother and sister while they were asleep and then was introduced to this woman in a nursing uniform. The woman was introduced to him as Aunt Jackie. Rick still didn't realize that this strange woman was actually his father’s wife until later that night when they went into the same bedroom and closed the door behind them.
Not knowing his mother or father never bothered Rick. So it didn’t bother him that his parents were not together. To him, his only parents were his grandmother and uncle back in Jamaica whom he thought he was going to see again in three weeks. After three weeks Rick's father decided he wanted Rick to live with him permanently. Rick never realized that after a couple of months he wouldn't see his grandmother for a long time. It would take a while before his father would get his papers to become a permanent resident. Rick saw his grandmother again four years later and then a year after attended her funeral.