105 Freewill Baptists, Southern Baptists, Congregational Baptists, Missionary Baptists, Independent Baptists…well, you get the picture. (A walk to remember: Nicholas Spark;p.6) Though I was probably the richest kid in school, I was by no means the most popular. That honor belonged to Eric Hunter, my best friend. He could throw a baseball at almost ninety miles an hour, and he’d led the football team back-to-back state titles as the star quarterback. He was a stud. Even his name sounded cool. “Of course you can win,” my father said quickly. “We Carters always win.” That’s another one of the reasons I didn’t like spending time with my father. During those few times he was home, I think he wanted to mold me into a miniature version of himself. Since I’d grown up pretty much without him, I’d come to resent having him around. This was the first conversation we’d had in weeks. He rarely talked to me on the phone. Freewill Baptis, Southern Baptists, Congregational Baptists, Missionary Baptists, Independent Baptists... bisa kau bayangkan, kan? Meskipun aku mungkin anak terkaya di sekolah, aku sama sekali bukan yang paling popular. Kehormatan itu milik Eric Hunter, sahabatku. Ia dapat melempar bola baseball dengan kecepatan sekitar 14 km per jam, dan sebagai gelandang ia membawa tim football kami ke peringkat nasional. Ia memang hebat. Bahkan namanya kedengaran keren. “Tentu saja kau bisa menang,” tukas ayahku. “Keluarga Carter selalu menang.” Itu salah satu alasan lain mengapa aku begitu enggan melewatkan waktu bersama ayahku. Selama beberapa kesempatan yang teramat langka ia berada di rumah, aku merasa ia ingin membentukku menjadi versi miniature dari dirinya sendiri. Mengingat bahwa aku tumbuh dewasa lebih banyak tanpa kehadirannya, aku jadi kesal saat ia sedang ada di rumah. Ini merupakan perbincangan pertama
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