2nd Ave Deli

Previously on number one Dad Herry, Gary ruber Sacks here, I was able to track down your dad's cell phone number. Hello, Hey, how's it going, Gary?

No, it's Lebron James.

Yeah, Hey, Lebron James.

So do I owe you money?

Is that what you're called?

No? I was just just calling. I mean I have a family of my own, and I'm a father now too, so I know time has gone by. If you're in town next week, maybe we do something next week.

Yeah, I'll be in next week.

Okay, all right, Well I'll be in touch and okay.

Good good, all right, and you can tell me more.

About you and I'd love to see you, Sullivan. Who am I?

Well, guess what, I have to meet my dad, dad, and it's not going to be so easy.

Yeah.

Well my dad is not your typical dadda.

And yeah he's well he's.

A criminal, that's for one. So we got that on our hands. I haven't talked to the guy in twenty four years. What do you think about that?

That's it? I just kid.

So, yeah, tomorrow's the day I am going to meet my dad after all this time. What do you think about that?

I honestly never thought that I would ever witness this. If you were to ask me a couple of years ago, even six months ago, if I ever envisioned you meeting with your dad, the answer would have been absolutely not. So I think it's pretty crazy. I mean, how are you feeling is more of the question.

You know, this whole process is crazy because it was like, yesterday I spoke to my mom and I also spoke to my father, and that's the first time I've spoken to both of them in the same day in twenty some odd years. Yeah, so that's crazy to me.

Your mother would lose her mind.

Yeah, she knew, right. She doesn't know where we're at in this at all. So this is heavy stuff. So I feel like I'm keeping a lot of secrets and that's tough. And I just hope that this all obviously plays out well and my dad and I can have a truthful conversation. Hopefully he's a different person than a person that wants to be a better father, because I mean, I guess, no matter how old you are, you still need a dad.

Are you gonna be nice?

Yeah, because I mean.

Sometimes your overall demeanors kind of like a dick.

Yeah, I can't des about that.

Like even people who you like, you're kind of an asshole.

I mean, I'm gonna I'm trying to go in with as much positive of an attitude as possible, but also there are things I need to say to him that I haven't said before. There's so much that needs to be done in our relationship. And that's what you know. Obviously, this what it's what it's about, and uh, you know, we'll see what happens. This is number one, Dad.

The recorders in my bag, I have that as a mic. I have the zoom Age six, the standard podcast recorder with the mic sticking out of my bag. I have I have that. Which is it? It lends in so well, I'm gonna have to take a picture after this and send us here just to show you how concealed it is.

However, I love it. I love how brown you are.

Yeah, I know I am just the way like I taped everything. It's really it's taped pretty well. I just hope that it it stays. But I mean, Michael Gold plans that I get there before my dad.

As I drove into Manhattan to meet my father at the Second Avenue Delhi, I spoke to my friend and producer Adam Lowett. We spoke about the fact that I haven't exactly told my dad I'm doing a podcast. I'll save that for later.

You think your dad's going to show an hour early.

I hope not. I assume I'll be early. I don't think this is a meeting you're late tips, especially.

If you're here right.

I figure, you know, it's realistic that he could be a half an hour early.

I was thinking about something that he said on your phone call, and I thought it might be a helpful way in for you, which is he said, look, I still have the house. We have a lot of good memories of that house. A lot of bad stuff happened too, but I don't like to focus on the bad. I want to focus on the good. And I I think that you can say that that really stuck out to you.

I really agree, and that's that same I mean the same way, that same thing I felt. That is something that stuck out to me. It's like, and he's the you know, I'm still in his eyes, still this child he doesn't know me as an adult, and him saying that is an easy way for him to just not deal with it himself. But it's like you were the cause of the bad. Let's address that. Let's let's talk about that. You know, it doesn't have to be all

Yeah, you know, I mean I could get it too.

You know the whole dog thing too, where it's like it took my dog and you said that I wasn't getting it back until the divorce was final. I never saw my dog again after I was fifteen years old.

Is there any chance of him going That's not how that happened.

It's very possible, and I'll be like, all right, I mean like if you don't think any of that happened, then you know. I mean, there's not much more I can say, but that's how I remember it exactly. How's your strawma, Let's play this out.

What is the worst case scenario how this lunch goes.

I think worst case he goes in for a kiss and swiped me the tone.

And then rip open your backpack and then goes, yes.

He's the mic immediately and I split my throat after he made out. Yeah, it says he's like who you were? You were you with at and T then and then they come back to me. Just never thought it be you. He actually just texted me he said, just missed my one twenty four out of and then he didn't finish his sentence, texted me. I just wrote back, Okay, I'm gonna see he's got the doss go and waiting for his next text.

What would be hilarious if he was like, let's just do this another time? If he fucking bails on you?

He wrote the next strain is two twenty four, which has arise at three twenty four penn station. Well, that's still work I'll say yeah, he's like sorry about that, and he gets all right, that's the first time you let me down.

I'm sure you've had other lunches with twenty four years in the making that you've been laid for.

Yeah, exactly, But I just wanted to get this fucking thing over. With any of this stuff in general, you just have to be prepared that it's not going to go as we exactly have to play. It's always going to be some sort of thing that's gonna be not expected.

Let me know how it goes.

Oh well, later.

I got to the city and walked around with my father. Now, being late, I had time to kill Unfortunately, when you grow up with a con man for a father, you learn not to believe everything they say. So now I'm left thinking, did he really miss his train? Was he tailing me the whole way in? Has he been walking a block behind me for the past half hour? I wouldn't put anything past him. Well, waiting to meet up with my dad, I called my buddy, comedian Sam Morrell.

I know that you have experience. I know you made your biological father, and just for my.

Like, what was that? Like? Jeez, I mean I met my biological father when I was like nineteen, this is before you could you could profit off it doing a podcast. And you know, we met at a restaurant and it's weird, you go in. I mean I never met him ever. You grew up with your dad, so it's different. Yeah, I might have been better off that way though, I know, well you want that got to meet Mario Lemil and

But did you get at it with him when you met your dad and try and express to him like all the wrong that he did and that hurt you were that he wasn't a part of your life and like, you know, had you approach.

It, Oh man, No, not the first time. The first time, you just kind of like, oh wow, this is a crazy thing. It's kind of you're you're in shock a little bit because I'd only seen pictures of him. I didn't know him. So it's also hard the first to be like, hey, oh you're my biological dad. You're horrible

Well, I'm definitely not going to off, you know, even when you know when we go out, I never do.

So I'll just stick to what the practice.

So, yeah, I realize I have a very paternal role in the now.

Yeah, exactly.

I always pick it up the dam.

I'm like approaching, I got it head over right now to to meet him.

So, buddy, I appreciate it. Good luck man, you know, stay strong, don't don't give in too much, you know, and uh and take and you know, take take a breath or something. I don't know. I don't have any good advice for you. Just got to go and do it.

Buddy, screwed me.

I'm fucked. What about to give you dating advice? I'm like, before you meet him, masturbates. I got nothing good, just uh, just best of luck, man, I appreciate buddy.

After talking with Sam, I eventually made my way to the second Avenue Deli. I grabbed a back booth and quickly set up my recording devices and then I waited. At four pm and over ninety minutes late, my dad, many veter arrived. He was neatly dressed, wearing a black Calvin Klin jacket, a short sleeve collar shirt, and blue jeans, hair parted and cleanly shaven. He looked exactly how I remembered him, just older, a little late.

I'm sorry, just fast day.

That's fine.

My father and I shook hands. We sat down, and the waiter came over to take our order.

You know, uh yeah, I don't know.

I mean you have some shoes. Now, just do a sandwich, just a sandwich, Yeah, I'm good. Sandwich is planning. Can I do the brisket?

What about fries?

It comes with any sides or no? Oh yeah, just to pick on like cost.

Just bring out some flies days.

I'll have some metal share them with me, I hope, because I can't.

Eat him there.

Let me have a masi wall shoe. No, some nice big bills. I'll have a brisket sandwich. Uh, slice them lean the lean side, okay? On why you gotta see this?

Why? Okay? Good? And what are you drinking?

Water's fine?

Yeah?

See this rye for me as well? Thank you?

You go for physical every once in a while. Yeah, what are you gonna ask?

Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, that's fine, but yeah.

I was, you know, I gotta go and fi some more testing. And I think it's in two weeks. I had a stroke.

Oh yeah, breash stroke, backstroke.

I think it's stilled the t I a so much for me trying to make a silly joke about my father's stroke. But it's kind of hard to have empathy for someone you can't trust.

I had a bleed. Let's just go out of my head.

How's the right side?

Now that's right? S Yeah, both sides are good. Thank you. Yeah, I'm glad.

You reached out to me because I always wanted you to know what my health situation was.

For yourself, it don't look that bad.

I gained weight only because I eat like a big don't exercise, No, I never did.

Yeah, I think, well, when you were younger, I was going to the while the time I still have my life find membership there.

Oh yeah, yeah, so you I donate furniture of them in the furniture business.

You know, that's how I scammed it.

If I had any doubts that I'd somehow been making up all this stuff in my mind about my dad being a con artist, him bragging that he scammed the lifetime membership to the y m c A by donating furniture. But all those doubts to rest.

I'm happy to sitting here with you. I'm happy that you reached out to me. I really mean that.

I said that. Some good memories, a lot of them.

I have no regrets, have no regrets, well in any anything, Well, I mean see those even talked to you years. I have not talking a minute Janie or Danny.

Well, you know, I tried, things happened, and that's it.

Of all the things I expected my father to say at our lunch, no regrets was not one of them. As we sat there, I brought up the topic of my childhood dog, Kobe. It feels crazy being in my late thirties still caring about a pet I had, But Kobe truly got me through living in that house. I told my dad how much it hurt that he took him from me.

I didn't got to see him, you know, for all I didn't.

I didn't see him for until I saw him the first eight years of his life, and I never got to see him again after that.

How do you do? He was great sleuck with me every night, every night.

And.

Well, I would have liked to have him.

There was nobody things why I was nobody really to me.

I was told you had gotten a dog, and Cooper was the dog's name.

I didn't get a dog, but I asked you if this is what happened, and you said, when the horse is over, that's when I could get Kobe back. And that was something i'd always upset, right, And that's why I'm sorry. I mean, that was something that always stuck with me because I never got to see my dog again.

Yeah, I'm glad you're telling me about so I can tell you I'm sorry. I intentionally did not go back Hoby, seeing he would have probably have been better off with you than with me. All right, Bet it's a great dog. Yeah he was good.

You like this, Rommy, Yeah, I don't. What about cornbys ah? Yeah, but it's the same cut of meat. So is this all the same kind of meat? Yeah? That makes sense.

And that was it, the thing I couldn't get over in my childhood, the thing I thought about probably more than anything in the past twenty four years. I was finally able to say, and that was the response I got a quick apology, and then a lesson on the similarities between smoke meats. Not long after, I changed the subject to something my dad would enjoy talking about one of his scams. So I asked him about the time where he entered a local news contest for who had the worst first date story?

What was the club met thing?

There's something on TV about this.

I guess anyone who has the best date story, Okay, we'll win a trip to Club D.

I said, fuck it, I thought something right away.

Here's something about my father that I can't stand. He's undeniably charming. That's why he's a great con man. Minutes earlier, the guy told me he never meant to keep my dog from me, and now he's got me laughing with him about another scammy polled.

They said, look, we like you, come on TV and tell you a story. Yeah.

I didn't know there were going to be two other people I had to compete against the story. His story sucked, so I knew I'm gonna blow them away.

Well it was the story.

The story I told was.

I met this girl and she invited me back to her apartment and we sat down. She's very nice, very pretty, and we were talking, and then it was getting late and I decided that I don't think this girl was really for me. So I went to the bathroom and as I went to the bedroom, I passed the front door that we came in, and I noticed there were a couple of locks on it, but they were dead bolts without the thing that you turn so you could lock it with a key.

I'm outside and lock it way, will open it either way. So I said, this is freaky, you know.

So you're sitting and talking and she was getting really friendly with me.

I said, gee, this is great, but it's our first day.

And I looked at her and she had these eyes that looked like they were spinning in her head.

Yeah, and I was frightened. I was really frightened. So it's like one o'clock in the morning. She hears the door opening and she says, get up, get up, Get up, my husband. So you didn't tell me you were married, Well, I told you my husband. I thought it was it was your ex husband is a pilot.

She goes his flat, probably got canceled.

You got to get out of him now.

So I climbed out the bathroom window and that was it.

Yeah, is it a true story.

Bullshit, it's bullshit.

Yeah, I remember you telling me that I was a bullshit never happened.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

But that's my talent. You have comedy and I'm a bullshit.

And that's the disolation of my father. He looks at my hard work and compares it to his line. To him, those are to be equally revered.

You follow hockey, stomach after you.

I don't follow hockey anymore.

You go to any hockey games every once in a while, Yeah, when I can, you know, but.

I still I still like the garden. That's awesome. Have you ever gone back? They never gone back. Last time it was with you, it was a ranger game.

It's left him. It was ever there. Yeah. By the way, I show you an article. Yeah, and you know he showed it to me.

Donna.

Donna is my father's girlfriend. Apparently they've been dating a while.

Really, Oh yeah, she reads everything? And what did she think of it?

Did she know it? The story? She did?

He just knew that we were involved with hockey. And I said, she goes, Maybe he's trying to reach out to you. That's what she said to me. So I said, phone call away you know.

Yeah, so you saw the article.

I when I put out the article, they like, you know, they interviewed me at Sports Usual.

They wanted to make sure I wasn't bullshitting and I had to talk to two I want to say to you.

They doubted that somebody's gonna They doubted it.

Well, they doubted in the beginning until I was able, like I was. Fortunately, I had what I had. You know, I had pictures.

I figured they were going to come and rust me. Oh no, they shipped my way out of it.

Well I know exactly.

Did you ever look me up on Facebook? Holt my picture to it? H the President of the.

United States, current president, current president.

How does a guy like me get to him? Yeah?

You know, I had somebody from the Israeli ENDPA who knew me through someone. You said, I know this guy, you know when he saw the picture and they called me and.

Said, we want to talk to you confidentially.

Nothing goes best us. How were you able to get to Joe Biden? I said, well, I wasn't looking to get to Joe Biden. He was an afterthought. But he said, you got right to Joe Biden.

I mean I did that to Obama too, you know, like, what's his name, Shasha bron calling.

Yeah, same shit. Yeah.

So when I see him doing his shit, I think, fuck, I did that ship.

Yeah yeah, I did that stuff already. I could get just anywhere I want to. It's just it's a townel and I have and it's the way I come.

Of course, Yes, with people, no matter who they are, even the Secret Service, I have them standing with me taking pictures with me, which they normally it don't do because.

They don't want their faces to be shot. I want to show you something two seconds of your time.

Yeah, yeah, I got I got a guy friend to America.

That's your sister. What you both share the same blood.

The video of my dad is playing on his phone is of my sixteen year old half sister, who until this very moment I had no idea even existed. I was completely stunned.

It's very hilarious Parish.

Yeah, for his school.

You guys from the projects go in Powis among friends.

I expected meeting my father to have a surprise or two, but I definitely did not see this coming. I have another sister who's half my age and she's French.

Everybody said it it's just like brandy and genuine.

Yeah, maybe one day I could tell.

So I want you to meeting if he wants to. I'm not pushing you into anything, but I want to see you again. You want to see you again. I think that you know. Day by day I know you decide. I got to tell you something.

I was very anxious about coming to meet you because I didn't want you to be angry with me.

I understand I didn't know how you re end.

I've had a lot of time.

I mean, I got to ask you. Imatch that I'm not. You don't have to answer me. But what made you decide? Man?

Curiosity? I feel that you know?

I mean again, if you haven't talked in twenty four years, Yeah, I wanted to know what what you're up to.

It's a big gap.

What I really wanted to say was I'm here to show you I didn't end up like you. Then, after a forty five minute lunch twenty four years in the making, we finished up and headed to the register, where my father generously offered to pay.

Yeah, I still have a.

Yeah, you know why I keep it.

The cashier tells him his credit card expired five years ago. Who does this. My father said, it's in case he ever has to make a return to home depot, whatever that means. He finally paid with another card and we went our separate ways. But on my drive home, I couldn't stop thinking about my dad in that credit card. I could only assume it was another one of his scams to cop a free meal. And you know what, I shouldn't have expected anything less. The man is who

There we go.

Yeah, that's a great picture of me playing hockey.

You forgot about that picture? Yeah, I don't remember it.

Yeah, you don't want to remember it because it has to do with me.

Number One Dad is a production of Radio Point, Big Money Players Network and iHeart Podcasts, created and hosted by Gary Veeter. Executive producers are Gary Vetter, Adam Lowett, Alex Bach, Daniel Powell, Huston Snyder, Kenneth Slotnik, and Brian Stern, written by Gary Vetter and Adam Lowett, Produced by Bernie Kaminski. Co producer is Taylor Kowalski, Edited and mixed by Ian Sortino at Little Bear Audio. Recording engineer Is kat Iosa.