What is Ishmael's fathers perspective on him?

Ishmael's father is only a minor character in the novel. He appears in Ishmael's memories. From the text, we can infer that Ishmael's father was amused by his twelve year old son. He laughed at their singing and their desire for foreign music. Unfortunately, his father's attention came and went with the women who acted as step-mothers. Their desire to eliminate the boys from their father's life destroyed the natural bond for long periods of time and alienated him from his sons. Payment for schooling was sporadic, depending upon the woman he lived with at the time. None-the less, we know he loved his children based upon his actions.

I had not seen him for a while, as another stepmother had destroyed our relationship again. But that morning my father smiled at me as he came up the steps. He examined my face, and his lips were about to utter something, when my stepmother came out. He looked away, then at my stepmother, who pretended not to see me.

One afternoon, Father came home while Junior, Mohamed, Talloi, and I were learning the verse of “I Know You Got Soul” by Eric B. & Rakim. He stood by the door of our clay brick and tin roof house laughing and then asked, “Can you even understand what you are saying?”

When our father had paid for our school, we had seen her on weekends over the holidays when we were back home. Now that he refused to pay, we visited her every two or three days.

Mother looked him directly in the eyes and said, “Your father is a good man and he loves you very much. He just seems to attract the wrong stepmothers for you boys.”

My father held a ceremony to bless our new home. He invited our new neighbors, and my father stood up during the ceremony and said, “I pray to the gods and ancestors that my family will always be together.” He looked at us, my mother held my little brother, and Junior and I stood next to each other with toffee in our mouths.