Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 163089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 815(@200wpm)___ 652(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 815(@200wpm)___ 652(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Mom covers my ears with both her hands as if that will magically erase what I just heard.
Then she forces a smile on her trembling lips as she removes them, probably figuring out I can still hear—and see.
Mom crouches down so that she’s at my level and strokes my hair—it the exact shade of hers, so black, it’s almost blue—away from my face.
And she smiles, like every time she sees me, but her panda eyes make her look exhausted. When we go home, I’ll cut her the cucumber slices that Mrs. Rodriguez uses at night.
“Marcus, darling, do you mind waiting for Mommy near the car? I’ll be right there, okay? I just need to talk to your father for a bit.”
“Okay.”
“Love you, sweetie.”
“Love you, too, Mommy.” I glance at Dad, and he’s scrolling through his phone. “Bye, Daddy.”
“Mm.” He releases the noise, but he doesn’t look at me.
Mom glares at him, then gives me one last smile before she ushers me down the couple of stairs. That’s where we’ve been talking to Dad the whole time—in front of his house. He was waiting for us there as soon as we arrived, and he never invited us in.
I guess he doesn’t want his wife and his other children to see us. Mom said I have two brothers and a sister, but they have a different Mom, and it’s better if I don’t get to know them.
Dad said I’ll never meet them.
“You come from different worlds, and it’ll remain like that. For your sake,” he told me once while we sat in our living room.
He was helping me put together a puzzle as Mom prepared dinner. It was one of my favorite times we spent together.
Dad had a strange look in his eyes as he stared in Mom’s direction. “And your mother’s.”
Now, I round the corner and spot Mom’s car, tiny compared to the huge, shiny ones lined up on either side of it.
Instead of heading to the car, I hide by the bushes and peek at Mom and Dad.
I know I don’t have parents who live together like most people in my class. The other day, Chad called Mom a whore and a gold digger, and I pushed him to the ground and punched him so hard, he started bleeding.
And it felt good—hearing him crying and begging me to stop.
He shouldn’t have said that in the first place.
But then the school called Mom, and it was so annoying.
When I told her what Chad said, she told his parents to educate their kid, so he won’t get beaten up like that in the future.
Then Mom told me people will say whatever they want, and I shouldn’t let it get to me.
She’s wrong.
I won’t allow anyone to insult my mom.
Even if it’s Dad.
“Listen here, you son of a bitch.” Mom points a finger at his chest. “Whether or not I chose to have Marcus was my decision, not yours.”
Dad is still staring at his phone. “Then don’t come here yelling the house down because he spent a night on his own.”
“It’s his birthday!”
“I don’t give a fuck.” He lifts his gaze to her. “His birthdays mean nothing to me. You’re the one who had him. Take responsibility for him.”
“Wow.” She steps back. “Not only did you lie to me back then, pretending to be single when you had a whole wife and three kids—”
“You were being dramatic, ending a relationship just because of a wife.”
Mom takes another step back, visibly vibrating with anger. “Dramatic for not wanting to be a mistress?”
“You would’ve had a better life than now.” He stares her down. “You look terrible, by the way. Gone are the days when you were attractive. Even your biting tongue is no longer amusing.”
“Well, I’m glad, because the last thing I want is to amuse you, asshole. I’m here to ask you to be a decent father to your son.”
“A decent father provides money.”
“That’s a bank, not a father!”
“Call it whatever you want.”
“I don’t know why I bother talking to you.” A worn, brittle sound slips from her, her head bowing for a heartbeat before she lifts it again. “You know, I really didn’t want to cut you out of his life, since you donated the sperm and all, but if you’re going to keep hurting him by not showing up or by being so emotionally paralyzed, you’re no longer allowed near him.”
He smiles, but it looks evil, like in the cartoons. “You can’t keep me out of his life.”
“I can try. And keep your allowance. I don’t spend your blood-soaked money on my child anyway.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, June. You’d rather struggle than take the hand I’m offering?”
“You finally get it.”
Dad purses his lips, frowning like he always does around Mom. “You’re making a grave mistake.”
“The only mistake I made was meeting you, asshole. Actually, no. Marcus came out of it, and he’s the best thing that’s ever happened in my life, so I’ll consider the couple of years I spent with you fucking charity.”