The Fight Within (72 page)

“L
ook, you dodged
a bullet in some regards, okay? Wipe that smile off your face. This isn’t funny and I hope you learned your lesson.”

Brian sat in Sean’s office, wearing a big grin, and his eyes filled with relief.

“I know, I know, but I’m so glad this shit is over.”

“Look.” Sean leaned lazily over in his chair. “You’ve been given another chance. Shanice’s doctor confirmed she wasn’t pregnant, and of course I’m relieved for both of you. Regardless, you’ve got to be more careful in the future, Brian. I know it’s hard sometimes, but you’ve got to wear protection because there are much worse things than a baby that can happen if you don’t.”

“I know, I know.” The boy looked down into his lap.

“Not to lecture you…not trying to. Obviously from what I told you I didn’t follow my own advice, either. I just don’t want you in this boat again. Unless you’re ready to be a father, which clearly you aren’t, just watch yourself. Now,” he cleared his throat and looked down at his stack of papers, “you’ve got your senior year coming up and you wanted to go on that trip to Italy with your class. I think we can swing it.”

“My dad already paid for it.”

Sean paused, tossed and turned the revelation over in his mind.

“And you have no reservations with that? I’m just making sure.”

“Yeah, it’s cool. He’s trying, ya know? So I don’t see this money as him trying to throw cash at a problem. He knew I wanted to go and he took care of it. Oh, and uh, thanks for not tellin’ Mama about Shanice and me. I appreciate you giving me time and not running back to her, sayin’ anything.”

“I told you I’d never do that, and I meant that. It was hard, I won’t deny it, but at least we needed it confirmed before she knew anything.”

“Yeah…”

“I don’t like keeping secrets from her, but this time, it was for the best. No sense in getting her all worked up and we didn’t even have all the information first.”

“Right…right. So…” Brian ran his fingers through his braids, a slight look of concern on his face. “I want to give you a heads up about something.”

“What?” Sean opened his computer and began the task of sorting through his afternoon emails.

“My dad doesn’t like you, Sean. I know you don’t care, and I’ve tried to tell him that you’re real good to me and Asia, but he says a lot of messed up stuff to us about you. He’s jealous, man.”

Sean shrugged. Although he listened to what Brian was saying, he didn’t give a fraction of a damn.

“As long as he just focuses on being a good and active father, and stays out of my and your mother’s way, then I couldn’t care less how he feels, what he says behind my back, or what he wants.”

“Yeah…I know, I know but uh…” He slid his hand in his slouchy jean pocket and looked Sean in the eye. “He told me he was comin’ over to the house today to wait for you and have a talk. He was real mad when you two got married, Sean. I had never seen him like that before. On top of it, I think he was kinda mad at me for walking Mama down the aisle, too. I guess he felt like I betrayed him, but I’m glad I did it. Anyway, I told him that wasn’t a good idea, you know, coming over to do that, but he seemed hell-bent on it.”

“That’s fine.” Sean began to type across his keyboard, composing an email to his boss with the latest project status reports. “Don’t you worry about this, okay? I’ll take care of it.”

Brian nodded, but still didn’t look convinced things would blow over, easy, breezy, and peasy.

If this son of a bitch thinks he’s going to pick another fight with me and walk away in one piece, he’s got another damn think coming. Now he’s trying to be ‘Father of the Year’. Yeah, come on over, Jackson… You might walk in like Tito, but at the end you’ll whimper like Michael…

“HeeeHeeeee!”

“Huh?” Brian’s brow shot upward.

Shit! Did I say that out loud?

“What?”

“You just made a strange noise, like the one Michael Jackson would make in most of his songs.” Brian looked at him inquisitively.

“Oh… uh, hey, you want something to drink? Are you hungry? We had catered lunches today.” He quickly rose from his seat.

“Yeah, I’m a little hungry. Practically starved myself as I waited for Shanice to call me from the doctor’s office. I didn’t have an appetite.”

Sean nodded in understanding. “Go out my door, make a quick left, walk down the hall all the way to the back. There’s a break room. Inside is a television and a table set with sandwich fixings, chips, and drinks, and I think some chocolate chip cookies. Make yourself at home. Oh and here…” He removed his door badge from his suit jacket and handed it to the boy as he got on his feet. “You’ll need this to enter and get back inside of here. After you eat, we’ll leave. It’s almost six but your mom has to work late so make sure you grab some of that for Asia, too.”

Brian nodded, made his way to the office door then disappeared to stuff his face and quench his thirst.

Sean resumed his typing once more, then paused, his deliberating thoughts dipped in annoyance and sinking in budding anger. His jaw twitched as he bit down on the side of his mouth, attempting to pacify himself to no avail.

I’ve really had about enough of you. Yeah, you come on over. It’s time we squash this once and for all…

*

Jackson unzipped his
dark gray wool coat and swallowed something green and sticky that refused to go down easy…jealousy. He’d made peace with the whole thing after speaking to Treasure, having a heart-to-heart, but then his insides turned hot and fiery once he learned of their nuptials. He’d resigned himself to the fact that he’d not be invited, and he was correct. Moreover, he knew his attendance would do nothing but throw salt in his damn wound. He’d won the Leary case, but celebration was fleeting. He and Brian were growing a bit closer, though the boy was still cautious around him. Regardless, progress was in fact being made.

He hated himself for his confusion and continued frustration. When he received the call that his last alimony check was being sent, he realized he was finally off the financial hook. However, instead of rejoicing, he felt a sting in his heart. In some ways, the flow of money kept him connected to her, an unbroken line could have gone on, without stopping. The fucker she’d entered holy matrimony with then turned around and paid off the damn mortgage loan, leaving him nothing but his children…and he felt so guilty when he played those words back in his mind.

…Nothing but my children?

And now here he stood, looking at the bastard who’d ruined his second chance. The man was built like a brick wall, his big presence filling the massive kitchen. DMX’s, ‘Here Comes the Boom’ pounded out from the speakers, and the stainless steel appliances picked up the hues of clothing and skin tone of the beast before him. Sean pushed the button on the blender, causing the powder in his protein shake to spurt and spin about until it was completely absorbed in the Blue Diamond almond milk he’d emptied inside of it a moment or two earlier. He stood there in a pair of black jogging pants, his big, long feet far apart as he made himself at home in the house that his ass shouldn’t have even been dwelling inside!

Treasure and I selected this home!

The guy seemed far too comfortable, moving about as if he owned the place…but now, he in fact did.

“I hear you got a new job.” Jackson crossed his arms and kept his distance.

“Yeah…” Sean replied over the buzz of the loud blender until it came to a complete stop. He removed the pitcher and poured the contents into a glass, then downed it in ten seconds flat. “So, what is it? What do you want?”

The man made his way over to the kitchen table and plopped down in a seat. He looked up at Jackson, his expression unmistakable. It reeked of annoyance, possibly even detestation.

“I didn’t come over here to argue.” Jackson sighed as he leisurely strolled over to the table and sat across from him.

“Good. Just in case, I asked Treasure to please leave with the children before you got over here. Once she heard you may come, she wanted to stay here and have it out with you but I insisted that if you did, they just step out and let us handle this. None of them need to see us goin’ at it like we did at your sister’s wedding. I was taking precautions.” The man drummed his fingers along the table, as if bored after making his declarations.

“I agree. Look, Sean, I want to have a conversation with you, man to man. You’ve married my wife. I mean…” he clasped his hands and lowered his head, “my
ex
-wife.” He looked back up at him. “It’s done now.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“I can’t help how I feel. But I can help how I behave. I don’t have to like you, but I’m going to be honest with you. I do respect you.”

“Oh, really?” Sean stared at him in disbelief, sarcasm etched on his face. “And why is that? What changed? You haven’t
been
respecting me.” The man sat back in his seat and folded his arms over his chest. “You haven’t been on your best behavior, treated me like an equal. You’ve called my house at late hours, pretending to want to speak to your children when you
really
wanted to talk to Treasure. You’ve been asking Brian and Asia things about our marriage… You want it to fail; you’re banking on it. Sorry to inform you but I’m in this for the long haul and you need to—”

“Sean, Sean….you can stop right there.” He raised his hand, speaking calmly. “I know you don’t trust me because of the things I’ve said in the past and I’ve made it no secret that I wanted to attempt to repair my family, put it back together, but that doesn’t mean I’m not being sincere right now.”

Sean kept silent, simply glared at him, his obvious suspicion written all over his face.

“Jackson, you’ve done nothing but try to intimidate, alienate, hurt, argue, fight and control people in a situation that was never under your power. So you’ll have to excuse me if I take your peace offering with a grain of salt.”

“Well.” Jackson shrugged. “I deserve that, I suppose. The bottom line is this: Regardless of what I think of you and how I feel, my children look up to you, Sean. You’re obviously doing something right. Asia’s grades have improved since you’ve been here. Brian actually listens to me a bit more now, and follows the rules of my home for the most part when he stays over.” He paused, loath to fully admit the shit. “I know it’s because you asked him to talk to me more. You guys had a long discussion about it. He told me.” He sighed.

The man still said nothing.

“He’s less combative and not acting out as much in school. He’s more focused and talks about you all the time. It used to really grate my nerves, make me sick.” He shook his head and looked away to the wall, taking note of a framed photo of his children when they were small, then trailed his gaze back to Sean. “But, if I had to be in this position, I can honestly say I’d much rather have a guy like you in their lives than almost anyone else. You’re a good influence on them, and I just can’t deny that.”

Sean remained quiet, staring him up and down. It would be hard for him to let go of his misgivings.

“Well…thank you, Jackson.”

“You’re welcome. Now,” he said, crossing his legs. “As far as Treasure and I are concerned, obviously I’ve had no choice but to move on. She told me in no uncertain terms what she thought about me as a person, and of a possible reconciliation
before
you two got married. I believed her, but it took some time for me fully accept it in my heart… You gotta understand, Sean. We were college sweethearts from around the same hood. I hadn’t met her until I got to Morehouse, but imagine my surprise at meeting a fellow New Yorker and she just happened to take my breath away.” He swallowed. “I basically grew up with this woman. We built a life together from the ground up. I can’t even sit here and tell you why and how everything unraveled, but I
can
tell you that I was the first one to pull the thread. Treasure can be,” he gritted his teeth and briefly looked up at the ceiling, “a bit harsh at times when her feelings are hurt.

“That type of thing sometimes exasperates a situation. I’m not blaming her for everything, matter of fact, most of our issues stemmed from me and my behavior alone. I’m just saying we were young adults when our communication started to break down, and we developed patterns…some were unhealthy. Regardless, she was loyal and trustworthy, and she was there for me. Unfortunately, she couldn’t say the same about me.” He looked down into his lap, marinating in his painful truth. “I wanted to believe this thing between the two of you was just sex…something to do.” He waved his hand about to emphasize his point. “Then another month passed, then another, and another, and before I knew it, you two were together all the time and you’d proposed to her.”

“The only person not taking us seriously, Jackson, was you. I guess people see what they want to see.”

“Yeah, that’s true. I gotta give it you. That’s definitely true.” He nodded. “What I need to focus on is my co-parenting with my ex-wife.”

“Now that’s something we can agree upon.”

“So, there will be no more calls to her unless it is directly about the children. I won’t call and ask how she’s doing anymore, none of that. I understand that isn’t exactly—”