Make Me Believe (12)
“Jack, your father called.” His mom opened the door. “Oh, Alex, hi!”
“Hello Ms. Barakat.”
“Mom,” Jack said, annoyed. “You should knock. I’m a teenage guy, I don’t need you seeing anything you shouldn’t see.”
“Alright, too much information, Jack Bassam. Here’s the phone, call your father.”
His mom closed the door behind her. Jack held the phone in his hand, then threw it behind him.
“Aren’t you going to call him?” Alex asked.
“What? No, of course not.”
“Why not? He’s your dad!” Alex couldn’t comprehend the other’s behavior; he would’ve called his dad immediately.
“Daddy dearest doesn’t exist, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Why?”
Jack looked down at the floor, playing with a loose thread on his blankets. “He’s an asshole. Plus he’s not my ‘dad’ anymore. He’s only my biological father.”
“Your parents divorced?”
“Yes. My dad had a whole other family that he kept behind our backs and visited on business trips. What a father, right?”
“Oh Jack, that’s horrible.”
“We found out three years ago, and of course my parents got a divorce. My mom was heartbroken and she still is. But that’s why she’s so protective of me; I’m all she has.”
“I’m sorry. Is this the first time your father called?” Alex leaned over and wiped a tear that was trailing down the dark-haired boy’s cheek with the pad of his thumb.
“Nah, we calls like once a year. I always pick up, say ‘Fuck you’ and hang up. This is the first time my mom has picked up instead of me.”
“Do your parents still talk?”
“I guess, they act civil for my sake. But my mom is really hurt. I mean, my dad knocked up his girlfriend and had children with her. When my parents got divorced, they immediately got married. He was with her for four years. Four fucking years behind our backs!”
“That’s horrible. Is this what you were trying to tell me a few weeks ago?”
“Yep.”
Alex wrapped his arms around Jack, kissing his forehead.
Then the phone suddenly rang and Jack jumped, startled, and reached over to get it. He stared at it, as it rang, his hands shaking. Then he pressed the call button and put it on speaker, not caring if Alex heard, seeing as he would want to know anyway.
“Jack?” There was a deep voice on the other end. “Hello?”
“Yes.” Jack replied, curtly.
“Oh, hi son.” The man seemed surprised that his son was on the other end and still hasn’t hung up.
“Hi.”
“So, uh, thanks for answering.”
“Cut the crap, father, and say whatever the hell you want to say and leave me and mom alone, maybe this time for good!”
“Jack! Don’t speak to me like that!”
“Why not? I don’t have to respect you. You are nobody to me!” Jack screamed.
“I am your father.”
“You are not my goddamn father! My so-called father would not fuck a woman behind his family’s backs. Are you happy with her? Do you have a big house with a white picket fence and two and a half children? Is your life prefect yet?” Jack was red in the face, yelling loudly.
“Jack, I made a mistake. We all make mistakes.”
“But our mistakes shouldn’t affect our whole family.”
“I didn’t mean to. You weren’t supposed to find out!”
“You didn’t mean to? Yes, you did! And you did it. I guess it wasn’t a mistake if you meant to do it. Plus you married her and had children and all that shit. You never cared about mom and me!”
“I said you weren’t supposed to find out!” Mr. Barakat was close to screaming at this point as well.
“So how long were you planning on keeping this from us? Were you even going to tell us?”
“I wasn’t going to tell you, okay? I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Why’d you even do it in the first place? And anyway, it hurt even more that you lied and cheated.”
“It’s hard to explain Jack. Sometimes we like more than one person. I loved your mom but I also fell for Kaitlyn. I’m sorry. Things don’t always work out as planned.”
“You’re such a fucking sleaze. I hate you. Don’t come to me with your dumbass excuses and expect me to forgive you for fucking our family up. You ruined my life! Now I want you to enjoy your new family and try not to mess that up too. But leave me and mom alone. No calls or emails or gifts or any of that unnecessary crap. Honestly, this is the last time I want to hear from you.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Sorry pops, I just did. Bye. And this is the last time.”
“Jack no! Stop this RIGHT NOW!”
“Fuck you daddy.” And with that Jack hung up the phone. Jack turned to face Alex, tears streaming down his face.
“Baby, are you okay?” He asked, concerned for the trembling boy beside him.
“Actually, yeah. That felt great. I mean, the closure. I finally told him all I wanted to and maybe now he’ll leave mom and me alone.”
“I’m glad you finally did it.” Alex whispered as he pulled Jack into a warm embrace, kissing his forehead lightly. They fell asleep like that; in each other’s arms, to the sound of each other’s heartbeats.