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“Jesus,” Kierra balked. “You weren’t exaggerating when you said he was a hard ass.”
“Yeah, but I don’t put all the blame on him. My grandfather was ten times worse than him, but I told myself that I had to break the cycle and be a better father than them. I don’t want tohave a ‘thank you for having a seat for me at the table’ talk with my kids decades later.”
“Trust me. You won’t. I won’t let you.”
“Thank you for not letting me fail. Get some rest. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Jon.”
I kissed her gently and left her bedroom. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I wasn’t shocked to see a FaceTime request from her. Briefly, I thought about ignoring her. She’d expended enough of my energy today, but my gut convinced me otherwise. I answered and closed my bedroom door behind me.
“I-I-I hate you,” she slurred into the camera, looking like she’d been on a week-long bender.
“The feeling is mutual,” I replied, sitting on my bed.
“W-we could make it work, Jon. Please…please…take me back.”
She’s definitely been on a bender.
“No, thank you, Eliza. You don’t care about me or our children. I’ve moved on, and we’re all happier without you.”
Her lips slid into a grin. “That’s not true…and you know it.”
“Expound.”
“Grant misses his mommy. I heard…I heard the message he left on my sister’s phone.”
“He does miss you, but that’s because he’s not old enough to know better.”
“You miss me too…you still love me, but you don’t want to admit it because of your—that woman!”
“You sound jealous.”
“I’m not jealous of her!” she screeched.
“Sure.”
“You love me, and I’ll prove it to you!”
“How do you plan on doing that?” I challenged.
“You can’t let me go, Jon,” she said, slamming a pill bottle onto the table. “You always come to my rescue. You’ll alwayspick me over everyone,” she ranted, pouring a handful of pills into her hand.
Is she going to…
My face remained neutral when she threw a handful of pain relievers into her hand and choked them down with wine.
“Y-you’re gonna save me.”
“You should call for emergency services.”
She shook her head furiously. “No…you will call because you don’t want me to die. You don’t want to hurt the children.”
This…this might be the opportunity I’ve been waiting for.
“You’re right, dear. I’m… I’ll call.”
“S-s-see…I…I…knew you’d come through.”
