AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nodded. “I know.”
She smiled at that. “You’ve changed,” she observed.
“How can you tell?”
“It’s in your eyes,” she responded. “You’re not the stubborn teenager that stormed out of here and vowed never to return.”
“Stubborn?” I repeated, with raised eyebrows.
“Come now,” Mom said, touching my hand every few seconds as though to make sure I was really there. “You and I both know it was your stubborn nature that led to that fight.”
I sighed. “Yes, I was stubborn,” I nodded. “But I was angry too. I felt like both of you had lied to me my entire life.”
“Where was the lie, son?” Mom asked.
“Really?”
“Really,” Mom nodded. “I’m your mother and Dad is your father… what more is there to say?”
“The relationship you had with Godwin—”
“Was a long time ago,” she replied before I could finish. “I was young… we all were. Yes, I was with Godwin when I met your father… And in many ways, he was my savior.”
“What do you mean?”
“Godwin was not good to the women he was with,” Mom replied. “He was charming ‘til he had me, and then he morphed back into his true nature. He was possessive and violent and prone to fits of anger that would last days for no reason. He was egotistical and greedy. He would obsess about little things, and he would place blame just so that he would have a reason to pick a fight.
“Living with him was torture, but I was too scared to leave him. Then I met your father and he got me out. He saved me from the life I had been living with Godwin and his club. He made sure Godwin could never hurt me ever again.”
“But you were pregnant,” I pointed out.
“Yes, I found out I was pregnant a few weeks after I moved in with your father.”
“And you’re not going to address that?” I asked.
Mom sighed. “What would you like me to say, Zack?” she asked. “Yes, there’s a possibility that Godwin might be your father? Fine, then I’ll say it. Yes, there is a possibility Godwin might be your father. But just for the record, you should know that having raised you, having spent a good portion of my life with your father, I believe that you are his son and no one else’s. But that is my instinct alone… so yes, it is possible.”
I cringed at her words as my body tried to fight against them somehow. Could it really be possible? Life wouldn’t be that cruel… would it?
“You’ve always looked just like your father.”
“Is that a fact?” I bit back. “Or are you just seeing what you want to see?” I bit my lip. “You never wanted to find out for sure?” I asked.
“It wasn’t me,” Mom said, shaking her head. “Your father is the one who didn’t want to find out.”
“Maybe he should have,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because he clearly wondered about it my whole life,” I said. “He clearly believed that I was Godwin’s son.”
“Why do you think that?” Mom asked.
“Why else would he have been so hard on me?”
Mom sighed and shook her head. “Sometimes it shocks me that neither one of you can see it,” she said. “The two of you are so alike in so many ways, Zack… is it any wonder you butt heads so often?”
“Come on, Mom… that’s a simplistic argument.”
