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I stood there speechless while Jeb stood behind me. Once the anger left me, shock overwhelmed me as I looked at my ex-mother-in-law and ex-husband with contempt.
Rodney gentled, stepping to me in a way I didn’t understand coming from him. He never had this type of disposition when we were married, not even in the beginning. This shift was like watching a rerun of the Twilight Zone or some weird dream I was ready to wake up from.
“Baby—” Rodney began and attempted to grab my ha
nd.
I instantly moved my hand away from the cold touch of his. He realized how put off I was with his advances and stepped back before continuing to speak.
“Tameka. Are you saying you’re no longer in love with me?” he asked, his voice cracking.
I stared into the eyes of my ex-husband, a man who I’d once longed to have look at me the way he was looking at me now. He showed a genuine concern for what used to be our love. The love that made Eva and Kevin possible. A love I once meditated over and prayed for, hoping it could grow into something that would last forever.
“Rodney,” I said, feeling a little more at ease to step closer to my horrible ex who didn’t really seem to be so horrible anymore. “We’ve been divorced for over five years now. We haven’t been together since then. Hell, to be real, we don’t even have a great co-parenting relationship. And this is Jeb,” I stepped back near Jeb’s side and wrapped my arms around him, “…we’ve been engaged for a year.”
Rodney’s eyes bulged as if it was his first time noticing Jeb’s arms around me. He put his head down in disbelief, shaking it as if we were the ones mistreating him.
“This can’t be true. This can’t be—” He looked at his mother who humped her shoulders. Then, Rodney looked back in my direction. “Where are the kids? Are they upstairs asleep? I need to see them!”
I shot Sylvia a heated glare. She could have called me to give me a heads up that Rodney was out of the rehab facility and in this confused state of mind. I would have told her not to bring him over here, or at least, I would have been prepared for the storm that was to come. But that would have been too much to ask for the mother-in-law from hell, who coddled her son and stood behind his childish ways until the ink dried on our divorce papers.
“I tried to tell him. He wouldn’t believe me,” she said, humping her shoulders again as if she was hopeless to Rodney’s new mind state. “There was nothing I could do,” she said, sounding sincere for once in her life.
Rodney began to run up the stairs, but I caught hold of his shirt to stop him from wasting his time.
“The kids are at my sister’s house for the night. Me and Jeb,” I took a moment to clear my throat. “…were enjoying a night alone while they visit with their little cousin.”
“Oh…” Rodney began to slow his pace down and ease into thoughts that we all became uneasy watching him think. “So, I guess I’ll just come back over in the morning to see my baby girl and lil man.”
“Well, remember,” I felt I should’ve pointed out, “Kevin is seven now…and Eva would say she ain’t no baby girl. She’s eleven.”
Rodney looked as if he was about to lose his mind. “What?! So I really missed five years of their lives? How could this be? I don’t believe it.” He rubbed his head over and over, as if that act alone would bring his memories back.
“Come on, Son,” Sylvia said in the usual coddling tone she used for Rodney. Then, she walked over and took him by the hand.
Rodney took a few steps towards the door with his mother then paused and turned back towards me.
“I know our love isn’t lost, Meka. It can’t be. I’ll be back for the kids…and for you,” the puzzled man muttered as he brushed my chin with his fingernails, I guess in an attempt of persistence.
It almost made my heart ache to see my ex try to reciprocate the love I once poured into him. “Rodney, don’t make this more complicated than it already is. The kids haven’t seen you in almost a year, since you’ve been recovering from the accident, so they will need time to adjust,” I replied.
“What accident? Why does everyone keep talking about an accident, and why can’t I remember it?”
“Rodney, let’s go. The doctors don’t want you to stress out like this,” Sylvia pleaded with him. “You’ve seen and heard enough for one night.”
Rodney looked back at me and Jeb who’s arm was wrapped securely around my waist. He let out a deep sigh, his shoulders slumped, and he shuffled toward the door looking defeated. He opened the door for his mother, and she walked out without saying goodbye.
The only reason Sylvia had come by was to satisfy her son…not to see her grandchildren, and she surely didn’t consider how this visit might have affected them if they had been home. After Sylvia walked out, Rodney turned and looked at me once again.
“Like I said, I’ll be back for my kids…and my wife,” he said glaring at Jeb before walking out the door.
Jeb looked just as stumped as I was about Rodney’s strange visit. Without saying a word, he pulled me into his arms and held me close. I never imagined Rodney’s return would be peaceful, but his lapse in memory could make things even worse. Jeb wrapped his arms around me, and I pushed the nightmare that had been Rodney out of my mind, at least for tonight.
“Let’s just try to enjoy the rest of our night,” Jeb said as he took my hand and walked toward the kitchen. When we got close to the stairwell, he bypassed the turn to the kitchen and started up the steps, pulling me along behind him to the bedroom.
Chapter 2
Jeb
