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“Brodie,” Gabrielle placed her hand on Brodie’s arm. “Sit down. Give him a chance to explain.”
Brodie glanced at her, and I was thankful that he listened to her and sat down. This was hard enough without worrying about whether or not he was going to get violent.
“I’m twenty-one.”
“Now, see? That…that’s just proof that this is crazy. You’re twenty-one and I’m twenty-three, and you expect us to believe that our father got your mother pregnant while he was still living with our mother. When I was just one and a half years old? That he cheated on our mother all those years?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, but I wasn’t really and decided to show my true colors. I wasn’t a wimpy, snot-nosed little brother. I was a grown man and I had balls. I needed to stick up for myself, my mom. I wasn’t afraid of these two guys. “No, actually, I take that back. I’m not sorry. I’m here. I was born. I’ll admit not into the most perfect world and situation, but my mother…” I swallowed at the mention of my mom. “…she loved him. Yeah, he was an asshole and got her pregnant while he was still married to your mother. And he only came around to act like a father to me a couple of times in my life, so, yeah, big asshole. I never wanted to meet you. In fact, I spent my entire life hating you. Hating the life, the family that you had and I didn’t. Hate is actually too nice of a word. I despised you. And him.” I pointed to Jackson. “Look, this is stupid.” I stood up, grabbed Mel’s hand and pulled her up with me. “I can tell this was a mistake. We’ll go upstairs and collect our stuff and leave. Thanks for the beers and the room.” I was glad Mel hadn’t tried to resist my attempt to leave and insist we stick it out. It was clear to me that these guys weren’t open to anything I had to say.
“Wait,” Jackson said. “Don’t go yet. I apologize for my brother.”
“Don’t apologize for me, Jack, this guy’s nuts.”
“You don’t know that,” Jackson defended me. “Brodie, you’re being an ass. Before you start throwing out insults, let’s hear him out.”
“No. He’s nothing but a lying sack of shit.”
“Sit the fuck down, Brodie, and let’s listen to what he has to say,” Jackson yelled, and to my surprise, Brodie sank back down onto the stool next to Gabrielle. She placed her hand on top of his and that seemed to calm him, but not by much. He was a stick of dynamite ready to explode.
“Please, sit down, Ash. Is Ash short for something?” Jackson asked.
“Asher,” I said and sat.
“Okay, Asher, we’re listening. Please continue.”
I cleared my throat and ran my hand through my hair, carefully choosing my next words. “As I said, I never wanted to come here. The only reason I’m here is because my mom asked me to come. She left me a letter that I didn’t find until after she died. She convinced me that the two of you are as innocent in this as I am and that I shouldn’t punish you or myself for what our father did. She told me that you, most likely, didn’t even know that I existed, and I guess she was right about that. Anyway, I just thought you had a right to know.”
“And you said your mother just recently died?” Jackson asked, remembering our first conversation.
“Yeah, three weeks ago. I found the letter among some important papers she left for me.”
“I’m sorry. How did she die?” Brodie asked, surprising the hell out of me that he even spoke, let alone asked in such a calm and caring way. I gave him a quick glance, wanting to see his facial expression. It was somber.
“Cancer. She had a brain tumor. It took her within three months from the time the doctors found it.”
“Sorry, that must have been hard,” Jackson said.
I nodded. “I’ve known about you my entire life. My dad, our dad, used to brag about you.” I cleared my throat and continued. “When I was four, he told me I had two big brothers and said how much they’d love to meet me. At the time, I begged to go with him when he left that day so I could meet you. He promised that someday I would, but we all know that never happened. The man was full of empty promises. That was the last time I ever saw him actually. He sent monthly checks, a little to help out, but they stopped when I was seven. Later, we found out through sources that he’d been killed in a car accident.”
Brodie sighed and shook his head. Gabrielle wrapped her arm around him and tugged him a little. Jackson had his hand on Lena’s thigh and they looked at each other with sorrow on their faces.
“I didn’t come here for a pity party or to bring up bad shit,” I said. “I don’t want anything from you. I just wanted to meet you. Now that I have, we’ll go.” As I stood, I grabbed Mel’s hand and motioned for her to stand.
We headed toward the door, but Mel placed her hand to her mouth again. “I’m sorry, could I use your bathroom?”
Lena nodded and stood, wrapping her arm around Mel’s shoulder to lead the way. “Are you okay?” she asked and glanced back at Gabrielle, who was now on her feet following them.
Jackson, Brodie and I waited silently, listening to the sound of Mel vomiting. Again.
