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I hate her, he thought as he parked his car in an empty spot just a few feet from her.I really hate her.
As he opened his door, she came closer. Her face was expressionless as she watched him exit the car, and anyone who didn’t know her would’ve assumed that she was calm and unfazed by the situation. But he knew better. The calmer she appeared, the more turmoil there was within her.
“Hi,” she greeted.
Tazeem didn’t bother returning the greeting. “Let’s go inside. I want to see my son.”
“Wait.” She reached for his arm to stop him.
As soon as she touched him, he looked at their connected hands in disgust. “Don’t touch me.”
“I’m sorry.” She immediately dropped her hand even as tears welled in her eyes. “I just want to talk for a minute.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” he bit out between gritted teeth. “I’m just here to see my son.”
“That’s just it though.” Her tone was pleading as she added, “You can’t see him. At least not right now.”
“You don’t have any right to stop-”
“Tazeem, Jay doesn’t even know who you are. He doesn’t even know that his father is alive.” Desperation echoed in her every word and expression. “I can’t just spring this on him in the middle of the night. I have to at least talk to him – warn him – before you guys meet.”
Tazeem’s jaw dropped as shock rocketed through him. “What do you mean he doesn’t even know that his father is alive? Did you tell him I was dead?”
Chess said nothing, but the guilt in her eyes was answer enough.
“You’re a piece of work, Chess.” He exploded. “Seriously, you’re fucking sick in the head.”
It was bad enough that she’d lied to Tazeem about their son being dead. But for her to tell their son that Tazeem was dead too was just so unhinged that Tazeem found it hard to wrap his brain around. What kind of person did that?
“What was I supposed to tell him?” Chess fired back. “That his father was a deadbeat who would rather party than be with his family?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” He stared at her in wide-eyed shock. “I go to one party and I’m a deadbeat?”
“It wasn’t just one party though, was it?” Though she was noticeably angry, there were tears in her eyes as she said, “You were always so busy when I needed you. Senia was taking more care of me, and she was just a high school kid.”
“That’s because I was out there hustling, trying to get the money together-” He paused and took a breath to calm his anger. “I don’t have to explain a damn thing to you. I’m not the one who faked a child’s death and kept him from his father for eight years.”
“I did it for a reason.”
“And you think that justifies it?” His voice rose with every word until he was practically shouting. “He’s my son, Chess. Jay is my son. How could you keep him from me?”
She started, “It seemed like the best-”
A small voice interrupted her words. “That’s my dad?”
Tazeem turned his head so fast, he almost snapped his neck. All the blood drained from his face when he saw Jay standing just a few feet to the side of them. In an instant, all of Tazeem’s anger shriveled and was replaced by distress. Yeah, he wanted his son to know about him, but not this way.
Chess was just as shocked. Her breath emerged from her lips in a sharp gasp as she looked at their son.
“That’s my dad?” Jay repeated as if they hadn’t heard him the first time. His gaze was wide as it switched from one parent to the other.
“N- no- Jay.” Chess rushed to his side. Her actions were panicked as she tried to turn Jay around. “What – what are you doing out here? It’s cold. You shouldn’t – Let’s go back to the h-”
“That’s my dad?” Jay forcefully turned around so he was facing Tazeem again. His shocked gaze met his mother’s. “You said he died. You said-”
“Let’s talk about it inside.” Chess tried to hustle him into turning around.
“No.” Jay shook her off. Hurt and distress filled his expression. “You lied.”
