Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“Yup… no more jail.” Legend sighed, biting his tongue.
“Are you vacationing? Are you staying a while?”
“No. Just a short business trip.”
Daddy nodded. “I’m so glad you came! Please join us for dinner tonight. We have—”
“I can’t. The meeting I have this evening is important.”
Daddy looked rather disappointed, then nodded in understanding.
“I just wanted to stop by. See you. Look you in the eye, man to man. Meet your family.”
“They’re your family too, Legend.”
Legend stood and looked around, hands on waist. Toys here and there. Stacks of mail addressed to people who were mere strangers, but shared similar DNA. “Not really… I don’t know these people.” He put his sunglasses back on and prepared to leave.
“Legend.”
He turned to his father.
“I don’t believe you came all this way to only speak to me for five minutes.”
“You’re right. I wasn’t supposed to come by and speak to you at all.”
Daddy’s eyes widened, as if insulted and shocked at the same time.
“What is going on?” The man’s complexion reddened, and his eyes began to water, as if they’d been close and this was a recent tear in the fabric of their relationship.
Do you SEE ME, old man?!
Legend laughed loosely and shook his head. “This is weird to me. I wanted to see you in person because I hadn’t in a long, long time. Last time you made an appearance was when you came for Melanie’s high school graduation. You left the home when I was six, and most of my correspondence with you has been either letters, phone, or emails. You were a face on a screen. Old, worn photographs. I just hope that my brothers and sisters here, who I’m guessin’ you raised and stood by, had you there for every birthday and Thanksgiving in their lives, and got the protection they deserved from a father.”
“Please don’t be bitter, son. It’s difficult to—”
“I’m not bitter, Daddy, just honest. I don’t hate you, either. I wanted to look you in the eyes, and now I have.”
He walked to the front door.
“Legend! Please don’t leave this way! Your mother and I were not good together. Very volatile situation. I tried to be in your life, but it was challenging.”
“Chess is challenging, too. That doesn’t mean you don’t play.”
“After Tarik died, things got worse. I needed—”
“Daddy, I don’t care.” He smiled sadly at the man. “I honestly could not give a shit as to why you two didn’t work out. You had your reasons, but you still made the choice to leave two children behind. Me and Melanie ain’t have shit to do with that. And to think that a face on a phone screen or an email makes you a parent is ludicrous. You ain’t even send money consistently. The good parts of you went to the folks under this roof. Me and Mel got the leftovers, if there was even any left. I ain’t mad at you because honestly, I don’t even know you, man.”
“How can you say such a thing?! I call you! I sent cards!” Mama always said Legend had the same temper of his father.
He went from feeble old man to hellion in 3.2 seconds. The act is up.
“A voice on the other end of a phone every now and again, does not a daddy make. I ain’t mad at your wife, or your other kids, either. They never reached out to me to find out about their oldest brother and sister, and we never reached out to them. It seems y’all just wanted to pretend we didn’t exist. You did an excellent job at make-believe because now, I’m convinced. I’m not envious, either. They deserved to have a father. Just ’cause I didn’t have one doesn’t mean I should want them to experience the same hurt and pain as I felt. That’s sick and selfish. Simply stating facts.”
“Legend, it was multifaceted. So many issues. We went over this before, but now that you’re here, we can discuss it more. Please stay, and let’s talk. My health is not good.”
“My mental health ain’t all that great, either, Daddy.” He shrugged. “Mama and I have had many tough times… let me just put it like that, but even through it all, as messed up as she is, she never packed her shit and left. I can blame her for a lot, but that’s one thing I can’t put on her. Some may think, maybe it would’ve been better if she did.” He threw up his hands. “I don’t know, but I doubt it. She wasn’t the best mama to me and Melanie, in fact she was terrible, but she didn’t mind being our mama, and that has to count for something, regardless that I’ve now accepted that I won’t have a relationship with her either, in the future. I have no mother. I have no father. I am an orphan. You’ve never done anything for me, and I’ve never asked you for anything. So, I’m going to ask you this one favor, and never ask you for a damn thing again. Can you do it?”