I stared dead at him. “You handed meVoltageto make up for missing half my life. But I builtKnightswith my bare hands. That’s the one that means something to me. You didn’t build me, old man. You just gave me something to clean up.”
“Yo…” Jace muttered under his breath, eyes bouncing between us.
But I wasn’t done. I couldn’t stop.
“You show up when it’s convenient. You play dad when it gets you praise. Meanwhile, I had to learn how to be a man with no blueprint.”
“Wait a damn minute,” my father barked, slamming his fist on the table. “I worked hard for you and your brother!”
“No,” I said calmly. “That was our mother. I don’t remember you coming to any events or tossing a damn ball with us when you were free. But I do remember you doing charity events, telling other people’s kids to be the best and do right, but you couldn’t give us that same encouragement, and we’re yourdamnkids.”
My mouth was running on its own, and for some reason, I didn’t want to stop it.
Malia cleared her throat, her polished mask slipping just a little. “Kase, maybe this isn’t the?—”
“Don’t,” I said, holding up a hand without even thinking. “Don’t act like you didn’t break up a home and upgrade your title. You’re not innocent in this. You just lasted longer than the rest.”
Jace sat up straighter, looking like he was debating whether to sip his drink or drag me out the booth before things got worse. But all he did was sit there, because even if he felt I shouldn’t be so damn truthful, he knew it was the truth.
Pops narrowed his eyes. “Where the hell is all this coming from? Iknewyour mother was turning y’all against me.”
I frowned genuinely, confused. “I don’t know,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I just feel like… telling the truth tonight. And the one thing my motherdidn’tdo was turn us against you. Shit, nigga, you did that. ‘Cause you a shitty husband and father. While Jace got the caring parts of our mother, I got the selfish traits. Just like you. And I hate it.”
And that’s when it hit me, I always talk slick. But this? This was different.
This wasn’t just honesty. It was like somebody unscrewed my throat and let years of resentment fall out without warning. I looked down at my hands. They weren’t shaking, but something inside me was. Like my body knew what my mouth didn’t, I couldn’t fake it anymore. So, I got up, walked out, and didn’t say a damn word, because I didn’t want to be bothered with the lame excuses and bullshit.
I strolled toward my sports car, key fob in hand, as Jace trailed behind me. The second I unlocked the doors, he caught up. I sighed, already irritated, and turned to face him. We looked so much alike that people always swore we were twins, until they paid attention. That’s when they saw how different we really were. I moved like I owned the world. Jace? He still gave a damn about it.
“Yo,” he said, breath tight. “What happened back there, man?”
I shook my head, jaw clenched. “I can’t deal with that nigga Chase Madoxx right now.”
“He’s our father, Kase.”
“Yeah? And where was that title when we needed it?” I stepped in closer, voice low. “Now he wanna pull up and act like some damn patriarch? That ship sailed. I’m twenty-seven. You twenty-six. We grown. We had to figure out how to become men with our dadliving in the house.”
Jace looked down, then back up. “You right. But… part of me still wanted to hear what he had to say.”
I scoffed. “Why? So he can dump a bunch of sorry-ass excuses like that’s supposed to patch up years of being a shitty father? He missed birthdays, school plays, and both of our graduations. But you know who didn’t?”I pulled out my phoneand turned the screen toward him, letting the image speak for itself, my lock screen lit up with a photo of our mother.
“Ma showed up. She’s the real one.”
Jace rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m not saying I forgive him. I just… I guess I still wanted him toseeme. Say something. Anything.”
I stared at him, and for a second, he wasn’t my grown-ass brother. He was that little boy sitting on the porch wearing our father’s baseball jersey, waiting for a limo that never came. Chase Madoxx cared more about baseball and fans than his own blood. That used to break me as a kid. But as a man? I refused to keep begging for the attention of a ghost.
“Fuck him. And his time.”
Jace’s eyes softened. “You always been colder than me.”
“Or maybe you just never learned how to stop bleeding for people who don’t even notice the stains.”
That hit him, but he didn’t argue.
“Go back in there then,” I added, “If you wanna keep beggin’ for attention from a man who can’t remember our birthdays, but knows every baseball stat in the damn league.”
“There you go again,” he said, voice rising, “acting like you don’t have any feelings.”
