“I assume. I’ve never seen him.”
But Rosa clearly recognized the man. There was steel in her eyes as she said, “Don’t make a scene, Terrence.”
Reign, seated between Quincy and Jayden, seemed to shrink into themselves, staring wide-eyed at their father.
“I don’t care,” the man snarled. But he lowered his voice and continued, “I told Ricardo not to be here tonight. You and I had an agreement, Rosa. He can come to the Center. It’s certainly better than having him sulking around at home, but all this”—he waved in the general direction of his child—“can’t be put on display.”
Rosa’s gaze narrowed. “Reign is being recognized for their artwork and tremendous contribution to the Center. The only thing being put ‘on display’ is their excellent mural.”
“Don’t call him that,” Terrence hissed.
Reign cowered in their chair, almost like they were trying to disappear. Their behavior was the opposite of the kid I knew, the one full of piss and vinegar, as Deck’s dad would say.
Nervous chatter began at the donor table next to ours.
“Should we say something?” Deck asked.
“No,” Marisol replied. “Rosa can handle it. Intervening would just draw more attention.”
“That the kid you were telling me about?” Cruz asked Deck quietly.
“Yeah.”
“Fuck that shit.” Cruz shook his head, frowning. “That kid’s just tryna live his life. His pops needs to chill.” Cruz’s gaze lasered on Reign, and I knew he noticed the resemblance to Eliazar.
“Get up, Ricardo. We’re going home,” Terrance insisted.
Reign remained frozen in their chair. It was Jayden who said to Terrence, “Can’t you just go, man? Give Reign tonight. They’ll be home later if you need to yell at them or whatever.”
Wow. Go, Jayden.
“Who are you?” Terrence demanded.
Jayden schooled his features. “I’m just a kid. But even I know this event ain’t about you or your issues. Reign wants to stay, and more important things are happening here.”
Standing firm in his ill-fitting suit, Jayden eyed Terrence levelly. Gloria looked like she might explode with pride. Deck too.
Terrence glared at Reign but also seemed conscious that he was beginning to draw attention. “We’ll talk about this later,” he spat. “Don’t think we won’t.”
Rosa’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll make sure Reign is looked after.”
“Ricardo! It’s fucking Ricardo!” Terrence snapped under his breath before turning to leave.
Jayden looked at the handful of folks from nearby tables who’d been close enough to hear the exchange. “It’s definitely Reign, not Ricardo,” he told them.
I watched Jayden put his hand on Reign’s shoulder, grateful that the two had formed a solid friendship.
The board president had finished up his remarks and was about to make the ask. I was thankful his speech had been long enough to give me a few moments to breathe after Terrence’s departure, but I worried about its dullness. That it wasn’t impactful enough to inspire people to give.
After the official ask, the emcee called for donations at the highest level, one hundred thousand, followed by seventy-five thousand, fifty thousand, and twenty-five thousand. I took out my phone to calculate the total as we went. To my dismay, one of the donors who had verbally committed to seventy-five only raised her paddle for twenty-five. Another had gone down from fifty to twenty-five.Shit!Those things always happened, but we really couldn’t afford to lose any more. At least Jason, Brad, and Graham had each committed to twenty-five. By the time all the high dollar gifts were accounted for, the total sat at just over four hundred thousand. My phone buzzed.
ANA:We should have been at five after the large gifts. Damn!
ME:There are hundreds of people in this room who haven’t raised their paddle yet. We could still get there.
ANA:It’s hard to do with nickels and dimes.
Instead of texting back, I met her eyes across our tables and frowned. The tumbling in my stomach intensified.
