Page 76

“I hurt her, but it was her decision to stay as long as she did. The option to leave was always on the table. She thought she could change my mind.”
“I feel sorry for her.”
Leaning over, I pecked her cheek. “Don’t.” Tossing the covers back, I sat on the side of the bed. “She thought she could change me and realized she was wrong. My limits were my limits and had been since the first time I entertained her.”
“Doesn’t mean she didn’t have a right to change her mind, Harvey.”
“She did. I never said she didn’t. And just like she had a right to change hers, I had a right tonotchange mine.”
“Back to your first heartbreak. What did your mother do to you?”
“Nothing. She did absolutely nothing. She didn’t want me, and it showed. She never gave me any type of affection. Never cared to spend time with me.”
“If anyone knows what that’s like, it’s me.”
“At least you got to be raised by someone who loved you. I lived in the house with my mother until I went off to college. She hated my Pops for making her have me and because he couldn’t be faithful. Her resentment towards him had her resenting me.”
“That wasn’t fair.”
“Oh, I know. But it’s what happened. He had an outside child. She forbade him from seeing him.”
“You have a brother?”
“I do,” I disclosed. “That’s my whole heart, I’d give up my life for his.”
“That’s admirable.”
Looking at her over my shoulder, I recalled. “It’s what you do for people you love. Isn’t that what you told me in regard to Gema?”
“Smart.” She wagged her finger at me. “Is your brother anything like you?”
“Complete opposite. He was raised by his mom until she passed then he came to live with us. And you wanna know what’s so fucked up?”
“What?”
“My motherloveshim. She hated his existence until he had no choice but to move in with us. He’s the child she always wanted.”
“Wait.” She paused. “How does that work?”
“When you figure it out, make sure you fill me in…” I jested.
“So, you don’t have a relationship with her, but your fathers outside child does?”
“Yep. I pay her bills and give her money every month. He’s the one that sees her often. They live right up the street from each other.”
“That’s gotta hurt,” Talitha presumed.
“Surprisingly, it never did. She came into his life at a time where he needed her the most.”
“I’m sorry Law.”
“Don’t be. Like you said… it’s life.”
Finally getting up from the bed, I snatched my towel off the floor and wrapped it around my waist.
CHAPTER 18
Talitha