Page 88 of Two Wrongs

“I left her at my house thinking I feel guilty about being with her. Liam said some horrible things to her, and then grabbed her. I intervened, but she fell and got hurt. And—“ I stop to take a breath.

“Let me guess,” Charlie interrupts, “your reaction clued him in on your affair with Wren.”

My head swings his direction. “It wasn’t an affair. They were separated.”

Charlie puts his hands up in surrender. “You’re splitting hairs, my friend. I doubt Liam cares about the distinction.”

“At this moment I don’t give a fuck what he thinks. You shouldn’t either,” I snap.

“Then what are you doing? You’re worried about Wren, but here you are on the wrong end of memory lane chasing after the one person you seem to want to be the farthest from.”

“You were right when you said I was doing this out of guilt, just wrong about what I feel guilty for.” I look at the trailer across the drive. “My parents weren’t always losers, you know. In high school my dad was a quarterback, popular, and my mom was the head cheerleader. They weren’t great students though. They partied a lot. Eventually everyone they knew, most of them at least, grew up and moved on from that scene. Not them though.”

I take a deep breath and exhale slowly. “When Liam was born I had to grow up fast. He needed me, and I wanted to give him a better life than I had.”

Memories dig their barbed hooks into my mind and refuse to let me go. “When my parents had me, they were also young, but unlike me they clung to their youth. Eventually the booze led to pills. I never knew any other side to them. I promised myself it would be different for my son. What I didn’t expect was that no matter what I did, he would end up just like them. So, yeah, I fucking feel guilty. I might not have given him the drugs, but I gave him the genetics.”

“Griff, you can’t blame yourself for this. You’re a good father. Sometimes kids disappoint you. But, you’re not going to find him in the past.”

I clear my throat. “Any suggestions?”

“I’ll swing by the girlfriend’s house. Can you think of any other places he’d go to think or be alone?” He asks.

“Just one,” I reply. It’s a long shot, but there might be one place he’d go to think. One place that started this entire mess in the first place.

* * *

Charlie and I split up,and I point my truck toward the riverfront. Under the streetlight, sits Liam’s borrowed truck. The tailgate is down, and he sits on the edge with his feet dangling and a bottle hanging from his hand. He lists to the right as he brings it up to his mouth, manages to straighten back up, and takes a long drink.

I pull up next to him, and he offers me the bottle as I stroll over. I wave it away.

He points to the spot closer to the water. “This is where it all fell apart.” Again, he tips the bottle back.

I keep my mouth shut and let him keep talking. “She was never supposed to find out. Audrey was only supposed to be a diversion.”

“You’re not supposed to need a diversion from your wife,” I speak softly.

He looks up, his eyes are unfocused and a bit red. “How would you know? You and my mom never made it this long. Are you really trying to tell me that you never got bored? You didn’t want something on the side to have some variety?”

I shook my head. “I never once cheated on your mother. It was over a year after she left before I touched another woman. I won’t lie to you and tell you I was in love with her, but I respected her as my wife. She didn’t file for divorce for a few months after she left, and then it was a few more months until we reached a settlement.”

Liam hiccups and wobbles where he’s sitting. “Excuse me for not being a saint like you. Oh wait, saints don’t fuck their daughters-in-law.”

My fists clench. “I know it’s hard for you to accept that Wren and I have formed a connection, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stand by and let you keep talking about her like that.”

He looks at me with anger bordering on hatred. “She’s my wife. If I want to call her a father-fucking whore, I’m going to do that.”

Once again the urge to bury my fist in his face rises. It’s just another way my son and I are different. The idea of actually hurting him is abhorrent to me. “You want to be pissed off? Then be pissed at me. I’m the one who owed you loyalty,” I assert.

His eyebrows shoot up. “She’s my wife. I think that should get me some fucking loyalty!”

I shake my head. “You think so? Let me see if I understand this.” I start ticking off his offenses on my fingers. “You tricked her into declining a full ride scholarship to stay here with you. Then you block her access to bank accounts so you can take out lines of credit she didn’t know about. I’m guessing you also didn’t want her to see how much money you were spending on booze, pills and other women. Still, she loved you so much she continued to give you every paycheck she earned to deposit, and even spent the rest of her parents’ insurance money to let you buy a fancy car while she continued to drive a piece of shit.”

His nostrils flare and a vein bulges at his temple. “A car she fucking sold the moment my back was turned.”

I shrug. “It was in her name. She needed it to pay off the credit you took out in her name. Which you will work to pay her back for because she never should have bought you that car. You’re really fucking lucky that she left it up to me whether or not to press charges for fraud.”

Liam stares at me without saying a word, so I keep going. “That sounds like a lot of fucking loyalty, but how did you reward her? You fucked her best friend and knocked her up. And before you turn on me about what I owed you, don’t forget that I’ve dedicated my life to you. I was the one who took care of you when you were sick, went to all your games, and helped you with your homework. I taught you a trade and gave you a job. More than that I was building a business with you for you to take over one day, and you stole from me.”

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