Page 16 of Their End Game

At the sink, I splashed water on my face, trying my best to hide the fact that I’d been crying, and once I was satisfied, I stepped from the bathroom, damn near bumping into Ja’vari on the way out. “My bad.” I dropped my head.

“Vanessa, you kn—”

“Ja’vari, it’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. We had a fun run, and it’s at the end. I may not want to accept what our fate is, but hey, it’s life.” I shrugged, trying my best to seem strong. “I have to make a run for an hour or so. When I get back, I will get my things and get another room.”

“Vanessa, you don’t have to do that. I can g—”

“No!” It came off much louder than I intended. I was just anxious and ready to do the test so I could prove the baby wasn’this, no matter what he thought. “Sorry.” I offered a fake smile. “I have a friend in the area that I am going to stay with the rest of the trip. You have your daughter to spend time with, so it’s only right you keep the room.” I was putting my two years of drama class from high school to work.

Ja’vari’s eyes did something strange. It was as if he knew I’d told a lie, and he was searching for the real truth. I was prepared for a more convincing tone in my comeback when Ja’Lani began to whine, which meant she was up from her nap.

Thank God, I thought. “I’m going to go.” I lingered longer than needed before I tiptoed Ja’vari’s way, pressing my lips against his. I felt resistance. but since I’d wrapped my hands around the back of his head, he really couldn’t move. “Take care of yourself.” I knew my goodbye was dramatic, though in my mind, it really was see you later, but I needed him to think otherwise. When I pulled back, Ja’vari and I glared into each other’s eyes until Ja’Lani whined again, and he turned without a word to me. His disappearance was temporary. I was going to make sure of that.

“Hello, may I help you?”the overly friendly receptionist greeted before my body was fully in the building.

Pushing the designer shades on top of my head, I leaned onto the counter so what I asked, only she and I could hear. “How fast can I get test results for a DNA?”

The receptionist’s brows bunched. “Typically twenty-four hours. In some cases, it can be back same day.”

“I need these results in a couple hours. I am flying out of the country for work, and my ex is denying our daughter, and in order to get child support, I need these results.” While sitting inmy rental car, I had come up with so many lies I’d tell for why I needed the results rushed, and what I’d said had been nothing that had crossed my mind.

“Umm, there is a possibility that we can rush it, but we’d need the proposed father to come in for testing along with your child, and we can swab them both. The proce—”

“What if he is unable to come in? I saw on your website a number of things I could utilize.”

Her brows were already dipped, but as she stared at me like a foreign object, they bunched farther into the middle of her forehead.

“You know what? Here.” I handed her Ja’vari’s toothbrush in a Ziplock bag along with another plastic bag.

“The toothbrush, we can use.” She offered a smile as she opened the other bag. “Whew.” She pulled the bag back from her with a disgusted look. “Is this shit in a diaper?” She seemed to lose all professionalism.

“Can you use it?” I didn’t care what she felt. I needed the results, and I was willing to do anything to get it done.

“It’s not the most ideal; however, it is a way for testing.” She spoke rudely.

“Do it.”

After getting over the initial disgust, she informed it would be a few hours, and they would have the results sent over to the hotel ASAP. I just had to be at the room and get the results before Ja’vari saw them, but once I saw the little girl wasn’t his, I’d tell him, and we would go happily about our life.

15

Ja’vari:

The light, repeated knocks on the door prompted me to head to it. I already knew it was Radiance since she’d texted and said she was on her way and had given step-by-step moves since. Opening the door, I found Radiance leaned against the wall, struggling to stand with her arm outstretched, continuing with the knocking motion. “Ja’vari.” She did her best to stand up, but the heels damn near made her topple over. “Shit.” Radiance cupped her hand over her mouth, giggling, just as I grabbed her to prevent her from falling.

“You good?”

When Radiance had said she’d be back a couple hours earlier, I had told her no rush and to enjoy herself. From the smell of alcohol on her breath and her actions, I could see she had done just that.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Come on.” I pulled her closer to me, pulling her inside the room.

Radiance swathed herself with her arms. “It is cold as hell in here.”

I wanted to tell her it wasn’t cold. Instead, her little piece of fabric of a dress made it seem so. “Let me get you a blanket.”

“No, I should get Ja’Lani and head back to my room.”

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