Page 20 of Beside the Rolling Waves
“You should have told me that you wanted to eat at a fancy restaurant sometime. You know it wouldn’t have been a problem.”
“I also knew that you were not talking to my sister, and I wasn’t sure if that was a family thing, or if that was just a Becky thing. And I was afraid to reach out and find out, until I absolutely had to.”
Guilt surged through him, and he didn’t even try to tamp it down. After all, he deserved that.
“I’m sorry. I owe Becky a huge apology. But I’m not sure she’s going to stand still and listen to it for me.”
“I’m not so sure either. She was…not very happy when I told her that I wanted the two of you to co-parent. She…got angry with me, which she hasn’t done for a really long time, and it was right after I told her that I had cancer. So, you know how angry she was.” Rita laughed like cancer was a funny thing.
“Why are you laughing? You have cancer.” He wanted to shake her. Didn’t she know this was serious?
“I know. But I have my two favorite people in the entire world taking care of my babies, and there’s a part of me,” she tilted her head and looked at the ceiling, as though she were thinking, “abig part of me, that thinks that the two of you are going to do a better job of raising my kids than I ever could. I find the Lord’s timing interesting.”
“Well, it might be even more interesting than you think, because I just found out before I came here that there might be another kid involved.”
“What do you mean?” Her brows furrowed. “I know I’m just having twins.”
“A long time ago, right after I quit talking to Becky, which, by the way, was because I had lost everything. As in, everything. And I owed money. I was in a hole I didn’t know how I was ever going to get out of, and I just couldn’t face her. But that’s not part of the story really.”
“Oh my goodness. I didn’t know. Maybe you can’t afford this.” She looked like she was ready to get up and run out of the restaurant.
“I assure you, Rita. I can. And far, far more. If you can believe that. If I had two more years, I would have been a billionaire if things had gone well. I had no reason to think that I wouldn’t be since things were going to go very, very well. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, I quit talking to Becky because I lost everything. I was embarrassed, and I didn’t want her to see me at such a low point. I couldn’t even afford the rent for my apartment. I lost my lease, got kicked out, and a woman took me in.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. So she’s the one with the kid.”
“Oh my goodness. You cheated on Becky!” Her eyes were wide, and she looked horrified, and again, she looked like she was ready to run out of the restaurant, only this time it was because of him.
If he thought her reaction was bad, it wasn’t anything compared to what Becky’s was going to be.
“I was easy to take advantage of, because I had zero experience with anyone except for Becky, and I’ve never even kissed her.”
“Oh my goodness,” Rita said, and her tone was completely different. Appalled in a different way.
He lifted his shoulder. He was used to that. It wasn’t exactly normal. “But I had no place to stay, so I was staying at this woman’s apartment. It was a one-bedroom. She…was not shy about the fact that I slept on the couch while different men came to spend the night…”
“She was a hooker!” Rita’s eyes got extremely large, and she really did start to stand up.
He reached across the table and put his hand over hers. “No. She wasn’t a hooker. I think that’s just what people do nowadays. They hook up, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be the same person, even on the same night, although Stella wasn’t like that.” He tilted his head. “At least not while I was there. But anyway, suffice it to say that I only stayed for a few months. I got my own apartment. It was a cheap, dumpy place, complete with rats and leaking pipes, and in the seediest part of town you can imagine. It was not safe for anyone to be living there, I guarantee it. But it got me out of a bad situation.”
He didn’t bother to tell Rita that he only slept with Stella three times. It was relative, and even once was too much. It was a breakdown of the character of the man he thought he was and the man he wanted to be. He was someone at that time that he didn’t even know.
But he couldn’t take it back. He could only try to build back better. Himself, and his business.
“I suppose it’s better to live in a place like that than to be having sex with someone that you’re not married to, and with someone who’s not Becky most of all.”
“Yeah. It was a low point in my life. The lowest I’ve ever been for sure. I…would have told Becky about it eventually, but apparently there’s a kid involved.”
Eleven
Why was Rodney telling Rita this? He hadn’t wanted to burden her. “So, yeah. There might be three children.” He paused. “Even if that kid is not mine, obviously it has a dad who doesn’t want it.”
“Obviously Stella is trying to get money out of you. And it sounds like you’re just going to let her.”
“What about the kid? He thinks his dad doesn’t want him. Whether he’s mine, or whether he’s someone else’s, can you imagine?”
“No. I can’t. I couldn’t imagine my children thinking I didn’t want them. And I can’t imagine not knowing for sure that the people that I give them to would sacrifice everything they had for their happiness. But I know you, and I know my sister, and I know both of you will move heaven and earth to do the right thing for my kids. That’s why I asked you. And her.”
