Page 41 of The Prodigy 2: Rise of a Queen

I hung up and immediately called him back just in case he changed his mind. He picked up, and I heard the grunt before I saw his face.

He fiddled round a bit, giving me a perfect view of his ceiling. I waited, and finally, there was my daddy’s face, handsome, but lined by time.

“Hey.”

He smiled. “Hello there. You look beautiful, Sweet Pea.”

I beamed. “Thank you. And you look good. Did you lose weight?”

“I surely did not. I still eat my Popeye’s once a week. I did start taking swimming lessons, though. Right around the corner at the YMCA.”

“That’s good. What made you wanna learn how to swim?”

“I’m five minutes from the beach, remember?”

“Right. Well, I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you.” He scratched at his beard, which was even grayer now than the last time I’d seen him. “So, what’s this about?”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s about my mother.”

He visibly stiffened. “What about her?”

“Did you know what she was doing?”

I saw it on his face, but he answered, “Can you be more specific?”

“You knew about the drugs.”

“Of course. So did you.”

I nodded. “And the men…”

His eyes shifted downward. “Far as I could tell, there was only one.”

“Lester.”

He hesitated, then nodded.

“That’s why you hate them?”

“That’s part of it.”

I stared at his face on my screen. I wanted to come out and ask, but I wasn’t sure I should risk it. If he didn’t already know, I’d be dropping a bomb on him over the phone when he lived alone with nobody to comfort him. But part of me had always felt like he knew more and just didn’t wanna tell us.

“Daddy…”

He closed his eyes.

“You know, don’t you?”

He chewed his lower lip, something he always did when stressed. “I don’t know anything for certain.”

“What are you not telling me?”

“First, why are you asking me all these questions? Doyouknow something?”

“I know…” I fidgeted in my seat. “I know she was having an affair with Lester.”

---