“Do me a solid?” Raising my head, I stare at the headstone and clear my throat. “I will do everything in my power to keep Lauren and Eric safe, gonna make you real proud, brother.” I pause, swallowing down the lump in my throat. “But, if you could look out for them too, man, well, I’d appreciate it.”
Drawing in a deep breath, I fit the baseball cap back onto my head about to shove my hands into my pockets when my phone rings. I pull it out, not recognizing the number and accept the call.
“Talk to me,” I say, reaching out to run my fingers over the words carved into his stone, the same words tattooed to my hand.
“Son, I’m glad you called,” my old man’s voice booms in my ear, causing me to roll my eyes. Fake ass shit.
This morning I called the number on the business card he left behind and when the call went to his voicemail, I hung up. Then I walked into Eric’s room, watched him sleep peacefully and fucking dialed my old man again, leaving a message the second time.
“Yeah, listen, why don’t we skip the pleasantries and all that bullshit,” I clip. “I got a proposition for you, old man. You like propositions don’t you?”
He doesn’t answer me right away and I struggle not to hang up on him.
“I’m listening,” he says finally, his voice laced with control as if he was talking to another one of his associates and not his estranged son.
“Time for you to prove if you and that Botox loving mother of mine are sincere,” I start, grimacing at the thought of bringing Lauren and Eric near these people. I remind myself of the alternative and continue. “I need to get out of town for a while. I don’t know how long but I need a safe place to bring Lauren and Eric.”
“Are you in some kind of trouble?”
That’s how much he knew about me. Trouble didn’t find me; it wasn’t something I stumbled upon by mistake, it was my fucking name. He wouldn’t get it though and it wasn’t worth my spit explaining.
“Nothing I can’t handle. I just need to get away with my family for a little bit and figured if you had a genuine bone in your body, this would be the perfect time for you to prove it.”
Silence.
How did this guy make multimillion dollar deals when he didn’t fucking speak?
“Your mother and I left the city, we’re in Martha’s Vineyard on a holiday. I will send a car for you, Lisa, and the child.”
“Lauren. Her name is Lauren and your grandchild has a name too. In fact, I want you to grab one of your fancy pens and scribble their names on your palm. You know what? Forget it. I’m bringing a fucking Sharpie with me,” I snarl.
“Very well…I’m glad you called. I know you didn’t want to and whatever is pushing you to do so must be very troublesome to you or you wouldn’t have reached out. Still, let’s try to make the best of it. I’m excited to spend time with my grandson.”
I think about his words for a moment, wonder if they’re sincere as a part of me wishes they were. Not for my sake, but for Lauren’s. Family is everything to her and even though she doesn’t bust my balls to give my folks a second chance, she secretly wishes I do. She thinks I’m missing something, she hasn’t realized that the only thing I was missing in life was her and Eric.
“I’ll have the car pick you up this afternoon, say, three?”
“Fine, see you,” I say, disconnecting the call abruptly, having had enough of the conversation and the thoughts that came along with it.
I step closer to the stone marking Bones’ grave and rest my hand on top of it.
“Looks like I’m headed on another detour,” I mutter, recalling the day I left my parents’ swanky mansion. Bones was sitting in his old beaten and worn pickup truck when I stormed out of the house. His eyes found mine, and he jumped out of the truck, lowered the lift-gate and helped me shove my shit into the bed of the truck.
“You ready?”
I stared at him expectantly, unsure what I was ready for, feeling like a fish out of water.
“Come on, time for you to take a detour,” he said with a grin, patting me on the back.
That detour changed my life and took me to the Satan’s Knight’s clubhouse. The next detour I went on would lead me to my Kitten and Eric. Facing another detour, I couldn’t help but wonder what I’d find but, whatever it is I find, I pray it’s not grief.
“The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout,” I sing to Eric as he sits in my lap trying to mimic my hands. “Down came the rain and washed the spider out,” I continue watching him drop his hands and shake his head.
“Uh oh, mama!”
Smiling, I stare at my little man in awe, his laugh is intoxicating and I wonder how I ever lived without him. Watching him turn his head to look at me, I don’t understand how being a mom was never part of my plan. I always thought I needed a plan, a calculated course of action but the unexpected detour was so much more rewarding. It gave me purpose. Riggs talks about finding heart since he’s found me but he’s not the only one who found their heart.