Forgive for Joy's Sake (Part 12)

I was crossing the hall to the room Joi was in when I thought I heard my dad say my, or Joi’s name. I walked towards the living room and listened to see if he was calling me or not. That’s when I heard an eye-opening conversation between Dad and Wes.

“Look, Wes, I want to thank you for honoring your word while you and Joy were growing up and not letting her crush on you lead to something physical. I know you thought it was solely me trying to protect my daughter but part of it was me looking out for you too. Joy had a crush on you since she was six and it seemed to get stronger as the years went by. I know being two years older had you seeing her as a kid for a long time. When those teen years hit, I knew I had to say something because I start seeing the shift in the way you were seeing her and I didn’t want the two of you getting involved too young and then destroying the friendship you had. Both of you needed to figure out what you wanted in life before getting into an entanglement.”

“Totally understand Mr. D.” I heard Wes reply before my father next words shocked me and probably Wes too.

“However, you are both grown now and I want you to know that you are no longer under that promise. Don’t get me wrong, if you break her heart, I will chop you off at the knees. But I don’t want what you promised all those years ago to keep you both from possibly enjoying a great life together like me and Viv. Have I made myself clear?” I didn’t hear Wes respond, but he must have because my father turned up the volume of the game they were watching and all conversation ceased. 

I peeked in on Joi who was sleeping soundly before I made my way back to the kitchen to see if my mother needed any help. In the back of my mind, I kept replaying the two times I had tried to give myself to Wes and he had rejected me. Was both times because he was keeping his promise, was one of them or none of them?  It was still possible that he wasn’t in to me at the time.

“You need any help?” I asked Mom as she wiped down the table.

“No, I’m just about done. The dishes are in the dishwasher. I’ve cleaned the skillet and baking sheet I used and have wiped down the counters and table. Just going to run the vacuum over the hardwood floors and I’m done. Why don’t you have a seat and once I’m done vacuuming you can tell me what Mel said about the mystery guy.” She walked over to the pantry and pulled out the floor vacuum.

I took a seat at the island and waited as she cleaned the floor.  When she finished, she put the vacuum back into the pantry and took a seat beside me at the island. “So, what did she say.”

“His name is Lamar Eldrich and things didn’t work out between them. He believes he is Joi’s father and wants her to have a paternity test. Mel is pretty sure he’s not but admits there is a slight chance that he is the father. I convinced her that it was best to have the paternity test and squash any doubts once and for all.” Something rare happened after I finished explaining who the mystery guy was. Mom was silent.

“Ma, are you okay?” I asked, watching as she looked to be mentally chewing on something.

“I am. I was just thinking about something Jackson’s mother said to me at the repass. It didn’t make sense then but it does now. She said that Mel was a lowlife and her daughter was a straight mutt and definitely not a mutt, thorough bread mix.” I thought she was just being nasty like you said she normally is, but I’m thinking she knows about this Lamar character.”  She looked as if she was about to say more, but my father called for her. 

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