Forgive for Joy's Sake (Part 23)

We arrived at the storage facility ten minutes before Jackson’s mom arrived with her sisters.

“Well, if it isn’t the two women that ruined my son’s promising life. It’s a pity he couldn’t see he could have done so much better.”

“Always a pleasure to see you, Mrs. Watson,” I said, not bothering to acknowledge her two side-kicks.

“I’m sure it is. Well, let’s get to it. Follow me,” she said and led us to the unit she was renting. She opened it to reveal Mel’s stuff. “Now do you have the ring?”

Mel reached into her purse and pulled out a ring box. She opened it and showed the ring. “I have it, but I need to get my stuff out the storage unit before I hand it over.”

“No, you mutt, that isn’t how things are going to happen. You are going to give me the ring and then I’ll give you an hour to gather what you can. After that, whatever’s left is going to charity.”

“We can’t possibly clear everything out in an hour. And why should she trust that you will even give her an hour once you have the ring?” I asked.

“Because she just told you she would give you an hour,” Broom Hilda said. It dawned on me that I honestly couldn’t remember her sisters’ names.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing they brought a friend to help.” Lamar walked up and three mouths fell open.

Jackson’s mom recovered first. “What the hell are you doing here? Didn’t we already tell you that we told you everything. You need to look elsewhere for your mother.”

“Yeah, you told me that, but Joi’s paternity test tells me that you are lying. Now I want the truth and today I’m going to get it.”

“Paternity test?” Jackson’s mom looked over at Mel. “I knew you were a mutt. You slept with him while you were sleeping with my son?” She gave Mel a looked dripping in disdain.         

“I don’t care what you call me. All my secrets are out. Now it’s time for you three to come clean and let us know if Lamar is Joi’s uncle or cousin.”

“What? You think he could be one of ours?” Cruella De Vil looked offended. She looked at her sisters. “Can you believe the nerve?”

“I don’t like being ambushed,” Jackson’s mom said as she reached up to close the storage unit. “Keep the ring. I’ll have charity pick this crap up as soon as they can. Helen, Carla, let’s go.”

“No one is going anywhere until I get the answers I’m looking for.” Lamar pulled out a gun and this time five mouths fell open.

“Lamar, what are you doing?” I asked, stepping back.

“I’m sorry. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but I need to know, and someone here is going to tell me today.” He pointed the gun directly at Jackson’s mom. “Are you my mother?”

“I’ve already told you that I’m not your mother. I have only one son and he has been taken from me. Don’t you think if I had another son, I would welcome him with open arms.” She looked him dead in the eyes as she spoke.

Lamar turned the gun to Carla aka Cruella De Vil. “Are you my mother?”

She looked over at Jackson’s mom, then back at Lamar. “No, no I’m not. I’ve never been able to have children. If you were mines, you would have grown up with me.” Her eyes filled with tears, and though she was shivering in fear her words felt sincere.

“I’m not your mother either,” Helen spoke before Lamar turned the gun on her. “Never been pregnant and never tried. In fact, I refused to be a surrogate for Carla. Chances are if I had carried you, you wouldn’t have made it pass the first trimester.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of truth. Not the truth I’m looking for, but a lot of truth none the less. The fact still remains that one of you is lying. I don’t like liars.” He cocked the gun and pointed at Helen. “You are going to tell me the truth, you understand? Or you are going to regret not telling me, so I’m going to give you three seconds, because I’m running out of patience.” He stepped closer as if to make sure he wouldn’t miss.

Before he could get one count off, she broke. She pointed at Jackson’s mom. “It’s her.”

He turned to her. “I knew you lied to me. I came to you ten years ago and you lied to me. I came to you earlier this year and you lied to me again. Now tell me, did Jackson and I have the same father?”

Finally broken, tears streamed down her face. Her biggest lie coming back to haunt her. “No, he was not. You father died before I could tell him about you. His name was Harper Christian and if he hadn’t died, we would have been a family. You have his eyes and that alone would have been a constant reminder of him and what I lost. So yes, I put you up for adoption and you were supposed to go away. Not show up years later looking for me and certainly not come back again all these years later demanding information that was supposed to be locked away somewhere never to be seen or talked about. You were supposed to go out and build a life of your own, not come back and tear mines apart.”

“You are some piece of work. All you had to do was tell me this the first time I turned up on your doorstep and we could have avoided all of this. Maybe if you hadn’t lied then Jackson would still be here.”

The room went quiet. “What did you say?” Mel surprisingly found her voice.

“Nothing, it was nothing.” Lamar looked panicked.

“No, I heard you loud and clear. You said if I hadn’t lied then Jackson would still be here. What did you mean by that?” Jackson’s mother went from looking scared to looking scary.

“Fine. It doesn’t matter now. I followed Jackson to a gas station and tried to talk to him to see if he could help me get answers. Once I told him who I thought I was, he told me to back off. Mel was sleep in the car and he’s trying to shush me so that we wouldn’t wake her. I’m there telling him about trying to fill the biggest void in my life and instead of saying let’s figure this out bro, he shushes me over this piece of nothing and tells me to back off. I got a little angry and though it wasn’t my intentions to cause him to run off the road, I haven’t regretted doing it at all.”

A shriek came out of Jackson’s mom like none I’d ever heard before, and she surprised us all and lunged at Lamar, gun be damned. She was on him when the gun went off and she grabbed her arm. Wes came running up and quickly assessed the situation. He grabbed Lamar and knocked the gun out of his hand then restrained him quickly.

Jackson’s mom was holding her arm and looking pale. Her sisters ran to her, one pulled out a phone and called 911. I was rooted to the spot I was standing in, stunned, until I felt Mel brush passed me. She walked zombie like towards the gun, and I knew instinctively what she was going to do. I quickly grabbed her and pulled her away from it.

“Joi needs her mother,” I told her. She broke down and wailed and cried like a wounded animal while I held her.

The cops and ambulance arrived quickly, and things moved fast. Lamar was arrested and Jackson’s mom was rushed to the hospital. After the cops took our statements, Wes gathered a still crying Mel into his arms and consoled her. He looked over at me and asked, “Are you okay?”

I nodded though I was shaking and feeling a little unsteady. “I’m going to get her home. Are you okay to drive?” I nodded again feeling suddenly alone. He would be looking after Mel this evening and I would be taking care of myself.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Go on and get her home,” I said with a resolve that I really wasn’t feeling. I walked along behind them until I reached my car. They continued on to Wes’ rental. Climbing into my car, I took a few seconds to steady my shaking hands before starting the car and heading home. I called my dad and told him what had happened and assured him I was okay. He stayed on the phone with me until I made it safely in the house. On impulse, I decided to block Wes’ number. I needed to tap out of the relationship for self-preservation.

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