uniforms and actually knowing who Rush was, I felt jealousy attacking me from all angles. And now I regretted brining up his name at all. But it was way past too late, now.
“Alika…!”
“ Yesss , you pest! It is him.”
“You have got to be kidding me! You’re with Hunter Cambridge? Rush Cambridge?”
Just as I was about to confirm that my gleeful friend was indeed correct, the other line beeped in my ear signaling another phone call. I pulled the phone away from my ear to look at the caller ID.
“Trace, hold on, I have another call.”
“Ugh!” she growled. “Hurry up!”
I laughed as I clicked into the incoming call. “Hello?”
“Hi Alika, it’s Jamie.”
“Hi Jamie. I’m sorry, but Rush isn’t here,” I said, in an attempt to rush her from the line.
“That’s fine. I wanted to talk to you , actually.”
I squinted my eyes in confusion, wondering why I would be the one that Jamie wanted to speak with. But I didn’t question it. “Okay, Jamie. Let me clear my other line,” I told her going back to Tracie.
After promising Tracie that I’d call her back, I was back in conversation with Jamie and waiting to hear what she wanted.
“Thanks for taking the time, Alika. I really appreciate it. Happy belated birthday.”
“Thank you, Jamie. It was a great one. What’s going on?”
She sat on her response for several long seconds. I leaned back into the sofa and pulled my feet atop the cushion and sat right along with her until she was ready to speak.
“So…” she started. “Has my brother said anything to you about what’s going on with the family?”
I nodded my head in the affirmative, but the words wouldn’t come out. I didn’t want to say too much about what I knew. My fear was that if I did insinuate myself, I’d say exactly what was on my mind. I’d already chosen sides.
“Your silence tells me that he has,” Jamie concluded. “I’m not trying to get you to take sides or anything like that—”
“That’s good, Jamie because my side will always be Rush’s.”
“Okay. And I’m very happy that he has that in you, Alika. At this point, I’m just hoping that you can convince him to speak to me. I miss my brother, and more than anything, I really want to be able to tell him how sorry I am. But he won’t answer any of my calls, my text messages, or emails.”
“Can you blame him, Jamie?”
I was tired of playing nice. There was no part of me that understood how anything Jamie or her father had done was logical.
“I can’t blame him,” she admitted.
“Right. I doubt that there’s too much I can do to convince him to handle things any differently than he is right now. So, depending on what you’re asking, I don’t know how much I can help.”
“I would just really appreciate if you could ask him to give me half an hour. I don’t need anything more than that.”
Pssh, if this girl ain’t on some bullshit! You think you can fix nine years in thirty minutes? Girl, bye!
“I can tell him, Jamie, but I can’t force him to do anything that he doesn’t want to do.”
“That’s all I can ask. How are the two of you doing since the revelation?”
I didn’t know how comfortable I was divulging details of our relationship with her, so I chose to keep any comments I might have, to myself.
“I mean…” she continued. “It has to be a lot. I’m not in your shoes, but it has to be slightly awkward for you finding out that Rush fathered a child that will now very possibly be a part of your life too. Of course I haven’t talked to him, so I don’t even know if he plans to look for the child, but going off of what I know about him, something tells me that he will.”
It might have been my imagination, but it seemed as though she was fishing. So, without confirming her suspicions, I just chose to address a portion of what she’d stated. “It doesn’t affect me one way or the other,” I fibbed.
The truth of the matter was that it bothered me a whole
“Alika…!”
“ Yesss , you pest! It is him.”
“You have got to be kidding me! You’re with Hunter Cambridge? Rush Cambridge?”
Just as I was about to confirm that my gleeful friend was indeed correct, the other line beeped in my ear signaling another phone call. I pulled the phone away from my ear to look at the caller ID.
“Trace, hold on, I have another call.”
“Ugh!” she growled. “Hurry up!”
I laughed as I clicked into the incoming call. “Hello?”
“Hi Alika, it’s Jamie.”
“Hi Jamie. I’m sorry, but Rush isn’t here,” I said, in an attempt to rush her from the line.
“That’s fine. I wanted to talk to you , actually.”
I squinted my eyes in confusion, wondering why I would be the one that Jamie wanted to speak with. But I didn’t question it. “Okay, Jamie. Let me clear my other line,” I told her going back to Tracie.
After promising Tracie that I’d call her back, I was back in conversation with Jamie and waiting to hear what she wanted.
“Thanks for taking the time, Alika. I really appreciate it. Happy belated birthday.”
“Thank you, Jamie. It was a great one. What’s going on?”
She sat on her response for several long seconds. I leaned back into the sofa and pulled my feet atop the cushion and sat right along with her until she was ready to speak.
“So…” she started. “Has my brother said anything to you about what’s going on with the family?”
I nodded my head in the affirmative, but the words wouldn’t come out. I didn’t want to say too much about what I knew. My fear was that if I did insinuate myself, I’d say exactly what was on my mind. I’d already chosen sides.
“Your silence tells me that he has,” Jamie concluded. “I’m not trying to get you to take sides or anything like that—”
“That’s good, Jamie because my side will always be Rush’s.”
“Okay. And I’m very happy that he has that in you, Alika. At this point, I’m just hoping that you can convince him to speak to me. I miss my brother, and more than anything, I really want to be able to tell him how sorry I am. But he won’t answer any of my calls, my text messages, or emails.”
“Can you blame him, Jamie?”
I was tired of playing nice. There was no part of me that understood how anything Jamie or her father had done was logical.
“I can’t blame him,” she admitted.
“Right. I doubt that there’s too much I can do to convince him to handle things any differently than he is right now. So, depending on what you’re asking, I don’t know how much I can help.”
“I would just really appreciate if you could ask him to give me half an hour. I don’t need anything more than that.”
Pssh, if this girl ain’t on some bullshit! You think you can fix nine years in thirty minutes? Girl, bye!
“I can tell him, Jamie, but I can’t force him to do anything that he doesn’t want to do.”
“That’s all I can ask. How are the two of you doing since the revelation?”
I didn’t know how comfortable I was divulging details of our relationship with her, so I chose to keep any comments I might have, to myself.
“I mean…” she continued. “It has to be a lot. I’m not in your shoes, but it has to be slightly awkward for you finding out that Rush fathered a child that will now very possibly be a part of your life too. Of course I haven’t talked to him, so I don’t even know if he plans to look for the child, but going off of what I know about him, something tells me that he will.”
It might have been my imagination, but it seemed as though she was fishing. So, without confirming her suspicions, I just chose to address a portion of what she’d stated. “It doesn’t affect me one way or the other,” I fibbed.
The truth of the matter was that it bothered me a whole
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