lot that Jamie and her father had not only played with Rush’s life and sent him into a spiral, but they had potentially impacted mine as well. My curiosity began to itch, and I needed to scratch it.
“Jamie…out of curiosity, what method of operation were you and your father working from when you conspired to keep Rush from his child? Did you two not think that this could someday come back to haunt everyone?”
SEVEN
Alika
Jamie released a deep sigh into the phone. I didn’t know if she was expecting me to go easy on her, but if that was the case, then she was about to be extremely disappointed if the conversation proceeded forth.
“No, Alika. If I’m being honest, I will admit that I never thought it would come back to haunt anyone. I’m devastated by all of this. My brother wants nothing to do with me,” she cried. “That is something I don’t know how to deal with. He’s the closest person to me!”
I couldn’t provide Jamie with any consolation because to do that would be siding with her, and I wasn’t prepared to do that. There was no way. Especially because there wasn’t a single part of what they had done, that I agreed with.
“I’m sorry for yelling, Alika. This is just a highly emotional situation for me. You go from something being all good one day to total shambles the next. That’s my life right now. I just want to know if you could please ask Rush to talk to me. He won’t text me back, and I’m sure he’s added me to a reject list because all of my calls go straight to voicemail—from home, cell, and work. I don’t want to go to the clubs because that just wouldn’t be right, but I do want to hear from him…” her sentence was cut short by muffled cries. “I just need him to understand why I went along with everything.”
“I feel so bad that there’s a rift between you and your brother, Jamie. But I have to be honest. This was all avoidable. Maybe not when it first happened, but any of the nine years in between. You know Rush. He’s fierce about the people that he loves, and my guess is that knowing this little girl is his, has already given her a place in his heart. He’s going to take that personal for a very long time. You and your dad played God with his life.”
“Is that what he said, Alika?” she queried, through sniffles.
“No, he hasn’t said that. But I can assure you that right now fixing things with you two are not a priority for him.”
I wanted to tell her that at the top of Rush’s list was finding his child, but I wasn’t about to let her in at that level. It wasn’t for me to do. And who knows? They might just have the power and resources to keep them from being found. They wouldn’t be getting a heads up from me. Though if they knew Rush like I’m sure they did, confirmation didn’t need to come from me.
“I just want the opportunity to talk to him. I was just hoping that if you can’t convince him to at least call me back, if he could check the emails that I sent him. I’ll give him all the time that he needs, I just want to know that at the end of that time he might find his way to forgive me. I thought that what I was doing was best for him. It sounds stupid, but—”
“You’re right, Jamie. It does sound stupid.”
“Excuse me,” she spat, caught off guard.
“I was agreeing with you. It does sound stupid.”
“I’m sorry, but I wasn’t asking for you to cosign on any level.”
“No, you weren’t. You only asked me to try getting Rush to talk to you—something I’m afraid I can’t do.”
“And why is that, exactly?”
“I just don’t think it’s as easy as that, Jamie. You guys really hurt him. I’m sitting here listening to you go on and on about how you want to talk to him and how you need your relationship back. This isn’t about you.”
“I never said it was about me.”
“But you act like it is, though.”
“I absolutely do not.”
“You absolutely do.”
“So, then can I
“Jamie…out of curiosity, what method of operation were you and your father working from when you conspired to keep Rush from his child? Did you two not think that this could someday come back to haunt everyone?”
SEVEN
Alika
Jamie released a deep sigh into the phone. I didn’t know if she was expecting me to go easy on her, but if that was the case, then she was about to be extremely disappointed if the conversation proceeded forth.
“No, Alika. If I’m being honest, I will admit that I never thought it would come back to haunt anyone. I’m devastated by all of this. My brother wants nothing to do with me,” she cried. “That is something I don’t know how to deal with. He’s the closest person to me!”
I couldn’t provide Jamie with any consolation because to do that would be siding with her, and I wasn’t prepared to do that. There was no way. Especially because there wasn’t a single part of what they had done, that I agreed with.
“I’m sorry for yelling, Alika. This is just a highly emotional situation for me. You go from something being all good one day to total shambles the next. That’s my life right now. I just want to know if you could please ask Rush to talk to me. He won’t text me back, and I’m sure he’s added me to a reject list because all of my calls go straight to voicemail—from home, cell, and work. I don’t want to go to the clubs because that just wouldn’t be right, but I do want to hear from him…” her sentence was cut short by muffled cries. “I just need him to understand why I went along with everything.”
“I feel so bad that there’s a rift between you and your brother, Jamie. But I have to be honest. This was all avoidable. Maybe not when it first happened, but any of the nine years in between. You know Rush. He’s fierce about the people that he loves, and my guess is that knowing this little girl is his, has already given her a place in his heart. He’s going to take that personal for a very long time. You and your dad played God with his life.”
“Is that what he said, Alika?” she queried, through sniffles.
“No, he hasn’t said that. But I can assure you that right now fixing things with you two are not a priority for him.”
I wanted to tell her that at the top of Rush’s list was finding his child, but I wasn’t about to let her in at that level. It wasn’t for me to do. And who knows? They might just have the power and resources to keep them from being found. They wouldn’t be getting a heads up from me. Though if they knew Rush like I’m sure they did, confirmation didn’t need to come from me.
“I just want the opportunity to talk to him. I was just hoping that if you can’t convince him to at least call me back, if he could check the emails that I sent him. I’ll give him all the time that he needs, I just want to know that at the end of that time he might find his way to forgive me. I thought that what I was doing was best for him. It sounds stupid, but—”
“You’re right, Jamie. It does sound stupid.”
“Excuse me,” she spat, caught off guard.
“I was agreeing with you. It does sound stupid.”
“I’m sorry, but I wasn’t asking for you to cosign on any level.”
“No, you weren’t. You only asked me to try getting Rush to talk to you—something I’m afraid I can’t do.”
“And why is that, exactly?”
“I just don’t think it’s as easy as that, Jamie. You guys really hurt him. I’m sitting here listening to you go on and on about how you want to talk to him and how you need your relationship back. This isn’t about you.”
“I never said it was about me.”
“But you act like it is, though.”
“I absolutely do not.”
“You absolutely do.”
“So, then can I
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