“Maybe she feels like she has no choice,” she suggests with a half-shrug. “A lot of women feel that way, especially when the man is the breadwinner. Maybe she didn’t want you and Hayden to have a broken home. Did you ever ask her?”
“I did after the media released it. She told me it was a misunderstanding. Clearly, she was in denial.” I groan, remembering it so clearly. “I knew there was no fucking way. There were pictures.”
“Eww.” Lennon scrunches her nose. “Did your dad ever talk to you boys about it or anything?”
“Nah. He’d have to man up and admit what he did to talk to us. It was swept under the rug like it never happened. He came downstairs for breakfast, talked to us about football and school, then went about his day. Made me so goddamn pissed. That’s when the fights started.”
“With who?”
I shrug, thinking back to my middle and high school days. “Anyone and everyone. In middle school, they’d pick on me for being from a wealthy family, though I never felt that way, and called me a rich snob. They thought since my dad was in politics, it would be fun to mess with me. After a while, I had enough of it and started pushing back. When words weren’t enough to get them to back off, I used my fists. In high school, other team players who got in my face about my dad’s reputation got tackled to the ground even when they weren’t my targets. They all thought I’d do nothing and assumed I wouldn’t be able to because of my last name, but they were wrong because I didn’t care. I didn’t want any part of his campaigns or his life. So instead of dealing with it through words, I fought people to get my feelings out.”
“Wow…” she says, and I realize I probably rambled off way too much information. “I can actually understand that.”
“Oh yeah?” I laugh. “Well, you’d be the first one then.”
“It was your form of rebellion and releasing the pent-up anger you didn’t know how to express. I mean, I sorta did the same thing.”
“You?” I ask.
“Yeah! I dated a guy my freshman year in college. He was my first real boyfriend since my parents were too damn strict to allow me to date in high school. It was a toxic relationship, to say the least, but I didn’t know any better. He used me as an emotional punching bag, and for a long time, I let him. I thought that’s what love felt like. But then I saw my friends in these loving relationships, and their boyfriends were so sweet and caring. I started wondering what was wrong with me because mine wasn’t like that. It finally hit me that it wasn’t me, it was him, and I got so mad. One day, I found out he was messing around with three other chicks, and I felt so filthy. I’d let him be my first everything, and I stupidly trusted him. Everything he’d done to me in the past on top of his cheating made me want revenge. I didn’t want to just break up with him; I wanted him to feel the same kind of pain he’d caused me.”
“I’m kinda scared to ask what you did, Lennon.” I laugh.
“Well, we were at a huge party with all our friends one night. When it was nice and packed, I told him to come stand in the middle of the room with me. I stood on a chair, told everyone to be quiet, then said ‘Malcolm, you sorry, cheating piece of shit. I’m done with you, with how you treat me, and your three-inch dick. It’s not average. So you can fuck off because I’m done.’ Then I jumped off the chair, grabbed a cup of beer, and—”
“Please tell me you dumped it over his head?” I ask with amusement.
“Hell yeah, I did!” She chuckles. “He totally deserved it too. But anyway, I’d never done anything like that in my entire life. I’d never done anything to grant me extra attention or make a scene before that. However, it was the realization as to what he’d been doing to me, using me, for all those months that finally struck a nerve. I was ready to fight back.”
“Lennon,” I say with a proud smile. “Who knew there was a badass under those polyester clothes?”
She laughs so loud it nearly makes me jump. I love the sound so much. I want to bottle it up and store it away so I can hear it anytime I want.
“It was a one-time thing.”
“Well, I’m glad you stood up for yourself. Bet that guy didn’t get laid for a really long time.”
She snorts. “Pretty sure he left that party with his tiny dick between his legs. Only saw him a couple of times after that actually.”