“I still say…” The wife opened her yap again.
“Didn’t he tell you to stop barking? This has nothing to do with you; stay in your damn lane. And while we’re at it, you need to write a two-page apology to Lora and her mother, both of you. Handwritten, in the mail, or else.” My kid is on some other level, shit. I didn’t say a word as he glared at the two of them before getting up from his seat.
“That went well.” I clapped his shoulder. “Let’s go get the girls some flowers or something.”
“What’re you gonna do about your ex-wife, dad? She’s acting the damn fool again.”
“Uh, Tyler, the only reason your mom is still in the picture is because of you.” He looked at me like my nose had moved to my forehead.
“What’re you talking about?”
“What I mean to say is that I didn’t cut ties with her completely because I wasn’t sure how you would feel.”
“I don’t feel shit if she’s going to cause nothing but trouble cut that…cut her loose, dad.”
“I can’t believe you did that. Is that why she’s been popping up here and there over the years to start shit? How could you think that I’d want that? She stopped being my mom when she left us, dad, plain and simple. You’re my parent; final.”
My grin was wide as my damn face. I was proud of the little shit, though I can’t call him that anymore since he’s about my height. “When the hell did you grow up, son?” He flexed his muscles at me with a grin.
“So, you think those two will listen, or do we need to do something?”
“Didn’t you see him almost shit himself when I mentioned his job? He’s gonna burn rubber outta here. I doubt we’ll hear anything out of him again.”
“But dad, I think you made out on that deal, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you see his wife? Damn, she got more fake in her than Janine.” He did that mock shiver shit the kids do, and I wondered if I should scold him for talking about his mother like that. “Are all men that fu… I mean, are all men that stupid? How could he leave Justine for that?”
The boy cusses worse than a sailor- my fault for taking him on construction sites from a young age. My crew, most of whom have been with me since day one, thinks it’s fun to teach him that shit. “His loss buddy, my gain.”
“There you go being selfish again. It’s our gain, dad.”
We’d reached the florist shop in the hotel lobby, and he moved ahead of me. “I wonder if they have yellow lilies, that’s what Lora likes.” I just quirked my brow and let that one slide. Those two have been growing close since they’ve been forced to live together. At least there hasn’t been any teenage drama, thank fuck.
He got his lilies, and I went for a green orchid plant that the florist said was rare in these parts, fuck I know. We drove home in silence; both lost in our own thoughts. I was thinking about my wife and how much her asshole ex had set her back with his little visit, and more what I was going to do about Janine and her interference in my life.
I was also thinking about all the shit I’d imagined saying to the asshole if we ever did run into each other, shit that I didn’t bother saying just now because quite frankly, I know a whipped man when I see one. If he wasn’t such an ass and hadn’t treated Justine and Lora like shit, I could almost feel sorry for him.
That woman he had shackled himself with is like my ex… “Fuck!” I made an illegal U-turn and headed back the way I came.
“Dad?”
“Wait a minute, son.” I pulled into a fast-food parking lot across the street from the hotel and kept my eyes on the hotel’s exit.
“What’re we doing back here?”
“I have a hunch. Wait for it.” We weren’t there five minutes before we both saw it. I’m not sure who was more upset, Tyler or I, but he was the first one out of the car. He slammed the door and hotfooted it to the sidewalk. I barely kept up.
“Tyler, what are you doing?”
“You said you kept her around because of me, right. Then this is on me.” I had no idea what the hell he was talking about, but I didn’t have time to process because the light changed, and he ran across the street. “Hey, Janine, wait up.” He called out.
My ex turned around with a look of surprise on her face that turned into guilt. Sam was nowhere in sight, but his hag was there to meet my ex trick. I knew it. I knew that even though he was scared of my warning, she wouldn’t be satisfied. Women like her are very fucking predictable, and from the second, it clicked in my head that she and Janine are one and the same I expected this.