Mess Me Up by Jaxson Kidman

Author:Jaxson Kidman [Kidman, Jaxson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-30T16:00:00+00:00

“Look at it, Jolie,” Mama Dae says.

“I saw it.”

“Look again.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I’m telling you to.”

I force myself to look at the phone again.

The picture is small and not completely clear. Which is maybe a good thing.

But it’s definitely my father.

I look across the table at Mac.

“You knew about this?” I ask. “You fucking brought me here for this?”

“Jolie…”

I stand up.

My heart races.

“Sit down,” Mama Dae says.

I look at her. “No.”

“Jolie, listen to her,” Mac says.

“This is fucking insane,” I say. “I don’t know what he’s done. I left, okay? I got out of that house when I was old enough to. So leave me the fuck alone.”

Mama Dae reaches for my hand. “That’s great to hear.”

“What?” I yell at her.

“That picture isn’t from now,” Mama Dae says.

I swallow hard. “What…”

“That’s from a few years ago, Jolie,” Mama Dae says. “Now, will you please sit the fuck back down?”

I plop down into the chair.

I’m confused.

I look at Mac.

I wish he were next to me.

But I don’t know what he actually knows.

“Is this a problem for you, Jolie?” Mama Dae asks.

“The picture? I don’t know. No. If he… I mean…”

“He went on a vacation a few years ago,” Mama Dae says. “That’s what he told you. A solo vacation.”

I nod. “Right.”

Mama Dae points to the phone.

I shut my eyes.

“Do you want to know more?” she asks.

“Am I allowed to know more?” I ask.

“Of course,” she says. “You can know anything you want. It just comes with responsibility.”

I stare at her. “I’m not my parents. I have nothing to do with them.”

She nods. “Your father decided to have some wild fun in a casino. He was riding high and wanted a big thrill. So he found it. That thrill had him lose everything he won. No big deal, right? Except your father is an idiot. He tried to gamble with money he didn’t have. Then he tried to leave.”

I can’t picture it.

At the same time, I can’t picture myself with Mac and this life.

Everyone has a secret… or ten.

Mama Dae points to the phone again. “He paid up.”

“Before or after that happened?” I ask.

“After,” she says. “He’s lucky he made it out of there alive. He stood up and said he was going to use the bathroom and never came back. Like nobody has ever tried that before, right?”

“Who…”

I look at Mac.

Mac shakes his head.

“That part doesn’t matter,” Mama Dae says. “It’s not a who thing. It’s a truth thing. He took his punishment. But he had to stay away to let things heal up. Just to make sure he remembered what happened.”

“What does this have to do with me? Or whatever is happening now?”

“He did the same thing,” Mama Dae says.

I lower my head. “Of course.”

“Of course?” Mama Dae asks.

“That’s his nature.”

“How so, Jolie?” she asks.

“He can’t just fail once,” I say. “He needs to do it a few times to get the point. Sometimes it works to his benefit. Sometimes it doesn’t.”

“This time is doesn’t,” Mama Dae says.

I swallow hard. “So what did he do now?”

“He owes,” Mac says.

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