“Do you think I was supposed to sit around and wait for you to come back when you wanted?” He steps closer to her, and the hairs at the back of my neck stand up.
I move closer to Shanice.
“Maybe it’s time for you to go. Get a hotel for the night, Jake,” I interject.
His sky-blue eyes shoot blazes of fire in my direction. For the first time, I see the man that put bruises on my daughter’s wrist.
The devil beneath the fake polite, charismatic guy that had everyone fooled into believing he was the perfect family man.
“You need to mind your business,” he says through clenched teeth.
“Do not speak to my mother that way. This is her home, and you will respect her.” Shanice’s voice comes out sharp and unapologetic.
“Respect her? Since when has your mother ever respected me?” he asks, incredulously.
I shoot my head back in surprise. I have never disrespected Jake. To be honest, I might have seen too many things in common between him and my ex, but I never voiced them to anyone.
“Ever since you were pregnant with Randy, she’s been butting into our damn lives,” he seethes.
“You mean when she came over day after day to take care of me because I was having a rough pregnancy and on bed rest, but my husband was too busy going out with his friends and having ‘one last hurrah’ before the baby came?
“Do you m-m-mean that ‘butting in’?” Shanice says.
I’m proud of her for speaking up, even through the shakiness of her voice. I place a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it to let her know I’m here.
It might be the strongest I’ve heard her since she’s been here … no, in years, to be honest.
“Maybe you’re referring to after my first C-C-C-section when I was having a d-d-difficult time recovering and she had to come t-take care of me because you just c-c-couldn’t miss that week-long business trip that turned into two weeks when your work friends invited you to stay at the resort longer because ‘you’re a new dad and d-d-deserve a v-v-vacation.’”
I gasp at that before covering my mouth. I never knew about the additional vacation week.
Shanice, recognizing that I’m finding this out for the first time, turns to me and nods.
“It’s t-t-true. I lied to you about why he extended the trip because I was too embarrassed to admit that I’d married and had a child with a m-m-man who could be so damn selfish to do something like that.”
She turns back to Jake. “And what about the d-d-dating profiles I found of you on those sites. I sh-sh-should’ve left then, but I was st-st-stupid enough to think I could make it work.
“If I would just be the doting wife and the best mother, you would realize what you h-h-had.”
“That’s enough with the dramatics, Shanice,” he says. “You should be damn glad I was even willing to marry you. Every one of my friends told me you weren’t good enough. A girl who spends half of the night in the bathroom when we go out and the other half stuttering so much that no one can fucking understand you.”
Shanice sucks in a breath, her hand going to her mouth.
“You pig! How dare you talk to my baby like that?” I shout. “Get the hell off of my porch and away from my house or I will call the police.”
“Do it then, bitch! I’d love to see— Ahh!”
The next thing I know Jake’s arms are flailing as he’s dragged backwards off of my porch and onto his knees on the stones lining the trail to my driveway.
“Joel,” I call out. The man I’m in love with has one meaty hand wrapped tightly around the side of Jake’s neck, holding him down. By the way my son-in-law is wincing, I can tell Joel’s grip is unforgiving.
Joel isn’t alone either. Behind him stand three men—his sons, all of them towering over and glaring down at the man on his knees.
“What’s going on?” Shanice asks, moving like she’s about to step out onto the porch.
“No.” I hold her back with my arm outstretched.
I don’t know what is about to happen, but the memories of Joel telling me about his life before he became a father come rushing back. And his profile, the hard set of his jaw, and the way he refuses to take his eyes off of Jake, alerts me of the fact that this has the potential to end in bloodshed.
