“Yeah, kinda hereditary.” He shrugs his massive shoulders. “The Jackson men were well known for knocking up women and spending time in the correctional facilities in and around Tennessee—me included.”
“The knocking up women or the jail time?”
“Both, I guess.”
“You guess?” I cock my head. “Either you have children, or you don’t.”
“There was a woman back in the States who claimed I was her baby daddy, and since we’d gotten together a couple of times, I figured it could be true.”
“So, what happened?”
“I let her move in with me while she was pregnant, paid all her bills, even went with her when she went into labor.”
“Sounds like you did everything right.”
“Yup, right up until she delivered a very dark-skinned baby.” He cocks his head. “She was a fair-skinned redhead, and I ain’t African-American, so . . .”
“Wow, that sucks.”
“Yeah, she really had me believing it was my kid.”
“I’m thinking you’re a little too trusting.”
“Yeah, that’s what Blood says. He also says . . .” he pauses and looks at the ceiling.
“He also says what?”
Diesel rolls his eyes. “Blood says, all I see is a pair of big tits and a place to shove my dick.”
“I see.” I try my best to stifle my laughter. “He might be right. About the trusting thing.”
“Maybe. I was always bringing home stray animals, and my mama would laugh and say we barely had enough for us to eat, yet somehow she’d feed the strays too.”
“She sounds like a great woman.”
“She did her best, but trying to raise four rowdy-ass boys by herself wasn’t easy. Got to the point where she just gave up.”
“I get it.” My mother felt the same way with Eduardo. As much as she loved him, once he got older she couldn’t control him or what he did.
“She died last year.” He focused on putting the dirty dishes in the sink.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Breast cancer. By the time she was diagnosed, it spread to her lungs.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Funny thing, she never smoked. Never went to the doctor’s for checkups either, and by the time they found out, it was too late. She only lasted two months.”
“Were you able to get home to see her?”
“My brother Darrel and I were with her. My other two brothers were doing a joint stint after getting busted for running underground gambling and racketeering with some local mobsters.”
“Geez, I thought that only happened on TV.”
“Of course, my father’s still alive and raising hell. Last I heard, he was down in Mississippi, shacked up with some woman who ran a whorehouse.”
“Sounds like the makings of a Lifetime movie.” I weigh my words, then ask, “How did you end up in Tijuana?”
