“Sounds like a nice thing for him to do.” So far my father was the hero in this story.
“That’s what I thought, but when you were about a year old, I had an opportunity for a job in a different city and I left you with him. When I came back a couple of days later, he refused to let me in. Accused me of abandoning you. You have to understand, I was trying to do right by you. Get clean.”
Her eyes widened as if she’d revealed too much. I half expected her to slap her hands over her mouth.
“Were you a junkie?”
She pulled her shoulders back. “I had a drug problem, yes.”
“Do you still have a drug problem?”
The slight twitch of her lip didn’t escape my notice. “I’m clean now, but I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve struggled my whole life with addiction. I’m trying, but it’s not always easy.”
I had a feeling it was the most honest thing to come out of her mouth, and I was not without sympathy for the woman. She seemed truly beaten down by life, and I had no doubt it had been a difficult one. It also explained why Tucker was so militant with me when it came to alcohol and drugs. If I had a strong family history of abuse, it made sense he wouldn’t want me around the stuff. Which was no easy feat given the environment I grew up in.
She waved a dismissive hand. “Despite my problems, Eddie didn’t have the right to steal you.”
“What do you mean he stole me?”
Marni’s lip curled, her eyes distant, as if she were lost in another place and time. “He took you away from me, Bodhi. I came home one day to an empty apartment. Eddie disappeared and took you with him. He stole you. You were mine and he fucking stole you.”
Taken aback by her hostility, I glanced her over. She wasn’t the ‘clean’ mild mannered woman she pretended to be. At least I knew where I got my acting talent.
Her eyes widened in response to my quirked brow. Suddenly she was left to soak up the spill with a series of carefully selected words.
“Maybe I sound bitter,” she conceded. “But you have to see it from my point of view. Eddie made a choice that changed both of our lives. He shouldn’t get off scot free.”
“Did you go to the police?” I asked blandly. “Report me missing? I mean, am I on one of those missing kid sites?”
Marni shifted uncomfortably. Then lifting her chin, she sniffed. “The police had it out for me. They only saw me as a junkie. They didn’t care that I was your mother or that I loved you. No matter what Eddie’s told you, Alex, I’ve always loved you and I never hurt you. I promise you, that wasn’t me.”
What the shit? If someone stole my kid - hell if someone snatched Little Dick out of my hands - I’d make a fucking report.
Warning signs were going up all over our bumpy road to reconciliation. Had something happened to me when I was a baby—something bad enough that Tucker felt the need to hide me from my mother? Sure, Marni had been an addict, but plenty of questionable people raised offspring. Not always well. But they did it. Tucker could have left me in her care and went on his merry way. But he hadn’t. Instead he’d chosen to take the drastic measure of hiding me…in plain sight.
“Did someone hurt me?”
The color drained so drastically from Marni’s face, she looked like a wrinkly corpse. “No.”
“You said that it wasn’t you who hurt me.”
“I… I meant in general.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Bodhi, please. I’m here to get to know you. I want to reestablish a connection with you. I know I’m probably not the mother you hoped for, but I have never stopped loving you. Ever. Haven’t you ever made mistakes in your life that you regret?”
Honestly, no, I thought to myself. Tucker had never allowed me to become a man who could make those mistakes. He’d kept me sheltered. Under his wing. And as much as I resented him for it, had Tucker not stepped up all those years ago, my life would have been completely different. I wouldn’t be Bodhi Beckett, teen idol and member of one of the biggest boy bands in the world. And I wouldn’t have the money to live comfortably for the rest of my life.
She took a step forward, but I dropped my gaze.
“Just give me a chance, Bodhi,” she pleaded. “Please. If not for me, then for your half-brothers.”
My head shot up, a lump forming in my throat. I had brothers? Siblings were something I’d wanted my whole life, and now she was handing them to me on a silver platter.
Detecting the change in my demeanor, Marni rushed to take her phone from her pocket. She turned the screen in my direction and every dream I’d ever had of being a big brother came to life.
“Evan is sixteen and Jonah is thirteen.”
