“You know, if you’d like,” began Locust in a sultry, low voice, “I could help you two work out some of those frustrations in aprivatesession.”
Antonio didn’t bother to give Locust a response before he headed toward the beach, after Jackie.
JACKIE PACED THE SANDY SHORE NEAR THE WATER’S EDGE, HERsneakers in one hand, phone in the other. She didn’t seem to care that the bottom of her leggings were getting wet. Before he could reach her, Jackie held up her hand as if to signalstop. Her back was turned to him. Antonio froze, then looked around.How the hell does she know I’m here?
“Don’t come near me,” the computer-generated voice blared.
Antonio ran a hand down his face. “Jackie, let’s talk about this.”
Jackie threw her sneakers down. She stomped down the beach, pausing every few steps to type. When she turned back toward Antonio, the app said, “God! How dumb am I? I should have figured it out. Your sudden interest in PJ. Always showing up where he was. Thank God I didn’t fall for your act, saying you wanted to help me, wanted to be a team, wanted to be a soft place for me to land. Nope, you reallyaretrying to steal PJ from me. You want to represent your son. Is that why you’re telling me now?”
“Jackie, I don’t want to represent PJ. It’s not about that!”
“Then what is it about?” The app yelled the question, the last word swallowed by the sound of waves crashing on the secluded beach.
Antonio sighed, turning to stare at the water, gathering his thoughts. “It’s about me being a dad. Finally.”
“What do you meanfinally?”
Antonio rubbed his hands nervously. He’d never talked about this with anyone outside of family, but he knew Jackie deserved the truth. “When I found out that PJ was my son, Marilyn put up every obstacle between us. Visits cut short or cancelled. Phone calls limited to a couple of minutes. To her, I was just a child support check, and at first I was fine with that. I was running from responsibility of being a father. Then, PJ started gaining national recognition. He had every college scout in the country looking at him. For the first time, I had something to offer him—I wanted to step up and be there to guide his career. You know, since I’ve been there with football. But I never tried to represent him. Marilyn basically told me to either be a father or an agent. I can’t be both.”
Jackie was silent for a few minutes, her free hand resting at the base of her neck. Antonio wondered if her throat was sore. Wondered if he could flag someone to bring tea down to the beach. He wanted to make sure she was alright.
She typed some lines and held up her phone for him to hear. “For all of Marilyn’s faults, that was sound advice. I can’t argue with that. So why keep this from me? I’m his agent. Neither you nor PJ thought enough of me to let me in on the fact that you’re his father? All this talk about me trusting you—why don’t you trust me?”
“It’s not about that, Jackie. I mean shit is complicated. Especially now that we work together.”
“Well duh, Sherlock.” She typed something, then erased it, paused, and typed again. “Not only that, but we’ve slept together! This is so messed up! I don’t do drama like this! Well, not anymore.” Jackie took a deep breath and tapped the corner of her phone on her chin.
Antonio knew what Jackie was implying when she said “not anymore.” “I know. But this is different, Jackie. I’m not Katrice.”
Jackie’s fingers flew across the screen of her phone. “How is this any less jacked up? I slept with my client’s father who is now my coworker. Do you hear how that sounds?”
“I mean, technically, you’ve never slept with your client’s father. The first time we had sex, neither of us knew I had a kid. So that’s like a scratch.”
Jackie stared at him, her eyes cutting into him like laser beams. She typed, “This isn’t funny, Antonio. What if someone at the agency finds out? I can hear it now. They are going to say the only reason I have PJ as a client is because of some relationship with you.”
“No one at the agency is going to find out. Because no one knows that PJ is my son. You’re the first person outside of my parents and Marilyn who knows.”
Jackie stopped her pacing, giving him a look of utter bewilderment.
Antonio nodded. “Yep. Sounds wild, but it’s true.”
“So, in twenty-two years, no one has known?” she typed.
Antonio rubbed a hand down his face. “Yeah. You gotta remember, for the first twelve years, another man thought that he was PJ’s dad. Since then, things haven’t been easy. That’s why we’re keeping things private. Rebuilding our relationship. We aren’t there yet, being out there like that.”
Jackie nodded, then typed. “I can seeSports Ragzrunning wild with that story.”
The mere mention of the sports gossip media juggernaut made Antonio a little queasy. He’d been on the receiving end of some messed up stuff from them during his career. They had the potential to blow up lives with one rumor. He didn’t want that for PJorJackie.
“Right! You feel me,” he said. “Plus, I think PJ just wants to make a name for himself. And honestly, I think the public knowing that I’m his biological father is going to open up a can of worms.”
Antonio watched Jackie bite the corner of her lips. He knew that was her habit when she was thinking.
“Jackie, I have only been in my son’s life for ten years. Consistently, for maybe five of those years. They’re gonna ask where I’ve been. Why I wasn’t around. What was my relationship with his mother? Why am I not representing him? You feel me? Not only that, but there’s the added pressure of living in the shadow of your former pro-athlete father. I don’t think he wants to be accused of being a nepo-baby.”
“You weren’tthatgood,” Jackie’s app retorted. “You act like you were Ray Lewis or something.”
