Page 126 of Love U Down II

“Okay. Sure.” He nodded and slid onto the elevator while the three of us headed to my office.

“I’ll be right out here,” Drix announced and collapsed behind my assistant’s desk.

“Okay.” I gestured for my father to head into my office. “Right this way.”

He looked around as he entered and slowly made his way to my desk.

We sat across from each other. I clasped my hands on the desk and waited patiently while he did the best to gather his thoughts and words.

“I’m sure you’ve heard that your mother and I will be getting a divorce.”

“Yeah. Zamir mentioned it.”

“So she hasn’t reached out to you and accused me of being a drunk and gambling all of our family money away?”

“I mean, she did, but I didn’t give her the money.”

“Good.” He exhaled and sank into his seat.

“Dad, is there a reason you’re here? Doyouneed money?”

“Nah. I still have some stashed away in my private account. I’m going to be alright. I’ve just… I’ve been spending a lot of time alone thinking about your mother and our marriage.”

“And?”

“And I wasn’t the best husband,” he admitted. “Shit. I wasn’t the best father either.”

“Yeah. You weren’t.”

“I was wondering if I could talk to you about that and about… everything.” He looked off and took a deep breath. “Look, Myome, I don’t want to be in a bad place with you or your brothers. I know I wasn’t the best father but I was trying to be the best husband possible and it backfired and I don’t know. If there’s a chance for us to make up, I want to take it. I don’t want to look back and regret all the things I didn’t say. You don’t owe me this or forgiveness but I was hoping I could just tell youeverything so you could make a fully informed decision about cutting me out of the rest of your life.”

I shifted in my seat before nodding slowly.

“Okay.”

“Yeah?” A smile crossed his face and I tried not to melt at the way he looked younger due to the expression.

“Yeah. Let’s hear it.”

“Okay. Well, I met your mother at the height of my career. I was making music, selling out shows, and traveling and your mother was… beautiful and ambitious. We’d only known each other for four months before she told me she was pregnant with Major. We got married at a little courthouse as soon as I found out. I wanted to do right by her but you know how it is. I was young and making good money and popular and I strayed. A lot. It drove Joyce crazy and eventually she started to act like it. It wasn’t good for business and we said we were going to split a little bit after Major turned three but Joyce changed her mind and begged me to make it work.

“A year later I got my guitarist pregnant. Your mother got pregnant with you a month after we found out. The guitarist ultimately decided not to go through with it and Joyce gave me Zamir. I love Zamie and Major and everything was good for a little while… until I cheated again.”

“And she decided she should counter the cheating by having me?” I guessed.

“No. She decided she didn’t want to be sitting at home being a single mother and being cheated on and tried to kill herself.”

“What?” I blinked at him.

Of course I’d heard stories about how toxic my parents had been when they’d first gotten together. I hadn’t known my mother had been suicidal.

“Yeah. She was depressed, barely eating, trying to raise Zamir and Major, and holding everything down at home whileshe felt like I was off living my dreams. When I found out, I left my tour, and with it, my dream. I had to pay out for all the dates I missed. My label was pissed. Fans were pissed. It was a shit show and ultimately led to my early retirement. After I gave up music and was around more, I really saw how my actions were affecting Joyce and I recommitted myself to her and our family and…” He shrugged. “I worked, provided, supported her how she said she wanted to be supported and shut the fuck up otherwise.”

“So your guilt for not being faithful to your wife turned you into someone who let their wife bully their children because you couldn’t stand up to her after what you put her through. Is that right?”

“Yeah.” He nodded and swallowed. “That’s right, Myome. Your mother was hard on you and your brothers. She didn’t hit you or abuse you or anything. She just… wanted you to not turn out like me.”

“Abuse isn’t always hitting someone,” I said. “There’s plenty of shit I can point out that’s abusive.”