𝐄𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞|𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐰.

-𝔹𝕠𝕟𝕦𝕤 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣-

𝙀𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚| 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙤𝙬

-𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚-

Recap...

The door bell rang.

"Come here," She picked him up and turned the music down, making her way to the door. She unlocked the several locks, curtsy of her cousins, before opening it. Her heart dropped to her stomach in that moment, feeling her throat become hot.

"What're you doing here?" Her voice was softer than she needed it to be. She mentally cringed at the fact that she made herself sound so weak. "I came to see you and my son."

***********

Jack stood there with the most unreadable expression he'd ever carried. He looked different from the last time she saw him. His curls were more contained, his scruff was oiled and silky, and his blue eyes were completely dull.

Sativa hadn't noticed these little things though because she had frozen in fear and shock. She couldn't mutter a single word to him if she wanted to.

Her eyes traveled down to her son and the way his head tilted at the sight of Jack. He was a smart kid for being so young, and Sativa knew the clever child would catch onto the tense atmosphere.

She gave him a small smile, "ir a jugar con sus juguetes." His brows furrowed, "why?" He curiously asked. "Mommy has to deal with something. I'll check on you in a few minutes."

She would be extremely lucky if Mateo hadn't paid attention to Jacks choice of words. "My son." She replayed it in her head over and over until she couldn't take it anymore.

And as she watched her son prance away, she eventually turned back to Jack, her throat burning hot once more, "Why do you keep showing up like this?" Once again, her voice was softer than she needed it to be.

"He's my son, Sativa. I got a right to see him." She scoffed, "You lost that right when you didn't show up. You signed your rights away, you don't deserve to see him, let alone be a part of his life."

"You can't shut me out like this." Although he was quite emotion filled, Jack managed to keep himself contained. He remembered the last time he wasn't able to, and how it inevitably ended with him losing his dream girl.

When Jack had disappeared, it shattered the girl into a million tiny pieces that would never be able to be glued together. And so she took those pieces of herself and discarded them.

She became the woman and mother she knew her son would need. She let go of her old self and invited in a new version of herself.

Jack didn't know this. He didn't know about the nights she cried herself to sleep, or the months where her friends and family had to take care of Mateo because she detached from him.

He only knew the old her.

"I can, actually. You said you would show up, Jack. But just like always, you were nowhere to be found. So i raised Mateo into the boy he is today. And i did it workout you. Just. Like. Always." Her words stung him, but he couldn't disregard the undeniable fact that she was right.

"I wanted to be there, i swear i did, ma. But i just-" She quickly cut him off, "Wasn't ready?" She mocked, "You never were. I don't know why i ever gave you the benefit of the doubt."

"Can you hear me out?" He pleased. "No." And as she tried to shut the door in his face, he hurriedly stopped her. "You need to leave. I don't want him seeing you."

"He's gonna find out who I am one day," He practically begging at this point. "He already knows. He knows that his dad is a dead beat asshole who doesn't have a single once of responsibility."

"It's not right, Sativa." Once again, she scoffed, "What wasn't right was you begging me to be a part of all this just for you to abandon us again."

He rolled his eyes, "It wasn't like that."

"It was. My sons grown up without his biological father for four years. Do you even remotely understand what that does to someone?"

Jack thought about his answer for a moment, "I do," He answered. "Sure you do."

"I do. I watched it with you. The day we met, you told me about your dad and you never talk about him. When he kept coming back, I was there. When he broke you and your mother apart, I was there," He started,

"I would never in my fucking life abandoned my family. I did what i had to do because i couldn't keep hurting you anymore."

"Yeah, cause i'm supposed to believe that?" She laughed,

"Thats literally what you did, Jack. You left me and your son, and you left your friends to help raise him. You know how many nights Urb stayed up to take care of him because I couldn't get myself out of bed? Let alone fucking talk to anyone. You've got a lot of nerve showing up here and expecting me to let you back in!"

Her voice became louder as the trauma and pain she had experienced flooded through her once more, revisiting her like an old friend. And just like Sativa, Jack grew angry, "He's my son, Sativa!"

"He's not! You lost the right to call him that when you didn't show up on his birthday. Do you even know when his birthday is?" Jack grew quiet, causing her to scoff, "Of course you don't... Look, you can take whatever other bullshit apology or excuse you've got left and shove it up your ass. I never wanna see you again."

"I don't wanna have to get lawyers involved." He was trying to intimidate her, but little did he know, she was over being intimidated by him. She smiled to herself in amusement, something he hadn't caught on to. She didn't find the situation funny. No, she was beginning to feel all the hurt she had worked to get rid of build up again.

"What happened to the nigga I fell in love with?" And as the door closed in his face, ears ringing as the locks clicked, he felt the dream he'd held so dearly slip through his fingers just like that. Gone forever.

You could read the book forward or backwards, but it wouldn't matter. Because either way, they'll just become strangers in the end.