Everything with you

Part 23

Justin

I walked through the doors of my house with a big smile on my face. Today was one of the best days I have had in a long time. My smile was wiped right out of my face the minute my eyes landed on my dad, who was sitting on the sofa talking with Jo. I look around to see my mom, but I am unable to find her.

"Hello Justin. I was wondering when you would come home," he says casually, looking at his watch. He was in his business suit, dressed like he just got out of the board room.

"What are you doing here? Where's mom?" I question.

He hands over something to Jo, stands up, and walks towards me. His face was still pretty banged up, thanks to our last interaction. I look over at him to see Jo happily coloring away. He nods his head towards the dining room, signaling for me to join him as he makes his way to the table.

"Where's mom?" I repeat. Although this time my tone was angrier.

"Gee.. Relax, son. Your mother is resting in her room. I had come over to spend some time with Joanna. Considering the last time we met, you almost beat me to death!"

"Why the hell would you want to spend time with Jo? You left her when she was just a year old. We don't want you here," I say, enraged.

"I cannot undo what I have done in the past. I can only hope to be a better dad in the future for Joanna and you. Especially with what's going on with your mom!", he says casually.

His casual tones make me more furious.

"No, you don't get to be here now, after all you have put us through. We have managed fine on our own till now, and we will do the same in the future.".

"Ha! And how do you plan on doing that, Justin? You do know that your mom's medical bills are piling up, right? Do you plan on quitting soccer altogether and taking up extra shifts at Gold's? or are you planning to drop out of the university itself?"

He walks towards me and stands face-to-face with me.

"Do you know how much school will cost for your sister? How do you plan to afford all of that by working part time?" he continues.

"That's enough, Don!". Both of us turned our heads to find my mom walking towards us. She looks tired and weak.

"Look, Don. I agreed to let you back into our lives, not because I was afraid that I'm sick and something might happen to me. I did so because I sincerely felt you wanted to get to know your kids and be involved in their lives. I've never asked for anything from you. All I ask from you now is that you treat our kids with respect and love."

"I know.. I know.. I'm trying here. You've got to meet me halfway here, kidd," Don says, looking at me in defeat.

"Halfway? You attacked my girlfriend. Don't you remember what happened a couple of days ago?" I argue.

"Girlfriend?" both my mom and dad say at the same time with a shocked expression.

"Emma's your girlfriend?" my mom asks me again.

"Who's Emma? Oh, the girl at the dance studio. I know I behaved like an ass, but I didn't want to hurt her. I had a couple of drinks. I just tried to hold Jo. She tackled me before I could even get the words out of my mouth, but it's not an excuse. I will apologize to her the next time I meet her," he says, looking genuinely sorry.

I just glared at him. I don't respond to him. To be honest, I don't believe a word coming out of his mouth.

"Daddy! Could you come here, please?". Joanna screams from the living room. Don looks at me, and my mom walks towards her. When we are alone, my mom turns to me.

"Girlfriend?" she asks, crossing her arm.

I roll my eyes. Technically, Emma wasn't my girlfriend; I hadn't even asked her to be my girlfriend. We had just gone on a couple of dates. I had no idea why I said that out loud.

"Well, we have been on a few dates. She's..." I struggle with words suddenly.

My mom just laughs at my flustered expression.

"Good for you, Justin! She seems like a really nice girl.". She says that she joins Don and Jo in the living room. Jo shows her what Don and she have worked on, which makes her laugh. I looked at all three of them. It almost looks like a perfect family. Almost. I still didn't trust Don, but I had no choice in the situation other than to give him a chance again. The more I fight with my mom on this the more upset she seems to get, I finally decided to bite my tongue and go with letting Don into our lives again. I may not have been able to do anything last time when he hurt us but there was no way in hell I was going to let that happen again.

We had a big game coming up the next week, and I couldn't afford to shift my focus anywhere else. Our practice sessions were becoming more hectic. We had to think about and set up new game plans for our upcoming games. I was working the board with Coach when Nate showed up for practice. He was late by 30 minutes. He held up his hand, knowing he had to do extra laps, and started his jog around the ground.

Once Nate had finished his laps, he had a heated rundown with Coach. Ash and I were passing dribbles when he joined us.

"Late again?" I ask.

"Dude! Please don't; I just got an earful from Coach. I might be benched for the Yorks game," he says, defeated.

"Why don't you stop the parties, Nate? It's definitely taking a toll on you." Ash joins in.

"Yeah..Yeah, I will." he says quietly as he continues the rest of the practice.

From the outside, Nate's life seems like he has it all. Money, a big house to throw parties, and a full ride to college. He recently got a new trust fund unlocked for him, but behind all that is a lonely person who tries his hardest to pretend he's not. Ash and I both knew that his parents were almost always away, and he was alone most of his childhood. The parties were just an excuse for him to be around people.

We don't say anything more and continue with our practice session.