Moments Before

Noah Chapter 20

Hey guys. I'm going to try to post at least one new chapter (or at least 1000 words) minimum every saturday. And I'm going to try to post more often. I'll do my best but no promises. Anyway let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 20

I lifted Rico into the truck with arms that felt like they would fall off of my shoulder like water drips through a person's hand. My entire body felt as if it had been inside of a washing machine. I let my foot hit the gas and started driving away. Rico went back to sleep in the car and I was just grateful he wasn't having night terrors. That's when my phone went off with a Call Me Maybe ringtone sung by Lily. She has that small voice that only children have the kind of voice that oozes honey and sweetness. 

It's a ringtone specific to Sonya and I don't hesitate in pulling over and answering. That sixth sense that somethings wrong slithered into my blood stream. It's late and Sonya doesn't usually call after 9pm.

"What's up?" I say into the phone and watch Rico out of the corner of my eye. 

"I'm sorry to call so late Noah. But could you and Rico come over really quick. I promise it won't take long." She sounds worried, the way a child sounds when faced with a spider. I agree quickly and drive towards her place. 

I shut the drivers door quietly and don't wake up Rico. I'm trying to stay positive and praying that maybe it'll be good news. In any case Rico needs sleep and I'm not going to wake him up. I jog up to the front door and knock. 

"It's open Noah." Sonya calls from another room. She's apprehensive, like she's not sure whether she's giving me good or bad news. I haven't even told her about Ashton yet. I open the door and slip off my shoes before going into the kitchen area. It's ridiculously late so I'm startled to see Lily there looking up at me with owl-like eyes. She's not normally a quiet person but wordlessly she jumps off of the bar chair she was sitting in and wraps her arms around me. 

My breath increases and my weary muscles tense in preparation for whatever upset her. I bend down and lift her up with ease. She isn't crying but there are so many questions in her eyes. I love being the person she turns to when she needs something: When she can't reach up high enough for something, someone at school is being mean, she needs help with her math homework, she wonders why she can't live in a mansion. I give her answers, to almost anything she asks but this time I don't know. 

That's when I see what all the fuss is about. The harsh lighting off the house reflects off of his bald head. His teeth are bleached and curl back into a smile with sales-man charm. He isn't fat, nor muscular just middle aged. He's wearing a clean black pressed suit and looks uncomfortably out of place in Sonya's modest home. There's nothing authentic about him instead he looks like 3D printed charm. 

"Apparently I made the right decision in leaving Rico in the car." It's all I say out loud even though many more thoughts thunder through my head like a migration of horses. 

"I would disagree but I suppose you and I don't always see eye to eye." He answered. His voice is just like I remembered. A polite chuckle, diplomatic words and patronizing tone. He steps forward when he says that. In response I step back and hold Lily closer to me. How could Sonya not prepare me for this is some way?

"It's hard to see eye to eye with someone who see's the world from their penthouse view when I see it from the streets." I hope that there was a ton of venom in that. Enough to silently communicate what I want. 

"You could have seen it from that high price real estate view. It was your choice." His words are argumentative but his tone is simple. The way that someone would say 2+2 is four. 

"I remember it a different way. See, I recall you throwing my stuff out of a window. Calling the cops and having them kick me out. I got arrested for trespassing. When I tried to return imagine my surprise when I find out you told security if I tried to enter the building to physically stop me from doing so. But yeah, definitely sounds like it was my choice." As I say this my voice gets louder and I make a conscious effort to not yell in Lily's arm. My body aches but I won't put her down in front of this lunatic. 

"Let's leave the past in the past. I'm here because I want to be. I want to be your dad Noah, a father to you, Rico, Lily." When he said Lily he reached out for one of her blonde curls and she curled instinctively into me shying away from his touch. 

"No. You stay away from Lil, stay away from Sonya, stay away from Rico and stay the hell away from me." Rico comes to mind now. I should go out and check on him but I need to deal with this issue at hand first. Sonya comes out from the bathroom now. She's fidgeting with the cuffs of her long sleeve shirt and it looks like she was crying a little. She walks over to where I'm standing. 

"I just slipped off to the bathroom when I heard you come in. I didn't leave him alone with her until you got here. I just needed a minute." Sonya stands slightly behind me and I realize that I must be something I'm missing. I might hate my dad, he's a scumbag but I didn't think there was anything to fear. 

"What's going on?" My voice is flat and my dad's face lifts into a smile as Sonya's face fumbles and tries not to cry. It's the same smile he would wear when he purchased a new vehicle, or bought a new apartment flat. 

"He's going for custody. Of all three of you guys. He said he'd take it to court." Sonya responded and suddenly I understood. We were just more things that he was going to buy. We didn't have money for court, or lawyers, and even if we did our financial struggles would make him seem like the clear parental choice. And that's for Lily. Me and Rico don't have any legal or biological ties to Sonya. 

"Dad, just don't. Please, we're happy right now. Lily has everything she needs, Rico is doing fine, we're good without you. You can force us back into your home but we'll hate you more than we already do." It's a solid argument but it bounces off of him. 

"Where is Rico? I want to see him. He always was better at forgiveness than you." He replies as if I didn't say anything. 

"You don't get to see him. Ever. Get out of this house, now. Or we'll have you legally removed." Rico has been through hell and he doesn't need this right now. 

"I'll pay off the mortgage. And whatever Lily wants. I'll pay for them to go to post-secondary. I'll pay for you to go back to law school Sonya." It fazes us both for a second. To not have to worry about money would be such a gift. But it comes at too high a price. Living in that suffocating place with him.

"Go to hell you manipulative bastard. Get out." To my surprise he does. I watch him stroll out, he doesn't go to the truck so he doesn't even see Rico he just gets in his mercedes and drives off. All he says on the way out is that he will get us back. 

As soon as he leaves I put Lily down my arms unable to sustain her anymore. She sits on the floor and cries; me and Sonya have no idea what to say to her. "I'm going to go check on Rico and bring him in. We have to figure this out." I go into the truck, shake my brother awake and put him into the wheel chair and wheel him up to the house. 

"What's going on Noah?" Rico's voice cuts through the chaos in my head and I inhale.

"Dad decided to swing by. He wants us to go and live with him again." Rico prefers blunt communication and I'm too tired to sugar coat it for him. "On the upside I don't think tonight could get any worse." I let out a bitter chuckle and Rico smacks my arm.

"You'll jinx us if you say that."