The Confrontation
Bobby sat in front of Charity's house trying to get himself together. For all the bravado he had put on at his Mom's, he was sweating like a pig.
How could he be a father? Why didn't Charity try harder to reason with him? He wiped his palms on his jeans as he got out of the car. He stood in front of the door for a moment before ringing the bell. He checked his watch. It was after eleven. They should be up by now.
He rang the bell and waited, not knowing exactly what he was going to say to Charity. Bobby was not expecting a young man with an extremely large afro to open the door. He looked at Bobby a moment, squinting his eyes as they adjusted to the sunlight.
"May I help you?" he asked rubbing his eyes.
Bobby noticed that he looked like he had just gotten out of bed. Damn! Was this kid just waking up?
"I'm looking for Charity." Bobby said giving the kid the once over. Justin was just as tall as Bobby, taller with the ridiculously large afro.
"She's not here right now" the young man stated. "She should be back in about thirty minutes."
Bobby stared at him a moment. Did this kid really look like him? What was he going to say to him? There was a few moments of awkward silence as they sized each other up.
"Look, I'll just wait in the car until your mother comes home." Bobby finally replied.
Justin stared at him a moment, his eyes narrowing. "Who are you?"
Bobby was suddenly uncomfortable. "Just a friend."
Justin's gaze never wavered. "Come on in." he said finally letting the door swing all the way open. He turned and walked down the hall into the living room and plopped down on the couch.
"Didn't your mother tell you about talking to strangers and allowing them to come into your home?" Bobby asked shutting the door and following him.
"You're not a stranger. I know who you are." Justin replied staring at him. He yarned and slouched further down on the sofa.
"How could you know who I am?" Bobby snapped irritated. "I could be an ax murderer for all you know."
"You look like her when she gets mad. She has a temper too." Justin replied stretching out his legs.
Bobby looked puzzled at his comment. "Look like who?"
He watched as Justin pushed his hair back from his face. "My sister. I was wondering when you'd show up."
Bobby was speechless. Justin sat up straight, his eyes roaming over Bobby. He turned up his nose as if he was displeased at what he saw.
"I always wondered what you looked like." Justin remarked. Bobby grew uncomfortable under his stare.
"Well I just found out about you today…I mean the both of you." Bobby replied. "I wish I'd known sooner."
Justin laughed. "Already blaming Mom, huh? Why am I not surprised?" He picked up a bottle of soda and took a swig.
"I'm not blaming anybody!" Bobby snapped. Who did this kid think he was talking to? He needed to learn some respect! Charity obviously had been too soft on him.
"Oh, Charity, I didn't know! I'd have been such a wonderful father!" Justin mimicked, mocking Bobby.
Bobby watched as Justin made a face and then laughed at his own imitation of Bobby's voice.
Before he realized what he was doing, Bobby jumped from the chair he had sat in and grabbed Justin by the collar pushing him against the wall. "You don't know shit about me kid! You need to put a lid on it!"
"I know you're an irresponsible asshole!" Justin snapped not backing down even as Bobby's grip was hurting him. "What did you come here for anyway? Come back to get some throwback pussy from my Mama?"
"Justin!"
With all the arguing, neither of them had heard Charity come in the front door. She stood there now horrified as she looked at Bobby holding Justin by the collar, his feet dangling off the floor.
"Put him down Bobby…now!" she yelled. Bobby let Justin go and Charity turned to her son.
"You will apologize right now, Mister!"
"But Ma-"
"Now!"
Justin looked at Bobby a moment. "Sorry."
"Now go on up to your room and let me have a conversation with your father." Charity said looking from Bobby to Justin.
"He's not my father!" Justin snapped. "He's just a sperm donor. My father is dead."
"Now wait just a minute-" Bobby protested. He wasn't going to take this crap off some big mouth kid.
"Now Justin! Upstairs!" Charity said pointing to the stairs. Justin turned and walked up the steps. Charity turned to Bobby.
"Why are you here and why are you in my house?"
"Your son…our son…invited me in."
"Oh, so now it's your son is it?" Charity replied. "I'm shocked Bobby. I would think that you would be in denial or something, demanding a DNA test."
"I'm just giving you the benefit of the doubt. He seems certain of who I am. I came over here to find out for sure." He wasn't about to tell her that he hadn't believed it when his mother and Jerry had first told him.
"So your Mom finally broke down and told you I see" she replied crossing her arms across her chest.
"It should have been you, Charity. You should have told me."Bobby snapped.
She laughed, her voice hard. "And what would you have done, Bobby…asked me to marry you or something? You wouldn't even talk to me after I came over your Moms that day. You wanted nothing else to do with me, remember? How was I going to tell you I was pregnant? I can just imagine what you would have said!"
"That was a mistake. I admit I overreacted." he said avoiding her eyes.
"Your life is full of mistakes." Charity replied unsympathetically. "What do you want from me, Bobby?"
Bobby stared at her. That was a loaded question. Right now he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. He still wanted her even though he didn't want to admit it.
"Why did you make them hate me? Is it revenge or something?" He thought about the reception he received from Justin. He could just imagine what she had told his son about him.
"Justin doesn't hate you. He's a lot like you. He's just angry." She replied. "I have never talked bad about you to my kids. I just told them that we broke up before I found out I was pregnant, which is true. I then told them that you left town and started a new life and so did I. I told them that you didn't know about them and that I felt that was best. "
Bobby stared at the floor for a moment. "I guess it's too late for me now."
Charity stood up from the chair she had sat in and walked over to him. "It's never too late. Kids always want their parent's love."
"Why did you make him a dancer? Is Julianna a dancer too?"
Charity smiled. "I'm impressed. You know their names. But to answer your question, no JuJu is a tomboy through and through. She plays soccer and hockey. By the way, I didn't make Justin a dancer. Dancing was his choice."
Bobby shook his head. "Sounds kinda fruity to me…jumping around in tights. He didn't get that from me."
"He needed an outlet to channel his anger and frustration. Dancing does that for him. He has his father's temper…so does his sister."
Bobby look surprised. "He said that his sister has a temper, not him."
Charity laughed at his remark. "Ah, and just like his father, he doesn't always recognize his own faults."
Bobby walked over to the coffee table and picked up a picture of the twins when they were babies and stared at it a moment. He realized he had missed a good portion of their lives. He focused on Justin who looked unlike the picture of the smiling baby that he held in his hand.
"Why don't you make him cut his hair? That afro is outrageous! I can hardly see his face."
"He'll cut it when he gets ready. You have to chose your battles." she said taking the picture out of his hand and looking at it. "He still looks the same, though. "
She picked up several more pictures and handed them to him. He stared at a picture of his daughter.
"She looks like you" he commented "Even though Justin said that she looks like me when she's mad"
"That's true" Charity said laughing.
Bobby sat the pictures back down and turned to Charity.
"Look, I came over here because Ma is upset. She has two grandchildren that she knows nothing about and she blames me for it! She wants you to come to the cookout this afternoon unless you have a date or something. She wants to see them."
Was she going to say she had a boyfriend? Why did he care, anyway? He stared at her hoping that she did not realize the effect she still had on him.
"No, I don't have a date" she replied. "I dont think I'll be coming to your Mom's cookout, though. Too awkward. You know that you don't want me there either. If the kids want to go, they can. JuJu's at her soccer game, but you can ask Justin yourself."
She walked to the foot of the stairs.
"Justin, come down here!"
Justin came down the steps giving Bobby a challenging stare. Bobby stared back at him, waiting for Charity to speak.
"Your father wants you and JuJu to come to his mother's cookout."
"I know. I heard." Justin replied. "JuJu told me that she was stopping by a cookout with her friend Theresa and her Aunt after the game. Maybe it's the same cookout, I don't know." He looked Bobby up and down. "Why do you want me to come anyway since you think I'm a fruitcake!"
"You got a big mouth to be such a skinny kid" Bobby replied. "You need to learn some respect!"
"Are you shutting it for me…Daddy?" Justin's voice dripped acid.
Bobby didn't like Justin's attitude. "Don't tempt me" he replied.
"Look that's enough out of both of you." Charity said standing between them. She then turned to Justin.
"Are you going or not?"
"I don't know yet" Justin replied "I'll let you know" He then turned and ran back up the stairs.
"I'll bring him and drop him off if he wants to come" Charity said turning back to Bobby.
"You let him tell you what he's going to do? What's with you Charity? After while he'll be whipping your ass. He's already taller than you are."
"I don't need you to tell me how to be a parent, Bobby. I've done just fine for almost fifteen years without your help."
"That was your choice" he snapped.
"Was it really?" she countered. "You were the one who ran off to Chicago because you couldn't handle your feelings. You cut me off, remember. You were the one who was scared to be in real relationship."
"Damn you, Charity! I'm getting the hell out of here. Coming here was a mistake!" He walked away from her and headed for the door.
"Yes, run you coward!" she hissed following close behind him. "Run like the pussy you are!"
Bobby stopped dead in his tracks. How dare she talk to him like that? He turned and quickly grabbed her pulling her to him. She still had the ability to drive him crazy. He could smell her familiar scent and for a moment the memories seemed as if they were going to consume him. He remembered everything about her, and he had to admit that he wanted her again. He bought his face close to hers and lowered his voice in case Justin was evesdropping.
"I got your pussy, sister. I don't think it was pussy that was making you scream my name when my rock hard dick was inside you and it wasn't pussy that made you cum all over my face."
Even as he said it, he could feel himself becoming aroused.
"Damn you, Bobby Mercer" she growled her voice low. "Get out!"
"Hell no. "
He pushed her into the downstairs bathroom that was by the front door and shut the door so that Justin couldn't hear them.
"You're going to listen to me!" he growled trying to keep control.
"Like you listened to me fifteen years ago?" She snapped.
"That was fifteen years ago. I can't change that, Charity!"
"Right!" she hissed. "Now get out of my house."
Bobby couldn't help himself. He pulled her into his arms kissing her hard. She still had the power to push his buttons and make him feel weak. Damn her to hell! Even as he held her, he felt the blood rushing south and knew that she was aware of the effect she still had on him. He held her tightly fighting to keep his hands from roaming over her lucious body.
Charity didn't want to respond, but her body had other ideas. He still had to ability to set her on fire instantly. She had promised herself that she would stay away from him, but that promise had died when he walked through her door... thanks to her son! She could feel his hardness pressing against her.
"So what's this all about Bobby? You come here hoping for a quick fuck?" Maybe if she picked a fight, the heat between them would die down.
"I could never fuck you, Charity" he replied honestly. "You killed that for me long time ago, remember? You wanted to make love, not fuck. You've ruined me for other women."
Charity was shocked at his confession which made her hotter still. Why the hell did he have to be so honest?
"Well I'm sure that didn't stop you. Don't stand here and expect me to believe that you've been a monk all these years." she scoffed.
"I've fucked a few...but I haven't made love to another woman." he said caressing her face. "Fucking never seemed quite good enough anymore after you showed me how to make love."
Charity tried not to let him see how his words affected her. The bathroom was small and she could feel the sweat run down between her breasts. He was looking at her, his eyes full of hunger and longing. She tore her gaze away from his.
"Right...but you still couldn't trust me-"
"I trusted you" Bobby countered, his face serious. "I trusted only you. I've only slept in bed with you. I've only made love with you. I've only gone without a condom with you. Outside of what I was forced to do as a child, yours is the only pussy I've ever eaten. That's trust."
"I can still see you are a man of many blunt words" Charity said trying to keep a straight face.
"I just tell it like it is" he replied. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't want you again."
"It's not going to happen, Bobby" she said weakly. Even as she said it, she knew that if he pushed, she'd most likely give in. She still wanted him too, but she had to think about how it would look to her kids.
"Sure, if you say so" he said kissing her. He pushed her against the sink and ran his hands over her butt.
"I've been asking myself if you could still taste as sweet as I remember?' he whispered in her ear. "I bet you do"
"Bobby" she groaned as he caressed her through her jeans. She knew she should make him stop, but she found her thighs parting of their own accord.
"Mom! Where are you?"
She heard Justin yell out from the stairs which made her jump and Bobby quickly backed away from her. She would not meet Bobby's eyes, embarassed by her behavior.
"I'll distract him, you just leave. If he wants to come to the cookout, I'll bring him" she murmured.
She quickly exited the bathroom shutting the door quietly behind her.
Bobby listened as she answered Justin and it appeared from their voices fading that she must have led him into the kitchen, giving Bobby a chance to escape.
He peeked out of the door and saw that the coast was clear. He eased out of the front door, shutting it carefully.
He hadn't plan on saying all he said to her and he certainly hadn't planned on seducing her in her own bathroom while their son was in the house. It seemed that he had little control when it came to Charity. She had an effect on him that he just could not explain.
He got in the car and pulled off wondering how all of this was going to work out.
