As soon as I’m in my
car, my phone rings and the screen on my center console shows it’s Greg calling. I groan loudly, not wanting to speak to him even though I have to. “Hello, Greg.” I pull out onto the street and head home.
“Hello, Bellamy. It’s Gregory.”
“Duh,” I say in response as I roll my eyes. “You do realize I have caller ID, right? That my phone tells me you’re calling.”
“I like to be efficient.”
“Except when it comes to parenting,” I mutter.
“What? I didn’t hear you.”
“Nothing, Greg. What do you want?”
“I know I had to cancel our meet up a few weeks back but would like to take Chase this weekend.”
“To where?” I only ask because I’m curious.
He clears his throat. “Priscilla’s mother is having a party and she’s asked that he attend.”
I’m surprised with the amount of eye rolling I do at Greg that my eyes haven’t gotten stuck. “Let me get this straight . . . your new mother-in-law wants our son at her party?”
“Yes.”
“But not you?”
“Bell—”
“Don’t ‘Bellamy’ me, Greg.” I talk over him. “He’s your son. You should want to spend time with him.”
“I do.”
“But it’s complicated, right? So, here, let me uncomplicate it for you. No! No, you may not take Chase to your mother-in-law’s this weekend because one, it’s unfair the way you treat him and how you cast him aside and two, he has a baseball game which I won’t make him miss.” I’d never even consider asking him to choose between the game and his father.
Greg clears his throat again and I have a good idea of what he’s going to say. He wants me to force Chase to come with him, to abide by the custody agreement. “You’re being unreasonable. I pay my child support on time and have tried to be there, but the distance—”
“That you agreed to . . . ” I point out.
“Yes, but I expected to have some of my weekends free when I did.”
“Well, it seems that you have this weekend free if you can go to a party. Maybe you should drive over and watch your son play the game he loves instead.”
“About that, do you really think it’s in Chase’s best interest to play for this bird character? Brett seems to think that there’s something shady going on.”
I scoff loudly and bellow out, “Ha!”
“Bellamy . . .”
“Listen, the only thing shady is your affection for Brett Larsen. I get that he was in your frat, that you took him under your wing in your fifth year of college when you groomed him to be the president of your disgusting shit hole of a house, but that man is a slime ball.” Kind of like you, I want to add. “And this ‘bird character’ — his name is Hawk Sinclair — and he’s giving your son a chance to play baseball when your so called friend wouldn’t unless I slept with him.” I seethe.
“Regardless of your attraction to Brett, I feel as if this coach isn’t right for our son.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me, Greg. Do you even listen to anything I say to you?”
“Of course.”
“Right, well then you’ve heard me loud and clear. Have a good day.” I press end just as I pull into my driveway. Hawk’s truck is parked in the open space and as my car idles, I stare at it, realizing how much I like seeing it there. I know I could get used to coming home to him every day, even though our relationship is borderline platonic. Karter’s voice rings out, reminding me that if I want it to go past that, I’m going to have to be the one to make a move. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s right, but time is my enemy. If I don’t do it soon, I’m going to miss my chance. After shutting off my car, I gather my things and head into my house.