61.

Xander

 

I hate it when someone says that. It usually means something very messed up is about to happen and there is nothing we can do to stop it.




“Just say it,”




“Aiden is your biological brother,” X says.




Damien and I look at each other. We both couldn’t believe it and it couldn’t be true. Could it?




“How? I am the only son of both of my parents,”




X looks at his screen, “Well, it looks like your father was a hoe.”




I push X to the side and read what is written on the screen. His records were somehow sealed from the world, probably my dad’s doing. He was born the same year that I was just a few months before my birth, fuck that makes him my older brother.




“His mother is unknown,”




X looks at the screen, “I’ll have someone look into that.”




“You’re taking this well,” Damien says nervously.




I look at him and I shrug, “I’ve genuinely run out of fucks to give when it comes to Aiden and anything involving him but what’s bothering me is that my father. My father. I hope he’s in hell,”




“Do you think your mother knows?”




If that woman knows then I’m going to be livid.

“I don’t know. I guess we are going to find out. Let’s get Aiden in and we take him to my mother’s house. I want this shit to be over,”




And I walk out of the basement. I needed time to think and process all of this. The more I find out, the worse I feel about my existence and how tainted it is. Having to explain to my children the sins of my father and just how messed up he was.




My father made it his duty to preach against the value of women. He destroyed feminism and anything to do with gender rights in America. And for what? To keep his dirty secrets away from the public eye.




And to think my mother once saw a human being in that man.




I get outside and it’s hot, blistering hot. The Johannesburg summer sun was making itself known. I get into the car and call Nikki.




“Babe?”




‘Hey, honey, what’s up?’

 

“Just checking in on you. I’ll be home soon. Do you need anything?”




‘No baby, I’m good. You don’t sound okay. Is everything alright?’

 

“We’ll talk about it when I get home,”




‘Okay, I’ll get the snacks ready,’

 

“Thank you. I love you,”




‘I love you too. See you in few.’

 

I hang up the phone and start the car. I make the ten-minute drive home and Nikki is waiting by the door for me. I park the car in the garage and make my way to the front door.




I kiss Nikki and we get inside the house. I lock the door and put in the security code and turn on the sensors. We go upstairs and I change out of my clothes and into a pair of loose shorts.




Nikki pats the bed, “Come sit.”




I sit down beside her and lean back into the headboard.




“We found Aiden,”




She looks at me while digging a spoon into the tub of ice cream, “Where?”




“House in the Northwest farmlands,” I reply, “We have units on the way to retrieve him. And there is more.”




“What?”




“Aiden in my brother,” I say.




Nikki’s face goes cold, but I could tell she was scared. She puts the spoon in the tub.




“My dad had an affair with another woman. That makes him my half-brother,” I continue.




Nikki shakes her head, “This is a lot to take in.”




I sigh, “I know. Even I don’t believe it.”




“So does he come after or before you?”




“Before he was born in November, I came three months later in February,”




“Does your mother know?”




That’s when the tears kick in. I felt bad for my mother, she endured so much.




Nikki pulls me towards her, and I lie on her lap.




“Xander, your father made a lot of mistakes. He hurt and abused you and your mother so that he could keep you from the truth,” she says. “You have a right to be upset baby. But don’t let that cloud your judgement. Speak to your mother.”




“I will,”




Nikki runs her hand through my curls, “Jessica could be the one that helped Aiden escape.”




I sigh, “Maybe, or it’s both her and my mom.”




Nikki hums, “What happens when you catch him?”




“I don’t know but I want you Charles, Chantel to be far away from here.”




Nikki pulls her hand out of my hair, “Why?”




I sit up, “To keep you safe. I don’t want anything happening to any of you.”




Nikki shakes her head, “I am not going anywhere do you understand me? I’ve spent the last few months hiding in fear because of him and I am done with that. I want to look him in the eyes as the life drains out of his eyes.”

I sigh, “Fine but you do as I say and nothing more. Understood?”




She looks at me with her big brown eyes, “Yes daddy.”




I groan, “Don’t say that. You know what that does to me, and I’m supposed to be upset right now.”




She giggles and proceeds to eat ice cream. Seductively licking the spoon, purposely trying to get a rise out of me. It was working but I was scared to harm her, I can get a little aggressive sometimes. She says she doesn’t mind but I have major issues with it.




“Just one round?”




She nods, “Get naked cowboy, mama wants to ride her pony.”




This woman.