by Linda Verji
“That’s not what’s happening here,” Jasmine said.
But her mother wasn’t listening. “That little punk has probably been stalking you all this time. Just waiting for an opportunity to waltz into your life again.”
Now Yolanda was being ridiculous. Jasmine asked, “Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know.” Yolanda shrugged. “I don’t know what goes on in the heads of criminals.”
“I told you he wasn’t-” Jasmine paused and took a breath. Her mother was obviously angry and talking out the side of her neck now. It was time to take a break. “I’m going to the loo.”
Leaving her mother in her bedroom, Jasmine entered the en-suite. As soon as she was in there, she sighed deeply. Okay, so Lucas had hurt her. But her mother was being a little too much, right? Hopefully, once Yolanda took a breath and calmed down, she’d be able to see that Lucas wasn’t the same rebellious boy who’d walked out of their lives thirteen years ago. He’d changed.
Yeah! All Jasmine had to do to calm her mother was show her how much Lucas had changed then convince her to forgive him too.
After taking another deep breath, Jasmine exited the bathroom. However, Yolanda wasn’t in the bedroom anymore. She hadn’t gone after Lucas, right?
Jasmine hurried out of the bedroom only to hear the sound of a palm cracking over flesh. Slap! When she emerged out of the hallway, it was to see Lucas holding his cheek while her mother glared at him. Neither of them noticed Jasmine’s entrance.
“Why are you back?” Though Yolanda’s voice was low, it was sharp and her eyes were blazing. “You told me that you’d never come back.”
Lucas just stared at her.
“You said you’d leave her alone?” Yolanda was practically trembling with rage as she asked, “Was that just an empty promise? Why are you here?”
“What promise are you talking about?” Jasmine finally announced her presence.
Both Lucas and Yolanda turned in her direction. Lucas gaze was blank, like he’d deliberately wiped all the emotion from his eyes and face. Yolanda on the other hand couldn’t hide her surprise. That surprise was swiftly replaced by panic.
“I didn’t hear you coming in,” Yolanda said. Was that nervousness in her voice?
“What promise are you talking about?” Jasmine asked again. Her heart was now pounding and her pulse racing oddly. She didn’t need to be a genius to read the meaning behind the conversation that she’d just overhead. Still she didn’t want to believe it. “And when did you make it? When did he agree to never come back?”
This time her mother was just as silent as Lucas was. Both of them watched her.
Jasmine stared at them for a long time before she turned her attention to her mother. “Please tell me that you’re not the one who made him break up with me.”
Yolanda didn’t say anything. But the guilt that flashed in her eyes was all the answer needed.
“You made him leave?” Jasmine asked in wide-eyed shock. She couldn’t believe it. “Why?”
“Why do you think?” Yolanda finally spoke. She shot Lucas a glare before saying, “Because he was a bad influence. I don’t even know why I let him in my house. Should have known the bad blood would show itself soon enough.”
“Mom!” Jasmine gasped at the vitriol in her mother’s tone. Sure, Lucas hadn’t been an altar boy but there was no need to take it so far or to bring his father into it.
“What? I’m just stating the truth,” Yolanda retorted unrepentantly. Still glowering at Lucas who was now staring at some spot beyond Jasmine, she added, “He’s a good for nothing like his father. Remember how he got you into that accident?”
“It wasn’t his fault.” The words came out as practically a yell. Jasmine couldn’t believe her mother was talking like this, hurting Lucas like this.
Though Lucas’s expression was still blank, she could tell that he was hurt by her mother’s words. How could he not be? By Yolanda’s sneer as she stared at him, it was obvious that she didn’t think her words were inappropriate and would probably say something worse given the chance. Jasmine couldn’t let Lucas continue to hear it.
“Luc,” she called to him. His eyes met hers and she could have sworn that she felt a knife-like pain stab at her heart. Her voice softened as she asked, “Could you leave us for a bit? I’ll call you later.”
“What would you call him for?” Yolanda started.
But Jasmine wasn’t even listening to her. Her eyes were on Lucas. She mouthed, ‘Please’, to him. With a nod, he started towards the door.
Once the door closed behind him, Jasmine turned to her mother. “Are you serious?”
“Serious about what?”
“How could you talk to Luc like that?” She stared at her mother. “I know he made some mistakes, but that was too much. It was too cruel.”
“If cruel can get rid of him, then I’ll gladly do it again,” Yolanda countered unapologetically. “He deserves it. He broke his promise. He promised to stay out of your life and he didn’t.”
“Did you talk to him the same way when you kicked him out of my life?” Jasmine asked, disbelief in her voice.
She’d never seen this side of her mother. Her mother had always been so empathetic and nice. She treated everyone, even strangers, like they were part of her family. Where was all this coming from?
Yolanda didn’t answer the question so Jasmine went on. “Mom! He was just eighteen. How could you say such things to him?”
“If he was old enough to vote, then he was old enough to hear the truth.”
“Only, it’s not the truth,” Jasmine said. “You know as well as I do that Lucas was and has never been anything like his father. He never did anything illegal.”
“People who don’t do illegal things don’t get arrested,” Yolanda retorted stubbornly.
“Yes, they do. Lucas was a prime example of that.” Jasmine reminded her, “And Dad and the judge agreed.”
When Lucas was fourteen, he’d been sent to foster care after his father was arrested for robbery. He was too old to be adopted and had thus ended up in foster care. While in there, he’d become friends with two older boys. One time they’d given him a ride in their car then stopped at a convenience store.
What he didn’t know was that the two were planning to rob the store.
When the older boys had rushed out and jumped in the car with the store-owner at their heels, Lucas had been understandably shocked. Imagine his surprise when five minutes later, they were part of a car chase scene. In the end, the three got caught. Jasmine’s father, Wallace, was appointed to be Lucas’s public defender.
Wallace had believed Lucas when he’d said that he wasn’t part of the crime and done everything to convince everyone else that he was a victim too. It’d worked. Lucas was released.
“Well, I didn’t believe it for a second,” Yolanda said.
“Then why did you help him out so much?” Jasmine had seen her parents treat Lucas well. “You treated him like your son. You fed him. You took him to school.”
“That was all your father.” Yolanda scoffed. “You know how he was. Thinking he had to save all those kids he defended. You have no idea how much trouble that brought us. You remember, Rodney? The kid who carried away everything in our house.”
“Yeah, but Lucas wasn’t like Rodney.”
Yolanda raised her eyebrows. “Wasn’t he?”
“No, he wasn’t,” Jasmine said. When all her mother did was snort in disbelief, she added, “Okay. Fine. You don’t believe that he wasn’t part of that robbery. But he never did anything afterwards to make us think that he was actually bad.”
“What about the accident?”
“The accident again? You know very well that that wasn’t his fault.” Jasmine reminded her, “The other driver was drunk.”
“Yeah, but if Lucas hadn’t forced you to drive, you wouldn’t even be in the car.”
“He didn’t force me,” Jasmine returned. “And if we’re using that as pr
oof of his guilt, then I could say that it was your fault too.”
Surprise flashed in Yolanda’s eyes. “My fault?”
“Yeah, your fault.” Jasmine’s tone was harder as he asked, “Don’t you remember how you were also trying to get me to drive too? You even told me that you’d buy me a new car if I got over my fear and learnt to drive. You started it, so the accident was your fault.”
The accusation was enough to shock her mother into silence.
To be honest, Jasmine didn’t really think that the accident was her mother’s fault. That would’ve been almost as ridiculous as saying that it was Lucas’s fault. Still, if that was what it took to get Yolanda off Lucas’s back then she was prepared to use it.
Jasmine glared at her mother. “I can’t believe you would kick Lucas out because of an accident that wasn’t even his fault.”
“That wasn’t the only reason.” Yolanda puffed out angrily. “Fine, let’s say the accident was really an accident and not his fault. But that doesn’t change who he was. You know how he was back then. Reckless, hanging out with all those bad kids with his skateboard, smoking… he was awful.”
“He was a kid.” Jasmine couldn’t believe that her mother didn’t get it. “He needed understanding. Not judgment. He was still finding his way.”
“Well, he could find his way with someone else’s daughter. Not mine,” Yolanda retorted. “He wasn’t good enough for you back then.” She shot a glare at the door. “And certainly not now.”
“That’s not your call to make. Not back then. And certainly not now,” Jasmine countered. “He was my boyfriend. Not yours. You had no right to make him break up with me. It was my job to decide whether he was good enough for me or not. Not yours. I’ll decide whether I want to be with him.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Horror flashed in Yolanda’s eyes. “You want to be with him? Are you getting back together?”
“Why are you asking?” Jasmine demanded. “So you can push him out again?”
The guilt that flashed in her mother’s eyes was answer enough.
“I can’t believe you.” Jasmine shook her head disapprovingly as she turned on her heels and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Her mother called out behind her. “You haven’t answered my question.”
And she wasn’t going to. Jasmine slammed the door behind her.
Yeah, it was a parent’s job to look out for their child. But this was beyond looking out. It was straight up interference. The worst part was that Yolanda didn’t even understand what she’d done wrong. Forcing the break up wasn’t even the biggest problem. It was how she’d gone about it. Lucas had just been eighteen and still dealing with abandonment by both his parents. The only family he’d had then was the Mitchells. And look what they’d done to him.
She needed to talk to him.
Though she hadn’t carried her phone, she didn’t go back into the house for it. She already knew where he’d be. He was probably out in the parking lot. Protecting her as always.
CHAPTER 22
Lucas saw Jasmine coming through the rearview mirror, and immediately the muscles in his stomach tensed.
Yes, he’d been hurt by her mother’s words, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected. The moment Jasmine’s father, Wallace, had introduced him to Yolanda as a kid he was defending against robbery charges, Lucas had figured out that she didn’t like him. It was in the way she looked at him. It was in the way she never spoke to him first unless she needed something. When she did speak to him it was in a curt tone that left him feeling like someone was forcing her to talk to him. He’d once even overheard a conversation between her and her friend where she was complaining about him; talking about how she was afraid that he’d rob them blind one of these days and that Wallace was too nice for his own good.
At first it’d hurt to be treated that way, but he’d gotten used to it. Most people who learnt of his background and who his father was treated him the same way. Like he was a criminal too. Even when he’d started dating Jasmine, he’d known that Yolanda wouldn’t approve. It was why he’d wanted to keep it a secret. But Jasmine was an honest girl, and she didn’t like keeping secrets from her family.
However, what had convinced him to go along with her pleas to be truthful was when she’d told him that keeping him secret would make her feel like she was ashamed of him when she wasn’t. Even now he could still remember the pleasure that her words had brought him. No one had ever trusted him as much as she did. No one had ever accepted him just as he was.
When Lucas and Jasmine had revealed that they were dating, Wallace was happy. Yolanda wasn’t. But what could she do? She was outnumbered by her daughter and husband.
Now that he was older, Lucas realized that the older woman had used the accident as an opportunity to get rid of him. Still, he couldn’t blame her. No woman would be comfortable with her daughter dating a criminal-in-waiting. In her own way, Yolanda was taking care of Jasmine, protecting her. How could he hate her for that?
Jasmine’s tapping on the passenger-side window dragged him from his thoughts. With a sigh, Lucas opened the door for her. He expected her to start apologizing as soon as she was in the car. And she didn’t disappoint.
“I’m sorry.” Jasmine turned to face him once she was seated. “I’m sorry that she spoke to you that way.”
“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about,” Lucas said as he stared straight ahead. He was too embarrassed to look her straight in the eye. “And your mom is within her rights to say what she did.”
“No, she’s not. No one has a right to say the things she said.” Jasmine set her hand on his upper arm. She squeezed. “Are you okay?”
“Of course.” He forced a smile as he turned to face her. The worry that creased her face sent pain shuttling through him. Still, he kept his smile. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You don’t have to pretend you’re okay for me,” Jasmine said. When he didn’t say anything to that, she leaned forward and wound her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry.”
Lucas relaxed into her body, accepting the embrace. There was something about being held by her, having her warmth seeping into him and breathing in her feminine scent that eased the tension in his muscles. He closed his eyes and wound his arms around her waist to bring her closer.
In her embrace, the world stilled. In her arms, there were no painful memories, no wounds from the past. His mind was at peace. It was what he’d always loved about her. That she was the only woman who could make him feel this comforted, this cherished, this accepted. He almost groaned in disappointment when she ended the embrace.
Her gaze still on him, Jasmine sat back in her seat. “So that’s why you really left? Because my mom made you?”
“She didn’t make me,” he said. But he didn’t deny that she’d strongly encouraged it.
“You shouldn’t have listened to her,” Jasmine scolded.
“How could I not?” Lucas asked. “She’s your mother. And she and your father saved me.”
Even now, Lucas could still remember how scared he’d been at that time. Scared that he’d go to jail for something he didn’t do. Scared that he was really like his father and that he’d have to spend the rest of his life in jail too. Wallace had been godsend. Lucas still didn’t know how the man had got him off without any charges. But what had awed him was how Wallace had taken care of him even after the trial was over.
Wallace had brought Lucas home for dinner every night even though he was still at the group home. He’d enrolled Lucas in the same private school as his daughter on his own dime so he could attend all his parent-teacher meetings. He’d given him odd jobs around their home and his office so Lucas could earn a little money while keeping busy. The man had been more of a father than his own father had ever been and was a big part of the reason why Lucas wasn’t a criminal now. Wallace had saved him. And Yolanda was his wife. How could Lucas not listen to her when she’d begged him to leave her daughter alone?<
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“It doesn’t matter if she helped you out in the past,” Jasmine countered. “She still didn’t have a right to get involved in our relationship.”
“Yes, she did. You were just sixteen. It was her job to protect you and make sure you didn’t get involved with the wrong people.”
“But you were not one of those wrong people,” Jasmine insisted.
“But she didn’t know that,” Lucas defended. “Besides, she was right. I wasn’t good enough for you then. Just like I’m not good enough now.”
“That’s a bunch of…. What?” Jasmine paused. She frowned. “What do you mean you’re not good enough for me now?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t.” Her frown deepened. “I really don’t.”
He could’ve explained that she was way, way out of his league, but showing her was better. He started the car. “Put on your seatbelt.”
“Where are we going?” Jasmine asked as she followed his instructions.
“You’ll see.” He backed out of the parking spot, turned then sped out of her building’s expansive parking lot.
“Are you really not telling me where we’re going?” Jasmine prodded once they were on the main road.
“Patience. You’ll see.”
“Does it have anything to do with why you said you’re not good enough for me?”
“You’ll see.”
“Luuuc!” She huffed in frustration. “See what?”
He almost smiled. She’d always been so impatient when she couldn’t satisfy her curiosity. However, the instinct to smile faded as he neared his home. His neighborhood wasn’t as affluent as hers was. There were no feats of architecture here, nothing to gasp in awe about or look at with amazement. The buildings that lined the streets were practical and almost uniform in their ability to evoke zero emotions. Like they’d been built for only one purpose – to be slept in and nothing more.
“Where are we?” Jasmine asked when they stopped in front of his building’s gate.