Jalen had been driving aimlessly for hours after his blowup at his parents’ house. He replayed the entire afternoon over and over again in his head and couldn’t come to terms with the fact that his parents had been lying to him his entire life. They had broken his trust, and things between them would never be the same. He found himself driving northbound on Cicero Avenue, and he was doing 50 mph in a 35-mph zone before he got stopped by Crestwood’s finest.
“License and insurance, sir,” the officer instructed.
“Okay,” Jalen handed him his driver’s license and insurance card that he already had out before the officer approached his car.
He sat on the side of the street at 137th and Cicero for roughly fifteen minutes before two more police cars showed up on the scene.
“Damn, what’s the problem?” Jalen asked himself.
It was then that he realized he was being racially profiled, and the officer who originally stopped him approached the vehicle again.
“Please step out of the car and keep your hands where I can see them,” the officer ordered.
“What did I do, officer?” Jalen asked.
“Just step out of the vehicle, sir,” the officer said forcefully.
The three officers proceeded to search his car, and the search lasted an additional fifteen minutes. Their search came up empty, and the lead officer then asked him, “What are you doing on this side of town?”
“I like Portello’s, so I’m out here to buy an Italian beef sandwich,” Jalen thought quickly on his feet.
“There’s a Portello’s closer to you in Homewood,” the officer said.
“I know, but I was visiting a friend nearby,” Jalen said.
“Okay, you were doing 50 mph in a 35-mph zone,” the officer said. “I’m going to give you a warning this time. Keep your speed down.”
“Yes, sir,” Jalen said.
The officer handed him his license, insurance, and a citation back, and Jalen slowly drove off. He made sure that he turned right at 135th Street and away from Crestwood’s jurisdiction. He belted out a sigh of relief and knew that he was stopped because he was a young black man driving an expensive luxury car.
He had decided to pay Lisa a visit because he felt that he had nobody else to confide in. He made a right at Kedzie Avenue and drove southbound to 159th Street and turned left in the direction of Lisa’s apartment. He got there in about ten minutes and parked in a space in front of her apartment.
“Hey, Lisa, are you home?” Jalen had called her cell phone.
“Yes, I am,” Lisa answered. “Are you okay?”
“I know that we agreed to give each other some space, but I really need to talk to someone.”
“Sure, that’s fine. Where are you?”
“I’m in the parking lot outside.”
“Alright, I’ll leave the door unlocked for you.”
Jalen turned off his engine and got out. He opened the door and could smell the fried chicken that Lisa was cooking in the kitchen. The look on his face said a mouthful as she stopped what she was doing to greet him with a hug and kiss on his cheek.
“What’s wrong, baby?” she asked as she rubbed his back.
“Everything,” he answered. “This is by far the worst day of my life, Lisa, and I don’t know what to do next.”
“Sit down, and I’ll fix you a plate of food.”
“I can eat later. I don’t have much of an appetite right now.”
“Tell me what’s going on.”
They sat down on the sofa, and he took a deep breath and said, “Dad called for a family meeting today to discuss you…”
“Oh, really?” she asked.
“Yep, and he let everything out the bag. Needless to say, my brothers and sisters weren’t very happy.”
“I’m so sorry, Jalen.”
“That’s only the half of it. He got really self-righteous when Jillian went in on him, but John came to her defense…”
“Wow, that’s crazy.”
“Tell me about it.”
“So, what happened after that?”
“I lost my temper and couldn’t hold my tongue anymore.”
“What did you say?”
“I told the family about us…”
“Jalen, we agreed that you weren’t going to say anything about us. Damn…”
“I know, but that’s not even the worse part of the afternoon, Lisa. My mom dropped the ultimate bombshell on us when she said that she had an affair right after Dad moved out, and she also said that he wasn’t my biological father…”
“What the hell did you say?” she asked in shock.
“My mom basically told all of us that my dad is not really my dad…”
She mulled over what he had disclosed to her momentarily and said, “So, we’re not brother and sister…”
“No, we’re not,” he said in a dejected tone. “My dad asked my mom point blank who got her pregnant, and her answer was that it wasn’t important who the father was…they simply disregarded the fact that I was upset, confused, and felt betrayed by both of them, and they started arguing with each other like no one else was in the room.”
“Don’t worry…everything’s going to work itself out, baby, okay?”
“Half of my identity is now a complete mystery to me, and all that she could do was dismiss it like it meant nothing to her.”
She sat closer to him and gently placed both of her hands on his face and kissed him on the forehead before she said, “I know that you’re confused about everything right now, but I know who you are, Jalen. Nothing has changed for me.”
“And who is that, Lisa?”
“You’re the man I fell in love with,” she kissed him softly on his lips.
They passionately began to kiss each other before he pulled away and said, “I love you, too, Lisa.”
“Come on, let’s go.”
She grabbed his hand and led him to her bedroom before she removed his blue Nike t-shirt. She then unfastened her bra and let it fall to the floor, and she removed her white t-shirt and tossed it aside while he quickly removed his Nike Air Force Ones and jeans. She looked ravishing to him wearing nothing but a pair of tight boy shorts, and she was aroused by his chiseled muscles and ripped abs.
He then picked her up and carried her to the bed and gently laid her down before he climbed on top of her. He slowly kissed her lips, neck, and bosom―making sure that he took his time with his hands, lips, and tongue while learning what turned her body on the most. He caressed and kissed her abdomen and removed her shorts before he said, “Are you sure that you want to do this? Because there’s no turning back.”
“Yes, baby, I’m sure,” she answered.
They made sweet love for hours, and before they knew it, darkness had set in on a warm and breezy Sunday night. He had wrapped his arms around her as she laid her head on his chest. He looked at the clock on her dresser that read 9:37 pm.
“Are you okay, Jalen?” she asked.
“Yeah, I was just thinking, that’s all,” he answered.
“What were you thinking?”
“Where do we go from here?”
“We’ll just take things one day at a time.”
“I don’t know how to be around my family, and how am I supposed to be around my parents now that I know the truth?”
“You will figure it out, baby.”
“I’m not sure if I want to figure it out, Lisa. I don’t trust them anymore, and I don’t know what’s real or what’s fake.”
“I’m sure that they never meant to hurt you, Jalen. Just give it some time.”
“I don’t know if I can do that. How would you feel if your mother betrayed you like my parents betrayed me?”
“Probably the same way that you’re feeling right now.”
“And Dad…how do you really feel about him?”
“I don’t know…I guess I still feel residual anger toward him, but I don’t hate him anymore. At least he was a dad to you growing up…he’s nothing more than a father to me.”
“Yeah, he was a dad to me even though he’s not my father, and he wasn’t a dad to you even though he is your father. This new reality of ours sounds absolutely crazy.”
She sighed and said, “Well, at least we have each other, Jalen, and that’s the only thing that matters to me right now.”
He kissed her on the lips and said, “I love you, Lisa. Thank you for being there for me.”
“I love you, too, Jalen, and I’d do anything for you.”
“Can we eat? I’m absolutely starving right now.”
“Of course, baby. Come on, I’ll warm up our food right now.”