Smokescreen (A Broken Lives Short Story #2)

by Marita A. Hansen

  “Like he shouldn’t be stalking me, tryna catch me cheating. It’s all in there, every fucked-up thing he does in black and white. But I don’t cheat, cos none of my clients mean jack shit to me, plus I’ve—”

  I cut him off, “Well, Jade means sumpthin’ to me, so bloody stop stringing the poor bastard along. Christ knows why, but he’s fallen in love with you.”

  “That’s not my fault.”

  “The hell it ain’t. You’re in his bed more times than not. Stop bleeding him emotionally and financially dry.”

  “Don’t be so fuckin’ dramatic.”

  “I’m not! You’re hurting Jade, you selfish cunt, and I want it to stop!”

  “You can’t tell me what to do.”

  “You wanna bet.” I turned and left the room.

  He followed me out. “Where the fuck do ya think you’re goin’? This convo ain’t over.”

  “It will be soon.” I opened my bedroom door, heading for my baby boy. Tyson was in his cot, looking like he’d just woken up, the yelling probably causing it. I bent over the railing, cooing at my little darling. Even though I was furious with my father, I gave my boy a big smile, Tyson always able to get one out of me.

  I slipped my hands under him and picked him up, cradling his little head, his wispy black hair so soft to touch. Melting a little, I placed him against my bare chest, my leather jacket pulling apart. My shirt had gotten wet at work, so I’d just left it off. I turned to my dad, who’d finally gone quiet, clearly not wanting to startle Tyson.

  “Do ya wanna keep seein’ your mokopuna?” I asked, saying the Māori word for grandchild, and by Dad’s widening eyes he was clearly picking up on the threat.

  “You wouldn’t,” he rasped, knowing damn well what I was getting at.

  “You wanna keep seein’ your grandson, you better back the fuck off from Jade. You might not give a shit ’bout hurting him, but I do. He’s my friend and I won’t let you destroy him like you destroyed Mum.”

  Dad’s eyes went even wider. “That wuz low, son.”

  I grimaced, knowing he was right. “Unfortunately, it’s still true. But what makes this worse is that you aren’t under the influence. You’re purposely ruining Jade through your own selfishness. All you see is a cash cow, while all I see is a mate. I won’t let you do it anymore. Go back to Killer. You two can ruin each other’s lives cos you’re exactly the same.”

  Dad narrowed his eyes at me. “You think I’m the callous bastard? You’re the one using your own son against his grandfather. That’s fuckin’ low, even for you, Dante.”

  “How low is it to swindle money off a man who you know loves you? How low is it to claim you’re just fucking women for the cash when you go on and on ’bout how much you love tits right in front of your boyfriend, a boyfriend who is so in love with you he regresses into a girl when it gets too much for him to handle. You go on ’bout all this abusive behaviour Killer throws at you when you throw a shit ton back. You also say you love him. Well, prove it. Stop thinking ’bout yourself for once in your bloody life and give sumpthin’ up for him, cos that’s love, Dad. You do things to make the person you love happy, not to make yourself happy.”

  Dad blinked at me, looking a touch dumbfounded.

  “So, what will it be?” I said. “Seein’ your grandson or milking Jade of cash and cum at his and your boyfriend’s expense?”

  He grimaced. “I choose Tyson.”

  “Which means what exactly?”

  “I’ll leave, but you,” he jabbed a finger at me, “can explain why to Jade. You made this decision, deal with the tears that come with it, cos he will cry, like he did the last time I left. I only came back cos he wouldn’t stop phoning me, leaving messages for me to return. Tell him to stop it. It’s not as easy as you think to walk away from someone so persistent.”

  “I will.”

  Dad frowned, then stepped in closer, holding his arms out for Tyson. I passed my boy over, my dad taking him into his arms. He placed him against his chest, kissing his grandson’s head, a look of adoration on his face. He started murmuring to Tyson, calling him a beautiful boy.

  A door slammed downstairs, pulling my attention away from my dad and son. Dad ignored it, the big, tough man a complete marshmallow when it came to his grandson. I left them alone with Clara, who was hovering nearby, clearly not trusting my dad to be alone with Tyson.

  I spotted my manager at the bottom of the staircase. Jade looked up at me with wide eyes, his pretty boy Korean face flustered, which meant some of the reporters were still outside.

  He rushed up the staircase to me. “I got a call from a neighbour about what was happening,” he said, his thick Texan accent clashing with his Asian looks. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Why aren’t you with L? She’ll need you now more than ever.”

  “He went back into the auditorium, refusing to leave,” Jade replied, calling L a he, even though everyone else called my intersex guitarist a she. It was probably another reason why the video had gone viral. People were curious about what pretty little L had in her pants.

  Jade continued, “Then I got a call about what was happening here. Nike promised to look after L, so I came straight over.”

  I grimaced. “Both her and my bro have unleashed a right clusterfuck. I had to tell the reporters it wuz him, not me. I didn’t wanna lump Ash in it, but I couldn’t have people thinking I’d cheated on Clara. I have a woman and son to think of.”

  “And fans.”

  “I don’t give a fuck ’bout ’em. The dirty perverts are pro’bly frigging themselves to the video of my bro and L right now.” I grimaced. “This will fuck shit up bad for Ash. His ex will defo stop him from seein’ his son cos of it. Tiana can get right vindictive at times. That bitch Kara has a lot to answer for cos I know it wuz her who leaked those photos and vid, especially after what she did to me.” My ex had put hidden cameras in my bedroom a while back—and it looked like she’d done the same to my bro.

  Jade exhaled. “Little we can do now, other than you need to warn Ash. The reporters are most likely on their way to his place right now if they know it’s him and not you.”

  My face dropped. “Fuck, why didn’t I think of that?”

  I quickly pulled out my mobile, phoning through to my bro. He picked up on the second ring, his hello being cut short. He barked, “Back off!” at someone on the other end of the line, the person’s reply too garbled to understand. Then everything exploded. Ash let out a roar, accompanied by Tiana shouting “No, Ash!” A male voice cried out in pain, my brother clearly having hit someone. The slamming of a door followed, along with a continual stream of Ash saying, “Fuck, fuck, fuck...”

  “Why did you do that?!” Tiana shouted at him, her voice just as clear as my bro’s.

  “He wuz in my face!” Ash yelled back.

  “You didn’t have to hit him.”

  “He got in my space!”

  “Ash!” I barked into the phone.

  He stopped hollering. “Dante?” he answered.

  “Yes, what the fuck just happened?”

  “I punched someone.”

  “Who?”

  “A bastard reporter, he wouldn’t stop spewing shit at me.”

  “You don’t bloody hit reporters, bro, no matter how much you wanna.”

  “Why the fuck not? He wuz on my property, sayin’ shit ’bout me and L.”

  “Dude, they can arrest you for assault.”

  “It wuz self-defence.”

  “No it wasn’t,” Tiana snapped. “You’re a brute, Ash Rata, a brute!”

  “Just can it, Tiana.”

  “I will not can it! This is it, I can’t have you bringing such violence into our son’s life.”

  “I hit one prick and you’re using that to keep me away from my son? You’re a piece of work, Tiana. I don’t even know why the hell I’d thought you’d changed.”

  “Don’t you dare criticise me. You’re the one getting your dick blown by a woman
you claim is only a friend.”

  “That wuz all she wuz until a coupla days ago. I’m not a bloody eunuch. She stripped in front of me, no man can turn someone like L down.”

  “You should’ve for me, for your son! And I don’t believe you, you’ve always had a thing for L. I swear if she didn’t leave for Wales all those years ago, you’d have ended up with her instead of me.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Then why did you go with her as soon as we split? We’ve been apart barely a week and you’re already at it.”

  “Well, I wuzn’t gettin’ anything from you.”

  “Because you wouldn’t lemme touch you! You kept turning me down, telling me you were too tired—”

  “Cos you worked me to the fuckin’ bone and worse, you ignored my daughter.”

  “I work hard too and apologised for the way I behaved around Lily. I tried my hardest with her.”

  “Too little too late, and you work hard? How’s the school holidays goin’ for ya, eh? Nice for some to get continual breaks. Unlike you teachers, labourers don’t get that luxury. I work two backbreaking jobs without barely a breather just so we don’t go bust. It would’ve been nice if you did some extra tutoring to help out.”

  “I have to spend time with Angelo during the break.”

  “Don’t I deserve to spend some time with my son too? I also have to spend time with my daughter. Or doesn’t Lily matter cos she’s not yours?”

  “Don’t be like that, Ash.”

  “Like what? Bitter that you ignored my baby girl for months, carrying a massive grudge cos I had her with another woman. Well, Tiana, newsflash, I wuzn’t with you when I conceived Lily like I’m not with you now, so I can do whatever the fuck I like without you gettin’ on my case.”

  “No, you can’t, you have a responsibility to your son.”

  “Which I damn well want, but you won’t lemme see him, which stops right ’ere and now or I’ll take you to court for shared custody.”

  “And what happens when they find out you used to be a drug dealer, Ash? Also, what happens when they hear about you punching reporters in the face? You’ll be lucky to get visits let alone shared custody.”

  “I never thought you’d stoop this low, Tiana, never. I don’t fuckin’ know you anymore. You’re not the woman I fell in love with. Leave.”

  All went quiet on the other end of the line. Ignoring Jade asking what was happening, I clutched onto my phone, waiting for Tiana’s reply.

  A sob finally broke the silence. “Ash,” she cried. “Why are you doing this to me? I love you so much.”

  My brother didn’t reply.

  “Please say something, you’re killing me.”

  “Leave,” he said again.

  “You can’t do this.”

  “When you use my son against me, I will bloody do a helluva lot worse.”

  “I didn’t mean it.”

  “You’ve kept him from me before. For eighteen months I had to fight for every visit. Eighteen fuckin’ months. And you think I’m bein’ cruel.”

  “Because it’s so hard seeing you while not being with you. Please, Ash, I love you. I don’t want to split up. You told me last year that this was it, we’re together for good.”

  “I wuz wrong.”

  “No, you weren’t! Please, just give me another chance.”

  “Why do you even want one after I went with L?”

  “You were right before, we weren’t together when you did that. And I already said I love you. We’ve been together since we were kids. I know we split for a while in between, but don’t give up on me. I will do anything to make this right, even sell up and move back to South Auckland so you don’t have to work so much. I’ll also chip in with looking after Lily. I can grow to love her, be the mother she doesn’t have,” Lily’s mother having died in a road accident. “We can be a family once more.”

  Ash didn’t reply, most likely not wanting to make up, my bro not the forgiving type. He held grudges, allowing them to fester, like he’d done to our father even though Dad had bent over backwards to make things right.

  “Please, baby,” Tiana begged, making my heart break for her. Despite Ash hating Dad, he was the same at times—a cold-hearted bastard. “Name anything and I’ll do it.”

  “I’m sorry, Tiana,” he finally spoke, his voice softening. “I think it’s best that we make a clean break.”

  “No! Just give me one more chance. I promise you won’t regret it.” When he didn’t reply, she continued, “How about you sleep on it? You’re tired and upset, we’ll sort things out after you’ve had a good rest.”

  “I don’t get rests, Tiana. I have to get Lily to her grandma’s, then head out for my first shift.”

  “The weekend then. I know you have Saturday morning off.”

  “Fine,” Ash exhaled. “But only to discuss arrangements for Angelo.”

  “Don’t you think your son deserves to have both his parents under the same roof?”

  For a second I thought he was going to say no, but instead he muttered, “Okay.”

  “Thank you, Ash. We’ll work this out, like we always do.” What sounded like a kiss came through the line, then a few seconds later a door closed.

  “Ash?” I said.

  “Yeah,” he answered, sounding defeated.

  “Talk to me, bro. It didn’t sound like you wanted to give her another shot?”

  “You heard the whole thing?”

  “Yeah, sorry, you two weren’t exactly quiet. I’m sure my neighbours heard too.”

  “Don’t exaggerate.”

  “So, are ya really gonna get back with her cos of Angelo?” I pushed on.

  “I don’t wanna, but I feel trapped. If I don’t get back with her, she’ll defo keep Angelo from me, and she’s right ’bout the courts. I won’t get shared custody.”

  “Then give her one more chance. Move back to South Auckland like she suggested, cos a lot of this tension between the two of you is due to you bein’ overworked. If you keep working like this you’re gonna end up in an early grave. Or how ’bout you grow a brain and sign that bloody contract Jade offered you. I don’t know why you hafta be so bull-headed. Singing pays a shitload more than working as a labourer.”

  “I don’t wanna sing, I wanna make art.”

  “You don’t have the time to do your art now anyway, so it makes no difference on that front, and at least you’ll get good money singing. Make a name for yourself, then shift over to art. People will buy your work just cos you’re a famous singer.”

  “It’s not guaranteed that I’ll be successful as a singer. My taste in music isn’t as mainstream as yours, and in all truth, I don’t wanna be famous like you. Artists don’t get reporters banging on their doors. They also don’t get fanatical fans following them everywhere. That sucks, man, I need my privacy.”

  “You don’t even get that now. You said my fans follow you around, thinking you’re me. Now you even have reporters at your door, and it won’t stop, especially with this video goin’ viral. You might as well get paid for it.”

  “This fuckin’ sucks.”

  “I know, bro, but there’s li’l you can do ’bout it. At least with singing you’ll be able to provide well for your kids. Actually, you’ll even be able to afford that massive mortgage of yours, which means you won’t hafta move back to South Auckland. Sign the contract.”

  “What ’bout L? She works there. I’ll hafta work with her, won’t I? It’ll be damn awkward after what we did, and if I do decide to give Tiana another chance, she’ll be on my case day and night ’bout L. I’ll still be trapped. Maybe I should just give up chicks for a while. I’m sick of their emotional blackmail. They’re either ripping strips outta me or crying and begging for my forgiveness. It’s a right head-fuck.”

  “Have ya spoken to L since the leaks?”

  “No. Have you?”

  “Yeah, she burst into tears when she found out.”

  He swore. “I should ring her.�
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  “You just said you’re done with chicks, now you wanna phone L? You seem more concerned with L’s tears than Tiana’s. That’s telling, bro, real telling.”

  “But L’s—”

  “No buts, Ash, you were ready to call her after one mention of tears, yet you had Tiana bawling in front of you and you still don’t wanna talk to her. If L didn’t go nuts at you, do ya think we’d even be having this convo ’bout you wanting to give up chicks?”

  “You ain’t Doc Phil, so cut the psychobabble bullshit.”

  “It’s not psychobabble if it’s true. I think you’re holding out on me ’bout L.”

  He went quiet, my brother definitely hiding something, his silence confirmation.

  I pushed forward. “Is it cos you love her?”

  He hung up.

  I moved the phone away from my ear and stared down at it, not believing he’d done that.

  “What happened?” Jade asked.

  I turned my gaze to him. “I think my bro loves L.”

  “He said that?”

  “No, he hung up when I asked if he did.”

  “But he didn’t say it.”

  “I know my brother and he avoids questions when he doesn’t wanna answer ’em. If it wuz a no he would’ve told me. He defo loves her.”

  “Holy shit!” Dad said behind me.

  I turned to him. He was no longer holding Tyson, my boy now in Clara’s arms. She was also looking at me with surprise.

  “So, he loves the hermaphy,” Dad said. “Well, ’bout time he admitted it. Had a feeling he had a major boner for her, and who can blame him? She’s a right hot li’l number, I’d bang her too, though I’d hafta teach her how to suck cock properly cos she’s rubbish at it. She wuz gagging on your bro’s cock like he had an anaconda.” He grinned. “Actually, he has. He gets that from me.” He nudged Jade, who looked stunned. “Isn’t that right, sweet cheeks. You love big Rata cock like your li’l mate, you just suck it better. No worries, I’ll teach her how to become a real good cocksucker. She’s more than welcome to practice on my anaconda.” He grinned like he thought he was being funny.

  “Dad!” I snapped, my eyes flicking to Jade, who looked like he’d been slapped with a wet fish. “Think before speaking.”