Page 104 of Adam & Eve

hand down his face. “I didn’t mean that. We’ll make it work.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that, or why there was a sudden ache in my chest, so I said

nothing. He returned to his seat then we both sat, pretending to eat. Neither one of us confident that

whatever we had, would work.

A quote from a book I’d read a few months prior popped into my head suddenly: “You can

pretend for a long time, but one day it all falls away and you are alone.”

Coincidently it was from a book about a white man who drove a Black woman crazy.

Pretending wouldn’t work, not for long. What happened when it all fell apart?

T W E N T Y - S E V E N

“Are you sure you know everything about her?”

When my father popped up on campus, I was only slightly annoyed by his presence, because I

expected him. Him mentioning Eve turned his unwanted visit into an unpleasant one. He leaned back

in his chair with a smug and pleased expression on his face. His eyes locked with mine awaiting my

reaction.

I cocked my head to the side, studied him and wondered in what direction he was going with

his questioning and would the end result be me having to kill him? Probably. He was ruthless, and I

knew what length he’d go to remove Eve from my life. He wanted to have an image of the perfect

family, and in his mind, Eve skewed that image.

“I’m sure,” I answered simply then waited for him to elaborate.

However, knowing my father, if he did know anything of importance about her, he’d keep it

locked away until he had no other choice but to tell me or use it against me. Whichever came first.

His face hardened at my answer. But he nodded his acceptance. He changed the subject.

“What is it about her, son? For years she’s been your singular focus.”

“She made me feel.”

It was that simple. From day one my reaction to her had been visceral. For someone like me,

that meant something.

“That’s it? She made you feel?” He fell back against the chair, throwing his hands up. “That

bullshit. In my time you didn’t worry about feelings. Black and white didn’t mix. You should be

getting ready to give your mother grandkids and taking over my position. Not losing your head over a

fucking black bitch. All nig—”