( @beecarsen / @thesada / @angstfactory [Jesse] )
"You keep feeding me like this I'm going to lose my girlish figure," he teased Bee lovingly, tapping his stomach with a chuckle. Their Friday night dinners had quickly become his favorite part of the week, especially when Jesse agreed to sit-in and join them. It made Charles feel like a proud father and they were a real family. If only he could convince the man to join more often. Thinking of....
"Heard from Jess lately?" he asked as he started to help Bee clear the table. "Boy's missed our last two dinners n'now he ain't answerin' calls," he added simply, though worry laced itself through his words.
As if on cue, Charles' cell began to ring. Speak of the devil. "'Bout time ya lil shit. Where tha hell ya been?" he lovingly answered, fully expecting to hear Jesse on the other line.
"Nice to hear your voice too," Melinda greeted in return.
He held the phone a bit away from his mouth, as if Melinda wouldn't hear him saying his farewells to Bee. "I gotta take this Beezy. I'll see ya next Friday n'when Jess gets home make sure ya tear him a new one for missin' dinner. Don' let 'im give ya no excuses, ya hear?" he told her with a hug ans a kiss to the top of her head before heading outside to deal with his blast from the past.
"What the fuck are you doin' callin' me Mel? M'prettt sure I made it clear tha last time ya tried ta come 'round that I ain't interested anymore," he shot out harshly once the front door was shut behind him.
"Fuck you right back Chuck. What's the matter? Can't a girl just call up an old friend?"
Charles didn't even bother fighting off the scoff the fell from him. "Friend my ass. You only call when you want money, dope, or dick. And all three are off the table. So what the fuck do you want now?"
"Awww. Come on Chucky Boy. Not even a romp for old time's sake? Dont tell me Sada finally stopped sharing the goods? Might want to tell Beezy that."
"No, my wife hasn't stopped sharing, I have. N'you keep Bee's name outta your filthy mouth. So I suggest you tell me why the fuck you've called or it was nice catching up, don't call again."
"Wife?" This time Melinda was the one who let a scoff escape, only hers was filled with shock and disappointment. "Never saw you as the settling down type."
"Yea, well, I ain't young anymore n'people change. Now what the fuck do you want?"
She sighed with obvious defeat. Charles didnt care. Melinda had been a thorn in his side the past three-plus decades and Jesse's mother had done little to change his mind, his opinion only worsening over the years.
"Ivan's in the hospital and it isn't looking good," she finally told him.
"And? Why the fuck would I give two shits about what happens to that scumbag?"
He could care less about Ivan Cowen. He was ready for the grim reaper to make its visit and drag the asshole straight to Hell where he belonged.
"Because the hospital called and that scumbag is gonna die leaving your precious Jesse on his own if..."
"Long as m'around Jesse ain't gonna be on his own," he cut in. "I don't care f'he ain't mine, you know well as I do v'been there more for that boy than that piece of shit Ivan. Let him die. Good fucking riddance."
"...he doesn't get a blood transfusion and your boy ain't answering his phone," she went on as if he hadn't said a thing. "And I think that's probably cause he found out he isn't a match."
He had noticed Jesse had gone quieter than usual. But what did Ivan's plight about not being a match have to do with that? "Okay?"
"Are you even fucking listening Chuck? HE'S NOT A MATCH!"
"Yea I fucking get it. Jesse can't save his deadbeat dad cause their types ain't the same. Don't tell me you're callin' to see if I'll try and match up?!"
"God you are so fucking thick, aren't you? Jesse isn't a match because he isn't his!"
His heart stopped when she said Jesse wasn't Ivan's kid. He was sure it had stopped. Jesse wasn't Ivan's. And Melinda was calling him out of the blue to let him in on the secret. That had to mean only one thing.
"What do you mean he isn't his?" he asked quietly, needing to hear the confirmation after being denied the very same insistence since she'd found out she was pregnant.
"I mean," she started, taking a deep breath. "Ivan isn't Jesse's father. You are."
The world around him slowed to a halt. One hundred percent his heart stopped beating. His lungs willingly vacated the air sustaining life within them. His blood ran cold. His brain started short-circuiting. The phone fell from his hand and hit the ground, cracking the screen, unnoticed and uncared for. After all these years fighting, wishing, wanting, only to find out that....
"Chuck?" Mel's voice rang out quietly from the receiver. "Charles are you there?!"
He blinked himself back to Bee's driveway and scrambled to pick up his phone. "Jesse is..."
"Yours," she finished for him. "And like I said, he ain't answering his phone. I called you cause you're so damn close, I thought he might have called you. So, have you talked to him?" she went on as if it was no big deal what she'd just told him, her envy over their relationship obvious.
Anger swelled with her nonchalance. All the wasted fucking years because she refused to admit what he'd been saying all along. Charles may not have been perfect, but GOD-FUCKING-DAMNIT how different Jesse's life would have been if he could have taken him like he'd wanted, had he only known then what she was so casually throwing out as fact now.
"You fucking bitch," he snarled through the phone. "You fucking, good-for-nothing, deadbeat, piece of shit, cunt. I don't care why you're tryin' to get ahold of Jess, but you so much as think about comin' back into his life again, I'll fucking kill you. And if you ever try to get in touch with me again, you'll finally get to meet Sada. Rot in Hell shitbag," he cursed her, hitting end before she could even attempt to defend herself.
His skin was crawling and he couldn't stop the shiver that had begun to wash over him as he got on his bike. His heart had finally begun to beat again, racing so fast that he wasn't so sure he wasn't in the throes of a heart attack. His breath was hard to catch as he started the motorcycle and backed out of Bee's driveway. Unsure if it was luck or shock that he hadn't need to use his brain to think about where he was headed once he pulled off and headed toward the salvage yard.
