The next day, Eric pulled the Audi into the parking spot facing the public park. He shut off the car and looked out on the grassy area. There were kids running around, playing on the swing sets, chasing their dogs as their parents sat on nearby benches watching them.
He stepped out the car, just as Jess pulled up beside him in a black Infiniti sedan with tinted windows.
The driver’s side door opened, and Jess stepped out, wearing a denim jacket, jeans, and heels. “Morning, Eric,” Jess said, walking around the car, toward the back door.
“What’s going on, Jess? Why’d you ask to meet me here?”
Jess ignored the question, continued around the car, and opened the back door.
From the other side of the car, Eric said, “You ain’t going to answer my question? You call the police on me. Now this. Why you ask me to come out here?”
Jess looked up at Eric from over the roof of the car. “Have a little patience and you’ll find out,” Jess said, lowering her head into the car.
From his side, Eric couldn’t see into the dark windows, so he slowly walked around the car to see what Jess was up to.
He got a glimpse inside the backseat. First he saw a pair of little legs, a portion of a child’s car seat, then as Jess hoisted her from it, Eric looked into his daughter’s face for the first time in two years.
The child was bright-eyed and more beautiful than Eric remembered. She had big, black pupils, a button nose, and a dimple in her cheek, just like her mother’s. Her hair was shiny and brushed back into one long, thick, braided ponytail.
She wore a pink outfit that matched the ribbons around her braid.
Jess set Maya down in front of her father.
Eric stared down at the little girl, wanting to cry at how beautiful she was.
“Do you know who that is?” Jess asked Maya.
Maya looked up at Eric with her big eyes and scooted a little closer to her mother, grabbing her leg. She shook her head, shyly stuck a finger in her mouth, and in a soft voice said, “No.”
Eric laughed.
“That’s your father. Can you give your daddy a hug?” Jess said, kneeling down to Maya. “Give your daddy a hug, then we’ll let you go play on the swings.”
Maya looked over her shoulder at the swings and all the kids playing on them, then turned to Eric, extending her arms.
Eric laughed again, quickly kneeled down, and took his little girl in an embrace. He squeezed her as tight as he dared, and as much as he fought it, he could not stop a tear from falling from his eye.
Ten minutes later, Jess had told Eric everything. They sat on a bench just outside the playground, and watched Maya play with the other children.
“So you’re admitting it,” Eric said, a hurtful expression on his face. “You and everyone else who testified against me lied. Why the fuck you telling me now, Jess?” Eric said, his voice low.
Jess lowered her head in shame, then looked up. “The guilt. It was wrong, I know that. You’re her father. I know you love her, and you never mistreated her, but—”
“But what?” Eric stood from the bench.
“But I couldn’t have her grow up the way I did. You know my—”
“I know, your old man was in prison, and all he did was disappoint you. But I ain’t your old man.”
“I wasn’t taking any chances. You were gone. I was raising her alone. I wasn’t going to take a chance on that being my life, her life,” Jess said, standing in front of him. “It killed me to do it. To tell my family to lie, to sit in that room and lie myself.”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“There’s nothing that can be done.”
Eric grabbed Jess tight by the shoulders. “What do you mean, nothing? You can go back—”
“I can’t. It’s done. And even if I could, I wouldn’t. The steps I took were wrong, but I think the decision was right.”
Eric released Jess, turned his back on her in disgust. “Then why you bring me here?”
“I wanted you to see Maya. And if you want, I want you to continue to see her.”
Eric spun around. “But you had my rights taken.”
“That doesn’t mean you aren’t still her father,” Jess said. “We can start slow, a couple of times a month. You can come by and visit her if you like.”
Eric glared at Jess, hoping he was hiding at least some of the hate he was feeling for her that moment. “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”
“I can understand how you feel, but—”
“No, you can’t! You lied and took my daughter away from me. That didn’t happen to you, so don’t say you know how the fuck I feel.”
“You’re right,” Jess apologized. “But I don’t want you not to see Maya, because you’re mad at me. She didn’t do anything wrong. And I know you won’t have rights, and legally, Quentin will be her father, but you can still be in her life. What do you say, Eric?”
Eric looked across the park and watched his little girl playing on the slide. He had missed over half her life already. He didn’t want to miss any more. “Fine. I’ll see her when you let me.”
“Good,” Jess said, seeming genuinely happy. “But there is one condition.”
“What is that?”
“If you ever get in trouble with the law again, it will be the last time you see Maya.”