“Did you miss me last week, Doc?” Basil asked as he took a seat.
“I was a little worried.”
“Don’t worry, I know the rules. You’ll get your check,” Basil smirked.
“I’m not worried about that. What happened? Did you ever hear from Raymond?”
“Yeah, I did, and he had a good reason for standing me up. He left me a message. His father had a stroke. He sounded pretty sad, but I’m not here to talk about Raymond,” Basil said.
“So what would you like to talk about?”
“I’m thinking my pops has been lying to me,” Basil said without emotion.
“About what?”
“I think Campbell is telling the truth. Matter of fact, I’m willing to bet she’s telling the truth.”
“About her being your half sister?”
“Yeah, I think me and Campbell are related.”
“Why do you believe her now?”
“About a week ago, I’m leaving the gym and Campbell is standing out front. The first thing I think is, now this bitch is going to start stalking me and I’m going to have to find another gym or contact the police. But when I saw her, I was just going to ignore her and walk past her.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“She had this little boy with her. He had a little football in his one hand and the other hand in his mouth. When I looked at him, I couldn’t believe how much this boy looked like me. His eyes were exactly like mine. The color of his skin. His nose, even though it’s small, looked like mine. It was like I was looking at myself as a child,” Basil said.
“Who was this child?”
“It was Campbell’s little boy. His name is Cade. I mean, Doc, when I looked at him, I couldn’t believe it. I stared at Campbell and then I started wondering if I had slept with her. I mean the little boy was about six years old. I started thinking that if I hadn’t slept with her, maybe she had pulled one of those stunts you hear that women do all the time. You know, giving their girlfriends the semen of somebody famous. But I’m hipped to that shit, and I always make sure I dispose of the condoms. At least with women, ’cause I know how sneaky they can be.”
“What did you say to Campbell?”
“I looked at her and asked, ‘Who is this?’ ”
“Did she answer you?”
“Yeah. She said this is Cade, your nephew.”
“How did that make you feel?”
After a considerable silence, Basil stood up, trying to organize his feelings. He felt angry, he felt betrayed, and yet he was excited about his new family. Yet his emotions attacked him from every direction.
“At first I was mad, because, Doc, I could look at this little boy and tell that he was a part of my family. I even wished he wasn’t just my nephew but my son,” Basil said as he sat back down.
“Why?”
“ ’Cause he’s a great kid. After we talked for a few minutes, Campbell asked me if I’d like to spend some time with Cade. That let me know she wasn’t fakin’.”
“And what did you do?”
“At first, I was a bit hesitant. I mean, I haven’t spent a lot of time with kids, but something made me say yes. And we had a great time. He can already play some video games and we went to this playground down in the Village and got on the swings. I mean, we had a ball. Last Saturday I took him to my place and rented the movie The Lion King and we went to that big toy store on Fifth Avenue and Cade ran me crazy. He’s going to be some type of athlete. Says he wants to play hockey so I promised to teach him how to ice-skate. I didn’t tell him I had to learn first. It was wonderful,” Basil said, smiling.
“What’s that smile about?”
“It’s something Cade said to me when I took him home.”
“What did he say?”
“He wouldn’t let go of my hand, and when I tried to shake it loose, you know in a playful way, he said, ‘Uncle Basil, stay with me.’ I mean it almost brought tears to my eyes.”
“Sounds like you got a new friend.”
“Yeah, it does.”
“So, Campbell wants you involved in your nephew’s life?”
“Yeah, she does. Despite me actin’ like an ass when she first brought this up to me.”
“Did you call your father and tell him about what you’ve discovered?”
“Not really,” Basil said with a slight waver in his voice as he continued. “I mean I called him and asked him if he knew anything about my mother’s family. Where I might contact them and get a picture of her.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he didn’t. Asked me why I was asking about her.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I could tell from his voice that he was lying. I needed to be looking at him dead in his face,” Basil said.
“Are you going to do that?”
“At some point.”
“Why are you waiting?”
Basil lowered his voice, as if he were speaking directly from his heart. After a deep breath he said, “Because when I do, I’ll have to accept the fact that my father doesn’t give a shit about me. How could he? How could he give a fuck about me by keeping me away from the woman who brought me into this world? All of his fucking manhood pride. Maybe he did know about what my uncle did to me. If he could keep something like this from me, then I don’t know what kinda fucker I’ve got for a father.”
“You know to bring closure to this, you’ve got to confront your father, don’t you?”
“I don’t have to do nothing. I don’t have to deal with that crazy fuck, ever. I know I’ll hear from him if I stop calling or sending him checks. But I don’t give a fuck!”
“Basil, can I ask you something about your father?”
Basil narrowed his eyes and looked at the doctor with suspicion, then asked, “What?”
“Are you afraid of your father?”
Basil took another deep breath, and his gray eyes misted, but remained steady, and said, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t think I’m afraid of him. Right now I’m just scared that my whole life has been a cruel hoax. Maybe I’m not fucked up because of what my uncle did to me, but because I’m my father’s son.”
“Say it,” the doctor said firmly.
“Say what?”
“Say what your uncle did to you.”
“I don’t like thinking about it. I don’t like saying it!”
“I know this is difficult for you. But I also know, as do you, that talking about it—saying what happened to you—gives you power. Every time you say it brings you one step closer to defeating it.”
“But you know what he did. I’ve already told you.”
“So, tell me again.”
“Doc …”
“Basil. Say it.”
Basil bit down on his lips. His eyes were watery with unshed tears as he sat in silence. When he finally spoke, it was not with the voice of a confident superstar football player and sexual conqueror, but that of a frightened little boy. “My uncle molested me,” Basil said. “He fucked me.”