CHAPTER NINE
Leviticus had taken quite a bit of time getting to know Marissa and Alma. He had told them funny stories about their mother that they had never heard. When his paternity test arrived in the mail Alma had taken it in stride. She wasn’t anxious to open it and had called Marissa so she could be there when it was opened. It seemed like it should be an honor reserved for Marissa anyway. She changed out of her work clothes into something more comfortable while she waited. She thought about ordering a pizza for the two of them, but she decided not to. She had to get used to the fact that Marissa was now a wife and may have planned a meal for her and Justin.
When Marissa showed up an hour later with Leviticus in tow, Alma was a little taken aback. It did make sense that Leviticus would be here when his presence was legitimized, but it seemed that Marissa would have let her know he was coming..
She was confused when Marc pulled up a few minutes behind them.
“I didn’t realize I was hosting a party,” She remarked when Marc came through the door.
“I called Marc when you called me. Justin had to work late so he couldn’t be here,” Marissa announced as though it made sense for her to have invited this small gathering to Alma’s home with no notice at all on a Thursday night after a very long day at work. Alma would’ve ordered a couple of pizzas if she had known.
“So who wants to do the honors,” Alma reached for the envelope and held it out towards Marissa and Leviticus. Leviticus was quiet and held his hands towards Alma and Marissa giving them the choice.
“I’ll open it,” Marissa took the envelope and quickly opened the letter. She read over the words and then silently handed it over to Alma.
Alma scanned over the words quickly until she got to the line she was looking for. She had been looking for the magical 99.99999% that they always quoted on the talk shows when they revealed paternity, but she didn’t see that figure. Instead she saw the name Josiah Carter, the original name that Leviticus had given and the one that she had submitted the paternity test under, listed as excluded.
“What does this mean?” She looked at Marissa for an answer.
“It means that he’s not my father.” Marissa shrugged her shoulders, but didn’t seem bothered by this fact.
Alma looked at Leviticus for an explanation and Leviticus looked back at her, but didn’t say anything.
“Leviticus, if that’s even your name. What is going on? You have some serious explaining to do.” She was so angry that she had let her guard down and had started to trust him. She felt like such a fool.
“I do, I have a lot of explaining to do and I will do just that. The results are correct. I am not Marissa’s father. I’m your father.” He spoke the words and let them drop into complete silence.
Alma looked at him in complete and total disbelief. How dare he tell yet another lie? Did he think they were going to let him keep getting away this?
“Are you kidding me? Marissa aren’t you upset about this? He’s in all of your wedding photos, this fraud had the nerve to walk you down the aisle!”
Alma looked around the room for support, but no one else seemed even remotely upset at his deception.
“Alma, I know he’s not my father. Mama told me that the real Josiah died more than a decade ago.”
Alma looked at Marissa like she was a complete stranger.
“Mama knew his name was Leviticus, but didn’t know his last name. She gave me a few clues so I could try to locate him.”
“Why would mama tell you that and not me?” Alma was already not liking the idea that Marissa possibly knew more about who Alma’s father was than she did.
“Come here sweetie. Let’s talk in the other room,” Marissa fanned her hands beckoning Alma to follow.
Alma did, still in complete disbelief.
Marissa sat on Alma’s bed and patted it so Alma would join her. When she did Marissa took her hand and began to explain.
“Mama said she had asked you if you wanted to meet your father and you had told her no. Mommy thought it was because you thought he had rejected you. She didn’t want to chance telling you about him in case he was already dead or didn’t want to be found for some reason. There was no need opening up those wounds if he ended up not being around anyway. When mama got real sick and knew that she wasn’t going to make it, that was one thing she asked me to try to do, find your father. I hope you’re not mad, it was her dying wish for you. Leviticus is here because he wants to be and he wants to get to know you.”
“Why didn’t he just say that then? Why all of these lies?”
“Alma, sweetie, you know that you would’ve kicked him out as soon as he showed up. We thought it would be good to let you get to know him first. For him to kind of fill in some of the blanks about who he was as a person before he just dropped the bomb that he was your long lost father. Please don’t be mad.” Marissa gave Alma the same pouty face she had used as a child when she wanted her way. It normally worked, but not today. If she had known Leviticus was her real father then she would’ve asked the one question she really wanted to know the answer to.
Alma jumped up and stomped back into the living room where Marc and Leviticus were sitting and talking quietly.
“If you’re my father then why did you walk away that day at the construction site? Why didn’t you even look at me, not even a smile?” Alma stood with her arms crossed, tears running down her face and tapping her foot furiously.
“Baby girl,” Leviticus stood slowly and came over to meet her. “I wanted to more than anything in the world, but I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what, commitment, fatherhood, being a real man?” She spat the words at him.
“No, I was afraid that if any of those goons knew that I loved your mother, that you were my daughter, that they would hurt you.” Leviticus dropped his head in shame.
“Why would you think that?” Alma had lowered her voice a bit, but she still needed answers.
“Because it happened before. Your mom and I were out on a date. I had taken her to this restaurant and we were going back to the car. These guys jumped the two of us. They mostly pummeled me around a bit, but one of them slapped your mama so hard she fell to the ground. He leaned over me and I can still remember it today as clearly as he said it thirty plus years ago, ‘it’d be a shame for your lady to go missing’ the goon said. He had the look of pure evil in his eyes. I hung around enough shady characters to know that this one had no concern that your mama was innocent, he would’ve killed her just to get a message across to me. All those years gambling and cheating at cards and dealing drugs, they caught up to me because I finally had something I cared about. A family. Your mama was pregnant when that happened. And not at that early stage where maybe he didn’t know. She was 7 or 8 months pregnant with you and when she hit that ground I saw my whole life flash before my eyes. Everything I cared about was on that ground and those two thugs were ready to destroy it for the pure sport of it. I ended it with your mama and it broke my heart more than it broke hers, but it was the only thing I could do to keep you both safe. When you were born I told her not to put my name on your birth certificate. I sent her money to help out. The same amount I would’ve given her if I was right there at the kitchen table every night for dinner. I know it wasn’t enough, but it was all I knew to do. By the time I was confident that I had freed myself from my past, the only feelings you had towards me were hate. The one time I reached out your mom told me to give you some time to be less angry, but the reality was that I just took the easy way out. Years in prison convinced me it would be better for you if I just remained dead, like the lie your momma told you.” He began to cough and it seemed to shake his entire body. He pulled out his handkerchief with one hand to cover his mouth and held up a gnarled finger on his other hand as if asking for just a moment. Alma could see the lines in his forehead tense up, but the spell was over after a few seconds. He wiped at his mouth and replaced the handkerchief in his pocket.
“I don’t know if you remember those cards from Santa Claus you used to get,” he sputtered the words slowly.
Alma gasped in shock. She did remember those cards. They had always shown up a few days before Christmas with several dollars in them and a message that the elves were working hard to get all of her gifts ready. There had been something magical about she looked forward to every year. It was one of her favorite childhood memories. When she was old enough to finally realize that there was no Santa Claus, she had always wondered who it was that had sent the cards to her. That it had been her own father caused her breath to catch and her eyes begin to sting.
She couldn’t stop the tears at that point and felt Leviticus’ feeble arms wrap around her.
“I hope you know that I’ve always loved you. Always.” The words were warm as he spoke them into her shoulder.
“I love you too daddy,” she slobbered the words she had so desperately wanted to utter all those years ago when she sat alone in the car waiting for her daddy to appear.