Zenon's Game Chapter 166

Zenon and I hadn't gotten a chance to talk about his conversation with Layton, debrief about the fight, about Kaden and Julia, Roger/Winnifred... Had he chosen which college to go to?

He had his own thing going on. Pressure from family, basketball and I honestly, I wish I could've helped him more.

"Eish, your father is intense," Annika told Jake after they had left the room.

I agreed with her. I've never vocalized that thought myself, but I've wanted to.

"He can be," Jake answered, making room on the couch so I could join. "But he doesn't harass me like that, since he's given up on me already."

"That doesn't make any sense though," I answered, sitting next to him. "You're talented. You're auditioning for record labels-"

"He doesn't care about any of that," Jake shrugged, "He thinks artists do d*r*u*gs and peak at thirty."

"It's not like athletes are still playing at forty," Annika muttered into her wine glass.

Annika was not shy. I always felt nervous about prying into the Albert's family life, but Annika was able to dive right into it.

Jake sighed, leaning back on the couch. "Some families want their kids to be doctors or lawyers. Some families let their kids be anything they want. This family wants to watch a game and see their kid on the screen. My dad would be so proud to tell his friends that his son made it into the NBA."

I felt sorry for Jake. His family couldn't see how talented he was – because it was the 'wrong talent'.

"Anyway," Jake tried to lighten the mood, "They didn't raise me. I'm a guest in this house for a year or two before I graduate and get out."

Annika put her hand on Jake's. It must have been tough to move into his stepmom's house where life revolved around their sports star son.

At home and at school... everyone idolized Zenon. And he hadn't exactly given Jake a warm welcome.

"Why did you move here?" Annika asked.

"My mother fell into a downhill spiral." It took him a few more courageous breaths before he said, "She's a d-ru-g addict."

The weight of his words hung heavy in the air.

"I'm sorry, Jake," I said, "We didn't know."

"She's fine. Really she is," Jake assured us, looking for a refill.

I stood up and walked to the living room door to close it. I didn't want our conversation to be overheard.

"Wine, Candace?" Annika offered, after pouring Jake a new glass.

"Yes, please."

She refilled all our glasses and Jake downed his in one.

"Sorry, I don't mean to skinner about your family," she told him.

He answered, "If I knew what that was, I'd accept the apology."

"Sorry, I forget that some words are different here. It means gossip," Annika apologized again.

Her South African accent was becoming stronger as the night wore on and the bottle of wine emptied.

"Hey Jake," I asked meekly, "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Can it get more personal?" he asked, but the hesitation on my face made him say, "Go ahead, Candace. You've been a friend to me since my first day here. I'll answer."

I felt guilty about that too. I don't know how much of a friend I've been to him since I started dating Zenon. I've avoided Jake completely.

"You mentioned something to me at the Surfside Shack," I said, "I didn't know the backstory about Zenon's dad and the affair he had with Mrs Albert until you told me."

"He had an affair?!" Annika gasped.

"Sssh," we both whispered to keep her voice down.

Mrs Albert has made sure to never mention Mr Albert's first family to anyone in the neighborhood. I don't even think my mom knew about that. When Jake moved in, that cracked her perfectly crafted image, but I still don't think anyone knew about the affair.

"My dad left my mom when she became pregnant with Zenon," Jake briefly explained to Annika. "Is that your question Candace?"

"Sort of," I said nervously, "I was just wondering... what about Charlotte? Since she's older than Zenon, is she your half-sister too or..."

I trailed off mid-sentence. He had opened up so much about this already, and it felt wrong to ask more.

Zenon and Charlotte looked so similar that I was convinced they were brother and sister. But Mr Albert had still been with Jake's mom when Charlotte was born.

"Charlotte is my dad's daughter," Jake said. "He was having an affair with this Mrs Albert for a few years before he left my mom, though he wouldn't get a divorce when Charlotte was born."

"Why not?"

"She was a girl," Jake answered, "But when Mrs Albert became pregnant with a boy..."

Annika spilled her wine.

"That b****d!"

Zenon walked into the living room and found the three of us sitting comfortably on the couch. The cards had long been discarded on the table and the playlist was on repeat.

Two wine bottles were empty, and a red stain lay partly on Annika's t-shirt and partly on the Albert's couch.

That was not going to be a pretty conversation with Mrs Albert in the morning.

I looked up at my boyfriend as he walked in. He looked cute and tired after an hour or two discussing his future with his father.

"You three look cozy," Zenon observed us, picking up a card that had fallen onto the carpet.

Ace of spades. He flicked it onto the coffee table.

I think he wished he could've traded places with us. Today, Zenon had taken on the burden of my drama as well as his own. His blue eyes were vivid as always, but drained. I wanted him to fall asleep with me.

It was late and I still wanted to ask Zenon what it was he'd been meaning to tell me. I hadn't forgotten the look he'd given me at dinner, like he wanted to tell me something but couldn't. What was it?