"Jacob…" She called out a little annoyed with his weakness for the teens. She didn't want him lingering too long with the boys; she was afraid of them getting close. The closer he got to them; maybe Jacob would begin thinking about looking for his own son. Besides, Jacob had a way of losing track with time and she certainly didn't want to miss the train that only ran once every hour after rush hour ended.
"Where are you headed?" Jayden couldn't resist prying. His father certainly doted on his family. The word "hypocrite" flashed in his head. Suddenly he felt tension in the crook of his neck.
"Ah, we're taking Dinah downtown to college orientation… Loyola this fall…" Jayden couldn't help but hearing the pride that filled his father's voice when speaking about his children. He watched as his father's eyes lovingly and proudly connecting with his daughter. She blushed under his boasting about her.
"Guess that makes you proud Poppa… A kid in Stanford and another one at Loyola… Damn you must be rolling in mad money." Jayden was hot and his voice was laced with the venom of that heat. He fought to control his runaway emotions at the man who loving doted on kids that were not his own, yet his own son stood here and he didn't even know him well enough to recognize him. Jayden felt his temperature rising as his body slowly trembled in rage. Avery watched him clinching his fist at his side and could see him barely controlling his facial muscles. Jayden's jaw was tightening up and then going slack; he knew that he was grinding his teeth.
"Yea… yea… Proud Poppa…" Jacob agreed grinning from ear-to-ear. "And if we have time, maybe we'll stop for dinner and a movie… You know; make it a family day." He added carelessly without thinking.
"Family day eh… Must be nice…" He said with sarcasm that Jacob completely missed or chose to ignore.
"You know family is important; there's nothing like family…" He proudly announced while giving his family another tender and loving look. Jayden felt nauseated and fought the sensation of gagging at his words.
"Okay little businessman; be prosperous." Jacob encouraged as he followed his wife and daughter up the stairs to catch the train.
"Phony- bitch-ass nigga…" The curses slipped out from under his breath as he gave his departing father a hard glare. His jaw muscles flexed, much like his father's grinding of his teeth when something upsets him. Jayden's body involuntarily tensed up as he stood speechless staring at the man walking hand-in-hand with his wife on one side and his daughter on the other side. He couldn't believe that that man had the audacity to boast about how family was. How the hell would he know? The dude was a fake and it took every molecule in his body to control the urge that wanted to scream those words at him.