25. Kai
Kai
Istare at the contact on my phone, my thumb frozen over the call button.
I hadn’t spoken to Ryo in a few months. Which was unusual for us.
But he had been on sabbatical, trying to figure out his life in Thailand.
And I didn’t want to bother him with my shit—he had enough of his own problems at the moment.
But this situation with Kendall and Akio is complicated and difficult to navigate and I know I need another opinion on it. Fuck.
It rings three times before he picks up.
“Hey, long time no talk, baby brother, what’s up?” he sounds chipper, almost too chipper. Nothing like how he sounded two months ago when he dropped out of medical school on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
“Hey, how are you?” I wonder.
“I’m okay, been trying to get outside as much as I can. Learning how to surf, getting to know some locals. Ducking dad’s calls. It’s been good. I’m good,” he says and I almost believe him. “How are things with you?”
“I’m okay. Listen, I need to tell you something, okay?”
“Okay…”
“Kendall is kind of back in my life now and she has a son…he’s mine. I have a son.”
“Oh my god. Okay. Okay. Wait, what the hell do you mean she has a son? How are you just finding out about this now?”
So, I explain the whole story to him and he lets me. He doesn’t interrupt or ask questions. He doesn’t supply judgement. He gives me the space I need to share this part of my life with him and perhaps the space I need to process it. He’s kind, patient, considerate, the way I knew he would be.
“I don’t know what to do. I mean, I know I want to try and I want to be in Akio’s life but…”
“But she hurt you and lied to you,” he finishes.
“Yeah,” I admit.
“I mean, this is Kendall we’re talking about. She’s family for god sake. If she lied about Akio, kept this from you, she probably had a really good reason. I’m not saying just trust her again. I’m not saying forgive her but…It’s Kendall.”
“Yeah I know,” I reply.
“What does your gut say?”
“My gut says we aren’t done.”