Chapter 30 Flesh and Blood
Leo knocked on Luna's forehead. "What are you staring at? So captivated?"
Luna rubbed her chin. "Don't you think that green-haired kid looked a bit like you?"
Leo paused. "Where?"
Luna thought about it. "The nose, mostly."
"It's not that my nose looks like his. All good-looking guys have similar noses. Tall and straight." Leo raised an eyebrow. "Get it?"
Luna's mouth twitched. "No."
With Leo derailing the conversation, Luna forgot all about the green-haired kid.
The world was a big place. Lots of people. Looking a little alike wasn't exactly unheard of.
Leo was about to call a ride. "Eat at home or eat out?"
"I'm starving right now. Can't wait till we get home." Luna said.
Leo grunted, set the address to a restaurant they used to frequent, and the rideshare pulled up fast.
After dinner, they got home. Charles was actually in the living room.
He was on the couch, on a call.
Whatever was said on the other end, Charles sighed. "Fine. I got it. Keep searching in the next city."
"Dad." Luna called out.
Charles hung up fast. "You're back?"
"Yep." Luna tugged on Leo's arm.
Leo, less than thrilled, called out: "Dad."
Charles froze for a long moment. Then scrambled to answer: "Hey. Hey."
Helen came out smiling, carrying two fruit plates. One for each of them.
Luna took her fruit upstairs. Back in her room, she faced a pile of homework she hadn't written a single word on. She let out a sigh from the bottom of her soul.
She turned on the desk lamp and got to work. Resigned to her fate.
-
A rundown apartment complex on the far side of the city.
The bedroom was tiny but spotless. Plaid bedsheets on the single bed, not a single wrinkle. Quilt folded neatly at the foot. A small desk pressed against the window, a tenth-grade math workbook tossed on top.
Xander peeled off his shirt, opened the small wardrobe in the corner, and pulled out a tee to change into.
"Dinner."
Lily's voice carried from the living room.
"Coming."
Xander called back lazily.
He pushed the door open and went out.
The cramped living room was a mess. The shoe rack by the door was overflowing with women's heels, spilling onto the floor in a circle. A coat and bag tossed on the couch. Lily looked nothing like the pale, fragile woman who'd knelt in public. She was in a fitted maxi dress.
Humming a tune, she plated the takeout she'd brought up from downstairs and set it on the table.
"Your homeroom teacher called me again today. Said if you don't show up tomorrow, don't bother coming back."
Xander dragged out a chair, tone completely unbothered. "Fine by me. Trash school anyway."
Lily cracked open a beer. She always had to have a can with meals. Couldn't eat without it.
She tilted her head back, took a long swig, crossed her legs. "If you don't go to school, how are you gonna ask your dad for money?"
Next to the table was a mini fridge, the kind with two compartments and mediocre cooling. Xander opened the top, grabbed a Coke that had been chilling for days, cracked it open, and took a sip.
"Do I have to ask him?" Xander had his back to Lily, his expression hidden in shadow. Hard to read.
Lily wasn't happy. She tapped the table with her chopsticks, sharp and pointed. "Your dad is loaded. You're his flesh and blood. Asking him for money is the most natural thing in the world."
The corner of Xander's mouth quirked. "He's already got a son."
"So what?" Lily slapped the table. "You're his blood. That's never gonna change. He owes you. If he doesn't pay up, I'll storm his company and make a scene. Let's see if he cares about his reputation."
Xander lowered his head, took a bite of noodles, said nothing.
Lily shot him a look.
She put down the beer and patted Xander's shoulder. Her eyes welled up again. "Xan, you're all I have. Back then, your dad was already married with kids. He kept lying to me, said he'd marry me. The second I got pregnant with you, he threw us out."
She rambled on, launching into her favorite story about her youth.
Xander had heard it so many times his ears were practically calloused.
Short version: When Lily was eighteen, she was working the front desk at a hotel. Met a trust fund kid. They hit it off. The next year, she had Xander.
Lily thought she was marrying into money. Turns out, the trust fund kid already had a wife and kids. She'd been the mistress without knowing it.
She'd planned to terminate the pregnancy. Got on the table. Backed out. Decided to keep the baby.
And just like that, Lily raised Xander on her own.
For all Xander's tough-guy act, he was a pushover.
Lily knew her son inside and out. All she had to do was cry a little, and Xander would cave. Go find his biological dad. Ask for money.
Xander was quiet for a beat. Then, low: "I'll go find him this weekend."
"Good." Lily pulled a tissue and dabbed her eye.
After dinner, Lily took her phone and went off to scroll through TikTok.
Xander cleaned up the table in silence. Washed the plates, the bowls. Put away all the stuff Lily had left strewn around.
Sitting on the soft bed, Lily looked at her bruised knees. She'd been about to grab some bruise cream, then stopped.
The longer the marks lasted, the better. She wanted Sam to see them. Let him feel bad.
As she was putting the bruise cream away, her bestie called.
Lily picked up right away. "Hello?"
"How'd it go? Did Sam's shrew of a wife agree to the divorce?"
"Don't even get me started." Lily was seething. "She refuses. Flat out."
"What a bitch." Her bestie cursed, then quickly shifted to comfort mode. "Don't worry. Sam's heart is with you. The divorce is just a matter of time."
The corner of Lily's mouth ticked up. "Let's go shopping next week."
"Oh?" Her bestie teased. "Coming into money?"
"Xander agreed to go find Silas, that deadbeat, this week. Ask for money." Lily lowered her voice, got up in her slippers, cracked the door open a sliver. Just in time to see the boy carrying plates and bowls into the kitchen.
Satisfied, she closed the door again.
"That kid's a real catch." Her bestie chuckled. "Filial, capable, and good-looking."
"What 'catch'?" Lily didn't like that. "He's my own flesh and blood. I carried him for ten months."
"Okay, okay." Her bestie said. "Your flesh and blood. I saw it with my own eyes."
"That's more like it."
The thought of money coming in had Lily grinning ear to ear.
In the kitchen.
The sink was right by the window. Xander was bent over, scrubbing bowls.
When the bowls were clean, he wiped down the cutting board and the counter. Spotless.