than when he was a child. It was at that time that I decided to speak to my attorney and completely change my will.
This had to be the only way I could provide for him and show him that I was in fact remorseful for not at least telling him why I felt it was best that I stay away. I would have been a horrible father and done him far more harm if I had been in his life. My ex-wife’s son that I adopted was seventeen at the time. I did it simply to appease her, but Joshua and I had no relationship. I felt neither love nor contempt for him. He was my son simply by name. Aries is my son by blood and I love him, despite what anyone thinks. Aries, if you are reading this, and I hope that you are, there are things that you may never understand. My inability to participate in your upbringing was not in any manner a rejection of you or your mother. It was a rejection of ME.
This time, there was no Japanese writing at the bottom. Nothing but a void that sucked the air out of the room. Lauren felt drained by the time she’d finished, so she could only imagine how poor Aries felt. When she looked back at him, he was lying back, hands behind his head. Expressionless.
“Where was it?” she questioned.
He pointed towards the diving board.
“There’s a bin of towels over there. You talked to me about irregularity, and one of the bins was labeled ‘irregular,’ for some reason. I tipped the bin over and there was an envelope taped on the bottom, with my and my mother’s name on it. He couldn’t have put it there that long ago. Despite it being so humid in here, the ink was still dark. I wonder when he wrote these? I guess it really doesn’t matter.”
She nodded and looked around the empty swimming area.
“How are you feeling right now, Aries?”
“I don’t know, Lauren.”
That was honest.
“He wants you to know who he was, Aries. It just seems he didn’t know how to tell you.”
He cast his gaze up at the ceiling, his face aglow with fluorescent lights.
“I used to love to swim,” he finally said, breaking the silence. “I swam every chance I got. My mother was tired of me.” As he spoke, his tone was even. Calm. “See, I always wanted two dollars to go. A dollar to get in, and a dollar to get a pop and chips while there. Lays potato chips and Welch’s grape pop were fifty cents each. Sometimes I’d get the Hawaiian Punch or Sprite. Money was tight, and I was goin’ swimming every single day. That adds up, but you know how kids are. I’d be there all damn day, too. One summer, I got such a tan that when I returned to school people didn’t even know who the hell I was the first week. Thought I was some new Mexican kid.”
Lauren burst out laughing. “You’re making that up.”
“No, I’m serious. Anyway, I had played along with it, told the new teacher my name was Angel Gonzales and that I could only eat Taco Bell for lunch or I could get really sick. She went and got it for me at lunchtime. Needless to say, she found out that wasn’t true the following day and I was sent to the principal’s office. My mother was notified and I got in big trouble. It was worth it, though. That burrito was amazing.”
Aries’ laughter made her feel so happy inside.
“Those were good times. Come here, baby.” He sat up straight and motioned to her to get close.
Holding her by the waist, he made her sit across his lap, and kissed her. Slipping his tongue in her mouth, he unleashed his passions. She draped her arms around his shoulder and hung on as he took from her everything he needed. The kiss was slow, needy, passionate, and all things fiery. Her pussy poured libations in his honor and her thoughts went somewhere dark and lustful.
“Um, excuse me. Excuse me!”
They both stopped to stare in the direction of the voice. It was a short man with salt and pepper hair, wearing a white Polo shirt that was a bit too tight around the middle and black pants that were gathered at the ankles. “This is private property. My name is Rodger Apperson, and I am the manager. I was told by several tenants that