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to get a dime from you? I’m glad that you walked out on her. You don’t deserve her. All the dumb shit you’ve done over the years has never bothered me or made me bat an eye, but this… this makes me ashamed to even call you my friend. Don’t worry, bro. I’ll keep my eye on your kid for you. I hope Ashley finds a real man that’s willing to step up to the plate and be a father to your kid. Maybe he’ll be a good role model and the kid will stand a chance of not turning out like his asshole sperm donor. Shame too. You had an excellent example of what a father is supposed to be, and yet here you are—a complete fucking moron. Hope you don’t choke on that regret when it rears its ugly head, asshole,” he says, tossing his now empty beer into the trash can. I watch him head over to Malcolm and his little family to hug them goodbye.
    I stand there dumbstruck, watching the party continue around me. My feet are rooted to the floor as I reflect back on everything Alex has just said. She got a second job—so what? That could just mean the kid isn’t mine, and she’s finally realized that I’m not a sucker. It doesn’t mean that she isn’t guilty of using me. It just means that she’s smart enough to know when the jig is up.
    Even as I try to convince myself once again that I don’t care about her, I feel a pit start to form in stomach, when I’m pulled from my thoughts as someone sidles up beside me. “Hey, Tan,” Kelvin, our cornerback, says clapping me on the back. “I know it’s not my business, but I happened to overhear that argument between you and Alex. I want to say one thing, and then I won’t ever mention it again.”
    “I really don’t want to talk about this, man,” I say, gritting my teeth. The last thing I need is another person knowing how Ashley is trying to screw me over.
    “I hear you, but let me just tell you this one thing.” The way his tone changes from friendly to forceful has me curious as to what he wants to say. I nod for him to continue before staring back at the bottle in my hands.
    “My dad left my mom when he found she was pregnant with me—left her high and dry to fend for herself. We were poor, dude, and by poor, I mean dirt poor. My mama’s family disowned her and wouldn’t help. We lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment in a building that should have probably been condemned. I got all the love I could ever need from that woman, but I know she had it super rough. She could’ve taken the easy way and got rid of me, but she didn’t, and I have all the love and respect in the world for her. First thing I did when I made it big was buy her a huge mansion because she deserves the world for everything she did. Know what I would give my dad if I ever saw him?”
    I look up from the label I’ve been peeling off of my now-empty beer bottle and shake my head.
    “Not a second glance. I’d tell him to fuck off and keep it moving. Want that to happen to you someday when you decide that you made a mistake? If you think that there’s even a chance that this kid is yours, you need to step up now. There ain’t no going back. I had a shitty childhood—barely enough food to fill my stomach, holes in my clothes, and sneakers that never fit right because my mama couldn’t afford to buy ones that would fit my big-ass feet. Do you really want your kid to go through things like that? I’m not saying that’s how it’ll be, but you never know, dude. What did this kid do to you? And FYI, your baby mama didn’t wind up knocked up all by herself. Why should she have to deal with the results alone? Pretty shitty, if you ask me. There ain’t nothing worse than listening to your mama cry herself to sleep every night—when she wasn’t working her second shift of the day at the shithole diner down the road.” With those words and another clap on the back, he’s gone.
    After that encounter, I need to clear my head. Between Alex and Kelvin, I’m all fucked up now, and I know I have