The Robinsons

Chapter 47

Alex sat in her classroom after school was out. She wasn't going to the studio after school like she normally did.

She stares at the number that was written down. She picked up the phone and called it.

"Hello?" A deep, male voice answered.

"Hi, is this James?" She asked, wishing she knew his last name at the moment.

"Who is this?" He immediately asked in a different tone than what he answered the phone with.

"My name is Alexandria." She said boldly. "I got your number from my aunt Cat."

"Alex?" He softened his tone again. "Alexandria? Is this really you?"

Her heart felt warm. "Yes." She smiled. "You do remember me, right?"

"My god, yes! You're my daughter. How are you? Where are you? I'm surprised Cat didn't tell me she spoke to you."

Alex chuckled with relief. "Hi." She smiled.

"Do you have time to talk?" She asked.

"Of course I do!" He was so happy.

"I know this a random call. When she gave me the number, I just wasn't sure what to do. Didn't want to call too soon, then again, I didn't want it to be too late."

"You're fine. I'm just an old man with nothing but time on my hands." He chuckled.

He sounded well. His voice was soft, yet masculine.

"Not sure if you'll believe this or not, but I've spent the last thirty-four years thinking about you. How is your mother?"

Alex's smile faded. "My mother?" she repeated. "Wanda? Wanda passed away."

"Whaaaa?" His tone was now shocked.

"She overdosed." She said honestly.

James let out a breath of air. "I know she's resting well now. She was a great woman." He complimented. "Poor decisions doesn't conflict with who she really was."

"Poor decisions?" Alex questions.

"The drugs." He responded. "Your mother was a beautiful and smart woman until she was introduced to that stuff."

"You mean the drugs that you introduced her to?" Alex shot at him.

He was silent for a moment. "If you're gonna point fingers, make sure your accusation is right." He shot back at her. "She was the one that got me on them, I just knew when to stop and turn away from them." He clarified.

"My grandmother told me that it was you that had her on that stuff."

"Oh, yea, Ms. Josie wasn't my biggest fan. She believed that it was me that had your mom on that stuff, but I promise you, it wasn't." He responded.

Alex would hate to think that her grandmother lied to her.

"I never even defended myself when it came to her. She didn't approve of us but that didn't stop me from loving you mother."

"Why did you leave her?" She asked. Alex had a thousand questions for him and didn't want to come off as rude.

"Many reasons." He simply answered before going into detail. "When Wanda was pregnant with my son, I wanted her to get clean. I begged her and I will give credit where it's due. She agreed and she did."

Alex didn't want to miss a word if this story, so she was saving her questions.

"After she had him, she was back on the streets again, leaving me to raise our son by myself. I was busting my ass to raise him and fighting to keep her off the streets. It was so hard to even get her to stay home some nights. We got into the huge fight and she left me and went to her parent's house." He explained a lot more but the ending of it got to her.

"After you were born, it was our very last fight. I wanted her to to come with us to Chicago. She refused. Josephine didn't want her to go, so she  was hesitant. Your brother was already living with me and you were with her, but I hated that. I fought so hard for you, but Josephine was much more powerful than me. Wanda literally tried to kill me just so she can keep you. I wasn't gonna take you away from her, I just wanted to have my family with me in Chicago." He explained.

"Why didn't you fight harder?" Alex asked.

"I put up the best fight I could for you. I wanted you out of that place, but when Wanda fought against me with her mother, it started to get a lot of her family involved. I wasn't giving up my son, but at the same time, I didn't want to lose my daughter."

"You never even came back for me."

"I did." He defended. "That when she tried to kill me. I trusted and prayed everyday that you were safe. I couldn't put up a fight to the point where I'd end up dead." He began to sound upset.

"From time, I would come out there just to check on you. Only from a distance. I went to one of your basketball games, art shows, I even saw you had a birthday party and left you a nice gift."

"Wait, the money and the bicycle came from you?" Alex reminisced on her tenth birthday party when she received an anonymous gift.

"It was the best I could do. Believe it or not, it was hard to get to you. I just wanted to make sure you were good."

Alex sighed. Her father had been around and she didn't even know. "How long had you been doing that?" She asked.

"Until you were about nine. After that, I never found you again. I even built the courage to go to Mr. Alex and Ms. Josie's house, but that didn't go well. They didn't even know where you were which meant that you were with Wanda."

Alex hated not knowing this as a kid.

"I don't want you to be mad at me for not fighting harder for you. As much as I wanted to, I had to think about the child that I was able to be there for. I wanted us all together, but I prayed for you everyday, hoping that you were always taken care of."

"I'm not mad at you."

"The only thing I could get out of all if they is that everything happens for a reason. Just like now, I'm so glad you reached out to me." He said sincerely.

"Can you tell me about my brother? I hate that I never knew him." She requested.

"James." He said his son's name. "James is a musician. A great one. He has a band that travels around the city and sometimes to other states."

"That's amazing." Alex commented. "I'm an artist and my brother is a musician. What does he play?"

"What doesn't he play?" James chuckled. "That boy is multitalented.

Alex could hear in her dad's voice how proud he is of her brother. She wished he could be the same way for her but he doesn't know her like that.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Ask away. I owe you all the answers in the world."

"Could I fly you out here?" She asked. "I would love to see you."

"How about I fly you out here, that way you can see your brother too?" He suggested instead.

Alex had never been to Chicago but she would love to meet her father and her brother, but first she had to talk to her husband.

"I would love to." She responded.

"Let me know a day that's good for you to travel." He said. "I actually have to go now, but I will give you a call later on." He promised.

"Okay. I'll let you know." She assured.

"I'm really glad you called me. This has made my entire day."

Ending the call, Alex felt a relief. Although she wanted to know more, she was glad that she heard his voice. She hoped that there want something great in store for them.