Jordan finally calmed down enough to call her parents to tell them about the split. At noon, she grabbed her cell phone and dialed her father’s number. She was sure that her kids were in bed when she called. She took slow deep breaths to steady herself as she waited on the other end to pick up. “Hello?” she heard her father say.
“Good evening, Daddy. How are you and Mom doing tonight?” she asked.
“We’re doing well, Jordan. How are you feeling?”
“Been better, but can’t complain too much. I didn’t call just to bull shit though. I’m calling to let you two know that my provision in the pre- nup is officially in effect.”
“What do you mean? The one where you mother and I get custody until you and Davina reconcile or custody is decided by a judge?”
“Exactly. How are they doing, by the way?”
“They’re fine. Jasmine has a bunch of new clothes that actually fit her because she’s grown like a weed since they’ve been here, and Levi went on his first ever SCUBA trip this morning.”
“Really? It sucks that I couldn’t be there to see it. I bet he had a lot of fun.”
“Oh yeah. He had a blast. He was awestruck the entire time we were down there.”
“You took him?”
“Yes I did. He got a bunch of pictures that he can’t wait to show you. He even got to see two sharks while we were down.”
“Two sharks, huh? What kinds?”
“A black tip and a great white.”
“He was probably really excited. I think he’s going to be a zoologist when he grows up. Aquatic life seems to fascinate him.”
“He was excited, but I kept him calm and focused. He behaved himself very well in spite of how excited he was.”
“How was Jazz?”
“You’ll have to ask your mother when she’s done telling the kids a bedtime story. They asked; she said she would. Now why don’t you tell me why that provision about the kids is in effect?”
“Davina and I had a fight yesterday evening. She wouldn’t stop picking at me about my determination to get revenge for my beaten and bruised body. I told her several times to back the hell off, but she wouldn’t. She said that if I couldn’t let it go that she was going to have me committed. I told her that would happen when hell froze over and she told me she was finished. Threatened to take the kids from me.”
“What did you tell her about leaving?”
“Don’t let the door hit ya where to good Lord split ya.”
“And the kids?”
“I quoted the pre- nup to her and told her that she had a slim chance in hell that she would get the kids.”
“Do you want to reconcile?”
“I don’t know to be honest, Dad. I don’t believe in divorce. That’s not how you and Mom raised us. But, if she can’t be more supportive and less suspicious, then she will have a fight on her hands for the kids. I’m the more stable parent.”
“Well, I haven’t been around you all enough to speak to that, but I’m sure your siblings would be more than happy to help you out there.”
“Malachai, Logan, and Caleb all pulled me aside earlier and told me that they would sign statements and testify on my behalf if it comes to a divorce.”
“Well, baby, I wish you luck if it does. Should your Mom and I expect a call from Davina?”
“If she calls you, call the Sheriff’s department here in Colorado; then call me. I’m sure she’ll enjoy her stay in county.”
David nodded slowly. “Ok. I suppose that makes sense. Are there any special messages that you want me to deliver to the kids?”
“Tell them that I love them and I’ll see them soon.”
“Ok. Can do. How much longer are you in that cast?”
“A few more days. I have an appointment to have the cast removed in a few days.”
“Fantastic. Push yourself hard when you train, Jordan.”
“I will, Dad. Uncle Matt’s mantra will be mine.”
“Which one are you referring to?”
“Pain is weakness leaving the body.”
David laughed. “Maybe you should have told your brothers that when I had them start training with Morbus.”
“I thought Maddie did that.”
“No, no one really did. You Mom called them whiny bitches though.”
“They were.”
“Show them up and don’t complain after Morbus kicks your ass.”
“Hadn’t planned on it, Dad. Well, I’m sure you and Mom want to relax after a day of chasing my kids so I’ll let you go so that you and Mom can have you nightcap.”
“Well, thank you for the consideration, Jordan”, he said with a laugh. “I’m probably going to step out back here in a bit and smoke a bowl before bed.”
“Mom doesn’t let you smoke in the house?”
“No. She doesn’t like the smell getting into the furniture or the walls. I kind of agree with her there and because I the one that smokes it, if the smell sets into the walls I’m the one scrubbing them. I’d much prefer not to have the scrub the wall.”
“Priceless. Well, I’ll talk to you later, Dad.”
“Sounds like a plan, Jordan.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too, sweetheart.”
“Bye, Daddy.”
“Goodbye Jordan.”
When they disconnected, Jordan felt her heart sink. She wanted to talk to her kids, but the pre- nup forbade it. She’d end up sitting in county. As much as she loved her babies, she knew she couldn’t or she’d be in violation of the very document that was keeping her out of court and allowing her to train to off the mother fucker that had kidnapped and beat her. He needed to die before he was able to get his ridiculous movement moving forward to take over the government again. The Utopian Movement would die, once and for all, with Porter Grissom.
---------------
Marc had spent the day talking to the other members of Reckless Disregard talking about the dynamic between Jordan and Davina. He’d learned from the guys that Jordan and Davina would argue on the road about the kids having to be present during each and every tour. Jordan was always sure to try not to have these fights in front of the kids. She would ask one of the boys to take the kids when Davina would start one of her bitch sessions. Marc was surprised that Davina was the one to instigate the arguments more times than not. It wasn’t that suspected Jordan to be the one, but he knew is big sister. Jordan, like most of the rest of the Draiman children, had their father’s temper and tendency toward impatience. It was just surprising to learn that Jordan was the one trying for peace.
As he sat and processed everything he was learning, he searched for good music. Growing up with a father that was in the music industry had turned him into a music lover. The visit to the studio when he was a young boy deepened his love for music. Though he was a rocker, he could appreciate different genres of music. Rather than searching for rock music, he searched for hip hop. Some of the more modern hip hop had shades of what he’s heard his mother refer to as gangster rap. She even educated them all on the East Coast- West Coast feud that resulted in the deaths of two of the genre’s heavy weights. He’d heard jokes about Tupac still being around to tap ass if he and Biggie hadn’t been feuding. He thought it was funny that people would think that when no one really knew what happened aside from the dead and their killers. But, he could appreciate the need to speculate.
He and his family spent the day chilling in the room that had once been his. He had a little girl that was passed out on his thigh as he lay on the bed with his and fiddled with his android tablet. As much as he loved Apple products, he was a PC guy. There was something about the apps he could get on his android that he couldn’t get on his iPad. And he’s written the programs for a lot of the apps he needed on the two of them. The android just seemed faster.
Absentmindedly, he reached down and rubbed little Pilar’s back. Pilar meant pillar in Spanish. It had been her mother’s idea to name her Pilar Consuela Draiman. It didn’t seem right at the time, but as the little angel got older, it fit her. Marc was very much like his name. He was the guy that was calm under pressure- much like the mythos told the God of War Mars to be. Pilar was a little pillar of light and all that was good in the world.
He couldn’t help but smile as he thought of the little girl sleeping on his leg for her nap. He thought of how she shared a birthday with his father. One of these days, Connie baby, I’m going to take you out to Israel to celebrate your birthday with Grampa. I’m sure that he would enjoy having you and Mattie out for the day rather than having to come out here to see you, as I’m sure that Gramma would love to have Miri and Zeke out for birthday, he thought. He’d gotten everyone to start calling the sleeping child on his leg Connie rather than Pilar. It was less of a mouthful and she didn’t think she was in trouble.
His little Connie sighed softly and he smiled. She was certainly his little princess and probably always would be. He had his boy and his girl. He and Mercedes were done having kids. He hoped that he wasn’t expected to have as many as his parents had.
And that thought took him to another direction, to thinking about his parents. How did they do it with 10 kids? How do they keep track of all of the grandkids? He wondered if he asked his parents to name all of their grandchildren to date, if they could. So many had come into the family that it wasn’t funny, especially in the five years since their father had retired. He looked at the clock. He might be lucky enough to catch his parents awake. It was only 11pm in Jerusalem. He grabbed his phone and decided to take a chance. If he got cussed, then that was his stupidity.
---------------
“Who is calling me at 11 at night?” Brie asked from the kitchen through the open patio door.
“One of our children no doubt”, David said in a soft voice. His eyes were half closed and he had a huge smile on his face.
Brie grabbed her phone off of the counter and answered it. “Hello?”
“Hi Mama. It’s Marc.”
“I gathered. What can I do for at 11 at night?”
“I called with a strange question.” He paused. “No, it’s a stupid question, but I’ve just got to know.”
“Hold on, let me put the phone on speaker so you can involve your father in this.” She hit a button on her phone and set it on the table between the lounge chairs. “Ok Marc, what is your stupid question?”
“I was just sitting here thinking about how you two did it with ten of us. Then it hit me. Can you two even name all of your grandchildren?”
They both laughed. “Marc, you do realize that it’s 11 at night here and your Mom and I have been relaxing before bed, right?” David asked his son.
“Yeah, I know. I couldn’t help myself. If you want me to call back in when it’s morning over there, I can.”
“No”, Brie said. “I think we’re up for the challenge.” She looked at her husband. “What do you think?”
“I may be high, but I think I can recall my grandchildren’s names. Let’s just start with Malachai’s kids and work our way down”, David responded.
“Alright. From Malachai we have Isaiah, Miranda, Eli, Kelsi, Shawn, and Jenni. Jordan’s kids are here. That’s Levi and Jasmine.”
“Jake’s are Miri, Ira, Samantha and Seth. Maddie has Asher and Dahlia.”
“James’s kids are Hunter, Josie, Hannah, and there’s one on the way. We don’t know what that one’s gonna be. Jeremiah and Jona have Matthew and Rina.”
“Meagan has Anthony. Makayla has Kenzi, Zeke, and Danica.”
“Josh and Pilar belong to Marc and Jessi has a little girl named Abby.” They exchanged a look then looked back at the phone. “Have we missed any, Marc?” Brie asked their youngest son.
“Nope”, Marc said with a laugh. “Wow, how do you two do it?”
Brie laughed. “We take multi vitamins and ginko biloba.”
“We’re not slipping as much as you kids seem to think we are. We may be in our 70’s but we’re still sharp, Christopher.”
“I can see that”, Marc chuckled. “Well, I guess my stupid question has been answered, so I’ll let you two go. Have a good night and I’m sure one of us will be calling you soon.”
“Of that I have no doubt, Marc. You always have to call one of us. Sometimes it feels like you kids can’t survive without us.”
“At least Jake tries.”
“Yeah, that’s true. He hates calling us when he has to but he still calls with updates once a week.”
“Well, I’ll let you go. I’m sure that you two have are pretty tired and you’d like to get to sleep. Good night.”
“Have a good afternoon, Marc”, Brie said and hung up her phone. “That boy”, she said with a shake of her head.
“I know. I think Mercedes should let him smoke more often”, David laughed. “Maybe he’ll stop having random thoughts to call us with and ask retarded questions.” He picked up his pipe and lighter from the table that held her phone and took another toke. “I’ve got another good hit in the bowl and then I think I’m ready for bed.”
She grinned. “Sounds like a plan, tall, bald, and sexy”, she laughed. “I’m ready when you are.”
---------------
Jordan sat in the studio in the basement at the old piano her father had bought when Reckless Disregard was first getting started. Her fingers gently ran over the keys as she poured out her soul over her current situation- more specifically her break up with her wife of ten years. As she played the piano, she cried. She loved Davina with everything she was.
The song she was playing, however, wasn’t one that she’d written, or one that she was writing. It was one she loved nonetheless. It was by a band called Straight Line Stitch. “Please heal me, feel me, kill me, it’s not easy. Never run from who you are, there’s no one that can run that far. Better stick around and hold your ground under my bleeding heart. So hang on, won’t be long. Is this what life is? Something’s gone wrong. These days I cannot cope at all, I need some kind of miracle to shake me from this confusion; it’s what you do to me. My heart lies bleeding in your hands, time stops and turns around again. It doesn’t matter what you say, it’s what you do to me.” Even though the things that Davina had said to her should never have been said to anyone, she still felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest.
Once she was done with “What You Do To Me” by Straight Line Stitch, the music morphed into a song she knew well. She’d done a cover of it and wrote the piano part herself. “When others left before, I could bear to turn away, now that it’s come to this, is there nothing left to say? I’ve never known before such exquisite suffering, as I watched you walk away I gave into panicking. I can’t believe that this is really happening. Am I really lost again? Desperation drives me insane. I will focus all my pain right into your heart, Till it makes you blind, till the faces of your former world have fallen from your sight, till your MINE! Till the voice of doubt no longer dominates your mind, I’m crucified." As she sang the song, she felt her heart starting to thaw. The song she was singing was always like that. She could see why her father had written it int he first place. It always helped her get through a rough relationship.
Once she was done with the song she laid her head on the top of the piano and sobbed. She missed her wife and she missed her kids. But, if she continued to be a push over then Davina was going to run over her for the rest of their lives.
Jordan felt a hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong Jord?” she heard her twin ask.
“I feel like my fucking heart has been ripped out of my chest, Jake. I want my kids and I want Davina to stop being an insufferable cunt.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her. “Jord, I’m sure you’ll have the kids back soon but I can’t speak for Davi. She’s going to behave the way she does.”
“But, she’s just as suspicious as the other females I’ve been with. I’m so sick of it, Jake. I’m tired of being suspected of cheating on the women I love because I’m a musician. Mom never accused Dad of fucking around on her while he was away.”
“Mom and Dad have a different relationship. They complete each other somehow. All we can do is hope to imitate it.”
“You and Delilah seem to have the same relationship that Mom and Dad do. So do Jeremiah and Jona.”
“Delilah and I have our own thing going. I fell for Delilah the moment I met her. It was the same for Jeremiah and Jona. They both made us chase them.”
“Mom didn’t make Dad chase her.”
“But Mom had gone through hell the first time she and Dad slept together. Mom needed comfort and Dad was charged with keeping her safe. They fell in love from there. Dad was hypnotized from the moment he laid eyes on Mom, I’ll guarantee you.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve asked him.”
“Wow. That takes a set, that’s for sure.”
“Not really, no. I just said, ‘Hey dad. What was it like the first time you saw Mom?’.” He sighed. “Jordan, sis, what I’m saying is that you just have to look for what’s going to make you happy. Davina’s been making you miserable recently. Think about yourself this time. Think about what’s best for the kids.”
Jordan sniffled. “Thanks Jake. I needed to get that out.”
“That’s what I’m here for, Jord. I’m your twin brother. We used to be close like this. Nearly inseparable.”
“What happened to those days? That was a lifetime ago.”
“We grew up, sis. But, there’s no reason that we can’t still be supportive of each other.”
“Thanks bro. It’s nice to know that someone cares.”
“I’m your brother, Jordan. It’s part of the job description.”
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