Chapter 14

When Mina's graduation was close, I made a decision not to drive there. I flew and went there a day early, just to have a meeting with Juliet and later on a dinner with her and her husband. No reason to make him jealous. It turned out that even if he had been pissed off because of Thanksgiving and the fact that he had to take care of the kids for a few days, he turned out very happy. They had been able to have a family vacation and go to Disney World, and now Juliet and her hubby had booked a cruise together. He looked almost disappointed when I explained that I had absolutely no intention of getting into that kind of trouble any more. He finally got my point when I started to tell him about the visit to the hospital, and the doctor who was anxious to check me back in there - just to be sure.

I was early at the stadium of Mina's high school and sat back there and watched my little girl finish high school. She wasn't a valedictorian nor a salutatorian, but I knew that she got very good grades. That reminded me that she had not told me where she would to go to study. She had only hinted me that she also had a scholarship to a good college. I watched through the ceremony. I had warned Mina that I probably would not come to see her here at school, but only later at my old home. She understood, as she was also quite sure that my mother might create a scene. Neither of us wanted that to happen in front of her friends. For some reason, Helen's parents had been much more reasonable - or maybe they knew their daughter better.

I parked my rented car a few houses away, and walked the little way to my old home. The walk wasn't a long one, but I managed to go through a series of emotions. I sure did miss the life I had left behind, but I was equally sure that there was absolutely no way I could have continued living with Helen just as though nothing had happened. There was no trust left, and it's very hard to continue without trust. The walk did its thing, and I was reasonably calm when I rang the doorbell.

"Dad!"

"Hello, Honey Bun, and congratulations."

I gave her a beautiful pendant with a blue diamond, plus a gift card to an upper class women's clothing chain. She wanted to wear the pendant immediately, and from the icy look Helen gave me I guessed that she had already evaluated that piece of jewelry and she hadn't liked what she saw. Personally I thought that the blue color matched Mina's eyes perfectly. However, I decided that I'd try to be civil, whatever the cost.

"Hi, Helen. You look good."

"Thank you, John. It seems that you have some new clothes, too."

"Unfortunately, I was forced to purchase some new stuff. You know how much I hate shopping."

"Oh, I'm sure you had some help. You would never had picked something that nice all by yourself."

"Yes, in fact Juliet was there on business, and she helped me some."

Sure as hell I wasn't going to tell her that some of my newest clothes were picked by Kath and Madi on our few rare shopping trips together.

I quickly exchanged pleasantries with Helen's parents, and then I was introduced to the fiancées of my sons, whom I had only briefly met before. The twins were civil to me but I could sense in the undertones, that the closeness we used to have simply wasn't there. Neither of them had asked me why I had left. I could not help but to think of the irony: my biological sons hated me for leaving their cheating mother, and my non-biological daughter accepted my decision without doubt. Then I heard the feared voice before seeing her.

"There you are. Have you already asked Helen for forgiveness?"

"Nice to see you, too, Mom and Dad. I hope that both of you have been okay."

I smiled at both of them. I could see something flashing in my mother's eyes, but I just could not identify if it was anger or something else. Then her face gave her away. She was uncertain, maybe even a bit afraid. Maybe it really was like my sister had said, that my mother was afraid of me because she felt that I could not be controlled. I looked at her. Both she and my father were now closing on seventy years of age, and even if they had been in good health you could never be sure. I decided to do something unexpected and hugged her.

"Mom, everything will be fine, even if Helen and I won't be together any more."

After that I left both of them standing there, dumbfounded.

It seemed that Helen had had some help, as there were two pavilions standing in the back yard and some people walking around. Even two of Mina's friends who also had graduated were there, and as soon as they saw me they blushed and giggled a bit. I smiled back at them, which caused them to blush a bit more. Then I got myself under control. I certainly should not be flirting with my daughter's girlfriends at her graduation party, divorced or not! Yet I was sure that they were checking me out when they giggled some more.

I then talked a bit with some of my former neighbors, explaining to them that Helen and I had just grown apart and decided to go our own ways. One of the older women looked like she would have liked to tell me some gossip, but I just smiled and turned away. I already knew too much. We were divorced now, and she was free to do whatever she wanted. What bothered me a bit was that there certainly was some tension between Mina and her mother, and also between Mina and both of the twin's fiancées. It wasn't obvious, but I knew Mina well enough to notice it, even if the twins were totally clueless. I decided not to interfere. She would talk to me about it when she felt like it - if ever.

It was some time later, when Mina carried her laptop to the living room so that she could make a video call to my sister, her godmother. She had just started the call with me helping by connecting the laptop to the power outlet, since its battery seemed to be on its final stages. Then there was voice by the door. A drunken voice.

"What do you mean I can't come in? Or course I can come to my daughter's graduation party. Or haven't you yet told her that the poor cuckold wasn't her real father?"

Samuel forced his way in past Helen, and from the corner where I had been kneeling I would see that his gaze stopped once he saw Mina.

"There you are, cutie. Come and kiss your real daddy."

It was one of the moments when 'you could hear a pin drop.' I could see Helen's terrified look by the door behind Samuel. The twins had been standing on the side door and it looked like they both were still processing what they had heard. The impression on my dad's face did not change much, but my mother looked like she had been slapped. I could not see Mina's face but I saw from behind that she straightened and her fists tightened. It was Samuel's burp that ended the silence.

"You - are - not - my - father."

"Sure I am! Ask your mother how she screamed my name in those days, and again later."

That was when Helen started crying and my mother dropped the cup she had been holding. I rose from the corner.

"Samuel, I think it is time for you to leave. If I heard correctly, Helen doesn't want you here, and it is her name on the papers, so please leave."

"You! It had to be you!"

"Samuel, please leave, now."

He took some steps towards me.

"It was you who sent the videos and photos to my wife and those other husbands. It was you who fooled me into investing in that fucking company and made me finally lose my job. And now the SEC is also after me."

He tried to punch me, but in his drunken state he wasn't a real danger to anyone. I just sidestepped and took a hold of his hand and turned it behind his back and started pushing him towards the door.

"Samuel, you couldn't kick my ass back then, and you can't do it now. You have done enough damage already, so now it is time for you to leave."

I pushed him out of the open door and then I walked him all the way to the sidewalk. I gave him one final push, which caused him to land on his face on the grass between the sidewalk and the street. I had considered pushing him onto the paved street, but decided against it. He wasn't yet up when I walked back to the door. Mina was standing there and looking at me.