Fancy Dancer Read Online Free PDF Page B

says it all helped build my character.”
    Alex stood and started to unroll his sleeves. “Well, if we’re done strolling down memory lane, I have to get back to the office. It was nice of you to stop by, bro.”
    “It was nice of me, now that you mention it. I have to wonder, if you were in my place, would you have done the same thing?”
    “Probably not.”
    “Well, that’s honest enough. I truly admire honesty in a person. What is it you do, Alex?”
    “I’m a lawyer. I work with three other guys in a storefront office for people who need lawyers but can’t afford them. As I said before, the sperm donor did not pay for my education. I worked my way through and had some grants. I’m still paying off student loans. I had a full-ride scholarship if I wanted to play football, but I turned it down.”
    “Why?”
    Alex laughed. “Because my mother said she didn’t want an idiot with a bad back and bad knees for a son. She said no. I know all about how you gave up five different scholarships back in the day. Maybe that made it easier for me to say no. Jesus, you have no idea how much I wanted to be you. You should have heard me cheering you at all those football games and not being allowed to tell anyone you were my brother. Pretty jerky, huh?”
    “That hurts me, heart and soul. I swear to God it does. You knew about me, but I didn’t know a damn thing about you or your mother. Until an hour or so ago.”
    “Yeah, well, don’t let it get your panties in a knot. It all worked out just fine. As you can see.” Alex held out his hand. Jake reached for it and wanted to cry so damn bad, he had to bite down on his lower lip. He wasn’t sure, but he thought Alex was feeling something, too.
    “Can I say one more thing?” Jake said.
    “Sure, spit it out.”
    “I understand pride. I understand you don’t want anything from me. That’s fine. I’m okay with that, but your mother, from what you said, got the shitty end of the stick. It wasn’t my fault, and it wasn’t my mother’s fault. It was my mother, another woman, who maybe understood what happened better than you or I ever could. She was dying, Alex, when she made me promise to find you and your mother. You want to be cavalier about all this, fine, but don’t make that decision for your mother. That’s not right.”
    They were outside by then, standing on the flower-bordered walkway, when Alex responded, “You know what I have trouble with? You’re thirty-one years too late.”
    “Through no fault of my own. Be sure to say that.”
    “Right, through no fault of yours or your mother’s.”
    “So, I just leave here, you go back to your storefront law office, and we call it a day?”
    “That’s pretty much how I see it,” Alex said, opening his car door. “I promise to tell my mother you stopped by.”
    Jake nodded because he didn’t trust himself to say any more. His eyes burned as he climbed behind the wheel of the Porsche. Jake waited until Alex backed out, waved, and was around the corner before he could turn the key. The engine growled to life, but he didn’t move. Well, Mom, that didn’t go over very well. I tried. I don’t know what to do now. I’m thinking I can’t force myself on them . They’re nice people, Mom, and they made it on their own. God, I have a kid brother. Who knew? It was strange how much he looks like Dad, and I look so much like you. Night and day.
    Jake waited for what he hoped would be a lightning bolt of wisdom, but none came. He was almost blinded by his own tears when he tore away from the curb and headed down the same street Alex had taken. He didn’t see the white van backing out of the driveway because, at the exact moment of impact, a yellow butterfly settled itself in the middle of his windshield.
    And that’s when all hell broke loose. He felt the crash, felt his car do a one-eighty, heard the screams, saw people running out of their houses. He struggled out of the low-slung seat and ran to the white