“Yes, Mand.”
“Why? He hasn’t ever wanted anything to do with me. No cards, no letters, no calls, no visits. He left my mom when I was a month old. He couldn’t handle being a dad. It was too much responsibility for him at 22.”
“Mand, there’s more.”
“He wants to see me,” Mandy said, knowing what was about to be said.
“Yes, he does,” Bob answered.
“What should I do?”
Little did the four people in the den know, someone had been listening in on the conversation.
“Geez. Now I feel terrible for being so mean to her. Dang, what am I gonna do to make it up to her?” Nick muttered under his breath.
“Nick, don’t you know that talking to yourself means you have some kind of complex?” AJ asked. “Not that you don’t already have one, of course.”
“Ha ha. Not funny, Bone,” Nick replied to his friend.
“YOU, my friend are absolutely NO fun.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Anytime.”
Nick began to listen to the conversation again. He almost couldn’t believe what he had heard already.
“Mandy, your parents think you should meet Justin. He told us he remarried, and has two daughters with his new wife, Riana. I believe their names are Arlin Janette and Ava Jocelin. They are seven and five,” Jane said.
“Mandy, you should meet him. See what happens. You need his side of why he left. Whether you like it or not, he is a part of you. Just go meet him,” BJ said.
“I guess you’re right, Beej. I’ll meet him and see what happens. I just hope it doesn’t kill me first,” Mandy said.
“Don’t talk like that. If things don’t go well, you know your parents will let you come back, sweetie,” Bob said to the younger girl.
“The thing that really sucks, though, is that I will most likely be there for my birthday next week. Turning twenty with people I don’t even know. Fantastic.”
“Don’t worry about that,” BJ muttered quietly to herself.
“Where is she, Justin. You have a sign that says Amanda Alexander, and all the passengers are already off the plane, but I don’t see anyone coming over here,” Riana, Mandy’s step-mother said.
“That could be her,” Ava, the little five-year-old said, pointing to a girl with light brown hair that was about average height, that was indeed Mandy.
“Probably. Excuse me, miss, would you happen to be coming to New York to visit your father Justin?” Justin asked.
Mandy looked at him strangely. “Yes.”
“Finally, we found you! Did you not see the sign that had your name on it?” Riana asked. “It said Amanda Alexander.”
“Then that’s the problem. My name is Amanda Smith, not Amanda Alexander,” Mandy said.
