Chapter 12 - The Son Marcus Wanted to Be Seen With
Darius found Jordan outside the auto-parts store after closing.
Jordan recognized Keisha’s SUV in the parking lot.
Darius stood beside it.
“You stalking me?”
Darius gave a nervous smile.
“My mom drove me.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to give you something.”
Jordan approached.
Darius held out a small black gift box.
Jordan frowned.
“What is it?”
“Open it.”
Inside was a keychain.
Not expensive.
A simple metal tag shaped like a steering wheel.
Jordan looked at him.
“You bought this?”
“Like six months ago.”
“For who?”
“Myself.”
Jordan almost laughed.
Darius shrugged.
“I thought I was getting my license and my dad was maybe going to help me get something cheap.”
“What happened?”
“He stopped answering for a while.”
Jordan nodded.
He knew Keisha’s ex-husband was inconsistent.
“So Marcus stepped in.”
“At first just driving me places.”
Darius leaned against the SUV.
“He came to my basketball games. Helped me with an internship application. Stuff like that.”
“That’s good.”
“It was.”
Jordan meant it.
Darius studied him.
“You really don’t hate me?”
“No.”
“I think I would hate me.”
“You didn’t lie to me.”
Darius nodded.
“Marcus said you were jealous before you even came over.”
Jordan frowned.
“What?”
“He told my mom if you reacted badly, it would be because you never liked him helping me.”
Jordan laughed bitterly.
“He pre-explained my reaction.”
“Yeah.”
“Wow.”
“That’s why I came.”
Darius looked embarrassed.
“I didn’t want you thinking everybody believed him.”
Jordan turned the keychain over in his palm.
“Why give me this?”
“Because I don’t want it anymore.”
“That’s dramatic.”
Darius smiled slightly.
“Probably.”
Jordan held it back out.
“Keep it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because it meant something before all this.”
Jordan looked at him.
“That’s exactly why you should keep it.”
Darius frowned.
Jordan closed Darius’s hand around the keychain.
“Don’t let Marcus ruin something that was yours before him.”
Darius stared down.
Then laughed softly.
“You’re annoyingly mature.”
“Only when I’m talking about other people.”
They stood in silence.
Keisha remained in the SUV, giving them privacy.
Darius said, “Can I tell you something weird?”
“Sure.”
“Marcus talks about you all the time.”
Jordan blinked.
“What?”
“Not bad.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“No. Like… proud.”
Jordan felt unexpectedly angry.
“Proud of what?”
“Your grades. Your job. How you fix stuff. He told me you rebuilt a lawn mower when you were fourteen.”
“I replaced a carburetor.”
“He made it sound like you built NASA.”
Jordan looked away.
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“If he’s proud of me, why does he treat me like—”
He stopped.
Darius finished quietly.
“Like helping you would make you weaker.”
Jordan looked at him.
Darius shrugged.
“Maybe because he needs you to already be strong.”
Jordan frowned.
“What?”
“He helps me because he gets to feel needed.”
The observation was too precise.
Darius continued.
“You don’t act like you need him.”
“I did.”
“Maybe he didn’t notice.”
Jordan looked toward the dark storefront.
He remembered asking Marcus for $1,500.
Not demanding.
Not assuming.
Asking.
Marcus had responded with a lecture about pride.
Jordan whispered, “He noticed.”
Darius looked at him.
“He just didn’t like the kind of need I had.”
“What kind?”
“The kind where he couldn’t be a hero.”
Jordan understood as soon as he said it.
Helping Jordan close a gap was ordinary parenting.
No audience.
No surprise bow.
No gratitude spectacle.
Helping Darius gave Marcus a role he could display.
A better man than Darius’s absent father.
A generous boyfriend.
A rescuer.
Jordan had not needed rescuing.
He had needed partnership.
Marcus had apparently valued the first more.
Darius’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
“Mom says we gotta go.”
Jordan nodded.
Darius opened the SUV door.
Then paused.
“Jordan?”
“Yeah?”
“My dad texted me today.”
Jordan raised his eyebrows.
“What did he say?”
“He heard about the car.”
“How?”
“Marcus called him.”
Jordan stared.
“Why would Marcus call your dad?”
“Apparently to ask him to contribute to insurance.”
Jordan laughed in disbelief.
Darius did not.
“He also told my dad you were trying to take the car away from me.”
Jordan’s smile vanished.
“What?”
“He said there was some financial dispute and you were jealous.”
Jordan felt heat rise in his chest.
“Did your dad believe him?”
“I don’t know.”
Darius stepped closer.
“But if Marcus is telling people that, you should know.”
Jordan nodded slowly.
The pattern was happening again.
Marcus was creating a version of events ahead of the truth.
He was not simply defending himself.
He was recruiting witnesses.
Jordan’s phone buzzed.
A message from his aunt Tiana.
Haven’t talked to you in a minute. Your dad called me. Before I answer him, I want to hear from you.
Jordan showed Darius.
Darius shook his head.
“He’s fast.”
“Yes.”
Jordan looked toward Keisha.
“Tell your mom something.”
“What?”
“Don’t argue with him about me anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because every argument gives him something new to twist.”
Darius nodded.
Jordan opened Tiana’s message.
He began typing.
Then stopped.
Instead he called.
Tiana answered.
“Hey, nephew.”
“Hey.”
“Your dad says everybody has lost their minds.”
Jordan smiled bitterly.
“What did he tell you?”
“That your mother is using you to attack him over money.”
Jordan closed his eyes.
“Of course.”
“And that you’re upset because he bought Darius a car.”
“I am upset.”
“I figured.”
“But not because Darius got one.”
“I figured that too.”
Jordan heard Tiana sigh.
“Good.”
“Why good?”
“Because Marcus forgot something.”
Jordan’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
“I’m the one who helped him open your grandfather’s account.”
Jordan went still.
May you like
![92 The Girl They Called Broke Was a Billionaire’s Daughter—But Her Father’s Arrival Exposed a Secret Powerful People Had Buried for Years]](https://cdn.treeiq.biz/site_590/2026/11/clone-0-0915d882-53d7-4d17-b43a-a010ca1a1068.webp)
Tiana continued.
“And I kept copies.”
