James parked his car outside and exited his car. He sometimes wonders how his life started going south, he was married to the wealthiest woman in Africa and in line to inherit her fortune last year until his son stepped in and thwarted his plans.
Now, he relied on his savings and his daughter's trust fund since he would have to cry an ocean for his billionaire son to spare a penny for his upkeep.
James wondered if he had the power to time travel if he would be a better father to Jason.
He probably would.
If he had any inclination that all his plans would fail and he would be left destitute, he would be nice to him.
James often wondered where the intense hatred for Jason came from. He didn't feel that way about his daughter, Queenie but with Jason, it has always been different after his wife adopted him.
He always tried to tell himself that the hatred stemmed from the fact that everything he worked tooth and nail for, Jason got it handed to him on a platter.
Money. Fame. Love. Elixir. Miranda, every single thing he fought hard to keep, Jason got effortlessly.
He didn't experience the demeaning poverty like he did. Jason didn't have to watch his younger sister die of a snake bite like he did. James always resented him for it.
He resented his son from the very first day he added the door opening name - Yagazie to his name and he was automatically better than James.
He simply resented him but he didn't hate him and he shouldn't have told him that he hated him when he was a child.
He was a little bit drunk but still sane. He opened his apartment and entered.
An apartment he shared with his mistress and the mother of his children, Miranda.
She wasn't home.
James made it all the way to his bedroom and he entered. Everywhere was dark and he searched for the switch until a voice startled him.
"Hi, Dad"
He recognized the voice. Suddenly the light was switched on and his suspicion was confirmed.
The son he couldn't stand was sitting in his bedroom and worst, he had a gun pointed at him.
"Jayden" He called him by the name he first gave him before his adoptive mother Elixir changed it.
"Now, that's just stupid, James. Hostage 101 clearly states that you don't antagonize the man sitting in your bedroom with a loaded gun pointed at you" Jason replied.
He hated it when he called him Jayden.
"Can you even use that? You should put it away before you hurt yourself, Jason" James appeared nonchalant at the sight of his son holding a gun to him.
Jason took off the safety pin and aimed it at his left knee.
"Do you really think that a son raised by someone like Elixir Yagazie can't handle a gun? Sit your ass down father or I am going to blow your knee cap off" Jason used the gun to gesture for him to sit on the only other chair in his room.
James refused to sit down. He knew that his son wasn't capable of such monstrosity.
He knew that Jason was weak, pampered and spoiled. And so he simply placed an annoying smirk on his face and watched his son.
Jason relaxed further into his chair. His father thought he wasn't capable but he was. He just had to remind him of that.
"Ten years ago, there was a girl. She was my best friend and I got her pregnant. Her name was Tamara Jones. Does that ring a bell, James?" Jason exhaled.
The smirk on James' face was completely wiped off. Jason could see the recognition of that name - Tamara Jones in his father's eyes.
For the first time since James entered the room and saw his son with a gun, fear crept into him and was visible in his eyes.
Good! Jason had him exactly where he wanted him.
Jason wasn't angry or impulsive. He simply came to deliver a message with a clear head and it was exactly what he planned to do.
"I am going to say it one more time, Daddy. Sit your stupid ass down before I blow out your knee cap" Jason pointed at the chair and this time around James obeyed him.
"You were twenty years old. She would have destroyed your future, Son" James told him without blinking.
Jason scoffed. He was actually amazed at his father's stupidity. Did James actually think he was buying the whole I - love - my - son - defense?
Jason sat upright and he lowered his gun just a little bit.
Jason could hear the relief in James's voice and the way he relaxed further in his posture.
"Yeah, Dad. It makes absolute sense due to the numerous times you showed up for my swimming competition or my graduations. Like the time I graduated from Harvard business school as the best in my class, you were in the crowd cheering me on, right?" Jason asked his father.
James was mute. His relief was gone.
"Just like you showed up the day I adopted my daughter…oh, like you did the numerous times you remembered my birthday and sent gifts to me because I am your bloody son? Or was it those times, you told me you love me and you will always be there for me no matter what, right? I mean, the only reason you would make Tamara disappear was because of your undying love for me, is that what you are saying?"
Jason waited for James to answer but he kept mute.
"Yeah, that doesn't make any sense but you know what does? The clause in my grandfather's will that makes me his heir if I become a father before thirty years old. You knew that if Tamara gives birth to my child, the deal you made with my mother goes up in flames….yeah" Jason blinked "I think that is believable more than you love me defense"
James cleared his throat.
"You are right. I did it for me but in retrospect, you are what you are today because of me, Jason. Can you imagine being a father at 20?" James asked him.
"No, I can't…Dad. No matter how much I try to imagine it, I can't see it because of you, evil genius. You are a shitty father, James. I made my peace with it a long time ago but you tried to murder my child behind my back and worst, you made me a shitty father to my daughter, EJ" Jason told him.
He could see the surprise on James' face. The son of a tooth really thought that Tamara killed his baby.
"I am sorry. I should have told you of your granddaughter. Her name is Elixir Jason Yagazie. She is nine years old and she is mine. Tamara didn't abort. All you succeeded in doing was make me miss the first nine years of her life"
Jason took out his phone and he showed James a picture of EJ.
James watched the picture. At last, one thing he was remorseful about was trying to have the girl aborted.
"I am sorry, Jason. I am really sorry, Jason"
It was sincere.
Jason stood up and he placed the safety pin back on and placed the gun back in his pocket.
"Thank you. That's means a lot to me if it was sincere"
He took out something from his breast pocket and he gave it to James.
"What is this?" James asked and opened the paper Jason gave him.
Jason knew he would figure it out soon enough. Only a daft person wouldn't. He waited patiently for the realization to appear on his father's face but it never came.
"It's a check for 7 million naira, Jason. Why are you giving me money, Jason?" James asked and looked at his son.
Was his apology so sincere that Jason wanted to part ways with 7 million naira? If he had known this before, he would have apologized to him sooner but something wasn't right. James felt it.
Jason saw when he finally got his message.
"Why did you give me the same amount of money I gave to Tamara Jones ten years ago?" James asked his son.
Jason leaned in closer.
"To do exactly what she did ten years ago. I need you to leave Nigeria. Take the money and disappear… because if you don't and I am forced to do something about it, I will make you disappear and not in a good way. You've got forty eight hours, James"
"But…but, Jason…"
Jason watched his father's face for the last time. He knew for sure that he was never going to see James again. This was it for both of them.
Jason wondered how many times he daydreamed about reconciling with his Dad, he dreamt of the father - son trips and the golf games and the numerous other things people did with normal fathers and as he stared at James Ekoh, he watched as those daydream disappeared from his eyes one by one until there was nothing left. There was no love left and there was no hatred either. He was just the perfect stranger.