Parke meets the man who adopted a child who could possibly be his son.
“Mr. Jamieson, I’m Mr. Ann, GJ’s father.”
Now it’s GJ as in Gilbert Junior? He’s trying to bait me. Parke lifted a brow and stood. “I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot, but he may call you dad, but if he’s mine, I’m Parke’s father.”
Gilbert snorted and took a seat. “I’m going to save us some time. The adoption is final. What are you trying to prove after the fact?” He leaned forward.
Parke sat back and tapped his finger on the bare table. “If PJ is my son, I plan to fight for custody.” He didn’t blink.
Gilbert taunted Parke with a laugh that rebuked his statement. “I recall that you agreed to my conditions.”
“I didn’t.”
“You’re wasting your time and mine. No judge in the state will overturn the adoption based on an ‘I didn’t know’ excuse.” He leaned back as if he had trumped Parke’s card. “This meeting had nothing to do with you, but was confirmation that I had made the right decision. I knew you were trouble the moment you called my house.”
Relax your fist, Parke. Relax. Stop imagining his lip swollen, Parke could hear Cheney’s voice.
They threw taunts back and forth as if they were riding on a seesaw. A waitress approached to take their orders and both waved her away. Now Parke was hungry. He had worked up an appetite, but he was focused on one thing only. “If I lose, at least my son will know his natural father wasn’t a wimp or coward—that Parke Kokumuo Jamieson the Sixth was a man who loved his son, but was denied access. He will know I would spend every dime I had to secure his release.”
“Ha!” Gilbert dropped his head back and laughed again. “Release? You make it sound as if he’s been captured.” He slapped his palm on the table.
Parke mentally tried to hum every gospel song he could remember or recite scriptures he had read. He admitted he was in the midst of a serious ordeal. “In a way, yes, because regardless of who set the trap, God already has a plan of escape. My tenth great- grandfather was also captured in Africa, but he escaped slavery in the United States.”
He switched to spiritual warfare. “You can’t see them, Mr. Ann, but I came with backup. God has dispatched legions of His angels to help me. It doesn’t matter what you or the law says. All I have to do is endure until the end. You game? Because I’m suited up.” Ah, that felt good to get out.
