“Yes, my name is Dru Willis. I am calling to verify the results of a DNA test.”
“Can I have your social security number?” the man requested. Dru rattled off his social as he paced back and forth in his office.
“Sir, it looks like we have three test results for you. Can you give me the year on which test you wish to verify?”
“If you don’t mind, I need all three.” He might as well kill three birds with one stone.
“OK, give me a second to pull them up.”
Dru made it to his office. He rounded his desk and had a seat in his black office chair. Four years ago, he’d been adamant that the boys were his. When the test results came back that they weren’t, he didn’t question it. He never asked to see the tests. He trusted that Marli wouldn’t lie about this type of thing.
“Sir, it looks like you are 99.9998 percent the father of all three children in question. Would you like me to send it to the email address on file?”
“Yes, please.” Dru couldn’t begin to process how this happened. Could there have been a mix-up in the lab? He didn’t know what to think.
“Umm, we have two emails on file for you, sir—a Druwillis824 and a Janelb713. Which one would you like me to send the results to?”
Dru was silent for a minute. Why would Janel’s email be on file? When he’d taken the test four years ago, he billed it through Eight24. Janel was still his secretary then, but that didn’t explain why her personal email was on the account.
“You can email it to Druwillis824; the other one is not valid,” he informed the man on the other end of the phone. “Aye, man, can I ask you something?” Dru pinched his nose.
“Yes, sir.”
“Are these the only results on file for me? There are no duplicate copies? You sure that these are one hundred percent accurate? They haven’t been changed?” Dru was trying to make sure he covered all his bases.
“No, sir. These are your original test results. I’m one hundred percent positive.”
Things were starting to add up in his head. Dru leaned back in his chair.
“One last thing… Can you tell me the date the original test was emailed, and which address was used?”
“Sure. Looks like it was sent February twenty fourth to the Janelb address.” The man confirmed what Dru had already suspected. Janel had switched the tests. He knew Janel wasn’t thrilled about him fathering Marli’s babies, but he never thought she’d do anything this drastic. Dru’s body stilled.
“Okay, thank you,” he replied.
“No problem, sir. I’m sending the email over now.”
“Have a good one.” Dru disconnected the call. He was still for a minute, a thousand emotions flooding him all at once. The weight of the world seemed to lift and be placed on his shoulders all at one time. His phone chimed with the email notification from the testing center. Dru clicked it. Sure enough, they were the same tests from before. Dru could barely think. He had two sons, two four-year-old boys who needed him. Exiting the office, he walked mechanically to the front of the building. He thought about driving, but his emotions were all over the place.
Dru had prided himself on being able to read people and judge their character. It was one of the things his dad and the streets had taught him. So how had he missed this? How was Janel able to switch the tests right under his nose and not be detected? Dru made it outside the building as the car pulled around. He didn’t usually put his hands on women, but he was going to fuck Janel up. Dru slid inside the back of the SUV, anger pouring from his pipes.
“Where to, boss?” his driver asked.
“Janel’s house.” He glanced down at his phone, staring at the DNA results once more. The boys were his. He still couldn’t wrap his head around it. He wanted to call Marli, but he wanted to get all the facts before he spoke with her. It didn’t take long for them to get to Janel’s house. She lived close to the office. The car couldn’t even get into park good before he hopped out and rushed to the front door. Before he could ring the doorbell, Janel swung the door open, wearing a huge smile. She was dressed in only a robe.
“I knew you would be bac—”
She couldn’t finish her sentence because Dru had grabbed hold of her neck and pushed her inside her home. He shut the door behind him.
“Ooh! I missed you too,” Janel sang as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Tell me you ain’t swap the DNA test, J.”
Janel’s eyes bulged, and all the color drained from her skin.
“Dru, I… can explain.”
“Explain how you changed the course of my fucking life, Janel! Marli’s life, the boys’ lives! What the fuck was you thinking?”
“I just wanted you to choose me… I just wanted you.” Janel whimpered. Dru dropped her to the ground. The reality of what she’d said set in. Janel had done all of this so they could be together. He stared at her. He didn’t know who she was. She didn’t even look the same.
“I thought if you weren’t the father, you’d move on. I had to give us a fair chance. Those boys being yours would have killed my chance… our chance.” Janel was in tears, but she meant every word she spoke. She really believed that she’d done the right thing.
Dru couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He had missed out on four years of his sons’ most precious moments because Janel had caught feelings.
“Do you know how hard it is to be soul tied to someone who’s not soul tied to you?” Janel approached him, but Dru pushed her away. He didn’t want to hear that shit. There was nothing she could say or do that justified this. For the first time, he was seeing the monster he had created. Dru wasn’t insensitive enough to think that he’d done nothing to cause this. He fully understood his role in all this madness. Dru had never led Janel on, but he had taken advantage of her. He knew that it was dangerous to lay down with the same woman for eight years and both get up without feelings. He knew many years ago that Janel was in love with him. He should have stopped seeing her. The more he stared at her, the worse he felt about the whole thing. It didn’t negate what she’d done, but he understood her motivation.
“You left the door unlocked for a nigga, huh?” The sound of Max’s voice and the front door swinging open caused Dru to snap his head in the direction of the door. Max? Dru thought to himself as his eyes bounced in between the two of them.
“What the fuck is he doing here, bae? I thought y’all was done for real this time, Janel!” Max shouted. Janel was speechless. Hearing him refer to her as ‘bae’ had Dru’s head spinning. He knew that Janel was fucking other people—he had encouraged it, but Max? That was a new development. It made sense, though, given Janel’s constant hate for Marli. As he stared at the two of them, a lightbulb went off in his head, and rage filled his eyes.
“Y’all muthafuckers planned this?” He started walking up to Max.
“Yeah, nigga, I fucked both yo’ bitches. They both chose me.” Max tapped his chest as if he was proud. Dru laughed as he approached him slowly, connecting his fist to his face.
“Bitch, I play about a lot of shit but my seeds!” Dru grabbed his gun from his pants and aimed it at Max.
“Fuck you and yo’ seeds, nigga. You better stay away from mine though.” Max pulled his gun in rebuttal. Dru wanted to blow his brains out for referring to his boys as his, but it dawned on him that either Max was delusional, or he wasn’t aware of what Janel had done.
