“Neither do you,” Necie pouted.
“Pack. We’re leaving,” her mother ordered.
I was barely listening to them. Instead, I focused on making sure Keyon didn’t tumble down the stairs. The minute he was in my arms, I squeezed him tight and spun him around. “I missed you. You good?” I asked him quietly.
He nodded. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Good,” I whispered in his ear while I held him close. Looking at Arionna standing beside me, I murmured, “You don’t have to leave.”
“I can’t be here. I can’t be part of whatever it is you doing with…her.” She took a deep breath and stormed up the stairs. When she reached the top, she growled, “Pack fast.”
“How are you even leaving, Arionna?” I asked. “You don’t have a car. Last I heard, you was low on money. Where you even gonna live?”
“Mama will pick us up.” She stuck out her chin.
I laughed sadly. “I can’t believe you’d rather live in Mama’s itty bitty two bedroom, one bathroom house than stay here with me.”
“It’s not staying with you I have a problem with,” she retorted as she disappeared down the hall.
With a sigh, I set Keyon on his feet, grabbed his hand and lead him into the kitchen. “You hungry?”
He nodded. “I want popcorn,” he announced with a big smile.
“You can’t have popcorn for lunch. Let’s see what we got for food. I think we need to get groceries. We only picked up a few things yesterday. Auntie was too tired to do real shopping.” I babbled on to cover the sound of my sister rushing around upstairs and barking orders at my niece. As I reached for the fridge door, my phone vibrated. I pulled it out of my pocket and grinned when I saw I had a text from Tegyn and breathed a sigh of relief at her message. “She’s on her way,” I told Keyon.
“Who, Daddy?” He stared up at me, a smile on his face.
“Daddy’s friend, Tegyn, is coming to stay with us for a little while.” I inhaled deeply. If I had my way, she’d be here forever. A little while wouldn’t be nearly long enough. All I could think about was getting her here where she’d be safe, hauling her into my arms. I stared at the phone, hoping she might call, but it didn’t ring and the last thing I needed to do was scare her off with my over-eager behavior.
Keyon tugged on my hand.
I looked down. “What’s up, buddy?”
“I want cheese.” He grinned.
I laughed. “You win. You want mac and cheese?”
“Uh huh.” He bounced a little beside me. Then he calmed down. “I go sit and wait.” He rushed to the back side of the island and I saw a hand pop up onto the counter and I realized he was trying to get on a stool.
After helping him into the seat, I warned, “Don’t wiggle, I don’t want you to fall and crack your head open.”
“Okay, Daddy.” He giggled. Apparently, concussions and stitches were funny to him. That’s because I’d protected the boy from anything worse than a skinned knee his whole life.
I disappeared inside the pantry and started looking for a box of the powdered kind to make him for lunch. The emotions coursing through me were so distracting. I wanted to sit and analyze them. I was nervous about this. Facing my mother after whatever Ari would tell her pained me greatly. Then I was so worried I’d mess everything up with Tegyn again. This was my second chance and she didn’t strike me as the kind of woman to give a guy a third and fourth. Most immediately, however, I was mad at my sister, angry she wouldn’t give Tegyn a chance based on the color of her skin. As a black woman, you’d have thought she’d be more understanding about racism, but instead, she was stuck in the past.
“Daddy! Where’d you go?” Keyon chirped from his seat.
“Right here, little man.” I peeked out the pantry. “Boo!” I teased.
He giggled like I was the funniest person he knew. It felt good. I needed that right now.
I grabbed the closest box of mac and cheese and walked back into the kitchen. As I was about to pull out a saucepan, Ari came stomping down the stairs with Necie trailing sadly behind her. “So, you out?” I asked glumly.
“Of course, we’re leaving. I can’t believe you thought I’d stay here,” she snapped.
Necie’s shoulders sank. “I want to stay,” she whispered. “I like it here. And I like tae kwon do.” She was clearly ready to list off all the things she enjoyed about her current living situation, but her mother cut her off.
“We can’t stay, I told you. It’s the principle.” She glared at me again.