Dame was a foolish nigga. He may have loved Scottie, but not realizing that hurting her mother would only hurt his relationship with Scottlyn proved he wasn’t right in his head. I was almost positive he would never see her again until he got his shit together, and even then, I would recommend him having supervised visits with her.
“I want you to file a restraining order on him. We can go to the police station tomorrow and handle that after we grab you a phone,” I suggested. I could see the sadness in her eyes as they dropped to her lap. I took my finger and lifted her head. “Hold your head up, baby. You don’t have to be sad about shit. This is the first step to making sure you’re protected. I have to resume my life back in Muskegon next week, but I’m going to make sure you have everything you need before I leave here.”
“I know. I guess I’m just trying to see the silver lining in all of this. I’m trying to be strong for my baby, but I can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.”
“Nothing’s going to happen?—”
“You can't guarantee that! Damien is evil. I would get my ass beat just for being the first to wake up in the morning. While my bladder screamed, I had to lie there until he opened his damn eyes. I’ve been through hell, Truce. He kicked my baby out of my stomach and blamed its death on me. Like… what kind of shit is that?
“I’m happy to be back here with my family, but I will never stop thinking that one day, he's going to come for me, and my happily ever after will never come.”
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but can you trust me?”
“I want to—I really do. You got me this far, but how long will that last?”
“Forever, if you let it. I just need you to trust me.”
She looked away from me and shook her head. “Okay, Truce. If you say you have it under control, I’ll believe you and try to stop worrying.”
“Cool. Let me get y’all some food and show y’all around.”
I passed her Chunks and pulled out my phone to order some pizza, wings, and fries. Hearing what she went through with my brother only made me that much more eager to show her that she didn’t have to worry about him anymore. I was going to make sure she was just a memory to him.
“Name any place you’ve always wanted to go. It can be anywhere.”
Jela and I sat on the floor in the living room having a glass of wine. After the food was delivered, we ate, showered, and I played with my Chunks before her mother put her to sleep in the guest room down the hall. I pulled out a bottle of wine, grabbed a deck of cards, and turned on some music for relaxation.
“Hmm, I always wanted to go to Arizona.”
“Arizona?”
She giggled. “I know it sounds silly to want to still be in the states, but I want to see the Grand Canyon. I heard it was beautiful.”
“It’s not silly. Our country has some dope places.”
“We do, but that's where I want to go. My dad was going to take Jas and me, but he died that year, and Mommy never followed up.” She shrugged. “So, we never went.”
“Tell me more about your pops,” I told her, placing a card down and taking the book.
“Cheater!” She laughed. “He was a great man, though. He treated us like gold and always thought he was Mr. Fix-It. Anything that would break around the house, he swore he knew how to fix it. It’s funny because whatever he claimed to fix would always break again. It used to grind Mommy’s gears until, eventually… she started calling professionals to come out and fix whatever would break.”
I chuckled. “Sounds like he was being frugal.”
“Very!”
Her laugh always calmed me—I loved to hear it. I felt sleepy, but I didn’t want the night to end yet. Jela made me want to be in her presence for as long as I could. If I had it my way, she’d be sleeping in my bed tonight.
“Nothing wrong with that, love.”
“Yeah, but he was a loving father and devoted husband. You couldn’t tell him shit about his girls either.”
“I can see why. All of y’all have this nurturing spirit. Even your crazy-ass sister.”
We both laughed again as she finished off her wine. I could tell the wine made her loosen up some. Jela wasn't much of a talker unless you spoke to her, but the wine influenced her to spark a conversation, and I loved to see her in this light.
“Jas is something else, but I love her to death. She’s my best friend.”
“I can tell. Do you have other friends here?”
