Kai
"Dad, stop moving!” Amari says with her brows squinted at me in an angry face.
My foot jerks with the touch of her hands. “My feet are ticklish.” I never knew I would be this type of dad. But here I am, sitting on the couch, while Amari is cross-legged on the floor painting my toenails. I made her paint them black so my toes wouldn't look so girly.
A knock comes through the door. “Fuck,” I whisper. I hope it’s not Blakely.
“You owe me a dollar.”
“How did you hear that?” I sigh, glancing down at her. "Never mind.” I yell, “Come in!”
“What the hell?” Kevin walks in dressed in sweats and a plain black T-shirt. He halts his steps when he sees what’s happening.
“You owe me a dollar,” Amari repeats, still continuing to pain my toes.
“Hell is not a swear word,” he says.
“Yeah huh.”
“Fine.” He pulls out his wallet and sets a dollar down next to Amari. “But seriously, what’s going on?”
“I’m painting my dad’s toes.” Amari smiles up at her uncle.
“I can see that, but why?” Kevin stares at me with an amused look.
I sigh, shaking my head and trying to hold my feet still from the tickles I feel. “You’ll understand when you’re a girl dad.”
He takes a seat on the couch next to me, making my foot bounce a little.
"Hey,” Amari says, staring down at the black paint on the top of my big toe.
"Oops, sorry,” Kevin says.
“What are you doing here?” I shift my gaze over to him.
“What? Can I not come visit my brother and niece?”
This is perfect. Blakely’s coming to pick up Amari in a bit, and Kevin can keep Amari company while I finally get the chance to talk to B about that Friday night a couple of weeks ago. I know she’s been avoiding me, and I can’t let this conversation happen over the phone—it’s too important. That night keeps replaying in my head, every word she said echoing in my mind, and I’m still trying to make sense of it all.
I’ve been struggling with what Blakely was trying to tell me, wondering if I misread the signs back then. I’ve been trying to convince myself that I could let everything play out like I had planned. But I can’t. I need to hear it from her, face to face, to see her eyes and reaction when she says it—if she says it at all. Her avoiding me these past few weeks has only made it harder. I know there’s a chance she might not give me the answers I want,but I can’t keep living in this limbo, wondering what she really meant.
“Uncle Kevin, can I paint yours next?” she asks with a mischievous smile on her lips.
“Ugh,” Kevin says, but I know he’ll let her.
He was making fun of me, and now he’s in the same position I was in twenty minutes ago. Payback’s a bitch.
"Yeah, Uncle Kevin, can your niece paint your toenails?” I repeat in a girly voice.
Kevin narrows his eyes at me and shakes his head. “I guess.” He leans down and takes off his shoes and socks. “But they have to be black. I can’t do a cutesy color.”
“Awe. I wanted to try this new pink color that I got.” She lifts it up with a wide grin.
“You’re killing me, kid.” He groans and leans back into the couch.
“Is that a yes?” Her eyes go wide.
He nods his head and grabs the remote.
