Page 32 of After the Knockout
“Yeah.”
“How old?”
“Five.”
Pops leaned back in his chair slowly. “And Lyrius the mama?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” He shook his head. “I got a whole grandson out here.”
“His name is Dakoda.”
“Lil’ man cool too.” Jaylen grinned.
“He smart as hell, too, and he’s already obsessed with boxing,” I admitted before I could stop myself.
“Lyrius alright?” Pops asked.
“She straight, I guess.” I stuffed a few pairs of socks in my bag. “Working a lot. Raising him by herself.”
Pops nodded slowly. “Is she in trouble?”
“Not that I know of.” I shrugged even though that was still yet to be determined. “She showed up at the training facility looking for shelter during the hurricane. Never even planned to tell me about him.” I explained the course of events to him, and he just sat there and listened with a slick grin on his face.
“She always was a sweet girl,” Pops muttered, making me side-eye him. Back in the day, Pops liked Lyrius. That was one thing I loved about her, but sweet girls didn’t set niggas up to get shot. He didn’t know that part about her, though. “Go easy on her,” he said, and I waved him off. “Scared people make bad decisions every day, Son.”
I zipped the duffel harder than I meant to. He’d be singing a different tune if he knew what she’d done. “She still should’ve told me about my son.”
“She should’ve,” Pops agreed immediately. “Ain’t saying she right.”
That helped more than it should have. ’Cause I didn’t need anybody that didn’t know the truth trying to force forgiveness down my throat.
“And if she’d told you back then?” Pops asked calmly. “What would you’ve done?”
I sighed because I knew the answer to that question. I probably would’ve done some shit I’d regret.
“Exactly,” Pops said, as if my silence proved his point.
“It just feels weird.”
“It should. You found out you’re somebody’s daddy overnight,” Jalen said, making a laugh slip out of me before I could stop it.
“You don’t gotta know everything today,” Pops said. “Just gotta decide what kinda man you gonna be now.”
That sat with me for a second, and it confirmed what I had already decided. I had to go back. There wasn’t going to be another day where my son didn’t wake up to his father.
“I don’t know how to be nobody’s daddy,” I admitted quietly. “What if I’m already too behind to catch up?”
Pops shrugged. “There was no manual when your mom and I brought y’all boys home either, and you two knuckleheads were damn near teenagers. You just figure it out.”
I nodded as silence filled the call. I was too busy grabbing my sneakers out the closet to respond.
“Hold on.” Jaylen squinted at me. “Nigga . . . why you packing?”
“I’m going back.” I stuffed a few pairs of my shoes in the duffel.
“The fuck you mean, you going back?” Jaylen barked.
