Page 42 of After the Knockout
Nigga shut up and pay them. Six months.
Jaylen:
Bet. I got it.
I shoved my phone back into my pocket right as Dakoda popped up beside me again.
“Daddy, did you grab the cheese?”
“I got it, little man.”
The two of us went back over to the stove and finished dinner together. I even popped some garlic bread in the oven while he talked nonstop about dinosaurs and how Ali was gonna need his own bed now that he was living in his room. It was a cool little time, one that I had never had with my own parents.
“Mama gonna be so happy,” Dakoda said proudly while carrying napkins to the table. Something about hearing how excited he was to do something special for his moms did some weird shit to my chest. By the time Lyrius came back out, Dakoda and I were already sitting at the table with food on our plates. My eyes lifted toward her automatically.Damn. I watched as she made it to the table. Those little shorts she had on barely contained her thighs. The shower had relaxed her some.
“Mama,” Dakoda started immediately, “Daddy let me use extra cheese. I hope you like it.”
“Slow down before you choke.” She laughed while sitting down beside us.
I sat there, eating and half listening to Dakoda ramble while watching Lyrius twirl spaghetti around her fork. She looked comfortable here, like this was normal, like maybe this could’vealways been normal if life hadn’t gone left five years ago. Dakoda made it through maybe six bites before shoving his plate away dramatically.
“I’m full. Can I go watch TV?”
Lyrius barely looked up from her plate. “Yeah, baby. Go ahead.”
“That boy barely ate,” I muttered.
“That’s normal for him,” she replied. “He snacks more than he actually eats meals.”
“Got it.” I nodded my head, and Dakoda emptied his food into the trash, put his plate into the dishwasher, and rushed off to his room without needing to be told. The second Dakoda disappeared down the hallway, I leaned back in my chair and looked across the table at Lyrius, just watching her. There was a time when I was crazy about this woman. I thought together, we could have it all. Now, I didn’t know what was appropriate to feel.
“So your little boyfriend stopped by earlier.” The words escaped my mouth before I could even give them thought.
“What boyfriend?”
“Dark-skinned, dread-head nigga.”
“Oh. You talking about Mekhi?” She blinked before realization crossed her face.
“Yeah. That nigga.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” She laughed lightly.
“You been on dates with him, though?”
“No.”
“Well, y’all watching movies together with my son. This how you moving? You having random niggas around my son?”
“He’s my neighbor,” she said slowly. “Not that I owe you an explanation, but he fixed my sink one day when maintenance was taking forever. I was watching one of his favorite movies, and he stayed afterward and finished it. Hardly a date.”
I leaned back in my chair. “That nigga wants to fuck, though. Look. Just tell yo’ niggas to cool it on stopping by. Your baby daddy live here now.”
“Why are you acting like this?”
“Acting like what?”
“Like some jealous-ass baby daddy.”
