Page 30 of After the Knockout
“Then what are we doing?”
“We flying.”
“Private!” Jaylen called over his shoulder. I bit down on the inside of my lip. Of course he had access to a private jet. I looked at KO, trying to figure out a proper rebuttal, but nothing came out.
“You got a private jet?” Dae-Dae cut in.
“I can get one.” I stared at him for a second, trying not to feel overwhelmed by how fast all this was moving. Yesterday, it was just Dae-Dae and me; now his father was a part of our lives.
“You don’t have to?—”
“I said I’m taking y’all home.” He stopped me midsentence. “That’s not up for debate. I need to know where my son lays his head.”
I wanted to argue with him, but how else was I gonna get home? My car was on the other side of town, buried in flood water.
“Jaylen,” he called. “Set that up.”
“Already on it.” Jaylen grinned, pressing on his phone screen. “Plane can be ready in an hour.”
“Wait! We going on an airplane?” Dae-Dae looked between us.
“Yeah, baby. We flying home.” I watched as his whole face lit up.
“Wow! We went on a boat, and now we going on an airplane.”
“Your daddy rich, little man. And yo’ uncle ain’t doing too bad for himself either. Get used to it.”
“Shut up.” KO shot him a look.
“What? I’m just letting him know he in a new tax bracket.”
Dae-Dae laughed at Jaylen, completely locked in. I pressed my lips together, trying to catch up to how fast my life was moving. None of this felt real.
“You ain’t doing this by yourself no more,” KO said, and I looked up. “You not figuring shit out by yourself no more. I’m here now.”
Dakoda was dead asleep when KO pulled up to our apartment, and I was gonna be right behind him once I hit my bed. Between getting to the airstrip, waiting for clearance for three hours, the flight, and the drive home, the entire day had slipped by.
“This building right here.” I leaned forward and pointed as we turned onto my street. KO slowed down and pulled into a spot near the front. It was after seven at night, so most of the lot was full, and the porch lights were on. It was crazy to think about how people were moving around here like life had kept going while everything was underwater six hours away. I barely waited for KO to turn off the car before I hopped out of the front seat and opened the back door to get Dakoda out. He’d passed out before we’d fully pulled off from the airport lot.
“I got him.”
I looked up, and KO was already standing next to me. I moved out of the way, and he lifted Dakoda out of the car. I tried to grab our bags, but he grabbed those, too. “Lead the way,” he said, and I turned around and led the way inside my apartment complex. I was taken aback as we made our way through the front door and down the hallway. It looked normal, like the storm had barely made landfall.
When I opened my apartment door and stepped in, I just stood there for a second. Everything was . . . fine. Nowhere near what KO’s training facility looked like. I glanced around the room. My living room window had a crack running through the corner, and there was some water damage near the frame where rain must’ve pushed through. My lamp was knocked over, and one of the curtains had come loose. But that was surprisingly it.I could’ve stayed put.That thought hit me so fast it lowkey pissed me off.
I could’ve stayed right here in my own home with my son and been uncomfortable for one night.
“Where is his room?” KO asked, and my eyes shot to him carrying our son.
“Down the hall. First room on the right.” I pointed toward his room. KO took off down the hall, and just like that, the thought that I should have stayed changed. If we’d stayed put, I never would have had the courage to find KO, and Dakoda wouldn’t have had his father, so maybe it happened exactly how it needed to.
I shut my front door and followed behind them, watching as KO bent over and laid Dakoda down on his bed carefully. He stood there for a minute, just staring at him.
“He likes dinosaurs, huh?” KO asked as he glanced around Dakoda’s Jurassic-themed bedroom before pulling the blanket up over him.
“Yeah,” I said from the doorway, watching him. “All he talks about.” There was something about having him here in our son’s bedroom, in my home, after all these years that had me backpaddling down the hall to the kitchen to get a drink of water. If I hadn’t been worried about KO thinking I was an alcoholic, I would have poured something stronger.
“Relax, Lyrius,” I whispered to myself, attempting to steady my thoughts, but they were racing. KO was back in my life. Dakoda had his father. It was so surreal, my brain couldn’t stop circling it.
