“Leila, is everything okay?”
“U-um, yes,” I sniffled, quickly wiping my tears. “I’m sorry. I have some cash in the car. Let me just?—”
“Don’t worry about it,” she cut me off. “It’s on me.”
“Ms. Dorothy, no. I?—”
“Leila, I said don’t worry about it,” she reached over the counter for my hand. “It’s on me. Take this baby over there and feed her,” she insisted, nodding down to Leila.
Nodding, I thanked her then took the tray and followed Ava to the table she chose every time we dined in at Lou’s. I didn’t have an appetite, so I got Ava set up and connected her tablet to the Wi-Fi so she was distracted while I did the same with my phone so I could check my account. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of me when I saw that my account had not only been cleaned out but also closed. My credit cards had also been cancelled and I was furious.
Getting up from the table, I asked Dorothy to keep an eye on Leila while I stepped outside to call Aldrick. My service was off, but I could audio call while I was connected to Wi-Fi.
“What, Leila?” he answered, sounding annoyed as if I’d done something to his ass.
“You bastard! You closed my accounts and cancelled my cards?!”
“When I said done, I meant completely.”
“I have our child, Aldrick! How the fuck do you expect me to feed her and care for her, negro?!”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care, Leila. I don’t know how many different ways to tell you so that you get it.”
“I’mnevergoing to get it nigga,” I spat. “It’s bad enough you threw us out in the cold not giving a damn that we don’t have anywhere to go, but you took my money too!”
“Mymoney,” he corrected. “You didn’t work.”
I scoffed. “Just because I didn’t clock into a damn job every day doesn’t mean I didn’t work, dumb ass. Your life ran smoothly without a hitch because you hadmein the background making sure that it did! I can’t believe that you’d do this to me. To our child!”
“Are you done?” he asked nonchalantly.
“Oh, I haven’t even gotten started yet,” I gritted. “I was actually going to walk away from this peacefully, but you haveme fucked up. You throw us out like trash and take away all of my means to survive?!”
“When you were here, it was my responsibility to make sure you survived. You’re out of my hair now, so that’s no longer my job.”
“Fuck you, Aldrick,” I growled. “Seriously, fuck you! I will make you pay for this tremendously. I promise you that.”
“Okay, Leila.” He chuckled. “Now are you done?”
“Fuck you!” I hissed, disconnecting the call.
Burying my face in my hands, I began to sob. Not for me, but for my daughter. She didn’t ask for any of this, not our current situation, not her condition, and not her shitty ass father. It wasn’t fair to her.
After getting myself together, I went back inside. My appetite was gone so I got my soup to go and boxed up the rest of Ava’s food. Ms. Dorothy gave her a warm muffin to go that I also put away. Ava wasn’t a big fan of trying new things, so I doubted that she would eat it anyway.
It was later in the evening, and the temperature had definitely started to drop. I turned the heat all the way up when we were back in the car and made my way to the gas station to fill up with the cash that I had on me. It was going to be another long night, so we were going to need it.
I decided to drive around for a few more hours before returning to the road we were on earlier. I needed somewhere to stop and think where I didn’t have to worry about people that were passing by seeing us, or worse, the police.
After parking, I climbed in the back with Ava to wipe her down with some wipes and get her changed into some clean pajamas. She asked me where we were sleeping, and I let her know that we had a long drive, so I wanted her to get comfortable before we started. After freshening her up, I movedthe bag to the floor behind the passenger’s seat then began to rock her to sleep.
“God, I need you,” I whimpered. “I don’t know what we’re going to do, but I need you.”
When Ava drifted to sleep, I laid her down and covered her with a blanket. Once I was sure she was comfortable, I grabbed my phone and key fob so that I could lock my door before I got out to see if I could find an available Wi-Fi signal. My mind had been racing for the last two days with so much that it hadn’t even dawned on me to look for a shelter. I was in desperate need of somewhere for me and my child to go, so I was going to do what I had to do.
I’d parked a little further down than the night before so the man that lived up the hill didn’t know we were still there, so I had to walk about ten or fifteen feet away from my car to get an active network.
I was unsuccessful in finding a good connection, so I walked back to my car defeated. After unlocking the door, I slid inside and laid my head on the steering wheel. I knew of a few shelters, but I was sure that it was too late at night for us to go and get a bed. I’d been up for two days now and was in desperate need of sleep, so releasing a heavy sigh, I got ready to recline my chair and close my eyes for a few minutes but there was a tapping on my window. I looked up quickly to find the extremely handsome stranger from earlier there scowling at me.
