“You ungrateful bastard. I bust my ass to pay fucking child support, and you spent your birthday with this nigga.”
What happened next felt like it happened in slow motion, and I was mortified as I leaped from the porch to save my son from his father’s wrath. The back of Victor’s hand went across Keelan’s face, knocking him to the ground, just before Graham tackled him, then landed a solid fist to Victor’s face.
I ran to Keelan, pulled him to his feet, and wrapped him in my arms. He buried his face in my chest and hugged my waist as he cried in my arms. Graham joined us, wrapping his strong, long arms around us both.
Que was going crazy inside and could probably be heard on the next block. I knew his senses were going crazy, but not crazy enough for him to jump through my damn screen on my screen door.
“Oh shit!” Graham yelled when Que seemingly came out of nowhere and attacked Victor.
I prayed my dog didn’t get put to sleep, but Victor deserved everything Que gave him. Victor curled himself into a ball for protection, but Que showed him no mercy.
Graham let him rock for about thirty seconds before grabbing Que by the collar.
“Down, boy. Heel!”
He had to repeat himself a few times, but eventually, Que calmed down.
“Come on, baby. Let’s go inside,” I told Keelan.
I couldn’t believe my baby boy’s birthday had ended so horribly.
“Thankyou for hanging out with me for my birthday, Mr. Graham,” Keelan said from the back seat.
We spent four hours playing video and interactive games, eating pizza, cake, ice cream, and having an overall good time. I was glad Keelan and Trey were friends because they were two cool ass eleven-year-olds.
“You’re welcome, my guy. I had a great time.”
“Me too.”
“What did you do earlier today?”
He excitedly told me about his grandmother and aunt coming over to eat the big birthday breakfast his mother had cooked for him. They showered him with gifts, and his mom let him play his video games all day, something she usually didn’tdo. I glanced in the rearview mirror, and his expression showed nothing but pure joy.
“Sounds like an amazing birthday.”
“It’s been the best birthday ever.”
I couldn’t lie. His words tugged at my heartstrings a little bit. We’d only known each other a short time, and I was honored he wanted me to be a part of his special day.
The last thing I expected when I turned down our block was to see Naryah’s ex in her front yard. I looked at the clock on my dashboard, and it was almost eight o’clock.
“Have you talked to your father today?” I asked Keelan.
“No.”
When I turned into the driveway, it looked as if they were exchanging unpleasant words. As soon as I put my truck in park and turned it off, I hopped out to make sure Naryah was okay.
Shit moved fast as hell after that, and as the four of us, including Que, headed inside, I couldn’t believe what had transpired over the past five minutes.
Once we were inside, I locked the door, then went to the bathroom where Naryah had taken Keelan. Of course, Que wasn’t far behind.
She sat on the toilet, examining his face while he stood in front of her. He was the spitting image of Naryah, including her gray eyes with the hazel tint, but had his father’s dark complexion, and even still, the dark purple bruise on his swollen cheek was very visible.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He nodded. “Why did he hit me? Does he hate me that much?”
Tears fell down his cheeks, and it made me angrier than I was. My fists clenched at my sides as I fought the urge to go back outside and finish what I started.
