“Was that called for?” Kileen walked in the room.
“Yes, it was. I hate to remind you why we’re here. You agreed to keep me out of this shit.”
“Tati, fuck! What did you want me to do? In emergencies, I expect my wife to be supportive.”
“Supportive? That word did not just come out of your mouth. You know what, I can’t do this tonight. I have work in the morning. Good night, Kil.”
“That’s your problem. It’s always Tati’s way and no one else’s.”
I let him continue to talk as I pulled the cover back and got in bed.
“So, we’re ignoring and going backwards again. Now, I can’t speak on how I feel without you giving me the cold shoulder about my baby.”
Nigga, fuck your baby.
“You want to argue, Kil? Is that what you want? Right now, I’m upset, and I don’t think I’ll communicate well. It’s not me ignoring you. Do you want me to say something I’ll regret or would rather me sleep it off and we discuss it when we’re both calm?”
“Whatever.” He waved me off.
“Yeah, whatever.” I rolled my eyes.
I enteredthe school in hopes that whatever was going on with Dream I could fix it. We left off on a good note and he was able to verbalize his needs. I wasn’t sure what made him digress. The school counselor greeted me before she took me to where Dream was sitting in her office.
“Dream,” I greeted him. He jumped up and hugged my leg. “Can you give us a minute?” I asked the counselor.
“Sure.” She walked off.
“What’s going on, buddy?”
He didn’t tell me right off the bat, so I had to pull out my tricks. Dream loved certain snacks. As soon as he saw theCheetos, he started talking. Once he was finished, I took a wipe and cleaned his hands and mouth. I left him in the room to finish coloring while I took the time to talk with the counselor.
“Are you separating him from his sister?” I asked the counselor.
“Well, yes, she is more advanced than he is. We have him grouped with the kids that are on his level.”
“And Mr. Grant is okay with this?”
“We haven’t notified them about classroom changes.”
“Don’t you think that is important with twins? Your job is to advocate for the kids. The twins have been through a lot; Dream will be able to function better in an atmosphere with his sister. She will not let him fail. I spent months with them. She wants him to learn just as fast as she does. For him to stop acting out in class, you have to put them back together. That’s my suggestion. Oh, and I advise that you speak with the Grants about the move you made without consulting with them.”
Now that I had that settled, I can finish my day and then head home to talk with Kileen about last night. Jah had rubbed off on me with the no-arguing thing. There was no point in arguing. Nothing was getting proven. I had made up my mind that this was my last year as a speech therapist full-time. I had typed up my email to send out to all my clients. I would only be doing once-a-month appointments for each client. Unless emergency visits were needed. I saved the email in my drafts and got up from my home office.
“Hey,” Kileen greeted me with flowers.
“I didn’t know you were here.”
“I just walked in. How was work?”
“It was good. Can I talk to you about something?” I sat at the table, and Kileen followed.
“If it’s about last night, I apologize for not communicating with you about my daughter. From now on, I’ll call and take her to my apartment.”
“It’s not that, but I appreciate you for understanding my feelings.”
“Did I do something else?” A look of stress hit his face.
“At the end of the year, I’m giving up working full-time at my business.”
