She slams the door in my face, and I stumble back. Storming down the front path, I go to head back to the bus stop when Jermaine’s car rolls up.
My heart races and I take a step away. He climbs out from behind the wheel and Tariq climbs out of the passenger side. No Darius.
“Dar didn’t say you were getting out today,” Jermaine says.
“He doesn’t know. Where is he?”
He taps away on his phone and presses it to his ear. I don’t catch what he says but he’s soon enough ending the call and then he says, “He’s on his way. He wants you to wait.”
I drop down onto the curb and pull my knees up to my chest. I ignore Tariq’s stares. He’s nothing to me. Nothing but a reminder of what I’ve been through. It was him who kept leaving Clare in the worst parts of the city. So many people have played a part in where my life led me to.
After a few minutes, Jermaine leans against his car and lights a cigarette. Tariq heads down the street to his house.
A part of me wants to burn it down with him inside but that’s not who I am. And now I’m free, I need to put the darkness behind me and leave it in the past.
Tires screech as they come to a fast stop, and I shield my hand over my eyes from the sun. Darius is out of his car and running across the street, pulling me up to my feet and collecting me in his arms before I can see him clearly.
I force myself to hold him back but I’m not fast enough. He pulls away and cups the sides of my face. I’m about to ask who the hell the girl is looking after my daughter when he slams his lips onto mine.
I should kiss him back, stick to my plan, but I can’t move. It doesn’t last long and then he’s beaming that killer smile of his at me.
“How are you out?”
“Early release.”
“I had it all planned out, I was going to pick you up and…”
“And what?”
He frowns. Staring between me and the house over my shoulder.
“Why aren’t you inside with Elsa?”
“Whoever you have looking after our daughter slammed the door in my face.”
He moves around me so fast I spin on my toes. He jogs up to his house and I freeze, having no choice but to stay where I am.
He doesn’t make me wait long before he’s walking out holding Elsa. One step, then another, I move without feeling a thing. All I can see is her. I meet them at the gate, and she becomes blurry through the tears wanting to spill over.
Swiping at them angrily, I collect myself and finally get to stroke her hair. He passes her over and I brace myself for herto cry. But it doesn’t come. She’s excited to see me. In all my dreams this always happened but in my nightmares she always screamed and cried.
“She remembers me,” I sigh with so much relief I feel faint.
Holding her close, I plant so many kisses on her cheeks, her hair, I lose count.
She smells like home.
She feels like home.
“Elsa, who’s this?” Darius asks her, pointing to me.
“Mama,” she chirps.
Every crack my heart has suffered, they’re all mended with one word from her.
“I show her your photos a hundred times a day, every single day. Your dad plays old recordings of you so she can hear your voice.”
I can’t bring myself to let her go, not even for a second. “Take me home,” I say quietly.
