“I have plans for you, Rhythm. If I am going to be putting you in rooms with people who can change your life, then we need to get better acquainted.”
I stared at the canvases on my floor, blinking owlishly.
“Okay,” I heard myself say. “I’ll come.”
“Good. I will text you the time and the address.”
An hour later, Kodi was at my door.
I opened it, praying he wouldn’t bother me while he was here.
“Hey,” he said, stepping in.
Before I could even speak, he tried to pull me into a hug.
I pushed him back politely. “Kodi… no.”
He frowned, but I turned and walked away from the doorway.
My son came running toward the door as soon as he heard his father’s voice. Kinsley toddled behind him.
“Daddy!” KJ exclaimed, then his eyes went straight to the bags. “McDonald’s!”
Kinsley’s whole face lit up. “Nuggets!”
They were happy to see their father, but they were happier to see that brown bag and yellow arches.
Kodi took them into the living room, and I went back to my canvas. I picked up my brush and went back to work.
When I heard him coming into the dining room, my stomach sank. I kept my back to him and continued painting.
Then I felt a smack across my ass, followed by a low groan. I spun around so fast my brush almost flew out of my hand. “Do not touch me.”
Kodi frowned like I was overreacting. “Damn, Rhythm—”
I cut him off. “Leave me alone.”
He stared at me like he could not believe I had the nerve to mean it. “That’s my shit.”
“If it was your shit, you would have supported it.” I spoke through gritted teeth, trying to keep the kids from hearing me. “I wouldn’t have had to take my kids to that meeting if this was ‘your shit.’”
“If that one thing would make you stop fucking with me for real, you’ve been wanting to stop fucking with me. You got you a new nigga or something?”
“It’s not about that, Kodi. I’m trying to do something that can change our kids’ lives, and you don’t care. Despite it being literally all that I am besides my kids, you are making thisopportunity seem trivial. That type of person doesn’t deserve this pussy.”
Glaring, his eyes slid around the room. Then he scoffed. “You care more about this art shit than your kids.”
My glower deepened. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“That’s why I had to bring them dinner? Because you too busy in here doodling? You in here playing Picasso while your kids hungry.”
My hands curled around the brush. I wanted to stab him with it.
“You are their father, and if I am too busy to cook, you should be happy to feed them. And the fact that you don’t understand that is the very reason why you will never even smell this pussy again.”
Kodi shook his head, glaring at me. “You really think some rich-ass people gon’ pay for this hood shit?”
My eyes burned instantly, not because I was weak, but because I couldn’t believe that this was the type of man that I had been sleeping with. But it wasn’t. Kodi hadn’t been this disrespectful until he couldn’t get what he wanted.
