The little girl stepped forward and gave him a hug, taking him and Tulla by surprise.
“It was nice hanging out with you.” She walked off, disappointment crowding her cute face.
From the front door, Christian let her inside but stepped out and closed the door behind him once she was secure.Tulla swung on Moose so fast her head nearly swiveled off her shoulders.
“Have you lost your mind!” she belted. “Who the hell do you think you are? You can’t just take someone’s child?—”
“I didn’t take her. She talked me into picking her up.”
“What were you doing at her school in the first place?” Tulla hissed.
“Look, I ain’t stupid, and I damn sure know how to count. I wanted to know.”
“Know what?” Christian chimed in, causing Tulla to turn as he appeared at her side.
“If that’s my daughter.”
Tulla lost control of her breathing. Standing there stylishly in a gray skirt suit and a suede coat with fur, she was the picture of professionalism. Moose’s statement had completely winded her, though.
“That is my daughter! Get the hell away from my house, and don’t you ever come near her again!” she warned, aiming her medium length French tip acrylic at him.
As far as he was concerned, the truth was staring him right in the face. Even Christian didn’t seem surprised, more like angry as his jaw tightened and he studied his wife’s erratic movements. She was usually the epitome of calm, but when Moose was around, it rattled her severely.
“Like my wife said, you need to leave.” Christian nodded to Moose’s car. “Tiara is our daughter. Stay away from her.” He turned to go, but Tulla hadn’t budged and was still eyeing Moose like he was the foul one.
Grabbing her arm, her husband pulled her along toward their front stoop. Moose watched them until they got inside. Taking in their nice home and luxury cars, he bobbed his head, and his gaze drifted to a window on the top floor. Tiara stood between the curtains, looking down at him. She waved a little,and Moose chucked his chin at her before climbing into his car. She’d left her cup from Comfort Kitchen in his cupholder. Settled in his leather seats, he picked it up and studied it closely. Tulla might not want to cop to it, but he was going to find out one way or another whether that little girl was his.
A couple of hours later…
Heat on blast, weed smoke filling the small space of his car, Moose reclined in the driver’s seat with a bottle of Don Julio resting between his legs and his arm on the middle console, studying his blunt and letting the lyrics to DMX’s “How it’s Going Down” flow through his system. He didn’t want to go home and wasn’t interested in dealing with anybody from his family right now, so he drove until he ended up on Inari’s street and parked. He signaled to Irv to let him know everything was cool, and Moose stared up at the darkened house.
The sudden tapping at his driver’s window drew his attention. Inari stood with her little .22 in her hand, arms tucked over her big, melon-sized breasts and scowling sexily at him through his tint. Moose lowered his window, low eyes raking over her curves in her robe and boots she’d slipped into. She even had her bonnet on her head, still sexy as hell.
“Moose, what are you doing here?” she asked, sighing.
“I was just making sure you were good,” he told her, clouds of smoke exiting his car and damn near giving her a contact.
“You need to leave.”
“I can’t even check on you now, Inari?”
“You lost that right when you lied to me!” she yelled. “That doesn’t mean keep coming around like I won’t shoot you,” she threatened.
He simpered and almost laughed before taking another pull from his blunt.
“Yeah, aight. You ain’t gon’ shoot shit.”
“What is wrong with you? Are you a glutton for punishment or something?” she demanded, eyes narrowing when his peered out at her.
“I had a visit today. With Tulla’s daughter,” Moose confessed, catching her attention.
“Daughter? I didn’t know she had a daughter.”
“Eight years old,” Moose filled her in, eyes still focused ahead when he gripped the bottle of Don Julio and tipped it to his mouth.
“Wait… eight years?” she repeated.
Moose nodded but didn’t say anything else.
