Page 49 of Gang of Roses: Rebel

I bet Shameka put him up to asking me, but it didn’t matter. I’d do anything my son asked of me.

“Yeah, I can scoop you now, little man.”

“Really?” The excitement in his voice made me smile.

“Yeah. Get your stuff together. I’m on my way.”

Rebel rode with me to pick up Sebastian. Within a few minutes, I was pulling up to their apartment and killing the engine. Before I could even pull out my phone to call, Sebastian came rushing out of the building with his book bag bouncing against his back. The moment I got a good look at him, rage hit me square in the chest. His face was dirty. His clothes looked like they’d been pulled straight out of the hamper, wrinkled and stained. Even his sneakers looked like they hadn’t seen a cleaning rag in weeks. I spent way too much money every month for my son to be walking around looking like nobody gave a damn about him. Shameka always made sure her hair, nails, and outfits were together, but somehow Sebastian was standing in front of me looking like he’d gotten himself dressed in the dark. Sebastian slowed to a stop beside the truck and grinned.

“Hi, Dad. Hi, Raindrop.”

“Hey, man. What’s good?’ I said.

“Hey lil man,” Rain smiled.

Sebastian flashed a grin as he climbed into the back passenger seat.

“What’s all this on your face?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“You eat lunch?”

Sebastian shook his head. “Nah.”

“You hungry?”

He nodded. “A little.”

The kid looked like he hadn’t eaten a damn thing. I gripped the steering wheel and took a slow breath. If I let my temper loose right now, I was liable to drive right back upstairs, and cuss Shameka clean out.

“Aight,” I said, forcing my voice to stay calm. “We’re gonna grab something to eat. But first, I gotta go speak to your mama.”

“Yeah, do that. She trippin’. Got my boy lookin’ crazy,” Rebel whispered.

I climbed out of the truck and slammed the door.

“Dad?” Sebastian called.

“I’ll be right back.”

The anger I had been trying to keep under control was boiling over as I headed toward the apartment building. Before I could even knock, the door swung open. There she stood in a silk robe with her hair half done. From the frown on her face, she already had a fuckin’ attitude. That bitch had some nerve. Soon enough, I saw why she was tripping. Behind her, some nigga I’d never seen before sat on the couch, stuffing food into his mouth like he didn’t have a care in the world. My blood pressure instantly shot through the roof. I didn’t care who she was fuckin’, but I damn sure had a problem with her feeding some nigga while my son hadn’t even eaten breakfast. Meanwhile, Sebastian was standing off to the side looking like he’d just rolled out of bed. That shit didn’t sit right with me. I was busting my ass every day trying to provide for my son, and this was the type of shit I walked into.

“You got this nigga sitting here stuffing his face, but Sebastian ain’t even had breakfast?”

The dude on the couch glanced up from his plate. “Everything good?”

I mugged that nigga down. “Ain’t nobody talking to you.”

“Darius, stay out of it,” Shameka snapped.

I looked back at her. “So let me get this straight. You couldn’t take your own son to school because you had to get your hair done, but you got time to sit up in here entertaining company?”

Shameka folded her arms. “First of all, mind your business.”

“My son is my business.”

“He was fine.”