Epilogue
JOLENE
“What did little demon do now?”
“Did you say, Damon?” If that’s what you heard, then yes, that’s what I said.
“If you must know, your daughter decided that she is Picasso.”
“I don’t follow.”
“She dipped her hand in paint and painted the wall in the playroom.” Let me see how you talk your way around to her being right this time.
“I’ll go check it out; it can’t be that bad.” He left while I took a sip of my coffee and side-eyed the little hellion who was sitting with her face toward the wall and her arms folded.
She’d just spent the last ten minutes telling me how mean I was and how she was going to tell her Daddy. I had to remind her that I wasn’t afraid of him or her. I heard the ding of the elevator and rolled my eyes.
“It’s just as I thought; it’s not that bad. If they can’t make paint that can be easily cleaned, it’s not her fault.”
“That’s a reach even for you.”
“We could have a mural painted around it. Don’t they have parents who do that stuff to keep track of their children’s growth and stuff?”
“No, Damon, it’s not like measuring your height inside a door with a pencil, you know what? Never mind, and don’t you dare.”
“Don’t I dare what?”
“I can see you out the side of my eye. Don’t talk to her, and don’t promise her you’ll get her out of this.”
I raised four kids, now I have eleven, and out of all of them, ten have my temperament, but this one, I have no idea where it came from. “Daddy!”
“Yes, princess.” He shrugged his shoulders at me.
“Go potty.” He looked at me, and I scowled at him.
“You know she always does this?” I hissed at him.
“But the book says.”
“Fine, you may go potty, but come right back here.” She rolled out of her chair and ran down the hallway.
She was gone way too long for a pee, but I figured maybe she was going number two for real, and I started to feel guilty. That’s until my mother-in-law came through the backdoor with her phone to her ear, and my kid came out of the bathroom with the house phone to her ear, all lopsided.
She called her grandmother another one of her enablers. Damon had brought some idiot woman here who taught the kids how to dial nine-one-one and remember their address, among other things. She’s the only one out of the bunch who uses the phone and she knows which numbers are saved in the phone and in which order.
Her brother never has to call anyone because they tend to listen. If it were any one of them, they would’ve been giving me hugs and kisses and trying to get me to forgive them. Not this one.
She’s stubborn, opinionated and likes having her own way too much. If he hadn’t come home when he did, she would’ve sat there until he did. “Hi, guys. Hi, my little pumpkin. Nana came; now, what is it you want to show me?”
She gave the phone to her dad, took her grandma’s hand, and walked out of the room like she wasn’t on punishment. I started to call her back, but her dad stopped me. “Babe, how many walls did you draw on as a kid? I know I did my fair share.”
“That’s always your excuse when she does something? How come her brothers aren’t getting into the same things?”
“Because they’re too busy digging up my land looking for shit.”
“Oh, get over it. How much land can they dig? Besides, it’s your dad who told them about drilling for oil.”
“Well, she’s the brightest of the bunch; at least her shit is art; they’ll never find anything digging up my shit.”
“Damon, the last time she taught her brothers how to get out of their cribs, you said she was smart. When she figured out how to climb on the dog to open the door, you said she was a genius. Have you noticed that everything she does is always semi-illegal?”
He patted my tummy and grinned. “Well, maybe this one would be a little calmer.” He knew to get away from me after saying that because I was this close to murdering him. Him and his damn womb fucks.
* * *
DAMON
* * *
Hehehe!Never a dull moment. My wife still doesn’t understand our daughter. She leads the pack when it comes to doing shit like this because she knows she’ll get away with it, and her brothers know it as well, so they have no problem letting her take point.
That’s just the way I want it because I want them to protect her always, and you always protect the leader. How we treat her is how they’re being taught to treat her. Now, that doesn’t mean we let her get away with stuff they don’t. It just means that she’s not yelled at and screamed at for doing shit that kids do, and since she’s their ringleader, they follow suit. I have no doubt that damn wall is going to be covered with their grubby little hands tomorrow.
Their mother either doesn’t know or pretends not to that the seven of them work out their schemes together before she carries them out, kind of like testing the waters.
If it’s something dangerous, one of her brothers will do it and since their mom and no one else can tell them apart, they can’t exactly punish them all for what one did.
You know how I know all of this shit? Because of my nightly rounds and staying on top of shit. The very things my wife and everyone else around here laughed at.
I also realized early on that these little shits communicate with each other without opening their mouths, and their mother still doesn’t know that they move around the house at night when they think everyone else has gone to bed.
I know that the reason my daughter started climbing out of her crib is because one of her brothers was sick, which no one else knew at the time. I know it all. And I know most of my money is going to bail for her ass.
As to the one in her mother’s tummy, that’s another girl, only one this time, because I threatened the hospital and the doctor that if there are any surprises this time around, I’ll take all their asses to court.
Jo is hoping for a little girl she can do girly shit with because this one never met a mudhole she didn’t like. She wears her fancy shit; don’t even think about putting her in anything other than a dress, but she loves to get dirty.
I don’t have the heart to tell her that as long as Dabria is around, that kid doesn’t stand a chance. She already has the adults around her dancing to the beat of her drum, so I don’t see what chance a younger sister has of going her own way.
Jo’s been pissed ever since she found out she was pregnant again, but I did warn her what was going to happen as soon as she healed. I guess she was going on her doctor’s timeline, and since nothing happened then, she thought she was in the clear. But my timeline was way longer because I wanted her healed completely before planting another one in her.
Now I’ll have twice as many kids as her idiot ex, who has been finally getting his shit together and was dating a nice woman he met on one of those dating sights. He finally got his head out of his ass, and my wife and kids no longer have to worry about him, and I guess, since he gave me the greatest gift of all, I don’t hate him as much as I used to.
Tara was released not too long ago, but she’s not the same as she used to be. She’s not as pretty as she used to be, that’s for sure, and I guess that knocked her down a peg.
Kevin’s ex is still trying to figure out who beat the hell out of her and fucked up her hearing. She and her mother spent their days harassing her dad, who cut her off as soon as she left the hospital since she was eighteen years old, and they lost their house because child support and alimony ended, so I guess Kevin was their retirement plan or some shit.
Jo ended up selling the house because none of the kids wanted it, and split the proceeds between the four of them which was a good chunk of change in this market, not that they need it. They’re all doing very well because, between two of their grandfathers, there are plenty of family-owned businesses to choose from.
Our place is the weekend hangout spot for everyone these days, which is perfect because there’s never a shortage of people to spoil my kids, and they have a full, happy life here. “What the hell?” Damn, I better tell Jo her daughter is hiding scissors in her toy chest. I don’t even want to know why.
The little thief had some of my lost shit in there as well. Should I take it or leave it? If I take it, she’s gonna know, and I’ll have to sit through one of her lectures disguised as an explanation. If I don’t confront her, she’s going to grow up to be a damn thief.
But if I confront her, she’s going to get those big tears in her eyes that break my heart. Then her little mouth will start trembling, and I’ll get a ‘mean daddy.’ Oh, hell no!
“Jo!” I’ll let her handle it; she can handle the tears because she’s been there before. Me I still get heartburn every time I disappoint my little angel. The last time I pissed her off, she didn’t speak to me for two whole days. I can’t go through that shit again.
I felt a cold chill run down my spine. What the fuck was I thinking? What if the next one is worse? It’s not fucking possible. But at least I’ll have experience by the time she’s old enough to get into the shit her sister does.
* * *
KEVIN
* * *
I never thoughtthis day would come. A day where my ex and I could be friends without animosity and hate. We’ll never be what we were before, but at least she’s willing to give me a chance for the sake of our kids.
It took some getting used to seeing her with someone else, and it was only then that I realized what I had put her through. That pain is one that I never want to feel again.
I didn’t want to be here at first; I didn’t want to forgive her for moving on with her life so easily. But once I came to terms with the fact that I’d done all this to myself and that she didn’t owe it to me to remain loyal after what I did, it was easier to let go.
I’m seeing someone, and though I like spending time with her, I will never again have what I lost. That part of my life is over forever. Now, all I can do is look forward to my grandchildren and be grateful that the man who had stolen my wife had talked my kids around to forgiving me.
That asshole Damon is always rubbing it in my face that he won, and though it no longer stings as much, there was a time when I didn’t want to hear or see it. Now, I must admit that he’s right. Once, I realized that he wasn’t saying it to one-up me in some macho show of dominance, but for Jolene’s sake. He was just letting me know that she made out much better than I did. And because of what I once felt for her, and because she’s the mother of my children who did no wrong in this farce, I’m happy that I didn’t take the last of her happiness after all.