8. KO #2
“Damn,” he said, looking at all of us. “If I’d known this was a whole family rescue mission, I would’ve brought a bigger boat.”
“Shut up,” I muttered.
Lyrius climbed in next, moving carefully.
I passed the bags over and got in last. Jaylen pushed off from the window with one hand and started guiding us out.
My eyes immediately turned to the city. It looked crazy.
The storm was over, but the mess it left behind was another story.
Everything around us was underwater, like some shit out of a movie.
Azalea had gotten hit by a lot of hurricanes, but nothing like this.
Cars were floating in flooded streets. Store signs were bent.
There were pieces of roofs and whole-ass tree trunks floating past us.
I gasped. “Damn!” This was crazy.
“Shit’s crazy right?” Jaylen asked, reading my mind as a couple of rescue boats moved a few blocks ahead.
My eyes went to Lyrius and Dakoda, who were sitting there quietly, looking at it all.
This was a lot for the kid to be taking in.
I hoped this shit wouldn’t cause him too much trauma or any shit like that.
My eyes focused in on Lyrius, and for a second, my mind went back to what Lyrius had said before Jaylen interrupted us.
She was a fifteen-year-old runaway, just trying to survive.
I understood that kind of shit more than I wanted to.
I knew what it felt like to be a kid with grown-up circumstances and no grown-up guidance.
I knew what it was like to get failed by every adult around you and still be expected to come out perfect.
I got it. I’d been there, doing what I thought I had to do for survival.
But understanding it didn’t mean I had to forgive it.
I looked at her sitting across from me, her arms wrapped around Dakoda while he pointed at random shit floating in the water and asking questions every thirty seconds.
She looked tired, like somebody who had lived through too much too early.
Jaylen’s phone rang in his hand, and he answered it quickly while he steered the boat around the debris in the water.
“Yeah, I need that favor. Right now,” he said to whoever was on the other end.
“I know what time it is. Make it happen anyway.” He paused for a minute before continuing. “Yeah. We’re en route, about ten black people minutes out.” He hung up the phone and then glanced at me.
“You good to go on the DNA test.”
“DNA Test?” Lyrius looked up.
“Yeah. Jaylen found us somebody who can do a rapid today.”
“Right now?” I watched as Lyrius’s whole face changed.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m not going another minute without knowing if he’s mine.”
“Unless you got something to hide,” Jaylen accused.
“Not at all.” Lyrius rolled her eyes at Jaylen before looking at me for a second, then looking away. After that, it went quiet. The only person talking was Dakoda.
“Mama . . .” he said, pointing. “What are those little boats?” Lyrius followed his hand, and so did I. Damn. It was a parking garage full of cars, half underwater. “Are those car boats?”
Lyrius went still.
“My car . . .” she said, low. “I parked it in that parking garage.”
“That shit underwater now,” Jaylen said, pointing in my direction. “Just like his.”
I shook my head, just thinking about the fact that my favorite car was underwater.
Sure, I could get another one tomorrow, but the custom details I had on that bitch were enough to make my stomach hurt.
Lyrius looked back out, quiet again, like she was trying to piece it together without letting it hit her all at once.
I watched her for a second longer than I should have and then looked away.
“Mommy . . . don’t worry. We can get a new one,” Dakoda said, like he was trying to fix it for her.
“Yeah.” She blinked like that brought her back.
“We’ll get another one.” He smiled, satisfied, and then leaned into her side.
Watching Dakoda try to cheer her up hit me hard.
Somewhere along the way, he’d decided helping his mama carry weight was his job too, and I was proud as hell of him, but that weight should have been mine.
I leaned back slightly, eyes moving over them for a second and then back at the water.
Dry land wasn’t too far out. As soon as we reached Jaylen’s truck, we were heading straight to the clinic.
After that, I’d figure out where I fit into all of this.
We walked into the clinic with water still dripping off us, and everyone turned to stare.
I didn’t give any fucks about who was looking; I was here for one thing only—to find out if I had a damn son.
A girl behind the front desk looked up the second we came in, like she’d been waiting.
Her eyes went straight to Jaylen, and a smile coated her face.
He smirked like he already knew what time it was.
“Oh,” I muttered, glancing at him. “This is your connection?”
“Mind your business.” He shot me a look. “You getting a Rapid DNA test in the middle of hurricane recovery, ain’t you?”
“Touché.” I nodded my head as the girl stepped from around the desk.
“Hi, I’m Nurse Nikki. Y’all ready?” she asked, waving us toward the back. “Come on. We can go ahead and get it done now before my supervisor comes back.”
Lyrius shifted Dakoda to the other side of her body and followed behind me. Once we got to the room, Nikki started pulling things out and setting them up.
“Oh, wait. I should have asked. Do y’all want to do this in separate rooms or together?” she asked.
“Together is fine,” I said, and Lyrius nodded.
“Together is okay.”
Dakoda looked between all of us, already clocking that something was going on. Lyrius crouched down in front of him and smoothed a hand over his shirt.
“They just wanna check on you since we were in that storm, baby. That’s all,” she said.
“Check me how?”
Nurse Nikki smiled. “Real easy. I’m just gonna swab your mouth, okay? It won’t hurt.”
He looked at me, then back at Lyrius.
“You gonna do it too?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m doing it too.”
“We all are,” Lyrius added.
“Okay!” That seemed to settle him. Nikki had me sit first. She swabbed the inside of my cheek, then the other side, quick and professional. Then she did Lyrius, and after that, she crouched down in front of Dakoda.
“Open up for me, big man.”
He opened his mouth and made a face as soon as the swab hit the inside of his cheek. “It feels weird,” he said.
“You okay.” I smiled.
“You did great.” Nurse Nikki finished up, labeled everything, then stood.
“Give me about an hour. Maybe two max. If y’all haven’t eaten, I’d suggest you go grab something and come back. I’ll call as soon as it’s ready.”
“I’m hungry,” Dakoda announced, as if on cue.
“I bet,” I said, remembering that the little dude didn’t get to eat the candlelit bagels his mama had whipped up.
He definitely needed to eat. “Don’t worry, lil’ man.
I got you. Come on.” I reached for his hand, and he took mine easily.
We stepped out of the room with Lyrius right behind us and walked back into the front.
I shook my head the moment we hit the lobby and spotted Jaylen laid up against the counter, flirting with the receptionist at the front desk.
Same old Jaylen. If there was a pretty woman somewhere, his ass was going to be tuned in.
“What? Y’all done already?” he asked, his eyes landing on me.
“Yeah,” I said just as Nikki walked around us and spoke to the front desk girl. I smirked as Jaylen straightened up like he suddenly remembered why he was here.
“So it’s done?” he asked.
“Results will be ready in about an hour,” she said. “Maybe two.”
“I’m hungry.” Dakoda tugged on my hand again.
“I got you,” I said, glancing down at him before looking back at Jaylen. “We gotta go grab lil’ man something to eat.”
“Aight.” Jaylen turned toward the exit. “Bet. Let’s—”
“Excuse me.” Nurse Nikki cleared her throat, making Jaylen stop walking and turn around. “You promised me something.”
“Damn, I did.” I saw it click for him as he started walking in her direction. Before he could take two steps, I grabbed his arm. I didn’t have to time to be playing around with Jaylen. I needed to get Dakoda some food.
“Before you go on your little pussy mission,” I muttered, holding my hand out, “run me those keys.”
“You funny.” He looked at me. “How you think I’m paying for this?” he added.
“With my money,” I said flatly.
“The money paying,” he shot back. “But this”—he patted his chest—“got us through the doors.”
I stared at him for a second. This nigga. He smirked, then pulled the keys out of his pocket and dropped them in my hand.
“Bring me back something. I’m about to work up an appetite.”
I shook my head, closing my hand around the keys. Lyrius looked away, but I caught her eyes roll as we headed toward the door and out of the clinic. Dakoda still held my hand, and Lyrius walked on the other side of him.
“Uncle Jaylen not coming?” Dakoda asked.