Chapter 12
Nothing could have prepared Haze for this moment. It wasn’t holding Hazel for the first time or facing Devyn again after she turned his damn world upside down, though he had been nervous as hell for both of those things. But that wasn’t shit compared to his current predicament.
Chuck E. Cheese, the damn mouse that walked around this stupid establishment, was currently in a headlock while Haze paced in front of the jungle gym. Kids cried as they watched Chuck E. Cheese get manhandled, and parents tried to usher them away and calm them down while eying Haze.
It all started when Haze brought Hazel to play on the jungle gym. She was shy to go play in the toddler section at first. She clung to Haze, but he encouraged her to have some fun. And she finally did . . . until that fuckin’ rat showed up.
His anorexic looking ass walked by waving at the snotty nosed children and scared the shit out of Haze’s baby.
Hazel screamed when she saw Chuck E. Cheese and climbed up out of the ball pit she played in.
The way Hazel cried and clung to Haze made a protectiveness come up out of him he’d never felt before.
“Aye, nigga, move from ’round here. You see she ain’t fuckin’ wit’ you,” Haze snapped as the rat walked by.
Chuck E. Cheese looked at Haze and waved. Hazel cried harder, which sent Haze into a rage. He waved Devyn over. She sat at the table he’d reserved for them but hopped up at his signal. As soon as she was in arm’s reach, he handed Hazel over to her and squared up with Chuck. E. Cheese.
“Haze, what’s going on?” Devyn asked hesitantly.
“My daughter don’t fuck wit’ rats. I gotta show this nigga somethin’ right quick.
” Haze threw a punch. Chuck E. Cheese stumbled backward after being hit square in the nose.
A collective gasp sounded through the space, but Haze tuned them out as he threw another punch.
“Yeah, nigga, you thought shit was sweet? You thought you could walk around here scarin’ my daughter? ”
He swung again. The rat seemed disoriented, so Haze took that moment to put him in a headlock.
He wrestled with him for a moment before the large head started to come loose.
He saw some employees running around frantically and trying to call out to him, to talk some sense into him, and that was when Haze paused, just for a second.
His anger subsided slightly, and that was when he paced the length of the floor with Chuck E. Cheese still in a headlock.
Haze tried to calm himself down while Devyn held his crying daughter and tried to talk him off the ledge.
“Haze, it’s not that serious. Come on, let’s just go,” she urged as she patted Hazel on the back. Her touch brought him all the way back to reality, and he snapped completely out of his rampage.
He let the rat go and allowed him to drop to the floor with a thud. The large mouse head rolled off the man, revealing an elderly white man. Now Haze just felt like an ass.
“My bad,” he muttered before he took Hazel out of Devyn’s arms and the toddler immediately stopped crying and laid her head on his shoulder.
Shame flooded him. The lectures from his mom over the past few days hit him right in the chest. He thought he understood them before, but he realized it wasn’t until that moment that he truly did.
It was no secret that Haze flew off the handle whenever he felt like it.
If he thought someone needed to be taught a lesson, Haze was right there to teach it to them.
He was loud, a shit talker, and not afraid to be the center of attention.
But the way Hazel clung to his neck at that moment melted all that other bullshit away.
Although what Devyn did was dead ass wrong, he could understand now why she had her reservations about him as a father.
Nobody else in Haze’s life could ever get it through his head that he needed to straighten up and mature.
Nobody else could stop him from being a rebel and doing whatever the fuck he wanted without reservation.
This little girl had done what others had been trying to do his whole life without even speaking any words to him.
With his free hand, he grabbed Devyn’s hand and guided them toward the exit.
When they got to her car, Haze did something he rarely ever did. He apologized.
“I’m sorry. I ain’t mean to get out of control like that.”
Devyn peered up at him reluctantly, and then she sighed.
“You love Hazel. I get it. You only act on the things I wish I could do. You know how many times I wanted to beat a little kid up for pushing Hazel during playtime? I get it, trust me, but you have to learn to control it. Keep them as thoughts. They don’t need to turn into action.
You’re the example now, and if we want Hazel to get through life in a healthy way, we have to set the standards high. ”
Haze soaked in everything she said and knew he had no choice but to agree.
“I got you. I promise I’ll work on it. But check it.
I know we have a lot to talk about. I don’t want shit to be off between us.
I ain’t gonna lie. I still got feelings for you, but I need a bit of time to sort all this shit out in my head.
In the meantime, though, I do want to bring Hazel around my people.
They ain’t gonna let too much time pass without meeting her. ”
Devyn nodded as she chewed on her lip. “We can talk about it. I just . . . Will she be safe with you, Haze? Like, really? I know you don’t understand why I kept her away.
Hell, I don’t even think I understand it anymore, but I know the core of it was her safety.
I need to know she’s always going to be taken care of. ”
“I need you to hear me when I say this, Thicka. Ain’t shit ever gonna happen to Hazel when she’s wit’ me and my people.”
“Shit,” Hazel mumbled sleepily into the nape of his neck.
Luckily, she said it so softly that Devyn didn’t hear her.
He knew he needed to work on his cursing so much.
Hazel really was like a sponge, and she was also a little lady.
She didn’t need a damn potty mouth because he couldn’t keep his swearing under control.
“Okay,” Devyn said softly.
Haze wanted to reach out and pull her into him so he could protect her from all the evil in the world. As pissed as he was and as big of a secret she had held from him, his heart still beat for her.
Instead of responding to her, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. There were too many emotions floating around in his mind to speak at the moment.
“Show me how to buckle her in,” Haze said as he opened her back door.
Devyn instructed him on how to buckle Hazel in.
Poor baby had run herself tired, and she was halfway asleep by the time he buckled her in fully.
“Send me a list of things I’ll need for her, like a car seat and shit.
I don’t know anything about kids, man. I’ma need yo’ help on a lot of this shit. ”
Devyn nodded. She twisted her hands together and looked at the ground as she spoke. “I’m sorry, Haze. I-I know we have a lot to talk about, but I need you to know that I’m sorry for all of this. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I can see now that I was wrong.”
Haze appreciated her words more than he could convey right now because anger still simmered beneath the surface.
More than the anger was the hurt. The thought that he could have spent the last three years with Devyn and knowing his daughter.
That time stolen would take him some time to get over.
Devyn had no idea how the moment Haze laid eyes on her, the world shifted.
He would do anything for her. All she had to do was ask.
That right there was her biggest mistake, but she would understand it one day.
“Get home safe. I’ll text you.” It was all he could say.
With glossy eyes, she nodded and got into the car. He closed her door for her and tapped the hood twice before he took a few steps back. As he watched her pull out of the parking lot, his mind felt heavy. Life would never be the same again, but he welcomed it.
“That nigga gotta die.” Haze snapped as he paced the length of the meeting room.
It had been three days since he’d seen Devyn and Hazel, and he was on edge.
He’d spoken to them both every day. Things between him and Devyn were still strained, and they had yet to really talk, but the longer he went with holding all his emotions in, the more irritable he got.
He knew he needed to speak with her soon.
Currently, he was attending church, which was just club-talk for having a Vicious Kings meeting.
The Blue Boyz were now causing unrest in the shopping district near downtown, and the locals confused their gang with the Vicious Kings.
It was all over the papers, and Haze was quite literally over it.
His motorcycle club was supposed to be fun, and the illegal weapons operation should have been the one giving him a damn headache.
Somehow, everything in his life had gotten so complicated, and Haze was ready to take a step back.
“Azul might be a dumbass, but he has some smarts about him. He knows enough to not show his face. I have a feeling that’s gonna change soon, though.
He’s been trying to get at us for too long, and he’s losing everyone he recruits to his fuck ass club.
I know he’s getting tired of the shit and is going to want to lay eyes on us in real time.
I think we just need to keep moving how we been moving, maybe put on a fundraiser in the shopping district or some shit, remind everyone we cool peoples, and bide our time. We gonna get him,” Gideon encouraged.
Haze knew Gideon was right, but everything in him wanted to take some of his pent-up anger and go on a rampage.
“Y’all need to keep ya ears to the streets and find that nigga.
I don’t want it to be a situation where he finds us.
That ain’t gonna fly wit’ me. Only other thing we have to talk about is the big race next month.
The Obsidian Riders are hosting this year in Ellwood.
Make sure you put ya bets up and sign up to race if you want.
I need at least ten VK members reppin’ for us.
I got one slot, so I need nine more. New recruits, y’all are gonna sit this one out.
Make it past initiation, and you’ll be required to race next year to rep ya club.
Meeting adjourned.” Haze walked out of the meeting room before anyone could ask him any questions.
Gideon wasn’t letting him go so easily, though. He caught up to Haze with long, quick strides. “You good, bro?”
Haze plopped down on one of the couches in the main area of the compound while club members filed out of the meeting room. Some left through the front door, and others milled about, waiting to see what the night would bring.
“I got a kid,” Haze blurted out. He hadn’t talked to Gideon or anyone in the club yet about what was going on in his personal life.
Gideon sat across from him and furrowed his brows. “I ain’t hear you, man.”
“Why everyone act like they can’t fuckin’ hear when I say that shit?”
Gideon blinked slowly at him before he responded. “Like I said, I ain’t hear you. Say that again.”
Haze ran a hand down his face in frustration. “I got a kid, man.” Gideon stared at him like he still couldn’t hear him. “Say something, shit,” Haze snapped.
Gideon shook his head. “My bad, bro. I just can’t picture it. You, a father? How that even happen? Who the baby mama? How old is this kid? I’m lost as hell right now.”
“You and me both, G, but she’s the prettiest little girl I’ve ever seen. She’s two years old and looks just like me. And check it . . . Devyn is her mama.”
“Get the fuck outta here,” Gideon roared. A few club members looked at them, but Gideon waved them away, and they went back to whatever they were doing. “How in the fuck that happen?”
“The night we met. She got pregnant and then ain’t ever tell me,” Haze said. He couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his tone. He wanted to forgive Devyn, but he knew it would take time and a lot of conversation for that to happen.
“That’s wild. How you feelin’ wit’ this shit? How you even find out?”
“I don’t know, G. I’m kind of fucked up behind it.
I mean, we got all this shit goin’ on in the club, and then you know my hands ain’t the cleanest .
. . I first laid eyes on her at her mama’s job, and I swear to you it was like I wanted to wash my damn hands for the first time in my life.
I’m talkin’ I damn near want to shut all this shit down. ”
It was the first time Haze admitted it out loud, but it had been heavy on his mind for the past few days.
Ever since he cut up at Chuck E. Cheese, he felt like a change needed to happen, and quick.
His temper was too quick, and the line of business he was in wasn’t built for his kind of attitude.
He’d fuck around and start a war on accident, and he had everything to lose at this point.
“That’s deep, but I get it. I promise I do.”
“What I’m ’posed to do, G?” Haze asked, seeking some of Gideon’s calm wisdom.
“Whatever you have to do for yo’ peace of mind. You know we ain’t gonna let ya legacy die. Me and the crew will keep shit runnin’ in yo’ honor if you decide to take a step back.”
Haze knew that was true too. He knew the niggas he kept around were loyal and would keep shit running.
All he would have to do was sit back and collect money.
He couldn’t lie, though. He would miss the fast life.
He thrived in chaos. Wasn’t no chaos in being a daddy and possibly a good man to Devyn.
He wasn’t sure what he was going to do yet. He needed more time to process.
They sat in silence for several moments, allowing their thoughts to wander, before Gideon asked with a smile, “My daughter gonna have a best friend?”
He and Glimmer had a baby girl, and Haze hadn’t even thought about how their kids could grow to be best friends, just as he and Gideon had.
Haze grinned back. “Yeah, man. I guess so.”
“That’s beautiful,” Gideon said.
Haze nodded. He looked out the large window to the side of him and kept nodding. A beautiful thing, it definitely was. He knew he couldn’t fuck this precious gift up.