Chapter 21
A s Andres looked around the room filled with bags and boxes, he sighed.
He’d been in his new home for three days, and the main people he wanted to celebrate with he couldn’t even talk to.
With a sigh, Andres cut the light off and closed the door, not even having the energy to put anything else up.
By the time he’d made it back to his bedroom, his mother’s call was just going to voicemail.
He called her back as he sat down on the edge of the unmade bed.
“Hey, you called?”
“Yes. Are you home?”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“Come to the door.”
After looking at the phone for a second, Andres disconnected the call and headed downstairs to his front door.
He still hadn’t gotten used to how spacious his home was.
More than anything, it felt too big for him alone.
It took what felt like forever before he made it to the foyer and opened the door.
At the sight of his mother and Dior, Andres smiled.
“What are y’all doing here?”
“She… ran away.”
“She what?” Andres asked as calmly as he could.
“Something happened at home this evening and she Googled how to take an Uber. I guess you gave her our address before you left, so she showed up looking for you.”
Dior’s expression was unsure as she tightly held her backpack to her chest.
“Are you okay, Dior?” She nodded.
“You can come in. It’s okay that you’re here.”
Dior smiled softly and stepped inside.
“Do you want me to stay here?” Marilyn offered.
“Please. I’m going to call Layla so I might need you with Dior while she’s here.”
“Of course.”
Andres closed the door and led them both to the living room.
It wasn’t decorated yet, but his furniture had arrived.
His mother sat down, allowing him to take the lead with Dior.
He led her to the smaller couch and sat next to her.
“You said I could call you if I needed you but I didn’t want you to not answer my call, so I came to see you instead.”
Andres smiled.
“You’re not gonna let me live that down are you?” Her head tilted as she stared at him, unsure of what the phrase he’d used meant.
“What happened at home?”
“When mommy and daddy came back home, they had a fight. Crystal gave me my headphones so I wouldn’t hear it, but when she ran out of my room I followed her and saw daddy hurting mommy. He had his hand around her neck like this…” Dior paused and wrapped her thin hand around his neck.
“And her toes were off the floor. I hit him and tried to make him stop but he pushed me and I fell. That made mommy really mad, so she started hitting him a lot. Then he picked her up and took her to her room and wrapped his hands around her neck again until she went to sleep.”
She sniffled as her tears fell.
“The police came and mommy talked to them for a while before telling me daddy was never going to hurt us again. I just said okay because I knew he wouldn’t because I was coming to you. I wrote her a letter and got her credit card for the Uber. She was sleep so I put it on her bed. Can I stay here with you? I don’t want to live with her and daddy anymore. They fight too much and she’s not happy when he’s there. That makes me sad.”
“Breathe,” Marilyn guided from the other couch.
“Stay calm.”
Gripping the black sofa, Andres channeled his anger there.
“Dior,” he called calmly, steadying his tone and breath.
“I’m glad you came to me and that you trust me, but next time, please call me first so I can come and get you. I want to make sure you are always safe, and I don’t want you riding with strangers when I can come to get you myself, okay?” She nodded.
“Is it okay if I call your mom and tell her that you’re here so we can all talk together?”
Dior frowned for a second.
“If she will come without him. Yes. I like her better when she’s with you.”
Andres’s heart squeezed.
He blinked rapidly, trying not to get emotional.
As his nostrils flared, he looked up at his mother as she stood behind him with her hands on his shoulders.
“I got you.”
He smiled softly as his eyes dried before looking back at Dior.
“I promise I will make sure he doesn’t come here, okay?” She nodded.
“My mom is going to sit with you while I call Layla. I’ll be right back.”
Andre squeezed the bridge of his nose as he headed back to his room.
He already felt like he owed Carlos an ass whupping because Layla chose him.
Now…
he really wanted to kill him.
Putting his hands on either one of them was unacceptable.
No matter how long it took Andres to find him, Carlos was going to pay in the worst way.
He dialed her number, forgetting she had him blocked.
At this point, he couldn’t even be irritated by that.
Andres grabbed his mother’s phone and called Layla from it.
When she didn’t answer, he texted her and told her to answer, hoping the vibration would wake her up.
Her voice was groggy when she finally answered with, “Andres?”
“Don’t be alarmed. Dior is here at my house.”
“What!” Layla yelled.
“She ran away. She said she left you a note and put it on your bed. Read it and calmly make your way here. You know she’s safe with me, so I don’t need you driving recklessly trying to get here and have an accident.”
“O-okay. I’m on my way.”
After disconnecting the call, Andres returned to the living room, where Marilyn and Dior were in a deep exchange about Dior’s summer so far.
Instead of interrupting them, he sat back and watched them converse.
Since Emily, Marilyn hadn’t gotten close to any other girls with Autism.
Even with her devotion to the foundation and center, that closeness felt too triggering.
It warmed his heart to see her with Dior.
For a moment, he wanted to offer Dior to Marilyn as her first grandchild.
But that would never be the case.
About twenty minutes later, Layla was at the door.
When he opened it, he stepped out onto the porch instead of letting her in right away.
He could tell by her puffy red eyes and lips that she’d been crying, and he also noticed the bruises along her caramel colored neck.
“What happened?”
Andres listened intently as Layla gave him her version of events, which was pretty much the same as Dior’s.
“What made him so upset that he put his hands on you?”
Scrunching the messy ball at the top of her head, Layla looked down for a second as she breathed deeply.
“I basically told him that I didn’t want him and would never want him. That I resented him for taking you away from us.”
Andres sighed, thinking back to the last time he’d seen Veronica.
Even though she’d gone bat shit crazy, he still shouldn’t have put his hands on her.
Seeing his reaction to that being done to Layla further reminded him of what his parents had already instilled in him.
If he felt like it wouldn’t give her the wrong impression, he’d call her to apologize.
But instead, he just asked God for forgiveness.
“He didn’t take me away from y’all. You did when you gave him a second chance.”
Her face twisted as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“I only gave him a second chance because you ghosted us. Even with that, I haven’t led him on and made him think he had a chance with me. I let him come home for Dior.”
“That’s not what he said. He said y’all were working on your marriage and seeing as you blocked me… that’s what it looked and felt like too.”
“Bloc—Andres. I would never block you. What the hell are you talking about?”
“Layla, you blocked me.”
“No, I didn’t! Why do you keep saying that?”
Pulling his phone from the pocket of his sweats, he called her, and it did not go through.
Afterward, he showed her their text thread and how none of the messages were showing as delivered.
Confusion covered her face as she grabbed the phone.
“I don’t understand.”
“The day you were supposed to give him your decision, you texted me and told me not to wait on you. He came to the center and had a meeting with my parents basically to get me to back off. He offered them a quarter of a million yearly and said he’d continue to support the center as long as I stayed away from you while you two were trying to work on your marriage.”
“I never texted you this, and I certainly didn’t block your number.” Layla pulled her phone out and went to his contact information.
Sure enough, he had been blocked.
She groaned.
“Carlos had to text you and block you from my phone that day. When I went to get my smoothie and his soup, he asked me if he could use my phone.”
Silence simmered for a few seconds as he put the pieces together.
“So you didn’t block me?”
She chuckled as her eyes watered.
“No! I promise I didn’t. I told Carlos that I chose you. Why would I block you?”
“You did?”
Layla nodded.
“Yes. But after that, I didn’t hear from you. Then when I called you, you didn’t answer. I figured maybe you thought I wouldn’t do what I said and had prepared to leave us. You had that right, so I wasn’t going to force you to be in our lives. That’s why Dior was upset with you. I told her you weren’t going to work with us anymore, and she asked why, but I couldn’t give her an answer.”
His head shook and he closed his eyes briefly as a slow smile spread.
A slight groan slipped from his lips.
Andres ran his hand down his face before pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly.
He kissed her temple before closing his eyes and savoring having her in his arms again.
“I thought you didn’t want me anymore,” he confessed, causing her to grip him tighter.
“You were all I’ve wanted.” Layla kissed his neck.
“I’m so sorry he made it seem like I didn’t. I had no idea what he was up to, I swear.”
“He just keeps storing up an even bigger ass whupping,” Andres muttered as he released her.
“What did Dior’s letter say?”
Layla chuckled softly as her eyes watered all over again.
“Basically that she did not want Carlos staying with us. That she wanted you back. That we were happy and safe with you. And she wasn’t coming home until he left because she didn’t like him anymore.” She sighed and made her way back into his chest.
“Crystal called the police, so I did file a report. I’m going to see my lawyer first thing in the morning. I have pictures of my neck and a written statement from Crystal about what happened. I’m hoping that will be enough to get Carlos to sign those papers without any pushback.”
“What about his visitation with Dior?”
“I don’t want him around her at all, honestly, and apparently she doesn’t either. If he tries to fight for visitation, I’m going to demand it be supervised, but after tonight, I want full custody.”
Andres held her for a few seconds more before leading her inside.
As soon as she saw Dior, she rushed over to her.
He could tell it was hard for Layla to not scold her for leaving, but she knew that would only make it worse.
Instead, Layla let Dior know that waking up to her not being home scared her and Dior promised not to do it again.
She asked Dior why she hadn’t told her how she felt about Carlos, and Dior made them all laugh with her simple answer—Layla never asked.
“All this time I’ve been trying to hold on to what I thought was best for you, and you didn’t even want it. What do you want, Dior?”
Dior thought over her mother’s question for a while.
“I want us to live together without daddy with Mr. Dre. I want to be able to go back to the center with my new friends. And I want to go to Mrs. Marilyn’s house to play with her dogs.”
Layla smiled softly and wiped a tear before it could fall.
“Then that’s what you’ll have.”
She pulled Dior into her arms and kissed her cheek before holding her.
Andres’s heart was full as he watched them.
He hated how things played out this evening, but he was glad they’d finally gotten to the truth—a truth that confirmed he wasn’t alone in his feelings for Layla or his place in her and Dior’s lives.