13. Legend
Legend
“A zoo,” Kayson announced proudly, glancing over his shoulder at me.
He had gone through a lot in the last few months. But now that he was around Legacy and me, he seemed to be bouncing back. He was excited about going to school again.
We had learned that he was creating his problems at his school.
All the children liked Kayson, but he had started being mean to them and putting distance between them and himself.
It took a while to figure out why. We eventually learned that Kali’s new man wanted her to move in with him.
Apparently, Kayson overheard a conversation about them putting him into a new school.
Kayson didn’t know how to react to that news, but he didn’t like it.
And when they moved in with him, he pressed the issue about Kali changing Kayson’s school.
Kayson did the only thing that little kids knew how to do when they got news they didn’t like—he acted out.
Kali and I had it out about that. She had broken down crying again, but the one thing she understood was that Kayson would remain in his school.
We had agreed upon the divorce that we would do as little as possible to change his world.
We wanted him to have as much stability as possible.
That had been a major deciding factor in my choosing a new home where I did when I moved out.
I hadn’t wanted to disrupt his routine and schedule any more than it already would be by him not having me tuck him in nightly, not having me in the same home with him, and having to visit me in a new space.
The last thing I was accepting was that she would pull him out of his school, a school he had attended since he first started at two years old. The only time he would go to a new school was next year when he started kindergarten.
“I bet I know whose idea that was,” I stated, glancing at Kayson.
“Daddy, you don’t even know, man. You guessing.” He sucked his teeth and side-eyed me.
I jumped up from my seat and snatched his little ass up in my arms. I tickled him in his ribs and on his neck.
He giggled and flailed his arms and legs wildly.
Legacy jumped up and did the same to me from behind.
The minute that she did, Legend tried tickling me, too, but his fingers were just little jabs.
“Oh, you two want to team up on me, huh?” I released Legend and turned on Legacy.
She fell onto the couch and curled up with her back to me. I kept tickling her, and Kayson started tickling her too. She released a lot of high-pitched squeals.
“Okay. Okay!” she screamed through her giggles. “No more tickles.”
I whispered directly behind her ear where Kayson couldn’t hear me. “I’ma tickle that throat tonight.”
She moaned and turned to look at me over her shoulder. “Promise?”
I winked, shoved my hands into my pockets, and backed up. “Aye, what y’all want for dinner? It’s gotta be with ground turkey because that’s what’s unthawed.”
“Chopped cheese,” Kayson shouted, forgetting about attacking Legacy as he jumped up and down.
“Okay, that’s what I’m cooking.”
We were at my house, so I headed to the kitchen and pulled out the ground turkey, onions, cheese, and seasonings. I washed my hands before I grabbed the skillet and opened the ground turkey.
Legacy set the TV up for Kayson to watch one of his shows, while I busied myself in the kitchen, chopping the meat and onions on the griddle.
I stepped away and cut up some potatoes for fresh French fries.
Halfway through cooking, Legacy joined me in the kitchen. She sat at the island with her phone.
She was so buried in it that she didn’t even strike up a conversation. It was fine with me because my mind was on other things. Although I tried, I failed miserably at turning my focus from the stressors that assaulted me.
The minute that I got a break, I moved from the stove to the island. Sitting beside her, I asked, “Who’re you texting? Better not be ya li’l nasty ass boyfriend.”
“Why he gotta be nasty?”
“I don’t know, but don’t get him fucked up.”
She chuckled, and I reached over and snatched her phone. “Heyy, give that back!” she shouted, trying to reach her phone that I held in the air.
“Nah, I wanna see what ya ass was texting him.”
“Fine. If you text him back, he’s gonna pull up,” she stated, sitting back on her stool and crossing her arms. She was cute as hell when she pouted.
“Let me find out ya been sending his ass some booty pics. I’m running straight up in that ass tonight and carving my name between them cheeks.”
“No the hell you’re not,” she countered, looking at me incredulously.
I glanced at her phone and took in the pictures that were on display. I read the captions under each and then looked up at her. She wore a smirk on her face.
“Now tell me what you thought you were gonna do again, sir?”
“What’s with all the baby pics? Somebody having a baby?” I asked, giving her the phone back as my heart squeezed tightly in my chest.
She clicked out of the Picturest app and set her phone down.
“Nobody.”
I turned back to the skillet to finish cooking. “Then what’s with all the baby pictures?”
“I don’t know. Just creating a board for future interests.”
“You want kids?”
“Absolutely. I can’t wait to marry and have a family of my own. What woman doesn’t want them?”
I shrugged as I removed a serving of chopped cheese from the griddle onto a plate. “Some women don’t.”
“Is this a problem for you?”
“Nah. Just asking questions.”
“Oh,” she replied softly.
I couldn’t deny the woman the right to want to settle down and procreate, but I also didn’t want to lead anyone on.
I knew that it wasn’t something that I wanted to do, not yet, anyway.
My heart had been through the ringer and back.
It couldn’t take any more. As much as I loved Legacy, I needed to slow things down with her.
If there were anyone who could be in my future, it would be her, but I wasn’t sure that I was ready for marriage again and extending my little family. I was honestly happy with the way things were.
I served Kayson and Legacy before I fixed my plate and sat down with the two of them in the living room to watch a movie that Kayson picked out. We watched the movie and laughed with Kayson. Kayson kept the conversation as delightful as always, but it was stilted between Legacy and me.
I hated the tension that was between us, but I knew it stemmed from our conversation earlier about children. It wasn’t something that I could go deeper into in front of Kayson. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to address it with Legacy without spilling my whole heart.
But my whole heart couldn’t take dredging up the past. There were certain things that I had buried deep, because they broke me inside whenever I thought about them.
I was in a position now where I had to remain strong for Kayson.
No one could understand what I felt and what I was going through.
It was easier to push it down and ignore it than allow the pain to drag me into the depths of depression again.