6. Omiri
Omiri
M y dick was bricked up when I left Makari’s spot. Every part of my body pulsated with a need that wasn’t going to be satisfied by anybody but her and that was a gotdamn problem.
I sat in my Range with my head dropped back on the seat for a good fifteen minutes after I walked out of her house trying to will myself to drive away instead of going back inside, spreading them thighs, and devouring that pussy.
Yet another fucking problem. I wanted to bury my face between her legs and make her cum until she tapped out.
That was the first thought I had when it should have been fuck her to get it out my system and move the hell on.
Then there was my daughter. She was beautiful no doubt but every time I looked at her, all I saw was O’Rion, which made no sense because Avi had my entire face.
She looked like me aside from her mother’s chocolate complexion, but every time my eyes were on her, all I could think about was my brother and that shit caved my chest in.
I didn’t know if I could connect with her the way I needed to because I was fucking terrified of what that would feel like.
I laughed dryly, shaking my head. This shit was so fucked up. “I hope you know what the hell you’re doing with this, Rion, ’cause I’m so fucking lost right now.”
I started my truck and pulled away from her house, turning up the sounds of Aso while I navigated through the streets. The bass from the song vibrated through me while the words hit in a way I wasn’t feeling.
You can’t fix what you didn’t break, you can’t correct someone else’s mistake. Love over loss is the key to settling demons in your way.
I snorted, turning that shit up more, and mumbled to my brother. “I hear you, muthafucker. Message received.”
It was too damn ironic that this was the song and verse that hit at this particular moment. That had to be O’Rion, and if it wasn’t, it was something bigger than myself sending me a gotdamn message. Unfortunately, it didn’t do shit for the demons or the guilt.
When I stepped inside Local Cue, the crowd was thin.
I yanked a hat down on my head and didn’t make eye contact with anyone.
This was my spot. Me and O’Rion had spent so many damn nights here drinking too much, fucking women in bathrooms and the parking lots, and running game on muthafuckers who thought they could touch our skills at the tables.
It was hard being here some nights but it also made me feel closer to what I lost. To whom I lost. This was also one of the few places in the city where I wasn’t Omiri Hayes, Sharks QB.
The people here were from the same hood, and while they showed respect, they also gave me space and treated me like I was just another person who walked through the doors.
No pictures, requests for autographs, or talk about what the next season was looking like.
I moved straight to the back corner where Ryland was chilling at one of the tables with a bottle of Black Ops in front of him. He tossed his chin when he noticed me and laughed, sliding the bottle and one of the shot glasses across the table.
“You look stressed as hell. I’m guessing day one of daddy duty was a bust?”
I dropped into the chair across from him, wrapped my hand around the bottle, and poured a shot, which I tossed back before I refilled it and pushed the bottle back to the center of the table.
“Shit was frustrating as hell”
“She not letting you see your daughter?”
“Nah, that’s not it.” I tossed back my second shot and leaned back in my chair, trying to figure out how I wanted to explain that I was the problem. “I might have done too much trying to prove a point.”
Ryland filled his glass and threw it back. “The fuck did you do?”
“I’m being a father to my kid.”
“Yeah now I know your ass is being extra, how extra, O?”
“Security system, new furniture, baby proofed the house.”
“You set all that shit up?”
I frowned and nodded. “Set up, installed, and delivered and all that in one day.”
He barked a laugh. “Bruh. You turned her damn life upside down all in one day.”
“What difference does it make how or why? It needed to be done.”
“She needed new furniture?”
I shrugged and reached for the bottle. “Sofa was tiny as hell.”
“O, what the fuck?”
“I know you’re not giving me shit about considering my daughter’s safety.”
“You took over that woman’s house like your name is on the lease.”
“You’re supposed to be on my side with this. It was your fucking idea to make it work.”
“I’m on the side that makes sense and that damn sure isn’t yours right now. If you want this to work, you can’t just force your way into their lives, fam. That’s not how this goes.”
“I can do what the hell I want at this point. She kept my daughter from me for almost a year. She doesn’t have the right to be mad but I damn sure do. She owes me.”
“The only thing you’re owed and can collect on is the opportunity to be your daughter’s father. She don’t owe you the right to control her life, O. I’m guessing she’s not really fucking with you right now.”
I smirked and shrugged. “Nah, she’s plotting my death.”
“You need to take that L too. You basically invaded that woman’s space and rearranged her life without asking.”
“I upgraded her life. Why the fuck would she complain?”
“You weren’t trying to upgrade her life. You wanted to piss on her shit and mark your territory. What you did today didn’t have a damn thing to do with your daughter.”
I brought the shot to my mouth and turned the glass up.
Being around Makari all day had pissed me off.
Her and Avi had their own little thing that didn’t include me.
It fucked with my head more than I was ready to admit.
Then there was the small part about me wanting to drop this dick off in her, knowing that was a terrible idea.
“That’s possible.”
“And I’ve seen her, O. You want to be daddy to your daughter and her mother but in two very different ways.”
I grilled the hell out of him and he laughed, hard, shaking his head. “Ain’t shit wrong with you wanting to circle back. She’s the mother of your child. It’s damn near expected and y’all got history.”
“One night stand isn’t history. I don’t know her and she doesn’t know me. She dipped the morning after and hid a baby. That’s not the kind of history you build on.”
“She had her reasons, but be honest, if she had hit you up, how would that shit have played out?”
I would have brushed it off, had Raaj make her an offer and kept it pushing…
“Maybe it’s good that she didn’t tell you. You were in a different space back then. At least now you’re considering the possibility and trying to do the right thing even if you’re completely fucking that shit up.”
I smirked and rolled the shot glass between my fingers. “Yeah I wasn’t exactly father material back then.”
“You still aren’t father material.” He grabbed the bottle and refilled his glass. “But you’re trying to be. That’s a start.”
“I’m really not built for this. I swear she makes me want to choke her the fuck out then make her cum right after.”
“Bruh, she’s got you by the balls.”
“Got them shits in her palm and holding on tight.”
“You might want to try talking to her instead of throwing money in her face. You think she’s cool with your daughter. Like is she a good mother? ’Cause a lot of these hoes be on some bullshit.”
I couldn’t even lie. Makari was a great mother. The way she was with Avi was proof of how much she loved our daughter. I had no complaints other than having not been a part of their world.
“Nah, she’s not like that. She’s good with Avi but I think that’s the thing that pisses me off the most. They have their connection and my kid doesn’t know me. I could literally be any stranger off the street and it wouldn’t matter.”
“That will change but you have to be patient.”
“I don’t do patient.”
“No shit. Based on the way you showed your ass today, you damn sure don’t do patient.”
I laughed. “Yeah… well, she was giving me shit too; so don’t feel sorry for her. She literally told me I was throwing my weight around but didn’t give a damn about being a father to Avi.”
“Is she right?”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Then fix that shit.”
“I don’t know if I can. I really don’t want to fuck this up.”
“Then bail now because you’re gonna fuck up. There’s not a parent on earth who got it one hundred percent right with their kids.”
I was walking proof.
“But trust me, O. If you want to step up, you will. The question is whether or not you’re going to do that working with baby mama or against her.”
I smirked. “She don’t trust me, so if it’s up to her, I’m gonna have to fight her ass for every fucking inch I gain.”
“Can you blame her? Look how you handled today. You pulled up and took over her whole damn house.”
“I was protecting them.”
“Nah, that was possession and a flex. Be real with your shit, O.”
“What the fuck else am I supposed to do, fall back?”
“Earn her trust and prove that you can be a father to your daughter without steamrolling over everything that woman has built for them. It might help if you fuck her and get past that so you can focus on what’s most important, your kid.”
He was right but I was fucking annoyed by all this.
“She’s not just some random woman I can nut in and forget. She’s Avi’s mother. If I mess up with Kari, it affects my daughter.”
“And if you don’t mess up, it can make things better for all of y’all.”
“I’m not trying to be married with a kid.”
He laughed. “Nobody said a damn thing about marriage. You’re telling on yourself.” I shot him a look and he shrugged. “You need to figure out if you really want to be a father or if you’re just doing this because you feel guilty about your brother.”
The mention of O’Rion twisted in my gut.
“The hell is that supposed to mean?”