9. Makari #2
Me: Oh we definitely dragged you, friend. Avi said fuck your job. It’s giving abandonment.
Tiana: Not you emotionally manipulating me by using a four-month-old
Me: I’ll use what I can.
Tiana: I owe you and I promise I’ll make it up to you.
Me: Yes you will.
Tiana: I have to go. Love you.
I glanced at my baby who was already dozing. “Avi, your Tee Tee ain’t shit.”
My baby huffed right on cue and I grinned. “Exactly, girl, you get it.”
I lifted my glass and enjoyed a little more of my wine. “But I had fun with you so I’m not complaining. My night was perfect and you’re two blinks from sleep. Let me get our last photoshoot in before I get you down for the night.”
I placed my glass on the table and lifted Avi from her bouncer, soothingly patting her back while I lifted my phone to grab a few more pictures.
I never posted anything online but I had enough in my phone to create a minute by minute timeline of my baby’s life.
I snapped several selfies of us together, kissing her face while she snuggled up next to me sucking on her fingers.
“Thanks for hanging with me tonight, little bestie.” My baby was already out, milk drunk and content.
I carried her down the hall into her room where I carefully lowered Avi into her crib.
I smothered her face with kisses before turning on the monitor and heading back to the kitchen where I grabbed my wine glass.
I topped it off one last time before I made my way into the living room, setting my glass on the end table.
After I cleaned up our spa station, tossed the fuzzy blanket on the sofa, and grabbed the remote, I snuggled up in the corner and found a movie to watch which I was sure would be watching me within a matter of minutes.
Hours later I woke to a loud crash which sounded like it was right outside my door. I jerked up from the sofa and swung my head around, blinking several times before I grabbed my phone and checked the time. It was after three in the morning which pushed me into panic mode.
Things were quiet for a minute then I heard a car door slamming which had me quickly lifting from the sofa and rushing down the hallway to my room.
I yanked the drawer on my night stand open, grabbed my taser, and stopped by Avi’s room to make sure she was good before heading toward the front of the house, pulling up the cameras.
I narrowed my eyes on the screen then frowned at the massive body stumbling clumsily up my driveway.
“What the fuck…” I mumbled and focused on Omiri’s Range which was now attached to the bumper of my Camry, letting me know what the crashing sound was.
He had a bottle in hand which he lifted above his head long enough to finish what was left and tossed it on the lawn.
He paused for a minute and jerked a hand down his face, turned back toward the driveway where he fumbled, trying unsuccessfully to open the driver’s door.
He turned and almost fell on his ass. After another attempt he righted himself and leaned against the side.
He’s drunk…
And supposed to be out of town…
After tossing the taser on the sofa, I stomped to the door, shoved my feet into my Tasman UGGs and turned the bolt lock then yanked my door open.
The amount of anger that flashed through me was dangerous for both of us because I was going to fucking kill this man and Avi would no longer have her father in her life.
Not that he deserved to be in it in the first place after this royal fuck up.
A few weeks of playing devoted father and he was back on the bullshit...
“I fucked up.” I had the camera app up so his voice carried and I frowned at the screen, watching him bend his arms over his head while he paced unsteadily across the yard. “I fucked up so bad…”
I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or himself, or just shouting his sins into the darkness, so I stood in the doorway watching him.
“It should have been me. I should have been the one they got that night. It should have been me .”
He dropped his arms and balled his fists. One of them slammed back against the side of the truck. “If I had never called you to come get me things wouldn’t be so messed up. You would be here.”
There was something in his voice that extended beyond just a drunk rant. He sounded raw and emotional which had me heading his way. Something wasn’t right about this situation or him .
Before I could get to Omiri, he pushed away from his Range and yanked at the door again. This time he managed to get it open. I panicked, watching him stumble while trying to get back behind the steering wheel.
“Damnit,” I mumbled, moving as fast as I could in his direction.
No matter how pissed I was, there was no way in hell I would let this man risk his life again. With as drunk as he currently was, I had not a damn clue how he’d made it here in the first place and the only thing damaged was my car.
I managed to grab ahold of his sweatshirt and yanked him away from the truck. He lost his balance and almost fell on me but I was able to dodge him and he landed on the ground.
He cursed under his breath then swung his eyes up to me when I stopped in front of him. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Trying to make sure you don’t kill yourself. Get up.”
“Nah, I’m good. Go in the house.” He frowned at me. “And why the hell don’t you have on any clothes?”
Is he fucking for real?
“I have on clothes. Get up, Omiri.”
He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “Nah, you aren’t dressed, Kari. That shit is thin as hell. You’re gonna fucking freeze then blame that shit on me.”
After glaring at me a few seconds longer, he tried to lift from the ground, planting his hands beneath him and lifting one foot, but he stumbled and crash landed again.
“Fuck. Is this really my life?” I mumbled.
I moved close enough to offer my hand which he knocked away. “I don’t need you to do shit for me. I said go in the gotdamn house. And where is my baby while you’re out here trying to freeze to fucking death?”
“I’m not answering questions. You’re drunk and high…
” He reeked of alcohol and weed which explained his behavior, or at least some of it.
The problem was, what had made him get this damn high and drunk?
While he struggled to get up, I walked to his Range and leaned inside, hoping he was too out of it to remember the key fob.
When I found it in the center console, I snatched it up, slammed the door, and hit the locks.
“I’m going inside. You have ten minutes before I lock the door then your ass is sleeping out here.
At least with me keeping this…” I held up the fob.
“I know you can’t hurt anyone else tonight.
If your dumb ass wants to freeze to death, then I guess I’ll have to explain to Avi when she’s old enough that her father was an amazing quarterback and also a gotdamn idiot. ”
I stormed off, leaving him standing in the center of my lawn, and slammed the door when I got inside.
I paced the living room for what felt like an eternity before the door opened and Omiri shut it behind him, turned the lock, then leaned against it, glaring at me with his eyes blazing red, looking like he had been dragged through the pits of hell.
“Are you really this stupid? You can’t even stand up straight and you got behind the wheel of a car. You could have killed someone. You could have killed yourself.”
“Would it have fucking mattered?”
The weight of his stare and the seriousness in his tone made my chest tight.
After a few minutes he pushed away from the door and stumbled to the sofa, balancing himself on whatever he could get his hands on until he sank into the corner, dropped his elbows into his thighs, and buried his face in his hands.
I placed the key fob on the table furthest from him and crossed the room cautiously, stopping in front of him.
“Hey, what the hell is going on with you?” Originally I was angry but now I was concerned.
“Just leave me the fuck alone for a minute Makari, damn.”
I reared my head back.
“You don’t get to pull up at my house at three in the morning drunk off your ass, crash into my gotdamn car, and tell me to leave you the fuck alone.
Whatever the hell is going on, there’s better ways to deal with it than putting your life and others in danger.
I can’t fucking believe this. I can’t believe you … ”
He lifted his head and glared at me. “Bruh, I don’t even know why the fuck I came here.”
“Me either and I wished you hadn’t. This…” I flicked my hand in his direction. “What you did tonight is so insensitive. You don’t have a damn clue how this feels.”
“This isn’t about you, Kari. None of this has shit to do with you…”
“It has everything to do with me. You got drunk, got behind the wheel of your truck, and drove here. What if I had to explain to Avi that she lost her father because he was stupid enough to drive drunk or what if some other mother had to explain to their daughter that her father wasn’t coming home like my father didn’t come home because another selfish muthafucker decided he didn’t give a damn about his life or anyone else’s and got behind the wheel of his car when he could barely remember his name. ”
My chest was tight, tears were in my eyes, and he just stared at me like a gotdamn insane person. “You know what fuck it. You don’t care so I don’t care. Do what the hell you want to do, Omiri.”
I stormed off but didn’t get far because his hand wrapped around my wrist and he yanked me toward him. I landed awkwardly in his lap and he wrapped his arms around me.
“Hey, chill, calm the fuck down, Kari. Shit man, my bad, I didn’t know.”
I struggled to free myself but he held me tighter, mumbling chill over and over again with his face pressed against mine.
“I messed up, aight. Can you please just calm the hell down?”
“Can you just let me go? I don’t want to do this with you.”
“Kari, chill, man. I’m sorry, aight. I fucked up but I wasn’t being selfish. Can we talk for a minute?”