13. Makari
Makari
T he pounding on my door had me peeling my eyes open slowly, attempting to pull myself out of the groggy state I was in.
Avi and I spent the morning enjoying some much needed playtime, then I got a migraine out of nowhere, which had me taking the pills my doctor prescribed and laying down for a nap with Avi after we had lunch.
She was in her portable crib while I stretched out on the sofa.
Now that my migraine was partially gone, having someone banging on my door was not what I wanted to wake up to.
I took a minute to stretch, loosening the muscles in my neck and back before I reached for my phone.
My eyes went wide and my heart began to race.
What the fuck…
My screen was flooded with missed calls and texts, accompanied by thousands of notifications from my social media accounts.
I cut my eyes to Avi who was just now waking up then swiped through my phone to pull up the camera because I could hear a lot of noise outside my house.
There were people camped on my lawn with cameras pointed at my house.
A van with Baller Alert printed on the side was parked along the curb and so was one from Tattle Tales.
I jumped up from the sofa and hurried to the door, peeking through the glass panels, then stumbled back.
"Ms. Phoenix. Can we be the first to get a comment about your relationship with Omiri Hayes?"
"Did you intentionally hide his child?"
"Did you keep your daughter a secret to ensure you got a bigger payout after he secured his second Super Bowl win?"
This isn't happening. This cannot be happening.
My hands shook when I looked down at my phone to call Omiri but a call came through from Tiana. My phone was still on silent, which I did right before putting Avi down for a nap so I wouldn't be interrupted while I was trying to get rid of the migraine.
"I've been calling you for hours. Do you see this?"
"What I see is a bunch of people in front of my house with cameras. Fucking Baller Alert is here."
"Shit. They're at your house?"
"Yes."
"Have you been online?"
"No. I had a migraine so I took something then Avi and I went to sleep. I'm just waking up. What's online? Why the hell are these people at my house?"
"Uh, you might want to look. Go to your account."
Avi was getting fussy so I walked to her portable crib and lifted her into my arms before I made it to the sofa, put the call on speaker, navigated to Skroll, and clicked on my page.
Under the last photo I posted there were already 600 comments.
@winnerofallwinners: @m_phoenix_rising @ifixshidd I thought you fixed shit. Looks like you need to fix yo’ shit.
@m_phoenix_rising is a gold digger. Be safe out here in these streets, y'all.
@m_phoenix_rising how desperate do you have to be to hookup with someone like Hayes. He just made you a single mother
@m_phoenix_rising hope that cash out is worth it cause that nigga is about to ghost your ass
@shezzzzclassy: @omirihayes needs to get a paternity test asap
@sportfanatic213: Hayes probably in some new pussy right now
@nicksss: @sportfanatic213 lmao nah, bro somewhere crashing out because @m_phoenix_rising caught his ass slipping. He's about to do 18 large with a gold digger
@true2thegame: she’s probably one of many. He has money to hide stuff like this.
@lisalisa: shit, sis did her big one. If I could have trapped his fine ass I would have. She's about to cash out hella big. 240 million. She's entitled to half right since they went half on a baby
I went back to the feed and swiped through other posts and the headlines were horrible.
Is Hayes Fit To Be A Father?
Hayes Secret Love Child: Who Is Makari Phoenix
"Tee, what the fuck. This is insane."
"I know, what do you need? I can come get you and Avi. You said they're at your house?"
"Yes." My eyes shot to the door and I sank back against the sofa.
"Why the hell do they care? Do you know how many pro athletes have kids, why are they making a big deal out of this?"
"Because he's a big deal. You see what they're saying…"
He just won a Super Bowl and signed a fat ass contract and now I was in his life. The timing was shit but also wasn't intentional.
"I don't want his damn money. Hell, I didn't even want him in our lives. He pushed for this. I would have been perfectly content with me and Avi living our basic, simple lives. They keep saying I trapped him."
"You didn't."
"I know that but they don't. The way they're posting and pulling all of this together makes me look bad."
"Fuck them, Kari. Real shit, they don't matter."
"It's not even really about them. This is my life, my job. Who the hell do you think is going to want to work with me with all of this out there?"
Avi climbed up my chest and dropped her head on my shoulder like she was trying to comfort me. I rubbed her back and kissed her cheek. My little muffin wanted to give me love.
"I know it looks bad but…"
I glanced at my screen, noticing a call from Omiri.
"It doesn't look bad. It is bad. I’ll call you back. He's calling me now."
I switched the calls and he didn't even give me a chance to speak.
"Ay, you good?"
"No, have you seen all this?"
"Yeah, I just found out."
"Baller Alert and Tattle Tales are in front of my house. They were knocking on my door and trying to take pictures through the windows."
"Fuck, man. I'm heading that way now. Pack some stuff for you and Avi. Grab whatever you need for right now."
"I'm not going out there. That will make it worse."
"They're about to be camped out, Kari. This isn't going away anytime soon and y'all aren't staying there."
"I don't want to stay here but you showing up here and us leaving together is going to make it worse."
"I'm not debating this with you right now. Pack and I'll be there in like twenty minutes." His tone was hard and laced with authority so I let it go.
"Where are we going?"
"My house. Twenty minutes, be ready, aight?"
"Okay."
I ended the call and lifted Avi into my arms. As much as I loathed the idea of going out in that chaos, I didn't want to be here by myself with strangers stalking me and my baby.
As soon as I walked past the front door heading to our rooms to pack, the shouting picked up.
Someone knocked again and I was pissed because they weren't supposed to be on my lawn or on my porch, I knew that much.
They were required to stay beyond the curb by law but I knew they didn't care.
My first stop was Avi's room. I placed her on the floor, letting her crawl around. She occupied herself by smiling at her reflection in the floor length mirror while I grabbed enough stuff to get us through a couple days and shoved it into her overnight bag.
Once I had her together, we moved to my room and I sat her on the bed and turned on Macy's Mix.
The animated show was for babies and toddlers where they taught letters, numbers, and colors by turning the lessons into songs and dances with animated characters.
Avi loved it, and by default I did too, because it kept her occupied and the songs slapped.
I grabbed just the essentials for myself, not really paying much attention to what I was throwing in the bag before I headed to the bathroom and gathered my skincare stuff, toiletries, and hair products.
By the time I was done, Omiri was calling, telling me he was pulling up.
I walked to the living room and glanced outside just in time to catch him parking a black Jeep in the driveway and getting out.
The crowd swarmed him but a second car pulled up behind his and two massive men got out and began pointing toward the street, telling people to move.
One of them flashed a badge which had the crowd begrudgingly moving off my lawn while the two of them stood guard, arms crossed like they dared anyone to try them.
I opened the door and Omiri walked in, looking me over before he took Avi from my arms after she damn near lunged at him.
“Are those cops?”
"Off duty but yeah. That’s KP and Ced. I hire them sometimes for security and figured they would be best to keep them damn people away from the house while I get y’all out of here. You ready?"
I nodded and motioned to the back. "Our bags are in my room."
"Aight, take Avi and I'll grab them."
When he tried to hand her off, she frowned and edged away from me. I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Traitor."
He chuckled. "If you get her bag, I'll get yours."
We moved to the bedroom and he lifted my duffel and backpack, balancing Avi, and I grabbed Avi's overnight bag and her matching diaper bag, heading to the front.
"Ay, grab my phone outta my pocket so you can call KP to let him know we're ready. Get something to cover her head with."
I slipped my hand into his pocket and couldn't even enjoy what my fingers brushed against because of this chaotic shit storm we were in the middle of. I walked to the couch, lifted Avi's blanket, and handed it to Omiri.
"Eleven oh nine," he rattled off, knowing I needed the code to his phone. I smiled, noting that he had changed his code to Avi's birthday.
Once he showed me which contact to select, I called, letting them know we were ready. A few minutes later we were on our way out with the two bodyguards blocking me while Omiri kept Avi out of view. As soon as we neared the car, they were shouting questions again.
"Hayes, is it really your child?"
"How long have the two of you been sneaking around?"
"Makari, did you purposely get pregnant?"
"Hayes, is this your only secret baby?"
"Makari, did you leak the story to demand a higher payout?"
I swung my head to the person who asked that question and Omiri called my name.
"Let that shit go. They're just trying to make you give them a statement. Don't say shit."
I frowned but fought the urge to tell them all to go to hell because he was right. I knew how this went so I got in the car and slammed the door.