15. Makari #2
I finished my lunch, got Avi cleaned up and changed, then built towers with her legos that she destroyed seconds after.
We watched TV while the cleaning staff collected our things to wash then moved through the house doing whatever they did since I mostly cleaned up after me and Avi so there was nothing left for them to do.
Then I went for a walk on one of the many trails they had out here before heading back to the house just in time to get another round of texts from my mother.
Mom: I'm booking a flight, Makari.
I groaned and glanced at my baby who was cruising the living room in her walker. "Your grandmother is incredibly annoying."
Avi frowned then flashed me a smile before turning and heading in the opposite direction. I was about to respond to my mother when an alert popped up on my screen from Baller Alert.
Honeymoon Is Over. Omiri Hayes Spotted At A Strip Club.
My brows pinched as I tapped the notification and pulled up the Baller Alert page to find images of Omiri entering Poles and Pastries, time stamped a few hours ago when he was supposed to be at practice.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I mumbled, scrolling through the article about how the family man title no longer existed and that he only accepted me and Avi in his life as a push from his team to clean up his image.
They quoted sources close to Omiri claiming he was never serious about being a father and the statement released a month ago was my idea, not his.
There were multiple other posts with their versions of the story along with sports blogs speculating about whether or not his personal life would affect his time on the field.
Tattle Tales, who was known for being messy, said that I was tempted to believe he would settle down and that I needed to take the money and run since that's what I wanted in the first place.
Some even said we were in this together and Avi wasn't his but I agreed to this to help clean up his image with the fake baby news.
The fuck…
My phone was ringing seconds later and I assumed it would be Omiri but it was my mother. I answered to get this over with because she wasn't going to let up.
"Do you have any idea how bad this looks?"
"Hi, Mom. Nice to hear from you after a year and a half of ignoring us. Yes, I'm great and so is your granddaughter."
"Don't be immature, Makari. You know exactly why I'm not in your life. That was your decision, not mine. Now can we discuss the calls and questions I'm getting about your name being attached to all these scandals?"
"No, we can not. I'm sorry that my life choices are so embarrassing to you but they are my life choices."
"Your life choices are attached to me. Getting involved with a professional athlete who can't keep it in his pants, having a child out of wedlock, and today's headlines of him spending time at a strip club instead of choosing to parent his daughter make me look like I'm a bad parent.
I raised you better than to make such stupid decisions about your life, Makari. "
Of course she knew about the latest headlines. She couldn't keep up with Avi's milestones but she could keep up with the negative headlines attached to my name. That's some world class parenting.
"I don't know what you want me to say."
"I want you to be smarter than this. Did you really expect anything different from a man like that?"
"I'm not doing this with you. Good chat, Mom. Goodbye."
"We're not done. I'm coming to Crescent Falls to bring you and Avi home. I can't do anything about her being here but maybe I can salvage things. There are a few respectable men who wouldn't mind that you have a child…"
Is she fucking for real?
"I'm going to hang up now. I don't need or want your help. I've been doing just fine without it."
"Clearly you haven't. Your life is a mess."
I closed my eyes to calm my irritation. "When you can get past your own ego and ignorance and want to be a part of your granddaughter's life, give me a call. Until then, please stay the hell away from us."
I hung up on my mother and called Omiri. It went straight to voicemail so I texted him.
Me: Call me ASAP
I locked my phone and tossed it on the sofa before walking over to get Avi ready for bed. It was almost eight so it was time for a bath, bedtime story, then I’d be opening some wine. I damn sure deserved it after today.
By ten, Omiri entered the living room looking exhausted and annoyed, but he still walked up to me and dropped a kiss on my cheek.
"I know you're ’bout ready to cuss me out but it's been a long fucking day and not what you think."
I lifted the remote, muted the reality show I was watching and looked up at him. "I'm not even going to jump to conclusions but I really hope you can explain what the hell you were doing at a strip club when you were supposed to be at practice."
"I can but let me go check on Avi first and hop in the shower…"
I narrowed my eyes at him and he smirked. "Bruh, calm down those violent ass thoughts you're having right now. I was on the field when I got a call and had to leave. I didn't have time to shower and change."
He unzipped the windbreaker he had on to expose the shirt with the Sharks logo and his name printed on the chest. "I'm still in my practice shit."
"Fine, hurry up and don't wake my baby."
He smirked. "So you're mad at me and now she's your baby like my nut didn’t help get her here?"
"Yep."
Omiri chuckled and leaned down to kiss me again but I pulled back. "Bruh, you doing too much."
"And you're not doing enough. Go do whatever you gotta do so you can tell me why you were at a strip club and I can decide how pissed I am about it."
He grinned, shook his head, and left the living room.
I unmuted the TV and occupied myself while he was gone, and about twenty minutes later he was back, smelling like bergamot and citrus bodywash, shirtless in basketball shorts.
He dropped down on the sofa then grabbed my feet, pulling them into his lap, but I snatched them back until he glared at me.
"Kari, don't fucking play."
I lifted my feet and dropped them down on his thigh.
He placed his hand on my ankles, dropped his head back and turned it in my direction.
"My father was on his bullshit today. He got drunk at Poles and Pastries, started showing his ass, then demanded special treatment.
When he couldn't get what he wanted, he started throwing shit around. "
"They called you?"
He nodded. "He goes there a lot. I know the owner and he hit me up, figuring I wouldn't want things to get out of hand or end up a story. By the time I got there, my father was doing the most so security had him contained. We had to drag him up out of there."
"They didn't post that."
Omiri snorted. "Nah, ’cause nobody gives a fuck about my father being an alcoholic."
"But they do care if you're in a strip club when you're supposed to be a reformed playboy."
He nodded. "I apologize for having your name out there again. We're still dealing with that other shit."
"You don't need to apologize."
He grinned. "Based on the way you were grilling me when I walked in, I do."
"I didn't react. I gave you a chance to explain."
"While you were hitting me with all kinds of theories in your head. I know how you get down."
I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Where is he now?"
"Hotel room. KP is with him. I took his wallet, phone, and keys so he couldn't make this any worse than it already is. He's passed out for now. I'll deal with him tomorrow."
"That sounds exhausting."
"It is but I'm used to it. I'm also sick of fixing his shit so I'm gonna have to figure out something."
"Why do you show up for him?"
"Because if I don't, things get worse than they are. It's bad enough they're on my ass. I don't need them adding his bad decisions to the chaos we’re already dealing with."
"I guess we both had crazy parent days."
"What you mean?"
"My mom was blowing up my phone all day and when I finally answered she made sure to let me know my life choices make it appear that she's a bad parent.
When in fact, she's not necessarily a bad parent but more or less a horrible person because me deciding to have Avi was reason enough to abandon us. "
His expression turned hard. "The fuck did she say to you?"
I sighed. "It's not important. I can handle my mother, and whether she accepts Avi or not, she and I are just fine and will be just fine."
"You damn sure will be."
I grinned at how protective his tone was.
"I bet if I introduced your mother to my parents they would have a lot to fucking talk about."
"Probably but how about we don't do that?"
He smirked and squeezed my ankle. “Come here.”
“Why do you want me over there?”
“I gotta have a reason to want you close?”
“No, but me being close to you leads to sex.”
He grinned arrogantly.
“I want to ask you a question, but it’s about your brother, so if you don’t want to talk about that you don’t have to.”
“Come put your hands on my face and you can ask me whatever you want.”
“You just want me on your lap.”
“You made the rules. We’re about to talk about some deep shit, and if we do, you have to make me feel safe.”
He smiled sexily and I rolled my eyes but climbed over the sofa and straddled his lap. After I had my hands on his face, I asked what I wanted to know.
“Your brother was killed in a car jacking but I’ve never seen anything about it. No articles, headlines, or anything. How is that?”
“Why you asking?” He frowned hard.
“Because you just said you have to clean up your father’s messes and you do that a lot. I’ve never seen anything about him and you’re you , so how is that?”
“With my father, he does the same shit at the same places. There’s always somebody around to hit me up before things get too bad, but also, like I said, nobody cares about me having a drunk for a father.
With my brother, it happened right after the Super Bowl and my team made sure it was kept quiet. ”
I frowned. “Why?”
“My reputation with the Sharks wasn’t the best. I did a lot of dumb shit. The owners were talking about a buyout for my contract to trade me if I didn’t get my shit together.”
“You won a Super Bowl, would they really have done that?”
“Hell yeah. Sports are a business before anything else. They don’t give a damn about us personally.
They care what puts people in seats and fills stadiums. Having a player that the fans don’t like doesn’t do either, no matter how much they’re winning.
My coach fucks with me heavy but he only has so much pull.
The decision is up to the owners and they wouldn’t think twice about getting rid of me.
After that night, I fucking spiraled. I wouldn’t listen to anyone and didn’t give a damn about my career.
My team cared enough about me to make sure I didn’t mess it up though.
I was an unstable player who was already in trade conversations.
Being unreliable because of what was going on with my brother would have given them everything they needed to get rid of me.
Raaj handled it. Kept it out of the media and made sure the world didn’t find out.
Only the people closest to me know what really happened.
A few of my teammates, my coach, Van, and Raaj.
Everyone else knows I lost him but not the details.
Raaj and Van made the decision on how to handle things.
I wasn’t in the right headspace but I’m glad they did because I don’t want that to be his legacy and I also would have thrown my career away.
Wouldn’t have fucking cared if they wouldn’t have stepped in. ”
“You care now.”
“Some days are better than others, but yeah, I care.”
“Then I’m glad they made that decision for you.”