21. Makari #3
“I’ll call Janice. She can be here in fifteen minutes and stay with Avi. She told me she’s available twenty-four hours, and again, if you can tell me you don’t need me, then I’ll stay.”
He sighed and nodded. “Call her and see what she says.”
I stepped around him and lifted my phone while he headed to the closet. By the time he was dressed, I had gotten a hold of Janice who said she would pack a bag and come stay with Avi until we got back. I told her just to stay overnight.
Omiri didn’t say much on the drive over but when we pulled up to an office building with Pinnacle PR on the front he laced his fingers through mine and kissed the back of my hand.
“When my father gets drunk he says crazy shit. I don’t know what the hell I’m about to walk into so I apologize now if he says something disrespectful. ”
“You don’t need to apologize for anybody’s actions but your own and this isn’t about you. This is him.”
He nodded without arguing and got out, coming around to my side to open my door.
We walked inside hand and hand. The building was pretty much empty aside from the security guard who acknowledged us with a nod.
We took the elevator to the sixth floor and Vanessa was standing not far from the doorway with a phone pressed to her ear.
She waved us in then addressed whoever she was on the phone with.
“Omiri just got here, let me call you back.” She ended the call and extended her arm to the side. “He’s in the back.”
“How bad did he fuck up this time?” Omiri asked, locking his arms over his chest.
“It’s pretty bad. I was able to get him out of there before things got really complicated but not before there was video. Some of the clips are already circulating.”
“Fuck.” Omiri walked away, heading through a door to the back. I followed him and stopped in the doorway of an office where a man was sitting on the sofa with his face in his hands until Omiri walked in the room.
“Why the fuck are you here?” he mumbled, clearly drunk. When he lifted his head I couldn’t miss the resemblance. He had the same face, build, and eyes as Omiri, even though his were bloodshot. The man was older but still very handsome. “Nobody called the superstar.”
Vanessa moved past me. “Peeks called me but this time after his guys made him leave.”
“The fuck did he do this time?” Omiri glared at his father then cut his eyes to Vanessa.
“Drank too much and got into a fight with a customer. He threw a stool at the guy which hit him and two other customers. Then he went on a rampage, demanding that they call you.”
“My son knows how to handle them muthafuckers,” he mumbled and dropped his face into his hands again.
“When I got there he was belligerent and threatening to call the cops if they didn’t let him back inside. I tried to get him away quietly but…” She glanced at me and Omiri frowned.
“Say what the fuck you gotta say, Van.”
“He started yelling at me. Saying I wasn’t going to cover this up like I covered up what you did to O’Rion.”
Omiri’s body tensed and his eyes shot over to me then moved back to Van when she spoke again.
“Several people recorded it and your father looked at one of the guys and asked him if he knew that you killed your brother.”
The way Omiri’s expression turned to rage had me reaching for him but he moved so quickly I couldn’t get my hands on him fast enough.
He rushed across the room and fisted his father’s shirt, jerking his frame from the sofa with so much force his head snapped back and his feet left the floor.
Omiri handled him like he weighed nothing and his father was a big man.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? You really hate me so much that you want to ruin my life? My daughter and her mother depend on me. I have a muthafucking daughter.”
His father’s body went limp and Omiri was the only thing holding him up. “You don’t have a daughter. You don’t have anybody but me.”
“I don’t even have you. This shit has to stop. The fuck you think this is. You want my money then do dumb shit that could ruin my career.”
“Fuck you, son. Don’t nobody give a shit about you throwing a gotdamn football. Not me, not your mother. The only person who cared is gone and that’s on you.”
“Nah, fuck you.” Omiri shoved him away and his father slumped back on the sofa after landing awkwardly.
“I’m done with this. Y’all want to blame me for something that was out of my control.
You don’t think I know you wanted it to be me and not Rion that night.
I know, trust me, I fucking know and I live with that every day.
I’m done. Do whatever the fuck you want. ”
Omiri stormed out and it took my mind a minute to process and catch up, which gave Van an opportunity to stop me before I could leave too. She grabbed my arm and my eyes shot up to hers.
“Do you care about him?”
“Yes,” I said with no hesitation.
“This is what caring about Omiri looks like. He says he’s done but he’s not. Their relationship is complicated. Very fucking complicated. This is his life, Makari. Can you handle that?” She looked me right in the eyes and I didn’t look away.
“I’m here.”
“You are, but that’s not what I asked. I asked if you can handle this.
Omiri has a lot of demons. Shit, some I don’t even know about and this…
” She pointed at his father. “Is what you can expect if you stay. Omiri has enough on his plate and doesn’t need anyone else adding checks in the problem column.
If you aren’t here to be a solution that means you’ll be a problem.
Also, if you can’t handle this, then please don’t hang around.
Right now things are good but the true test of being solid in someone’s life is not how you hold them down when the good shit happens.
It’s how you hold them up when things get dark.
It’s how you show up for them when things are falling apart and shit isn’t sweet. ”
She still had her hand on my arm so I jerked away, feeling a kind of anger that I wasn’t expecting. Who the hell was she to question me or act like I would bail when things got tough? She didn’t know me so I made myself very fucking clear.
“I’m here because I love him and he loves me. I’m in this because as much as I enjoy when things are sweet, I’m more than capable of handling the hard stuff. I’m a solution, not a complication. So yes, I can handle this.”
Vanessa smiled slowly. “Good, I just wanted to be sure. I’ll take care of this. You be there for Omiri, even if he doesn’t want you to take care of him.”
“I’ve got him.”
“I really hope you do because this is going to be bad. I can already see the headlines. Omiri Hayes’s Father Accuses Him Of Killing His Brother .” She exhaled a sigh and turned to Omiri Sr. “Get your ass up.”
I left the office, and when I made it outside, I found him leaning against the side of his car. His eyes were closed and his head was back. I stepped between his legs, draped my arms around him, and put my head on his chest.
“What do you need?”
His body was stiff for a minute then he wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly.
“I’m so fucking tired of this shit. Every time I have something good in my life, that muthafucker shows up to ruin it. It’s like he doesn’t want me to be happy and maybe I don’t deserve to be...”
My arms tightened around his body. “That’s on him, not you.”
“Nah, it’s on me. It’s my name out there. How do you think this is going to go?”
“Doesn’t matter, we’ll handle it.”
“Nah, you don’t need to be attached to this.”
“I’m attached to you, so it is what it is.”
He snorted. “You need to fucking run, fast and far. This is about to be another shit storm attached to my name.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m in this with you.”
His eyes fastened to mine. “Why?”
“Because I love you and when you love someone you ride it out. You don’t walk when things get complicated.”
He smiled sexily. “You love me, Kari?”
“Yes, but you already know that.”
“Nah I didn’t. I know you love my dick. You worship that muthafucker but I’m always on your shit list.”
“I want to be mad that’s where your mind went but after tonight you get a pass.”
He chuckled, hugged me tighter, then kissed me. “You know what it is and so do I. Now let’s go home. I don’t have shit else to give that man tonight.”
The next morning I woke up to an empty bed. I sighed and grabbed my phone out of habit and cringed when I noticed all of the notifications from Skroll, Trendz, Baller Alert, and other sports media sites. The headlines were terrible.
Sharks NFL Star’s Father Accuses His Son Of Killing His Brother.
Hayes Family Scandal: What Really Happened To O’Rion Hayes
Cover Up? Omiri Hayes’s Father Reveals His Son’s Dark Secrets
Shit…
I went to the Baller Alert post and my heart sank when I started reading the comments
@RevKev: Hayes has enough money to hide the body
@PrettyTee: Got all that money and never fucks with his family. Yeah I can see that. He has secrets and probably stop paying the hush money
@KingKyle: I knew there was some shady shit with his brother. How do you lose your own blood and never even acknowledge it? Hayes is about to lose that 240 million, watch.
The more I swiped, the more my heart hurt. This was much worse than the press I got when they found out I kept Avi from him. These people were cruel, knew nothing about him, but were making all kinds of assumptions.
One of the notifications to Tattle Tales had a video link so I clicked it, assuming it was Omiri’s father from last night.
My eyes went wide when it showed flashing lights on a dark street.
The police had the area blocked off while the coroners moved toward a body with a gurney.
The cops approached and I noticed them arguing with someone then the cops grabbing a man and forcefully dragging him out of the way.
That was when I noticed it was Omiri. They wanted him to leave his brother so the medics could take him but he refused.
It took four officers to contain him. Eventually they got him under control but he broke free and dropped to his knees, covering his head with his arms when they closed the doors to the coroner’s vehicle taking his brother away.
My heart broke and I was wiping tears as I blinked at my screen.
The worst moment of his life had been streamed for likes and comments.
I climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom to get myself together before I was en route to check on Avi.
I stopped just outside her door when I heard Omiri’s voice.
“Hey, pretty girl. I hope you slept good because your old man damn sure didn’t.”
I moved closer and peeked into her room just in time to catch him sitting in the rocking chair with Avi in his arms.
“My life is so fucked up right now. You and your mom are about the only good things I have in my life. I’m exhausted and scared as hell that your mom is going to get tired of my shit and bail. I can’t lose y’all though. I won’t fucking survive.”
You won’t lose us…
I let him have his moment and was on my way to the door when a notification showed up saying someone had just entered the main gate. I checked the access code and headed to the front when I realized it was Vanessa.
I greeted her and Omiri met us in the living room a few minutes later, frowning.
“What’s up, Van? Why you here so early?”
“We need to discuss how you want me to handle this.”
I walked over and took Avi from him. “I’m going to let you guys talk. Can I get you anything?”
“No, I’m good, thank you.” I nodded and headed to the kitchen where I sat Avi in her high chair. I diced a banana for her while I made coffee and listened to them.
“I really don’t give a damn about any of this.” Omiri sounded annoyed.
“I know you don’t but unfortunately you have to. It’s time for training camp and that means this needs to be settled before the season starts. Most of the legitimate news outlets aren’t touching it but it’s still viral.”
“Van, I honestly don’t give a damn.”
“The owners reached out to ask if they should be concerned. You just signed a really big contract.”
Omiri snorted. “They don’t have to worry. Their money is safe.”
“I already confirmed that with them. I spoke with Raaj this morning to deal with the legal aspect of things. I would like you to consider allowing me to put a statement out about what happened. The information out there is vague and can be misinterpreted. We don’t want them creating a negative image of O’Rion. ”
“It’s none of their fucking business.”
“No, it’s not but you either give them the truth or they keep twisting a lie.”
“Do whatever you think. I can’t deal with this shit.”
“I’m working on getting the dashcam videos down…”
My eyes shot over to Omiri and his expression was hard. “The fuck you mean?”
“The dashcam video from that night was leaked. It’s everywhere. You didn’t know?”
She took out her phone, tapped the screen, and handed it to him. He watched for a few seconds with his expression hard before he shoved the phone back at her.
“We’re suing the fuck outta whoever leaked that.”
“It’s public access. I’ll make sure we get it down but once it’s out there…”
It’s out there…
“Yeah, I know.”
“I’m going to move forward with getting a statement released unless you would prefer I don’t.”
“At this point I don’t care. Do whatever you need to.”
Vanessa nodded and glanced at her phone. “I have a few things to work on. I’ll call you later. I have a facility waiting to take your father in. I’ll send you the details.”
“Don’t send me shit.”
She sighed and looked at me with a silent message to take care of him. “Okay, I’m going to head out.”
He nodded. Vanessa let herself out and Omiri walked into the kitchen, kissed Avi on her head, and leaned against the counter next to where I was standing with my coffee mug. I set it on the counter and stepped in front of him and Omiri wrapped his arms around me.
I placed my hands on his face, brought it down to mine, and kissed him. “What can I do?”
“This.” He hugged me tighter. I was what he needed, so I let that be enough.