Through the Fire

Chapter 1

I t ached to lift my arm and insert my key in my front door after pulling a double shift at station eighty-eight. There were an unusual number of calls last night. Some were false alarms while others required suiting up and fighting raging beasts that tried to burn everything their fiery flames could touch. I yawned as the fatigue I was feeling started to press down on me. I wasn’t even in the mood for food. All I wanted to do was shower then slip into a coma in my own bed until I was forced to get up and do it all over again.

Once I found the strength to push my way inside, I flipped on the light right by the door to hang up my keys. My heavy-duty work boots came off next after I took a seat on the rickety wooden bench I kept by the doorway. I loved my job, but the work was exhausting when shit got real. It was no simple task fighting a living, breathing beast. People saw fire as an element when it was so much more. Every day, I walked away with my life was a blessing.

I stood up ready to head to my bedroom when my phone vibrating in my pocket caught my attention. I snatched it out to find the email for Shy Shy’s iPad floating across the screen. My eyes shot to the time. It was 2:00 a.m. There was no way my baby was still up. I answered the FaceTime call, expecting her big mouth ass mama to appear ready to be on some bullshit, but my baby girl’s face appeared on the screen.

Her hair was all over her head in need of some attention, but she was at least in her pajamas. From what I could tell, she was in her bedroom at her mother’s. My body tensed when I saw the tears sliding down her plump cheeks. I winched as my heart clinched seeing my little angel emotionally worked up.

“What’s wrong, Smiley?” In an instant, all my fatigue drained from my body, and I was renewed with energy.

“I can’t sleep. It hurts.” She whimpered after her confession.

“What is it? What hurts?”

She turned the camera to her arms where I could see her skin peeling. It looked like she was scratching so hard she was drawing blood.

I hated seeing her in pain. Eczema had been kicking our ass over the last few years. So far, nothing was working, and she’d been to see the best doctors my money could afford her. Yet, my baby was still suffering. It ripped me apart knowing I couldn’t help her. If it was possible to shoulder her burden, I’d willingly carry it. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for my daughter.

“Where’s mommy?” I asked.

Kianni knew to keep an eye on her skin to ensure it didn’t get worse. She’d obviously been neglecting her responsibilities.

“Mommy left.”

All the blood drained from my face. I froze, thinking there was no way she said what I thought she did. What the fuck did she mean Kianni was gone? I didn’t ask any more questions, even though I had plenty of them. Quickly, I slid my feet into a pair of white block walkers I had by the door. I snatched my keys from the key ring, locked the door, and raced to my black Dodge Ram.

“I’m on the way, baby. Stay on the phone,” I told her.

When she responded, her voice was so small I pressed my foot on the gas, speeding to the other side of town without a care for laws or the muthafuckas who enforced them. So many thoughts raced through my mind while I drove. Could my baby be right, and her mother left her home alone? I shook my head and ran a hand down my face. Wasn’t no fucking way in hell Kianni would leave our four-year-old home alone.

My jaw tightened at the truth of who I was dealing with. Kianni was a trifling pain in my fucking neck. She’d definitely do that shit if it served her small-minded purpose. I was so thankful for the beautiful daughter she birthed for me, but that bitch wasn’t worth a damn. She made my life a living hell just by breathing through her big ass gap. Crazy enough, it used to be one of my favorite features of hers, but nowadays, I hated to see that fucking gap coming because it meant her mouth was open. Anytime her mouth was open, nothing good followed.

I made it to Chandler Apartments in record time. I didn’t remember putting the truck in park or anything as I marched toward Kianni’s second-floor apartment.

“Smiley, come open the door for daddy.”

“Okay,” she replied sadly.

I could tell she was miserable. She was probably as exhausted as me and couldn’t get any rest with her skin irritating her. When she got to her bedroom door and opened it, I heard loud music. There was also a deep rumble of voices.

“Go back in the room, baby,” I told her quickly.

I pressed my ear to the door and realized she wasn’t alone. Someone was in the living room. Lifting my fist, I banged on the door like the police. I prepared myself for anything once this door came open by sliding my phone inside my pocket then taking a step back.

The door swung open seconds later. A nigga I’d never seen a day in my life stood there.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked while looking me up and down.

My jaw ticked as I did my best to contain my anger. I thought of my baby being inside with a man I didn’t know, and it made my blood boil. I was going to be polite about everything, but at the last second, I said fuck all that. I just wanted my baby. I was way bigger than the nigga at the door and treated him as such. He slammed into the door as I pushed my way inside.

I walked straight into a cloud of smoke. I fanned it from my face with a frown. Two other grown ass niggas sat on the couch playing Madden until I burst in. Shock was written across their faces because of how I handled their friend, but I didn’t give a fuck. This shit was sick. I didn’t know these fucking niggas, and Kianni had the audacity to leave my baby up in here with them.

I didn’t mumble a word, marching straight to my baby’s bedroom. She sat on her bed scratching when I walked inside. Although I was still pissed the fuck off, it went to the backburner. Concern for my baby took precedence. I rushed over to her, checking her over to be sure she was okay. Apart from her raw skin, she was good.

“Come put on your coat, Smiley. You’re coming to daddy’s house.”

She allowed me to help her get in her jacket and zip her up. I slipped her feet into her Bluey slippers then scooped her up. I had everything she would need at my place, so I didn’t waste another minute in the messy room. When we got into the living room, Kianni appeared in the doorway.

“Stop. You’re not taking my baby!” she yelled rushing toward me.

Because I had long arms, I kept her at a distance. Shy Shy squeezed my body tighter and tucked her face in between my shoulder and neck. She knew she’d be in trouble if Kianni found out she called me. She didn’t have to worry, though. The only way I was leaving her in this apartment was if I left in a body bag, and that wasn’t happening.

“I’m not in the mood for this shit, Ki. Get the fuck out my way. She’s coming with me.”

She shook her head. “No, she’s not. I just went to run an errand.”

I mugged her, peeping the smeared red lipstick on her cheeks. Not to mention, she had a slight stumble every time she moved like she was hardly in control of her body. Her eyes were dilated, and she had a hard time focusing. I shook my head. She thought I was stupid. I’d bet my left kidney that her errand involved dick, and she was on her knees sucking it. She disgusted me, and I knew it showed on my face.

“That’s my baby. You can’t just take her.”

“I can do whatever the fuck I want when she’s not being properly cared for. Now, move before you turn me up, and we both know it’ll be bad for everybody in here if I get like that.”

She screamed, pulling her hair. “You get on my fucking nerves. She don’t need saving, I take care of my baby just fine.”

My head jerked back. “Is that why she’s up in the middle of the night, scratching herself until she’s bleeding instead of sleeping?”

Kianni rolled her eyes and propped her hand on her hip. “We both know she got sensitive skin, and nothing works. I went to try finding something to help her.”

I sucked my teeth. “Man, watch out. You swear I was born yesterday.”

I pushed past her despite her beating on my back.

“If you make me drop my baby, I’m putting my foot through that fucking gap. You’re really testing my patience right now. I just worked a double shift, and I don’t have time for this bullshit.” I turned, looking down my nose at her. “Go finish sucking whatever dick paid for that mouth tonight, and don’t worry about my daughter. I got her.”

Kianni called me every name in the book for disrespecting her, but I couldn’t care less. There was nothing that woman could say or do to hurt me. She knew she was wrong for this and was embarrassed that I knew her neglect had no limits. She threatened me with child support while following me to my truck. I used my keys to auto start it before we got there.

I buckled Shy Shy in unphased by the bullshit. Once I made sure she was secure, I placed a kiss on her cheek to comfort her. Cupping her chin I made her a promise.

“It’s going to be okay. Daddy is going to figure out how to help you.”

I kissed her forehead then stepped back, closing her inside. Kianni chased me around the front of my truck showing her damn ass. When she started putting her hands on me again, I snatched her up by the front of her shirt and pushed her into my truck.

“Chill. The. Fuck. Out.” My words were so cold they would cut into flesh. “I don’t give a fuck ’bout nothing coming out of your mouth because we both know you’re not going to do shit. I give you way more than needed to provide for my daughter. But since you can’t take care of her the way she needs, then I’m not giving you shit else. She’s moving in with me.”

Her eyes widened as my words hit her like a ton of bricks. I smirked.

“Yeah, no more shopping sprees, seafood boils, and bottles of Don Julio on me. You know what to do for that cash though.”

I released her with a jerk. She eyed me with a dirty look. I ignored it. I was ready to get far away from her toxic energy. Kianni knew how to bring out the worst version of me. Whenever she went low, I went lower. I learned a long time ago how I had to deal with her. Wasn’t shit about this girl soft. She was a fucking Pitbull in a skirt.

“It’s cool. I’ma send my brother to beat your ass and get what you owe me.”

I chortled, opening the driver’s door. Pulling myself inside, I hung out the door and said, “Albert not going to do shit but die if he scarfs down another Big Mac. Stop fucking playin’ with me before you be up under this bitch.”

I revved the engine for emphasis. I grinned when she went running to the sidewalk. Kianni was all mouth, but I was a man of my word. She knew how far to go with me and what buttons not to press. Tonight was one of those nights I was ready to blow up the world for my Smiley.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, I looked at my baby. She silently watched me with big, innocent, hazel eyes like mine. She deserved better than the toxic relationship she was born into. Despite it, I did my best to be someone she could trust and believe in. I was far from perfect, and my mouth could get a little reckless, but I was going to step for my baby every time. I’d lay down my life and a nigga about her, even her ghetto ass, selfish mother if it came down to it.