Chapter 24
“Do you want to make cookies or brownies?” I asked Symphonee as we made our way through the grocery store.
“Brownies!” my Noodle doodle screamed with excitement. I laughed at the goofy look she was making. My little girl was a mini version of me in every way—a tiny diva in the making.
I was in the mood to cook a nice dinner, and I decided we could make some content at the same time. I’d been trying to be more intentional about my content and posting more often.
“Okay. We’ve got the salmon, potatoes, milk, and now we need a vegetable. What do you think? Should we make broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or asparagus?”
“Asmaragas. Bruchel spouts are yucky.” Symphonee turned her face up, causing me to giggle. She loved most vegetables, but there were some that were one and done for her.
“Alright. I’ve got your cereal and my oatmeal.
I got the butter, lemons, and garlic.” I stood in the middle of an aisle, reading through a list I made on my phone.
I was the type to go into the store with no direction or plan, only to end up spending four hundred dollars and still not have a clue what to cook for dinner.
Once I got to the produce section, I scanned the shelves to check for asparagus. I realized that it was further down the section, but there were a bunch of people over there.
Instead of trying to squeeze my cart between all those people, I decided to park the cart by the fruit and run and grab the asparagus. I said excuse me to a couple of ladies who were debating the dangers of Iceberg and Romaine lettuce. They gave me the side-eye but reluctantly moved out of the way.
When I bent down to grab two bushels of asparagus, my stomach twisted when I heard my baby screaming. Symphonee wasn’t the type to throw tantrums or get loud when we were in public, so I knew her cries were of distress.
The moment I lifted my head to see what was going on, my heart almost leaped out of my chest. When I saw Nathan holding my daughter, I damn near pissed on myself.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Put my daughter down!” I hissed.
“She isn’t just your child, but I guess you’ve been so busy shacking up with that hoodlum that you forgot.” He sneered.
“I haven’t forgotten anything. You begged me to stay away from you to preserve your marriage and protect your other kids from the truth. Truthfully, I didn’t want you anywhere near my child, you sick bastard. If anyone has ruined someone’s life, it’s you.”
I couldn’t believe he was standing in front of me trying to act like we were some kind of dysfunctional co-parents or something.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night. You and that boy can pretend all you want, but she’s mine!
” Nathan yelled and took off running. Without a second thought, I dropped the asparagus and chased after him, screaming and hollering for someone to help me.
The store was packed, yet no one moved a muscle to intervene as he headed toward the exit.
My adrenaline kicked in, and I knew if I didn’t catch him, there was a chance I would never see my child again.
The world was a crazy and dangerous place, and I wasn’t about to rely on the police to try to find my child.
Once we both made it out of the exit, I kicked it into gear, racing as if my life depended on it.
When I got close enough, I yanked his shirt, halting him in his tracks.
The nerve of him to try to take my baby when he wanted nothing to do with her.
“Are you fucking crazy!” I screamed, attempting to remove a crying Symphonee from his arms. I almost had her, but Nathan caught me off guard when he kicked me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me.
I dropped to the ground, kneeling in pain as I screamed for help once again.
In that moment, I mustered up every ounce of strength in my body to get back up and go after him.
My vision was blinded by tears, but I was determined. For a moment, I thought he was going to get away, but then I heard the sound of another voice in the distance. A tall man grabbed Nathan from behind and pushed him against a nearby car.
My heart was overwhelmed with emotions as I limped my way over to them. If I had a gun, I would have shot Nathan right where he stood for even thinking he could play with me.
“Do you want me to call the police?” the stranger asked as Noodle leaped into my arms. He kept Nathan in his grasp while I tried to get my thoughts together.
After what happened to my brother, I no longer trusted police to do their jobs, and I knew East would more than likely want to handle things on his own once I told him what happened.
The thought of what he was capable of stressed me out.
“I’m gonna call her father first and then discuss it with him. This man isn’t exactly a stranger,” I explained without giving him too much information. After all, I didn’t know him from a can of paint.
“Bitch, you’ve got a lot of nerve claiming that young hoodlum as the father when we both know whose sperm produced that little girl. She looks like some of my other kids, and we both know that tight little pussy wasn’t fuckin’ on anyone but me.”
His words made me sick to my stomach, and Noodle was his only saving grace for me not jumping on his ass.
“What we did was not fucking. It was rape, and my daughter doesn’t belong to your dirty ass. DNA doesn’t mean shit to me. I said it right the first time,” I spat.
“You’ve got me fucked up. You and your clan of thugs. If you didn’t want me to have access to my child, you should have got an abortion, but you’ve got a lot of nerve giving birth to my child and not informing me.”
The more Nathan talked, the more I saw how delusional he was. The man acted as if we were in some type of relationship, and I betrayed him. I stood there, looking at him as if he had two heads.
“You are a nut case. I don’t owe you a fucking thing. At the end of the day, I was assaulted. Whatever decisions I chose to make after the fact were my business and my business only. You’re lucky that you aren’t rotting in a prison cell because it’s where you belong, you fucking pervert.”
“I see you want to sit here and play victim, but you and I both know the truth. There was a reason you never told your aunt about what happened until Shay blew up the spot, and it’s because you wanted it just as much as I did.
The only reason you decided to cry rape was to save face and keep a roof over your head. ”
“The words of a true psychopath. I was sixteen, you sick bitch! I wasn’t even old enough to consent to anything, and you took advantage of my situation.
I’m not even going to sit here and debate with you.
I’m about to call her daddy, and if I were you, I would leave because if you’re still here when he comes, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen to you. Stay the fuck away from us.”
“I don’t care about your threats. I have just as many rights to her as you do, and if you want to push the issue, I have no problem reaching out to the proper channels to get full custody of her.
It’s clear that you are unfit, and I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard for me to convince a judge that my wife and I are a better fit to raise that little bastard,” Nathan threatened.
“Bitch!” I wanted to lunge at him, but my child was already crying and upset.
“Aye, mothafucka. I don’t know what the fuck you have going on, but it’s time for you to leave.
She might not want to call the cops, but I have no problem calling the authorities, and you and I both know they’re gonna lock your disgusting ass up.
No judge in their right mind would ever give someone like you custody.
Now get the fuck out of here. I’ve got my gun locked and loaded, and I don’t mind taking the risk, you sick bitch!
” The stranger punched him, then pushed him down on the ground.
My head was spinning as I stood back, attempting to calm myself down.
I hadn’t laid eyes on Nathan in so long, I must have convinced myself he no longer existed.
At least in my world, he didn’t. He got up from the ground and made his way to his car, but I didn’t fully breathe until he made his way out of the parking lot and his car peeled off into the distance.
“Are you okay? I guess that’s a dumb question, but I don’t know the right thing to say in a situation like this.”
His voice reminded me that I wasn’t alone. I glanced up to look at the man who rescued my baby and was slightly taken aback. I stared into his deep, ocean-blue eyes, trying to figure out if I knew him from somewhere.
“Umm, I don’t know. Thank you so much for what you did. It all happened so fast, and I thought for a split second he was gonna get away,” I replied, still trying to catch my breath.
“Show me where you’re parked.”
I nodded and led him to my truck. It wasn’t until I got there that I realized I’d abandoned all of my things in the store.
When we made it to my vehicle, I tried to get my thoughts in order because I knew I would have to tell East what happened.
Normally, I would have called my brother, but I still hadn’t even told him the identity of Noodle’s father.
Keynauri had been pressing me about it since he got home, but I avoided the topic at all costs.
Some may think it was immature of me, but I wasn’t ready to deal with the fallout.
The last time I called my brother when someone was hurting me, he ended up in prison.
There was no doubt in my mind that he would try to hurt Nathan, or worse.
My mind couldn’t even fathom the thought of my brother getting into trouble again for trying to defend me.
I hadn’t even recovered from the last time.
“What do you need from me? I know your mind is all over the place, but I don’t think you should let this go. The grocery store has camera footage. You can easily get charges pressed against him and send him to prison,” the man advised with genuine concern in his eyes.