Jules #3
Keys jingled in the door before I could respond.
Nia walked through the door with two bags in her hands and that same mug she had been wearing most of the evening.
Not angry, just done. "Finish up, you two," she said, looking at Juelz and Jezel.
"It's almost time for bath and bed." Her voice was calm. They nodded and kept writing.
I watched Nia set the bags on the counter and start pulling folded clothes out.
Khaki pants. Navy blue shirts. Simple. She didn't acknowledge me in the moment. Just moved. And I noticed something while watching her.
She didn't look overwhelmed. She liked somebody who had accepted the situation and started adjusting to it. "You threw all her stuff away?" I asked.
She nodded without looking up. "Yep. She'll live." I nodded once. She wasn't wrong. Kids recover faster than adults when structure get reintroduced.
Julise finally came out of her room then. Her Eyes were puffy. But she wasn't crying anymore. She looked at the bags on the counter. Then looked at her mama.
Nia didn't say nothing. Just slid the clothes toward her.
"Grab these and take them upstairs." Julise grabbed the stack and walked off without attitude or argument, just obedience.
That told me Nia had already said everything that needed to be said earlier.
I watched her disappear up the stairs. Then I looked back at Nia.
"I appreciate you for handling that," I said.
She shrugged slightly. "That's my job." She started rinsing dishes in the sink.
Water running. Plates clinking. Juelz finished his worksheet and pushed it toward me.
"You wanna check it?" he asked. I pulled the paper toward me and looked it over the math problems. I circled one answer.
"You missed that one." He frowned. I showed him how to work it again.
He watched closely and adjusted the numbers.
He got it right the second time. "Good," I said.
He nodded. Moments like that always felt easy to me.
It had Clear outcomes. Parenting ain't always that clean, though.
Sometimes the problems don't show up on worksheets.
Sometimes they show up eight weeks deep in a vodka-filled water bottle at school.
Nia turned the sink off and wiped her hands. "Bath time," she said.
The kids got up and headed upstairs. Their footsteps echoed through the house. I stayed at the table watching the empty chairs. Nia leaned against the counter for a second before heading toward the stairs, too. She stopped halfway up and looked back. "You good?" she asked.
"Yeah." She nodded and continued upstairs.
I found myself downstairs, drinking and taking in the day.
Taking in the different realizations that I had come to about my life and my capabilities as a father.
I continued to sip on the glass of Don I'd poured up.
The kitchen lights were low. Quiet kind of light.
The type that make a house feel different at night than it do during the day.
The house had settled. I leaned against the counter, staring at nothing in particular.
Just thinking. with a head full of quiet facts.
I took another sip. The burn slid down my throat and settled in my chest. I fished my phone out my pocket looking through it.
I had a few texts from Juste about business and Julise.
Business never really paused, Even when life inside the house start shifting.
My phone vibrated again in my hand and I clicked on the message to see what it was.
Three pictures from Jade loaded slow on the screen.
Her laid across her bed in lingerie. Legs bent.
Arch in her back. The camera angle low enough to make sure everything was showing.
Her location attached under the pictures like a damn invitation.
I growled to myself locking my phone feeling my dick get hard.
My body reacted before my mind could. That part pissed me off more than anything.
I grabbed the counter bracing myself against it.
That stupid bitch was on my nuts bad. Ever since that night at the bar she been moving like she knew something about me.
I downed the rest of the liquor in the glass heading up the stairs in search of Nia.
The steps creaked under my weight but the house stayed quiet.
I pushed the bedroom door open. When I walked in the bedroom she was pulling a t-shirt over her naked body covering her panties.
Before she realized I was in the room I moved quick trying to wrap her up in my arms. Her skin was warm when I grabbed her.
The type of warmth that used to settle my mind.
She tugged against me trying to get out my grip. "Move Jules." Her voice was flat. I didn't respond just moved my head kissing down her neck.
"Didn't I say move?" she said pushing me against my chest. I paused for a second looking at her.
"Wassam? why you doing a nigga fucked up like that?" I questioned trying to kiss on her again.
"I'm not in the mood for all that. Your damn kids out of control and all you worried about is some pussy. Let me go." She finally slipped out my grip.
I stood there watching her. Her back turned as she moved toward the dresser. Pulling out clothes. Moving like I wasn't even standing there. I nodded my head before leaving out the room slamming the door. The hallway felt colder when I stepped out.
I walked back down to the kitchen pouring myself another drink watching my phone buzz on the counter with message after message. Jade again. Another picture notification lighting the screen. I didn't open it. I stared at the phone sitting there vibrating against the marble.
That Don hit harder the second time going down.
My body already made the decision, my mind was just trying to catch up.
I threw the drink back and snatched the phone up off the counter grabbing my keys and heading out the door.
The cool night air hit my face when I stepped outside.
Streetlights buzzing faint over the driveway.
I stood there a second longer than I meant to.
Phone still in my hand. Keys tight in my fist.
My thumb hovered over the message. Jade's location still glowing on the screen. Twenty minutes away.
Easy drive.
Easy mistake.
I leaned back against the car staring up at the sky. Clouds moving slow across the moon. I tightened my grip on the phone, jaw locked, chest steady. Because the fucked up part wasn't whether I could go. It was that I wanted to.