31. Georgia
I have no idea where the hell I am, and that’s all thanks to the lovely Cleo Jones. What was supposed to be a quick trip to the bathroom before the senior night opening ceremony has turned into a fifteen-minute jog around the arena in search of Derek’s face on giant photo cards.
The school has pulled out all the stops for tonight's game, getting all types of merch and goodies for each of the graduating players.
Delilah tugs on my hand the moment she sees Derek’s image, pulling me toward the large sign with her father’s face on it. I laugh as the strong four-year-old tugs me with all her might, and then I laugh even harder as she picks up the sign showcasing Derek’s award-winning smile.
“She is determined!” Cleo laughs from behind us. I turn to face her, taking my eyes off of Deli for a second to laugh.
But a second is all it ever takes for something to go wrong.
In an instant, she’s yanked from me, her tiny squeal rings like an alarm bell in my head. My breath lodges in my throat as I catch sight of her wiggling out of someone's grip, fighting to get away from them.
“Get off of me! Mamá!” Her screams are like nails on a chalkboard, and my heart races. It feels like the faster I run toward her and the hooded figure, the further they seem.
The figure halts, looking down at Delilah with a lethal glare and shrieks, “She’s not your fucking mother. I am, you spoiled brat!”
I’m on them in seconds, and I don’t think as my feet propel me forward toward my girl. I snatch her from the hooded figure and instantly feel calmer when she’s in my arms.
Daisy… Rosemary—whatever she wants to be called these days—stands before us, a menacing glare in her eyes, tracking as I push Delilah behind me.
Cleo pushes forward through the crowd, Sienna and Denver flanking her as they stand, creating a box around Delilah.
Rosemary rolls her eyes, looking each one of us over, and as she’s about to speak, I cut her off.
“Cover Delilah’s ears,” I say to no one in particular, taking a step toward the woman. “You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve,” I growl, uncaring of the fact that we’re in public and that this could get real ugly as I pull on Rosemary’s hair, yanking her head to the side.
She grins up at me, her eyes bloodshot as she spits, “You’ll regret—”
“Shut the fuck up,” I cut her off, getting closer to her face as my grip tightens on her hair. “Leave us alone. He’s done, and the two of you are over.”
She rolls her eyes, moving quickly in an attempt to hit me, but I’m faster, blocking her with one swift movement.
Rosemary’s eyes are red with hatred as she pushes away from me, before charging—I’m already ready for her.
We roll to the ground, the other girls yelling for her to get off of me… or more like, yelling for me to kick her ass as I throw the first punch, landing it near her eyes.
“You’ve. Lost. Your. Fucking. Mind!” I scream, pummeling into her as she rolls, moving her body on top of mine.
I’m quick to shift my weight from under her, finding myself back on my feet in an instant. Rosemary’s on her knees, too slow to get up, giving me perfect access to her. Grabbing her hair harder than before, I yank back, grimacing as one of her red extensions falls loose to the ground.
She laughs up at me, blood coating her teeth—I hadn’t even known I’d hit her in the mouth.
She spits the blood to the side and attempts to push me, but I’m like solid steel holding her by her weave.
“I had him first, he’ll come crawling back as soon as he sees the type of whore you—”
Slapping her with my unoccupied hand, I grin down at her, grabbing her cheeks, my Russian manicure digging into her skin.
“Well, bitch, I’ve got him forever…”
Her eyes widen, anger pooling beneath them as she growls at me.
I almost laugh in her face from the pitiful sound as she attempts to push me again, but it's no use. My anger has been pent up and steadily building since she showed her face at dinner a few weeks ago.
“Sienna, take Delilah away from us,” I say, my eyes locked on Rosemary’s furious ones as Sienna walks Delilah away from the exchange and hopefully back to our seats.
A crowd begins to form as I begin pummeling the shit out of this asshole. I don’t care about anything but vengeance for Delilah and Derek as I lay blow after blow to her face.
“Don’t ever put your hands on my kid, ever again!” I yell as I hit her. I’m seeing red. Like a bull locked in on a matador, if Rosemary has tried to hit me, I wouldn’t know, because all of my anger has boiled over.
Just as I feel I’ve had enough, I’m being pulled away from the fray.
Denver’s sweet and spicy perfume engulfs me as she whispers soothing words in my ears.
It's now that I notice the small crowd has grown massively, two officers stand at the edge of the group, and Lidia is right next to them, pursing her red-stained lips.
Fucking great.
I’m about to start yelling again, ready to continue my fight, when Cleo’s voice chimes in, her hands holding me back.
“It’s okay, G. You did what you had to do… Let the cops handle the rest,” she soothes, as she and Denver lead me to the bathroom.
My chest rises and falls rapidly with angry breaths. I’m fucking wired the entire way there, but when I see Delilah crying in Sienna’s arms, I’m snapped back to reality. She instantly perks up the second she sees us and wiggles from Sienna’s hold, eager to be put down.
Taking a deep breath, I brace myself for her tantrum. I was out of line to show such violence in front of her, but I couldn’t help it. Rosemary tried to kidnap her.
She took her from me, and I just… I couldn’t see past my anger.
I close my eyes, bracing myself for Delilah’s resentment, only for it to never come. She wraps herself around my legs, sniffling into them. My heart aches as I lift her up into my arms, holding her close as she cries into my neck.
“That lady was so… scary. She—she picked me up, and I was so scared, Mamá!” she wails.
Letting out a deep breath, I snuggle into her. “I know, baby, I know… You’re okay now.”
Delilah’s so shaken up, and the sight of her like this makes me want to go back out there to finish the job. No child ever deserves to feel like this. She wanted to watch her dad play his game, and now she’s scared out of her mind.
I kiss her forehead, keeping her close, checking myself in the mirror as Cleo and Sienna run their fingers through my hair. Cleo follows up with a brush, fixing the blowout I’d gotten done earlier today.
Denver chuckles from behind me, eying me through the mirror with a proud smile, “We’ve got to stop fighting at these games… It was only three months ago when I punched that girl for Cleo.”
At that, I laugh, thinking back to the eventful past few months we’ve all had.
Sienna grins, squeezing my shoulder. “And you both left those fights untouched.”
“As they should have!” Cleo agrees, snapping her fingers. We laugh and take a quick picture in the bathroom mirror before walking out to commemorate tonight.
Sienna squeezes Delilah’s leg softly. Concern clouds her features as she looks Delilah over. Delilah’s head pops up from my neck, and she gives Sienna a small smile.
“How are you, Deli Belly?”
Delilah gives me a quick look before looking back to Sienna, giving her a small thumbs up. We each coo at her, in an attempt to get her to feel better, just as a throat clears from behind us.
Turning on my heels, I’m ready for anything. Handing Delilah back to Sienna, I prepare myself for another fight, only to come to a stop at the sight of Lidia standing there instead of Rosemary.
“Can we talk?” she asks, her eyes guiltily searching the ground as I narrow my own on her.
Instead of acknowledging her, I turn to Sienna and the girls.
“Take Delilah to the seats, I’ll be there shortly… If you see Derek before the game, do not tell him what happened; he needs to focus.”
The girls nod skeptically, looking between the two of us before carting Delilah away, leaving us alone.
“You’ve got five minutes. I already missed walking him out onto the ice, and I refuse to miss face-off,” I say, turning back to Lidia as she nods, her tail tucked between her legs.
She gestures for me to follow her, and I do, careful to keep a small distance between us as she begins speaking.
“Derek has always been an independent kid, never really needed me to do most things; he got that from his father, you know? Anyway… he’s never done anything wrong.
He got amazing grades, played sports, and cooked all the time because he wanted to,” she says, a fond smile decorating her face as she takes a seat at one of the benches outside of the rink.
Sitting next to her, I give her my undivided attention.
“When his father passed, it was around the same time as when he began to date Rosemary… They became inseparable immediately, and it seemed like he was super happy—he was happy, Georgia… I know he was.” She sighs, rolling her lips in.
“Was he actually happy, or was that what you believed because it made you feel better?” I ask, my voice free of malice as I finally look at her.
Her eyes darken as her shoulders slump; she looks absolutely drained.
“I have no idea… But I know that when he found out about Delilah, he was the happiest guy in the world. He was scared, sure—what seventeen-year-old boy isn’t?
But Derek was excited… he’d vowed to raise his kid with the same love his father had for him times ten.
He never wanted to leave her and vowed to give Delilah an amazing life—only for Rosemary to leave them.
It hurt him so bad, he was absolutely devastated.
” She sighs, giving me a half smile before continuing.
“He’s always been a protector, and what you did today showed me that he has someone who can protect him too.
” Lidia places a hand on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Thank you, Georgia.”
Sucking in a breath of the crisp air, I nod. “Someone’s gotta be there for the two of them… I’m just happy that someone is me.”
She flinches.