Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
Diamond.
“He says he’ll be here in five minutes.” I looked up from my phone to let Makhai and Denise, the social worker I’d been working with, know.
We were having our first visit with Keona’s dad. It had been a long few weeks going through the process. Makhai insisted on letting his people look into him first then when he checked out to his standards, I called the social worker to let her know that he’d come by my place.
They began their procedure right away and he checked out for them too.
He passed his background check with no criminal history and no instability, and the DNA test came back positive.
He did have a history of drug abuse, which explained the track marks that I’d seen, but he’d turned himself around.
He’d been clean for nine months, was in therapy, and was currently enrolled in some courses.
He actually had a job at a local restaurant where he’d met my sister in their back alley.
The same one that I’d seen him in. Apparently, he’d been feeding her and trying to help her get clean, which was how he ended up sleeping with her.
He admitted to having done drugs with her, but that was before she got pregnant with Keona.
He said she came to him at the restaurant asking him to come see me and demand the baby back, as well as money since I was dating a rich man, but he had no interest in that.
He said he went along with her plan so he could get my information from her just to come and see about the baby.
I felt even worse after learning all of that.
He was so nice to me, and I’d given the poor man my whole ass to kiss.
“Aight but come sit down,” Makhai patted the space beside him. “Your pacing is tearing my fucking nerves up.”
Chuckling, I walked over and took a seat next to him. He was holding the baby who was busy trying to get his chains in her mouth. She’d grown so much and became so busy. Everything that she saw and could get in her little hands, she was trying to put in her mouth.
“You good?” Makhai asked and I nodded.
“Just nervous.”
“Being nervous is normal,” Denise chimed in with a smile. “But everything will be okay. Today’s visit will be a quick one, only about thirty minutes, and you don’t have to worry about him being alone with you or her,” she assured me.
“I’m fine,” I let her know. “I don’t want to keep her away from him if he’s serious about wanting to be active in her life. I just don’t want her hurt or confused. I know she’s just a baby right now, but still…”
“She can still be confused, so that is very understandable. Starting today, we monitor his consistency. If he misses any visits, shows any unsettling behavior, or if you ever feel uneasy, we stop immediately and reassess.”
“You ain’t got to worry about any of y’all feeling uneasy,” Makhai chimed in. “Lord gon’ get his issue real quick in here if any of y’all look uncomfortable to me.”
I rubbed his leg and smiled. “It’s going to be okay. He seemed harmless.”
“All of them animals at that park seemed harmless to me, but I’m still thinking about going to see about Kujo and his crew.”
I laughed and hit his chest softly. “Please, leave those people and their animals alone.”
We filled the remainder of our wait with idle chit chat until there was a soft knock on the door. I glanced at Makhai who nodded for me to go answer. Slowly, I stood and made my way to the door. I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants before gently pulling it open.
Lance was there with a soft smile on his face.
He looked a little more put together this time in his polo shirt that was tucked inside his slacks and dress shoes.
I got a better look at his face this time and noticed how much my niece actually looked like him now.
She had the same round head and small nose that he had as well as his deep mahogany skin tone.
I stepped back and pulled the door open wider so he could come inside. I closed the door behind him and told him that he was free to have a seat. He smiled and nodded walking over to the love seat. When I took my seat again, Denise took over.
“Lance, as you know, I’m Denise, over the case for baby Keona. This is the little one of the hour, Keona, her aunt, Diamond, and her boyfriend—”
“Baby Lord’s uncle,” Makhai intervened, “and protector, Loco,” he smirked. “What’s up with ya.”
I elbowed Makhai discreetly because I’d told him not to try and intimidate the man. Denise tittered then continued.
“Guys, this is Lance Dogan.”
“Very nice to meet you all.” He gave us a genuine smile and nod.
“Diamond, if you’re comfortable with it, you can take the baby over.”
I looked from Denise to Makhai, then to Keona. Makhai leaned over to kiss the top of my head then handed me the baby. She fussed a little because she no longer had possession of Makhai’s chain, but her frown quickly turned around when she noticed me smiling at her.
I got up and slowly walked her over to Lance. Like me earlier, he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants legs before he took her from me. His eyes lit up at the sight of her and I watched as tears gathered at the rim.
“She’s beautiful,” he whispered, running one of his hands through her curly hair, “and she has a head full of hair.”
I smiled at the pair before going back over and taking a seat next to my man who wrapped his arm around my shoulder, bringing me in closer and kissing the side of my face.
Denise jotted down a few notes before saying, “You can talk to her if you want to. She’s very responsive to voices.”
Lance nodded, wiping the tears that had escaped and gathered himself.
“Hey there, baby girl. I’m your dad,” his voice cracked some, tugging at my heartstrings. “I-I didn’t think I’d ever get to say that.”
Even though I couldn’t see her whole face from where I was sitting, I saw Keona’s fat jaws lift letting me know that she was smiling as she tried to grab Lance’s nose.
“She looks just like her mother,” he noted.
“I thought so too until I saw you,” I replied. “She’s actually a perfect mixture of you both.”
He lifted his eyes to me for the first time since getting the baby. “I know it’s messed up that I haven’t been here from the beginning, but I swear if I knew, I would have. I really had no idea. Gwen had stopped coming to the restaurant for months.”
I nodded, swiping away my tears—not because I was sad, but because I was happy for my niece. She needed a parent there to care for her. Lance wasn’t one hundred percent in the clear for me, but just from seeing him with Keona and hearing the sincerity in his voice, I could tell that he was genuine.
“Well, now that you know, these visits will help build consistency and a bond with her,” Denise replied.
“Right,” Lance nodded just as Keona started to fuss a little.
Instinctively, I leaned forward as if I was going to get up, but Makhai held onto me.
I looked up at him and he mouthed for me to chill then nodded toward Lance who was holding her close and rocking her small body.
“It’s okay,” he cooed. “I got you. You’re okay. ”
Keona settled instantly, laying her head on his shoulder. He smiled down at her while I smiled at them both.
“I-I want to be someone she knows,” he stammered some, then looked between the three of us, “someone she can count on to be there and protect her too.” His eyes were on Makhai’s when he said the last part.
I nodded. “Just keep showing up.”
“I will,” he affirmed.
I allowed him to feed Keona when she started to fuss again. She ended up falling asleep in his arms after she ate, so I took her and went to put her in her bed. Lance was up, gathering his things when I returned.
He and Denise were talking for a second before he turned to me.
“Thank you for allowing me to come today, Diamond.”
“Thank you for coming,” I replied.
“I know this is only the beginning, and you don’t know me, but trust me when I say, it’s the beginning of something beautiful and something permanent. My word may not count for much, but I really do appreciate you for taking Keona in. She’s beautiful, happy, healthy, and loved.”
“I’d do it a thousand times over,” I smiled, then it faded. I’d gotten a thought, so I asked, “Have you spoken to Gwen?”
“Not since the day I left here,” he sadly replied. “She wasn’t happy about me telling her I wasn’t going to be a part of her plot to get money or the fact that I wanted to be a part of Keona’s life. She told me that I’d never see her again.”
I felt bad for him because he genuinely looked hurt with the admission.
I understood his hurt because it was the same pain I felt every time she threatened me with that.
I’d learned over the years that it was just talk until she wanted to come around and ask me for money again.
I was her sister though, so I knew that I’d see her.
I’d never seen her be romantic with a man before, and I didn’t know how she felt about him, so she could have been serious and never went back there to see him again.
“Oh, okay,” I replied softly. “I guess we’ll see you next time.”
He nodded then extended a hand to me, then to Makhai before leaving.
Denise was leaving too. She let me know she’d reach out to me to schedule the next visit.
I thanked her before closing the door behind them then facing Makhai.
He’d already gone back to the couch and was now scrolling on his phone, so I went over to sit next to him.
“That went good, right?”
He glanced at me and smiled before putting his phone away then pulling me over into his lap. “Shit was straight. You okay?”
I nodded and smiled. “I was nervous for nothing.”
“Naw, you was nervous for good reason,” he countered. “You ain’t know Lord, and you still don’t, but he seemed to be aight today. Long as he keep it up and stay on a straight path, shit will be straight.”
“I need to go look for my sister,” I said and his brows furrowed.
“For what?”