Chapter 15 Steel
A FEW DAYS AGO
I pulled up to my mama’s house and shut off the car.
Today was the day I was finally telling her about Nayelli. Jaeda and Pops were with me for moral support, while Quaid was watching KJ.
“You just gon’ sit here, or we going in?” Pops asked, smacking my chest.
“I’m going.”
“You scared of yo’ mama?”
I gave him a side-eye. “Hell no.”
“Then get your ass out the car, nigga. Come on.”
He opened his door and got out. Jaeda giggled as she climbed out the back seat.
I took a deep breath and followed behind them.
Jaeda used her key to open the door. As I stepped over the threshold, my mother came around the corner with Emmy in her arms. When baby girl saw us, she fidgeted until Mom put her down.
She bypassed me and Jaeda and ran straight to my father.
“Tanly!”
She couldn’t say Stanley, so she called him Tanly. It was crazy that my mom and stepfather made him her godfather. Emmy loved this damn man.
“Hey, baby girl,” he said, kissing her cheeks. “How is my favorite girl?”
She started talking to him in that baby talk, and he acted like he knew exactly what she was saying.
“What’s this?” my mama asked, walking over to us.
“Dang, Mama,” I jested. “Your kids and baby daddy can’t come see you?”
“Boy, shut up.” She pulled me in for a hug and kissed my cheek before doing the same with Jaeda.
Pops grinned as he looked at her. “Where my hug at, Tay?”
“Stanley, don’t start your shit. What are you three up to?” Her eyes widened. “Did something happen? Hershel!”
She didn’t give me a chance to ease her mind before she was calling that man. He came rushing downstairs with Kalia and Jaiden behind him.
“What’s wrong?” He glanced over at the three of us. “Did something happen?”
“No, man,” I said. “I mean, kinda. Y’all just sit down. I have something to share with you.”
They all looked at each other before slowly going into the living room and taking a seat. Pops and Jaeda stood behind the couch while I stood in front of the fireplace. They looked at me with curious eyes. Pops nodded his head, encouraging me to just spill it.
“Okay, so there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just gonna lay it right out. I uh . . . I have and ten-year-old daughter.”
There was silence in the room. It was so quiet that you could have heard a rat pissing on a cotton ball.
I continued. “Her name is—”
“You have a daughter!” my mother yelled, jumping to her feet.
“Ma—”
“Kerrion, I know like hell you aren’t out here with a secret baby!”
“Mama—”
“Explain!”
Pops shook his head. “Tavia, sit down and let the boy talk. You doing all this yelling and not letting him explain. He’s gonna tell you everything.”
Her head snapped in his direction. “You knew?”
“He told me.”
“And you didn’t say anything!”
Hershel guided my mother into his lap and wrapped his arms around her.
“My love. Let him explain. Just calm down.”
“Hershel—”
“Calm. Down.”
He never raised his voice at her, yet she calmed down and relaxed before motioning for me to continue.
“Her name is Nayelli Malone.”
Jaiden’s eyes widened. “She’s in my class!”
“She is.”
“Is that why you told us we had to protect her?”
“It is. She’s your niece. Y’all might be the same age, but just like your aunts and uncles protect me, you protect her.”
He grinned. “I’m an uncle.”
Kalia rolled her eyes. “You were already an uncle, doofus.”
“Yeah, but KJ is a baby.”
“When did you find out about this child, Kerrion?” my mother asked.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Over a month ago . . . closer to two.”
“Two months!”
She tried to get up again, but Hershel held her back.
“I know, Ma. I should have been said something, but I just . . . I needed to keep her to myself for a little bit. I lost so much time with her. I know y’all lost time too, but it’s different for me. That’s my seed. I needed my time with her first.”
“It’s okay, son,” Hershel said.
My mother glared at him. “No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is. You gotta understand where he’s coming from, love. That’s his firstborn, and he missed the first part of her life. I can understand him wanting to be selfish with her.”
My mother huffed. “I need you to start from the beginning.”
“I can do that.”
I told them everything from the very beginning, ending with showing them pictures of Nayelli. Even though my mama was already in love with her newfound granddaughter, she wanted Neha’s head.
“So why did she keep her a secret?” she asked. “You know what? It doesn’t even matter. Bring her over here. I’ll ask her myself.”
Kalia giggled. “Mommy! I’ve never seen you this buck before.”
Pops snorted. “Your mama used to get down with the ratchets.”
Mom glared at him. “Shut up, Stanley. I’m legit upset right now. Nobody messes with my baby, even if he is pushing thirty. That’s my son, and I don’t play about any of my kids.”
“All five of them,” Pops added with a grin.
This was the reason I brought him. Pops could make light of most any situation and had the nerve to wonder where Maceo got that shit from. My mother was trying hard not to laugh.
“I’m about to put you out,” she threatened him. “Keep talking.” She turned to me. “Bring me my granddaughter and her mama.”
“We could have a playdate!” Jaiden suggested.
I chuckled. “Jaiden, when did you become a schemer?”
He grinned. “I don’t know how long I can keep this a secret, KD. I wanna tell her so bad!”
“That’s why I didn’t tell you before. I’ve told her about all of you, but I intentionally didn’t show her pictures.”
Kalia crossed her arms. “Well, I don’t think it’s fair that Jaeda got to meet her first.”
Jaeda mushed her head. “Don’t be salty. Besides . . .” She stood and came around to stand in front of everyone before lifting her shirt, showing off her small baby bump. “You’ll soon have two new additions to love on.”
Everybody yelled and jumped to their feet to crowd her and shower her with love.
I was happy to have the heat off me for a little bit. The hard part in telling everyone was mostly over. Now for the introductions.
Present Day
We stepped out onto the back deck, and I led Neha out to the tree swing.
My mom told me she was coming over today when I came to pick Kalia up.
Jaiden’s idea of a playdate was perfect.
His little ass was itching to tell Nayelli who he was.
I was glad I’d put my mother up on game because if I’d ambushed her, she might have lost her shit on Neha.
If she knew beforehand, she could conduct herself.
“This is nice,” Neha commented as we took a seat.
“Mom loves the outdoors. She’d spend all her money on this place if she could.”
I took a seat in the swing opposite from her. It didn’t surprise me that she refused to look at me. This conversation was long overdue, and I hated to admit that I was finally ready to know the truth.
“Neha.”
“Hmm?”
“Can you look at me, please?” She slowly turned to face me. “Why did you leave like that?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“You, Kerrion.”
“You knew I would never hurt you. In all the time we were together, did I ever yell at you? Did I ever raise a hand to you or make you feel unsafe?”
“No.”
“So why would I start? I loved you. I would have done anything to protect you back then. What the hell would make you think I’d ever put my hands on you?”
“You triggered me, Kerrion.”
My brows furrowed. “Triggered you?”
She sighed heavily before telling me the story of her parents and how her father used to beat them.
I was confused because I was under the impression that the man she called daddy was a good man.
Then she explained that he was her stepfather, and her biological father was in prison for the aggravated assault and attempted murder that left her mother hospitalized.
The more she spoke, the more the tears fell from her eyes.
The more they fell, the angrier I became, but I kept it together.
“I wish you would have told me that back then,” I stated softly.
She shook her head. “I didn’t want to relive those moments. That man doesn’t exist to me, Kerrion. As far as I’m concerned, Evan Malone is my father. I took his last name. If I ever get married, that’s who will give me away. That’s who my children will call grandpa. Timothy Oden is dead to me.”
She said that with every ounce of conviction.
That was good for me because as she spoke, I was already plotting on how to take that nigga out on the inside. Her slipping up and giving me his last name was all I needed to get Jaeda or Quaid on the case.
“I used to dream about him,” she said quietly after a beat of silence.
“I used to be so scared to walk around after he was arrested. Part of me felt like he would get out and come back to finish the job. What if he broke in and killed my mother? What if me or my sister had walked in and found her dead? What if he caught me alone? I couldn’t fight him off or defend myself. Who was going to protect me from him?”
She sniffled and wiped her eyes. After taking a few deep breaths, she continued.
“I avoided you back then because I was afraid that no matter how much you said you loved me, you could turn into the person I feared the most.”
“I’m sorry what I did triggered that memory for you, Neha. I just . . . The thought of that nigga hurting you . . . it sent me to another place. I held you in the same regards as my family. I’d protect them at all costs, and you were no different. You were mine, and I’d die about mine.”
She finally looked over at me. “Your mom. She said something to me earlier. She said you needed to explain to me who you are and what you do. Basically, it would help me understand why you did what you did. What does that mean?”
Fuck!
Tavia put her damn foot in her mouth. I was hoping to avoid this conversation for a little while longer, but I guess not. I finally gave her the chance to be honest, and I needed to do the same. This shit might just do more harm than good.
“There’s something you should know,” I said, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees.