Chapter 24
RESPONSIBLE
Dexz sat on his couch in his condo in deep thought. The last three days had been hard as he waited for the DNA test. He had been up all morning waiting for the delivery man to ring his bell. Ever since he had left Kayla’s room, she had been sending him crazy text messages.
Kayla: You did this to your son! It was your drugs I was taking. If you didn’t put your hands on Trigga for that whore Pretti Ugly, you would’ve been out to be with your son!
He sighed as he watched her next message come in.
Kayla: I hate you for loving her more than me.
I hate you for everything. Your young ass ruined my life, exposing me to drugs!
I’m going to shoot up all the drugs I got from your hood and just die!
You see me crying for help, so answer me!
I’m going to kill myself with your baby watching!
I hope he resents you for making his mother go over the edge!
He tossed his phone on his coffee table, grabbed his lighter and blunt, and lit it while he walked to the bathroom to shower.
“This bitch is sick. I hope he is my son because he deserves better,” he thought in the mirror as he hit his blunt.
He had been home for three days, trying to get his thoughts together about being a single dad.
He knew he would eventually have kids, but he seriously wasn't ready. He was in the streets heavy, and there was no way he could run around with a child, especially one with special needs. He had seen his homeboys with their kids while still running the streets, but he knew it wasn’t safe.
That's when he realized he had to get out of the game faster than he thought because if Ethan was his, he had no choice but to grow up.
“I’m going to have to put my plan in motion ASAP.” He stepped into the shower.
After a nice thirty-minute shower, he stepped out. He dressed in something casual and then went back to his living room to wait.
Ding Dong…
He finally heard the bell ring. He opened the door, and the mail lady handed him a manila envelope and walked off. He made his way back into his living room, but this time he stood. He ripped the envelope, and what he already knew came to light.
“99.99999%,” he spoke just above a whisper as he gazed at the paper.
He snapped out of it and grabbed his keys, coat, and results. Without calling, he raced right over to Kayla’s room in the snow. He was ready to remove his son from her care so she could go live her life as a drug addict.
Dexz pulled in front of the building and went straight to her door. He knocked for at least three minutes, but he didn't get an answer. He walked down to the lobby to the receptionist.
“Aye, you seen ol’ girl and her son that been staying in room 106?” he asked anxiously.
“No, I haven’t seen her, but I’ve heard the baby crying. She hasn’t come out of the room since you left the other day,” she replied, remembering him.
“I need you to open that door, ma. Here go a few dollars to do it.” He slid the young receptionist four hundred-dollar bills, and she gave him a key card.
When he walked into the room, it was dark, and it reeked of meth and cigarettes.
“Kayla!” he called out as he walked into the room. He walked near the bed and turned on the light. He looked at the bed and saw his son sitting there. He looked dirty and like he'd been crying.
“Damn, lil’ man, where's your momma?” Dexz asked, then remembered he couldn't hear him.
“I'm going to get you out of here. I know you can't hear me, but I got you. I'm your dad, and I'm going to do whatever I have to in order to raise you.”
He picked up Ethan and hugged him, but when he sat him down again, he started screaming. Dexz didn't know what to do until Ethan reached for a soother that was on the bed. He was a big boy, but he still acted like a one-year-old. Dexz watched him lie down and calm himself.
He raced off when he snapped out of it and heard the shower running.
He burst into the bathroom and was caught by surprise when he saw Kayla in the bathtub, passed out.
He looked around the bathroom and saw blood spattered on the walls and the mirror, with needles everywhere.
Kayla had shot up almost every vein in her body until she overdosed.
He shook his head and then checked her pulse, but there was none.
“Fuck, Kayla.”
Dexz called the front desk girl and had her call 911, but he left before they got there because he was a hot commodity with the police. He strapped Ethan into the car seat that was in the room and got away from the hotel.
He drove around Harlem in deep thought, trying to figure out his next move.
He was hurt about his son's condition and felt like everything he was going through was his fault.
It was his drugs Kayla was using, and he was the one locked up while his son had to watch his mother go through a drug addiction and be treated poorly.
After riding around for twenty minutes, he found himself parked in front of his Aunt Silvia’s house.
He knew he couldn't show up at Pretti’s shop with him and distract her, even though she said she would help.
She had her own job to do, and he didn't want to hold her down with a kid while he figured things out.
He decided to break the news to her and also see if she could care for him.
Dexz took the baby from his car seat and turned up his nose. “Damn, lil’ dude, you stink.” He shook his head. “Let me get you inside. I know my aunt will get you right.”
He used the key he had to her home and stepped inside.
The air smelled of apple pie and baked chicken.
His stomach rumbled, and Ethan began to cry.
He figured if his stomach was hurting because of the smell of the food, Ethan’s was too.
Dexz hadn’t eaten in God knows how long, and the smell of his aunt’s food sent him a reminder.
“Who baby is that cryin’ in my house?” he heard Silvia say as she walked down her foyer, wiping her hands on a dish towel.
“It’s me, Aunty,” he said when she finally appeared.
“Dexten? Boy, whose baby is that crying in my house? And he stinks!” she said loudly when she approached them as he continued to cry.
“He’s my son. I just took him from his crackhead ass mom. I just found out he was mine, and she had been neglecting him. He’s deaf and has Trisomy 21, so he doesn't understand, but I think he’s hungry.”
Feeling sorry for the baby and her nephew, she took him into her arms.
“He’s probably feeling dirty too. I’ll feed and bathe him. You look hungry yourself. Stay and eat.” She walked off with Dexz right behind her.
He followed her to the guest bathroom she used for her grandkids as she stripped Ethan out of his soiled clothes. Silvia already had diapers and clothes because she had grandbabies his age. Dexz told her everything, and she was lost for words.
“I’m going to get my life all the way together and get a house. Until then, can you keep him? I’ll pay you, and I promise I’ll be involved. I don’t know anything about him, so I want to be around as much as I can to get to know him. I just met him three days ago,” he admitted.
“Sure, nephew, I’ll do it. I can get him to a doctor and enroll him in school to see what you have to do to keep him and help him progress.
Since his mom killed herself, you should be able to get custody of him, even on parole, but you’re going to have to talk to the police about what you saw and probably go to court. ”
“I don’t want to fuck with the police, but I can do all of that other shit. I just left her there because I was so mad.”
“I understand, and I can set everything up private so nobody on the streets knows you’ve been talking to them.
I know the chief of police. I’ll call him before you go, so we can get that straightened out, but you have five months to get your life together.
You know I do not judge you, but this is a sign for you to get out of them streets.
I know you’re only twenty-two, but there’s no age limit on growing up and being a good father. ”
“You’re right, that’s why I’m about to get on my A-game with my business.”
“Well, I got your back, boy. Long as you follow through. I’m about to bathe him in lavender and give him some melatonin so he can eat and get some rest. He looks like his mother wasn’t feeding him. How old is he?”
“He has to be three or four. I don’t have anything on him.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
After Dexz ate, he said goodbye to Ethan and left, feeling good that his son was in a comfortable home and had a solid plan for his future.
$$$$$
He pulled in front of Pretti’s shop because he wanted to tell her the news. He knew she hated Kayla, but he also knew she'd be happy for him becoming a father.
He walked in, and his mood suddenly changed. Pretti had R&B playing throughout the shop while people got their hair cut, their nails done, and their hair done. She had turned her little black-owned business into a comfort zone. Every time he walked in, he felt relaxed.
“What’s up, Dexz?” Storm asked when he walked up to her station. She was braiding a guy’s hair in straight-back braids.
“What’s up, sis? Where my best friend at?”
Storm rolled her eyes and pointed to the back of the shop. “She's in the back with Lunden. They're arguing.”
“Well, I'm about to break that up. I got some news for her.”
“Yeah, please do. I wish you’d hurry up and marry that girl. She is sick of him.”
“I know. I'm going to handle that soon, but right now, I just found out I have a son. He has some health problems, so I can't think about a relationship, even though I want to.”
“Damn, congratulations, and I'm sorry at the same time. I hear you tho’.”
“It's all good. Thanks.” He walked off and headed straight to her office.
“You think I'm not going to find out? You’ve been too fucking distant, Pretti. If it ain’t him, it's somebody then!” Lunden roared.