Malia & Khari III: The Kids

Khari Elijah Valentine

Ann Arbor, Michigan
Later that night

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The drive was silent. No one was talking, or making any noise. The only noise came from the music that was playing lowly in the background. I twisted my wedding band on my finger, and looked straight ahead. I wasn't looking at anything particular. I was just thinking. The bruises on Ryan were too real for me. It reminded me of the pain I had caused Karmen. As much as I was upset with Sean, I was also mad with myself. It reminded me of the bruises that my dad gave me. I never wanted to relive any of that. This had more weight behind it than it meets the surface.

     "Pops, we been out here all night. We ain't gon find him." Kamari looked through the rearview mirror at me. "It may be better if we don't. You upset and I don't give a shit about him, but you my dad, I don't wanna see you get locked up. Or Iman."

"Today will be the day you do, brother." Iman added.

   "Just drive." I said simply and looked out of the window. My mind was erratic at the moment, and I couldn't think straight. Never in a million years would I have thought something like that would happen to my family, especially my daughter. I really wanted to kill this lil nigga. It all went back to me, though. It's my fault. I blamed myself because I was a horrible man back in the day. Maybe this was karma.

I wanted to cry, punch a wall, yell, die.. It's a different kind of pain when it's your child. You never want them to experience anything like that. I wanted to protect all of my kids, especially my girls. If I wasn't so angry, I'd probably die of a broken heart. Ryan was my baby girl. It was really tough because she's so far away from me. I can't protect her like I want. I was starting to question Karmen's parenting, and I needed to get to the bottom of it. Why was Ryan even in Michigan in the first place?

   I hit the glass suddenly, shattering it. My tears were clouding my sight, and I just wanted to take my anger out on something. "Call him." Iman looked at Kamari.

"For what?" He glanced at him before looking back at the road.

  "Ask this bitch nigga where the fuck he at. Say you want some pills or some shit. He ain't gon knock his hustle over a lil punch."

Kamari shook his head. "Look, I wanna beat his ass just as much as you and dad do—"

  "You did!" Iman yelled. "You got you some licks in. I want this nigga head, bro. Call him!"

Kamari looked at me briefly before doing it. I looked back out of the window, trying to calm down. It was no use, though. I hadn't been this angry in a long, long time. I had learned how to control my behavior, but I was triggered. I wasn't going to be able to sleep until I, at least, talked to Sean.

  "Where you at? I need a refill." Kamari talked into the phone. "We past that. You was right. I need a refill." I looked at him as he waited. He nodded. "Aight meet you there." He hung up the phone, and sped up.

Malia called me a couple times, but texted when she didn't get an answer. She kept questioning where I was or if I was okay. I told her that I was fine and that I'll be back later. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. "I'm just gonna talk." I talked to myself.

   "Ima beat the skin off this nigga." Iman threw his hat and coat into the backseat.

"Just be careful. He always strapped when he doing stuff like this. He will shoot." Kamari warned.