So Far Gone (Urban) Book 8 | The Sideline Series

Chapter 5

"How are you gonna kick me out? You can't even move your legs," Daniel mumbled.

"Nah, you ain't sleeping in here," Theodore shook his head.

I rolled my eyes. "Y'all stop it and just get in the bed Daniel. I have to talk to Daddy. And y'all really need to stop with the leg jokes. It's not funny. You'd be upset if you couldn't move your legs too."

"Oh, I'm not upset that I can't move my legs. I'm just tired of all y'all niggas making jokes about it."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't put yourself in the position to get made fun of," Daniel commented.

I just shook my head and walked out of the bedroom. There's no helping the two of them. They're going to continue fighting no matter what. I walked back to the living room, and found Daddy sitting on the couch with his head in his hands as if he was frustrated but I don't know why. He and Mama aren't around enough to be stressed out or frustrated about anything. Theodore and Daniel are with me, and Theodore's been in the hospital for the past month while Daniel had been staying with Grandma and Grandpa for the past month. I don't know why he's so frustrated when he hasn't done anything.

"Are you okay? Do you want something to eat or drink?" I asked, walking into the living room, causing him to lift up his head.

"Nah, I'm good. I'm not gonna be here for too long. I just need to tell you something really quickly. I need you to sit down."

I scrunched up my face as I took the seat next to him. "Okay. What's going on?"

"Well, I don't know how to tell you this but I need you to help me testify against your grandparents in court next Wednesday. I know you probably don't want to do that to them but I cant lose my kids baby girl. They've got everything against me right now. They have a stable household while I don't. Things are already bad for me trying to keep Daniel and Theodore because of your mother. I've talked to the social workers and I've done everything I can but she refuses to talk to them and she won't let them into our house. I don't know why she's acting like this if she wants to keep the kids but I don't plan on doing this with her anymore."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I've already talked to my lawyer and I've got the paper work filled out to get a divorce."

I scrunched up my face as I whispered, "A divorce? Does she know about it? And how are you gonna explain that to Theodore and Daniel? They'll be hurt," I replied.

He sighed. "I know but I just can't do this anymore. She obviously doesn't have any respect for me, any of y'all kids, our family or herself. There's no point trying to reason with her because she won't listen. She thinks she's right about everything, and I'm tired of kissing her ass and having to compromise. I've been putting up with that shit all my life and I just can't do it anymore. I'm not happy with her anymore. I feel like I'm trapped in my own marriage. The only reason I've stayed with her this long is because of y'all kids but now that you guys are grown, there's no reason to stay back."

I sighed. Of course I don't want my parents to get a divorce but if he's unhappy, why should he continue to put up with somebody like her? He's devoted his life to somebody who honestly could give less than a damn about him, and he doesn't deserve that. Don't get me wrong, Daddy has a lot of flaws but his flaws are nothing compared to Mama's. At least Daddy's aware of his flaws and is willing to get help but Mama doesn't even care.

"What about Daniel? You're saying we're all grown but he's only seven."

Daddy nodded his head. "I know and that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"You want me to keep him or something?"

"No, well yes," he mumbled, shaking his head. "I know this won't have that much of an impact on you since you can't remember much but I know it'll hurt him. Something bad happened to you when you were 17 Lindsey and you were pregnant. We all knew you were too young and what happened to you shouldn't have happened, so me and your mother took the responsibility of taking care of the kid. Me and your mother's kids are all grown. Our youngest is 17, and honestly doesn't need to be fought over in court. He's honestly old enough to choose where he wants to live because he's of age."