Crazy Little Thing Called Love

MCD-Chapter Nine

I had always found the fake house a bit uncomfortable to begin with. It was too big and spacious, was my complaint. Well, that had seriously changed. There weren’t enough rooms in the house to get away from her. It didn’t matter if we didn’t run into eachother at all, just the mere thought that she once stood where I was now standing; even the smell of her.

God, I would never forget her smell. She always smelt like some variation of apple. It was her favorite body wash and lotion. I had missed that smell.

Anyway, so far we were doing an excellent job avoiding the hell out of eachother for the next week or so. Nat didn’t scream at me when I brought Kenzie to work with me, and in exchange I pretty much made it impossible for her to be alone with Trick. It wasn’t so much being an over protective dad as it was actually helping her. It would do the boy good for it not to be so easy for him. He had to work and prove that he genuinely cared for my daughter before I would ever consider easing up.

Kenzie realized what I was up to right from the start, but she never said anything about it to me. I didn’t know whether that was a good sign or not. In any case, it was working—from what I observed, anyway. They were scheduled for another date that night. Which……..was a good thing……

Nat, of course, was put out; which sparked a heated discussion between mother and daughter. I stayed out of it this time. The whole screaming bit? Not my thing, it turns out. Then again, I should be used to it. I’d had to work with plenty pre-Madonna’s…..a lot of them not women.

In the end, Kenzie got her way. I didn’t know how Nat justified that, but it was probably something along the lines of fulfill-your-curiosity, have-fun-while-your-young, or guard-your- heart. I didn’t even put it past her to have given our daughter a full out speech. All I did was give Trick an extra amount of glarage and silently threaten him. Guess that’d have to do for now.

As soon as that door closed behind Kenzie, the house seemed to shrink. Nat and I stood there for a minute, watching them drive off. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to hash it out with her now, either. I thought she was being ridiculous about this Trick thing. Of anyone Kenzie could be hanging out with, Trick was the least of my worries. In all honesty, I didn’t worry so much with him. I saw the way he looked at her. He wasn’t playing games. He was a good kid with a fairly decent head on his shoulders, considering the atmosphere he was surrounding himself in.

One full minute of uncomfortable silence was enough. Without a word, I turned and started down the hall; to do what, I had no idea, but it was better than being around her.

"You’re mad at me."

I froze without turning back around. Why was it even the sound of her voice had the capacity to turn me into a freaking loon? After all that had happened, why couldn’t I just be bitter and hate her? I’d been piss sour and I’d gone through my motions. But I don’t think I had ever hated Nat. I don’t think I ever could. It’s because you’re a complete dumbass! I scolded myself furiously.

"I don’t blame you," Nat said when I stayed silent and unmoving. "My attitude has been anything but apologetic…..I just…." She let out a loud sigh. "Bradley, please, can we talk?"

I raked my hand through my hair, hating myself for what I was about to do. I turned around, but stayed where I was, opting for leaning against the wall. "You wanna talk about how you ripped my own daughter away from me or how you got married three years afterward?"

Nat drew in a sharp breath. "Bradley, I’m so—"

"No, just wait," I interrupted hotly. "You’ve always got something to say, but now I’m gonna talk. I don’t wanna hear your bullshit excuses of the reasons for you leaving. I don’t care. The fact is you left and you haven’t spoken to me since. I know I didn’t say anything before about your marriage with Daniel, but the fact is that hurt me just as much as the fact that you let him raise my daughter, let him think I was a deadbeat. Now at eighteen years old she has to learn to love me, instead of instantly caring so deeply about me that nothing could ever really change that. And I would have loved that girl back with everything I had in me! But you never gave me the fucking chance. You just assumed all these things about me. I’m not saying that I wasn’t a jackass then by any means. But you could have at least given me the benefit of the doubt.