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Chapter 33

*Darrell's POV*

"Alright baby. This is the last box" I told Keisha closing the trunk to my Tahoe. We had just finished packing our vehicles with just clothes. Keisha and I agreed that we wanted a legit fresh start when we got to Mississippi. We ordered our bed frames and matresses and they would be delivered this week, but we would go shopping for living room, dining room, and the kids rooms furniture when we got there. 

"Imma go do one more sweep of the house and get the kids" she said kissing my cheek and walking away. I took this as a moment to reminisce. 

I looked down at my feet. I was leaving the city that I was born and raised in. I remember playing in my grandma's backyard with Anari. We were thick as thieves growing up. There wasn't one sunny day where we weren't outside playing. My granny would literally have to come pull us by our shirts to bring us in the house. 

Then, my middle school days. Gosh I was bad as hell. I used to give my mom and pops hell. I stayed getting in trouble at school. Teachers were on my ass until I started playing basketball and taking it serious. My mom was on her way to my first eighth grade game when she got into a bad wreck. She was hit from the side and her car flipped three times and she was pronounced dead on the scene. I wanted to stop playing right then and there, but I found these letters. She had been writing them every day for the thirteen years that she was alive for. She wrote, and I will never forget, "Dear son, I love you so much and I love watching you shoot them baskets in the driveway. You never give up on this. I am ready to see you playing with the greats one day. I know it will happen. I love you baby boy, sincerely your mama" 

I kept playing after I read that letter. I went harder than I had ever went in basketball. Some days I wouldn't go inside the house till after midnight. I was just practicing my shots continuously. Then Anari would talk me out of my thoughts of giving up. She literally pushed me each and every day to my fullest potential till I fell in love with her. Despite all the drama with Keisha and me getting her pregnant, Anari was there for me. She ran up and down Detroit for me, but I guess when her and I realized that we wouldn't work,  things changed. 

When she fell into that coma, I thought that I would lose everything. I thought that my life was literally over. She was literally my world and then some. My kids were my world, but Anari was definitely apart of it. I made sure to tell her that I loved her each and every day that she was in that coma. When she woke up, I knew everything was going up for me. Everything was going to be okay until we had sex. We had sex then everything went down hill. 

I'm so happy that things started to change though. I honestly took time to myself to reflect on what I really wanted and that was my family. I love my kids so much. I don't know what I would do if they were to disappear out of my life. I realized that something and that change had no choice but to come from me. I love Keisha. She has stayed with me despite everything that I have put her through. She honestly always make sure that I am okay. She provides for the kids twenty four seven. She is definitely the parent to go out at ten o'clock at night to get things to finish our kids projects.

Keisha is the one I see myself growing old with her and I don't want to ever lose her. I hate that it took me so long to realize the fact that I was searching for love in the wrong place. Keisha was always right in front of me and she never left. I love her and I will never make mistakes again. 

I looked at the house that I once called home. My children spent six years of their lives in this house. Through nights of trials and tribulations, we made it. We are moving to a new city. Just me, my wife, and my kids. We will be straight from here on out and I will make sure of it. 

I blinked my eyes to clear my thoughts as the kids ran out the house. Keisha locked the door behind her and put the key under the flower pot. My dad was coming over here to get the key and spruce up the place. We decided not to sell the house. We were going to rent it out to someone.