"You over twice the legal limit. Yo' ass goin' to jail tonight." Dayvon tightened the cuffs around the man's wrists, making sure that he still had a bit of room left so that bruises wouldn't form.
"Twice in legal minute?!" He exclaimed with genuine confusion, but got in the back of the truck anyway since he knew he was drunker than drunk could be.
"You good to go." Dayvon hit the back of the truck, then pulled his mini size of hand sanitizer out of his front pocket.
He didn't understand how people could get drunk so early in the morning. It wasn't even noon yet and that man was had just been caught finishing his twelfth beer. Then, he had the nerve to drive while drinking it. Dayvon hated drunk drivers.
That was actually the second drunk person he'd arrested today. Besides that, today had been a slow day. He was thankful for that because his day would get extremely busy as soon as he got off since it was August's birthday today.
He'd lowkey been looking forward to this day-probably even more than August had-only because he wanted to see if Autumn was really sober and if she'd show up for the party August was having in his class today. He hoped she would because it was all that August had been talking about.
And surprisingly, she really had called him every day since their first call two weeks ago. He would spend hours on the phone with her at a time. He'd tell her all about his day and then he'd talk her ear off about everything else under the sun.
His behavior has improved tremendously since talking to Autumn, too. His teacher even sent him home with a goodie bag yesterday because he was the star student of the day. Dayvon was so proud of him.
"Jasmine, you ready?" Dayvon walked into the house two hours later and locked the door behind him.
"Boy you ain't even ready yet!" She called from the bedroom, and he laughed since that was true.
He pulled his utility belt from around his waist at the same time that he walked in their bedroom, seeing Jasmine standing in the bathroom mirror with a eyeshadow palette in her hand.
"You was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. We gon' be late." She shook her head at him, knowing that he still needed to shower.
"Uhun. I'ma be quick. Ion got time to hear his mouth." He chuckled, already undressed. He stepped into the shower, closed the glass door and turned the knob towards the left to get the hot water.
He spent a few minutes inside before rushing to rub his body down in men's sandalwood lotion, and then finally, he got dressed. Since he knew they'd be busy today, he wore a simple outfit that he would be able to move around in.
There was a white muscle shirt underneath his gray acid washed Hellstar sweatshirt, paired with a regular pair of jeans and cool gray Jordan 11s. He accessorized his look with a diamond Rolex watch and two stud earrings.
"C'mon ma, we gotta go." He grabbed his keys from the bowl near the front door with his right hand while the other held two dozen decorated cupcakes.
August wanted to have his actual party during class, and luckily his birthday fell on a Friday which was their free day anyway. Most of the snacks were dropped off by Dayvon on his way to work this morning, but he wanted the cupcakes to stay fresh so he left them in the refrigerator.
It took them less than ten minutes to get to the elementary school, and they checked in at the office before heading towards August's classroom.
"You think she gone show up?" Jasmine asked after seeing Dayvon check his phone for any missed text messages.
"I don't know man. She late though." He irritably sighed under his breath while sliding his cell phone back into his pocket.
"I told you not to get your hopes up." Jasmine shrugged, holding the door open for him to walk in.
"Daddy!" August was about to get out of his seat, but looked over at his teacher, Ms.Linda, for permission first. When she nodded with a smile, August ran towards him to tackle his legs in a hug.
"Wassup lil' dude? I just seen you this morning." He laughed, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
"I know but I'm just so excited! Is mommy with you?!" He asked, looking behind him to check. His smile faded for just a brief moment when he didn't see her, then he put his attention back on Dayvon.
"Do you think she still coming?" He asked with curious doe eyes, and Dayvon glanced at Jasmine before looking down at him again.
"Yeah baby. We gon' give her some time t-,"
"August?" Autumn's voice came from behind them, causing his eyes to light up with the previous excitement they held.
"Mommy!" He screamed so loud that it echoed through the hallway, and Autumn squatted where she was to catch him as he ran to her for a hug.
"Happy birthday my sweet baby. I missed you so much!" She spun him in a circle, burying her face into his neck to hide the fact that she was crying.
Dayvon sat the cupcakes down on a nearby table, tuning out the sounds of all the children playing during their indoor recess, focusing his attention on August and Autumn. He was a bit nervous, he couldn't lie.
His heart warmed when August wiped his own face, trying to get rid of his tears. His left arm was hooked tightly around his mom's neck, afraid that if he let her go, she might leave him again. This was his first time seeing her. He was overwhelmed with a mix of sadness and happiness. So much emotion in such a little body.
"Hi mommy. I like you hair." He sniffed, finally taking in her appearance.
"Really? It hasn't grown on me yet. I just cut it. My friend styled it for me." She told him, letting him run his fingers through her blunt cut bob that stopped a bit past her shoulders. It used to reach the middle of her back, but she randomly decided to cut it yesterday.
"It's really pretty. And y-you are really pretty too mommy." He complimented her, and her smile was so big she thought her cheeks would rip.
"Thank you stinky. You don't look too bad yourself." She tickled his sides, listening to his laughter to fill her ears. The sweetest sound she'd ever heard.
"Mr. Banks, we can get started now if you'd like." Ms. Linda spoke to Dayvon, causing his attention to move towards her.
"Yeah. Yeah, that's cool." He rubbed his hands off on his jeans, not even sure of how they became sweaty so quickly.
"Alright class, everybody back to your seats!" Ms. Linda's voice made Autumn remember where they were as she picked August up, positioning him on her hip.
"Hey. Sorry I'm late. My Uber driver got lost on the way here." She finally approached Dayvon and Jasmine with an apologetic smile on her face.
"You good." He replied, and then it went quiet. It was an awkward quietness, too. The elephant in the room was clearly evident.
"Mommy you brought my gift?" August broke the silence, seeing the bags in her hand.
"Oh, yes. And I made goodie bags too, if that's okay," She looked at Dayvon, who nodded in response. She had yet to look at Jasmine, but Jasmine hadn't really looked at her either.
August got out of her arms but still held on to her hand, pulling her with him towards the desks. Together, they passed out the goodie bags that each had a few pieces of candy and fidget toys inside of them.
Ms. Linda passed out the snacks that they'd bought, then put on August's favorite movie-Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The lights dimmed and August sat at a table next to his mom, of course, with Dayvon on the other side of him, and Jasmine on the far left.
The movie barely started before August began to talk Autumn's ear off, showing her plenty of drawings that he'd made of the two of them, his school books, and even his Chromebook. He opened his backpack to show her his iPad and his phone, too.
Dayvon watched as Autumn listened intently the entire time, responding when necessary. She seemed so interested in everything that August was saying although it was all of little importance. She just couldn't believe he was actually in front of her.
During the next few minutes, it was as if Dayvon and Jasmine weren't even there. August was focused solely on his mother, who he had yet to let go of. He loved her so much. He wished he could hold her hands forever.
"It's vanilla too, mommy. Just like you wanted. And look, spider man. It's a ring on there, so don't eat that 'cause you can't." August took the wrapper off a cupcake, then held it out for her to grab.
"Ok baby. What's on the inside?" She asked.
"Ice cream and sprinkles. Is it good?" He watched her take a bite out of it, and she nodded, genuinely enjoying the taste.
"Mommy!" He laughed, covering his nose once she wiped frosting on it.
"Oops." She pretended as if it was an accident, which only made him laugh harder. She then kissed his nose and showed him the frosting that was now on her lips and off of his face.
Dayvon watched as he attempted to keep his giggles quiet, trying not to draw any attention towards them. He didn't think he'd ever seen August so happy in his life. His smile had yet to fade even a smidge.
"August I can barely fit through here!" Autumn laughed, realizing that she was damn near stuck in the slide at McDonald's PlayPlace.
"Help is on the way dear!" He came down behind her, and she laughed again after feeling his feet in her back in an effort to push her all the way down the slide.
"You shole been quiet this whole time." Jasmine nudged Dayvon's arms, tearing his eyes away from the two of them.
"You ain't really said shit either." He chuckled, putting his attention on her.
"Do I need to be worried, Von?" She asked, obviously not in a joking mood. Her question made his right eyebrow perk up, as if to ask what she meant.
"I see how you keep looking at her. I'm not dumb. I know you and I know y'all's history." She had an unreadable expression on her face, and so did he.
He glanced over at the monkey bars where Autumn was helping a joyful August cross since he was too little to do it on his own, taking notice of the identical smiles on their faces. Then, he looked back over at Jasmine.
"In what way do you think I'm lookin' at ha'?" He asked.
"Like you want your family back."
"Nah. I'm just-proud of her. That's all. I haven't seen her clean since she started doing drugs." He spoke truthfully, keeping his eyes on hers. "And it's good to see her with him. He talk about her everyday. You know that."
Jasmine was quiet for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, but then she spoke again. "I'm scared that you'll leave me for her. The only reason you haven't in the past is 'cause she was on drugs. And now she's not."
"I know how in love you were with her. You were obsessed with her, even when she started doing them. You can't lie and say those feelings ain't still there." She rested her face in the palm of her hand, waiting to see if his expression would change.
Dayvon's eyes left hers again to look over at Autumn and August once more.
He couldn't say that Jasmine was wrong. The love he had for Autumn was indescribable; and as much as he hated to admit it, it still remained the same after all these years. Her being on drugs hadn't changed a thing about his feelings towards her and he didn't understand how.
Even with acknowledging his feelings, he was sure that he didn't want to be with Autumn in that way again. There was no way he could be with someone who abandoned his child for three whole years, and the fear of not knowing whether she'd do it again or not wouldn't allow him to.
"I love you. I'm with you now. Don't worry 'bout what it used to be 'cause it ain't that no more." He grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb across the top of it.
"I love you more." She leaned over the table, and he grabbed her neck for a brief kiss. He pecked her lips twice before letting her go, seeing the now satisfied smile on her face.
"Folks 'nem ass freaky as hell." He shook his head at her, but smiled as soon as she started laughing.
The sound of August's approaching footsteps made Dayvon turn his head, watching as he ran up to him for his soda, out of breath. He could barely drink his sprite due to how hard he was breathing.
"You having fun lil' dude?" Von moved his dreads out of the way to get a better look at his face.
"Mhm! Bye-bye daddy." He didn't stay for long, taking off towards his mother who was waiting for him near the ball pit.
"You itching mommy?" He looked up at her, wrapping his arms around her legs.
"A little bit but I'm okay. You ready to finish your food yet, or you wanna play some more?" She stopped scratching her arm once he pointed it out. She hadn't even realized she was doing it.
"Ummm maybe eat a little bit and then can you come to my house so I can show you my room?" He pulled her towards the table where his dad and Jasmine were sitting.
"I don't know stink. We might have to wait until next time for that." She watched him grab his happy meal box and his drink so that he could sit with her at the table behind them.
"Daddy said it's okay 'cause I already had asked him when I was at school." He climbed into the booth seat on his own, and Autumn sat next to him with a smile on her face.
"Well, okay then. I'll come with you if he says it's alright."
"Mommy, what does your room look like?" He asked, sticking a chicken nugget in his mouth.
"Ummm, I haven't been home in a minute so I'm not sure yet. It was pink and it had hello kitty everywhere, the last I remember." She told him with a shrug.
"When you was at work, where did you sleep at?"
"Wherever I could." She answered vaguely.
"I always sleep at home. Sometimes I go to GG house. I have a room there too-oh! Mommy, do you live with GG? 'Cause she has a room with hello kitty too but she said it's for her baby." He licked barbecue sauce off of his finger before grabbing his drink.
"Did she say that?" Autumn asked, watching him nod his head.
"Hm. Well, yeah. I used to live with her but I haven't been there in a long time." She started to play with her fingers, drifting off into thought about how her mom was doing.
Autumn knew when she disappeared that Hazel would most likely stay in contact with Dayvon even though they were no longer living with her at the time. He was damn near her favorite child and he wasn't even hers by blood.
She was glad that August had a good relationship with Hazel. She'd always wanted to be a grandmother but everyone thought Aspen would be the one to make her one first. Clearly, things didn't always go as planned.
"You getting tired baby?" She looked down at him after feeling his head nuzzle into her arm.
"Mhm." He mumbled, being picked up shortly after.
"You all done eating?" She asked, which was a dumb question because he'd cleared that Happy Meal like it was nothing.
"Yes ma'am." His voice was so small and sweet that it made her smile. He was so well mannered.
She stood up out of the booth with him in her arms, causing both Dayvon and Jasmine to look her way, halting their conversation.
"I think he tired himself out. Does he usually nap around this time?" She asked, watching the two of them stand up as well.
"Yeah. He be cranky if he can't get one in." Dayvon told her, sliding his phone in his pocket.
"Daddy, be quiet." August playfully rolled his eyes at him, making them laugh.
"Is it alright if I come over? Just to put him down?" Autumn looked between Dayvon and Jasmine for their permission. She watched as he looked over at Jasmine, who stared back at him for a second before nodding.
"Yeah. You good. Let's go." He grabbed August's coat, letting Jasmine lead the way out to his Range Rover.
Autumn climbed in the backseat with August when they made it, then buckled him into his car seat while he played with the dainty necklace that hung around her neck.
It took them twenty minutes to get to the house, and Autumn stared curiously out of the window as Dayvon pulled in the driveway. The big truck in the driveway sitting in the all black elevated wheels caught her attention first.
She could remember him talking about one day owning a truck when he could afford it. Hazel was supposed to buy them both their dream vehicles when they graduated high school, but they ended up dropping out before the end of their senior year.
She was proud of him for being able to check stuff off of his dream list on his own.
"It's this way mommy." August pulled Autumn with him through the house in the direction of his bedroom.
"Wow. You really do love Spider-Man, huh?" She looked around at all of the decorations once they made it inside.
"Yup. But at first it was lightning McQueen, and it was SpongeBob before that." He threw his shoes in the closet after taking them off, and Autumn went behind him and placed them neatly near his other shoes.
"It's nice in here stinky. You have so many clothes." She walked deeper into his closet that looked as if it belonged to a grown man. His wardrobe was crazy.
"Yeah 'cause daddy always make me go shopping with him. Mommy, come in here with me." He frowned at her from his bed, and she laughed, walking to sit next to him.
"Do you want to watch a movie? You can pick." He gave her the fire stick remote to the flat screen TV mounted on the wall, moving over a bit to give her some more room.
"Okay. What about the real Spider-Man? You know, not the cartoon one." She suggested since that was clearly his favorite character.
"I never seen that one before. Miles Morales is the best."
"Mommy you can lay down with me, please?" August looked up at her, so she pulled her coat off and made herself comfortable under the blankets with him.
He cuddled up against her side but had his head facing the TV even though they both knew he'd be sleep within a few minutes. He had the time of his little life today. He was extremely tired.
"Mommy?" He called again.
"Yes?"
"Thank you for coming today. This was the best birthday ever and I have the coolest mommy in the world." He mumbled, and tears started to pool in her eyes while a smile spread across her face.
"I have the coolest son in the world. I love you a lot my baby." She moved his dreads out of the way to kiss his forehead.
"I love you more." Was the last thing he said before sleep took over. He still held on tightly to her even in his sleep.
Autumn remained there a while longer, just looking over the features of his face that she rubbed as he slept. She couldn't believe this four year old was once in her belly. He was created inside of her and now he was already in school. Time flew so fast.
She was so upset with herself for missing his entire life. There was no way she could leave him again. He deserved a good mom and she was determined to be that for him.
Almost three hours later, Autumn's eyes fluttered open from the random sounds of clattering coming from whoever was in August's bedroom. She could see Dayvon's dreads moving in the slight darkness-and the room being completely dark made her realize that she'd accidentally fallen asleep.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go to sleep." She wiped her mouth off as she sat up, being careful to not wake August.
"Nah, you good. I wasn't gone wake you up, I just came to get his laundry." He said, turning the light on in August's closet.
"I should be heading out anyway. Ion wanna stay over my welcome." She smirked, and his head turned to look at her as he laughed. Those were the exact words he said when he first moved in with her; at the time he didn't know the correct word was overstay, and not stay over.
"Yo' ass lame as hell. That shit was so long ago. I can talk right now." He told her, watching her smile grow.
"Congratulations. I really should be leaving though." She pulled the cover off of her body and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
"Where you gone go? To yo' mama house?" He asked out of curiosity.
"No. I haven't figured that out yet. I have some friends that'll let me stay for a few nights though, so I'll be fine." She tucked the cover over August before standing to her feet.
"Friends? Do them friends pop pills?" His question made the room to go silent for a moment.
"I don't have anywhere else to go Dayvon. I'm not going to take anything." He took notice of the way she started to rub her pointer finger the same way that August did whenever he was in trouble.
"Why you not going to yo' mama house? You still scared?" He asked, and she nodded her head. She wasn't ready to face her yet.
"I got a guest room. You can stay there if you want. I know his bed little as hell." He gestured to the twin XL mattress with a car shaped bed frame.
"Oh no, I don't wanna s-,"
"It's good Autumn. I ain't gon' put you out on the streets. C'mon." He waved for her to follow him, and she hesitated for a second before walking out of August's room.
"I don't wanna step on her toes Von. Is she okay with me staying? Because I can find somewhere to g-,"
"It's a bathroom right across the hall. It got towels, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste already in there. I'ma go get you some clothes. Hold up." He interrupted her, then left out of the guest room and went down the hall.
Autumn sat down on the edge of the bed, still rubbing her pointer finger to ease her nerves. She really hoped Jasmine would be okay with her staying. She knew what their circumstances were but still, Autumn didn't want to disrespect her in her own house.
He came back a few minutes later with clothes in his hand, and she was low key expecting him to bring a pair of Jasmine's clothes, but to her surprise they were his own.
"I got work tomorrow, but on Sunday we can go get you some clothes after church. This gon' have to do for now." He sat a fresh pair of boxers and one of his t shirts on the bed next to her.
"Thank you." She decided to just accept his help rather than being stubborn.
"You welcome. You ain't alone, aight? As long as you trying for August, I'm down to help you." He told her, and a frown replaced his resting look once he realized she was crying.
"Thank you so much. I know I don't deserve it but I'm really grateful. Foreal." She wiped her face, trying to get herself together.
"You do deserve it. Stop talkin' like that."
Well