Dayvon turned in his sleep to pull Autumn and August closer, only to grasp air in his hand. His eyes then popped open at the sound of cries of agony which caused him to get out of the bed faster than his legs were prepared for.
He searched the house for August, feeling his heart start to race as every room came up empty.
Following the sound of the cry, Dayvon headed towards August's connected bathroom, and opened the door to see him hiding behind the counter drawer, still screaming to the top of his lungs.
He could see Autumn laid out on the floor with an empty bottle of what used to contain Xanax in her hand. There were deep cuts in her wrist, and the bloody knife that caused them was still in her other hand as well.
"Daddy!" August screamed, reaching out to him for help. Dayvon tried hard to grab him, but it felt as if his body physically couldn't move. His heart was pumping so hard he thought it would explode, and the tears in his eyes burned his corneas, but wouldn't fall down his face.
His feet seemed to be sealed in the tile floor, as if he'd gotten stuck there during construction. August continued to scream out for him, wailing at this point.
"Shit." Dayvon popped up from the bed, his heart still racing in his chest. The sheets stuck to his skin for a few seconds due to the sweat coating his back, so he had to physically remove them from his body.
August and Autumn were no longer in the bed with him, and he could still hear August's screams from his dream, except it wasn't out of pain. He was laughing. Laughing so hard that he could barely breathe.
"Man, fuck." He ran his hands down his face, trying to calm himself down. He'd never had a dream feel that real before.
He went to go wash his face and brush his teeth to fully wake up, realizing it was time for him to start getting ready for work anyway. Before he did, he went to August's bedroom, where the laughter was previously coming from.
Leaning against the doorway to August's bathroom, Dayvon could see Autumn sitting on the tub side while August sat between her legs, currently getting his hair retwisted. There was still a smile lingering on his face, causing a small one to spread across Dayvon's as well.
"Hey. I was gonna wake you up at seven like you said." Autumn tilted her head back as he greeted her with a kiss, keeping his lips pressed against hers for a few seconds.
"Everything okay?" There was concern in her eyes as she moved his dreads out of the way to get a better look at him.
"Yeah ma. You feeling okay?" He returned the question, sitting down beside her.
Last night, Autumn cried herself to sleep after reflecting on Jasmine's words from earlier in the day. There weren't any TV's on at the time, so she heard everything that was said as clear as day. It really hurt her feelings.
Dayvon planned to take her and August out when he got off of work to make up for it, but he wasn't sure if that was enough. He didn't mean for her to hear any of that. Holding her while she cried last night hurt his feelings, too.
"Yeah. I made breakfast. And he still has a fever-it's 102 now. Ma said she'll stop by with DayQuil and theraflu tea." She put her attention back on the last dread of his that needed to be twisted.
"Mama, look at me." Dayvon lowered his head in an effort to meet her eyes with a sad tone, but she made sure to keep her gaze on August's hair.
"You should eat. I don't want the food to get cold." She told him, then stood up from the tub. "August, go to the kitchen with daddy and I'll be there in a second, okay?" She helped him stand up as well.
"Okay mommy. I can have a kiss?" He asked, and she leaned over to kiss both of his cheeks with a smile on her face.
"Daddy, c'mon." August grabbed his hand to pull him up.
"Here I come. Let me talk to mommy real quick." He gestured with his head, and August huffed, but headed to the living room anyway.
Dayvon watched her distract herself by cleaning up the bathroom; putting away the things she'd used to do August's hair and the towel he used after he got out of the tub a while ago.
"Can you just tell me what I can do to fix it? I don't wanna leave the house with you mad at me Autumn." He grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him for a hug. She immediately laid her head down on his chest, not wanting him to see her crying.
"You didn't trust me enough to be alone with my son?" Her voice quivered a bit, and he sighed, holding her tighter.
"It wasn't that I ain't trust you, I was just nervous. You had just came back around and I ain't know what to expect. She made it seem like I was saying spy on y'all on somethin' and it wasn't like that at all. Then I stopped telling her that shit like two weeks ago, she only said it like that yesterday 'cause she was mad and knew you could hear her." He tried to explain.
"He's your son just as much as he is mine. I trust you. I'm sorry that you had to hear that ma. You know I wouldn't be saying or doing no fu shit behind yo' back." He rubbed her face, feeling her nod as she reached up to dry her tears.
"I'm sorry for crying." Her red eyes finally gazed up at him, and his smile returned.
"You ain't gotta apologize. I'm here to talk to you about anything, aight? Any reassurance you need, I got that." He tilted her head down to kiss her forehead at the same time her arms wrapped around him for a hug.
"I love you so much. Thank you."
"I love you." He said back, then leaned over to pick her up by her thighs, hoisting her up against his body.
He carried Autumn into the kitchen where August was now sitting on a barstool, impatiently waiting for one of them to fix his plate. The savory scent of bacon and sausage was practically making him drool.
"Why you carrying mommy like she a baby?" August looked at his dad with a goofy smile, watching Autumn be placed on her feet.
"She is my baby." Dayvon told him, and August's mouth formed an O shape.
"Wait-is that mean Jasmine not your girlfriend now?" August asked with incorrect grammar.
"Yeah. It's just me, you, and mommy now."
"Mommy your girlfriend again?" August pointed to Autumn, who was fixing both of them a plate.
"Well, I gotta ask her again. You gone help me plan it?" He sat down next to him, and August wasted no time to nod his head, earning a smile from Autumn.
"Mommy we can get you flowers and chocolate, and then you have to say yes, right?" August picked up the cup of apple juice she'd just placed in front of him, putting it to his lips.
"I don't eat chocolate stink." She pushed his plate towards him, and one in Dayvon's direction as well.
"Ok. But you'll say yes, right?" He licked syrup off of his finger, glancing up at her.
"Yeah baby. I'll say yes." She chuckled, pouring protein infusion powder into a cup of cold water.
"It tastes better than those thick ass shakes. Taste it." Autumn took the spoon out that she'd just stirred with, then passed the cup to Dayvon. He had to do drill training at work today, which meant he'd be exercising for majority of that time. He usually drunk a protein shake but he's been complaining lately about how much he dreaded the taste.
"Fasho you right on." He pointed at her after taking a sip of the tropical punch flavored drink that reminded him of koolaid, and Autumn laughed, playfully rolling her eyes.
While the two of them finished their breakfast, Autumn pulled out some left over fried chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles and cheese to start on Dayvon's lunch.
After making the club sandwich with the fried chicken, she packed that along with two bags of honey barbecue flavored twist chips, a Gatorade and two water bottles, a pack of Oreos, and two bananas into an insulated lunch tote.
Seeing that he was distracted with wiping August's sticky mouth off, she grabbed a sticky note from the miscellaneous drawer and wrote a note for him and slipped that into the bag as well.
Within the next hour, Dayvon got dressed for work while Autumn put August back in the bed to wait on Hazel's arrival. His fever was still the same temperature, so no school for him today.
"I love you too twin." Dayvon kissed August's forehead, then laid him back in his spot with his iPad.
"You can bring me a happy meal when you come home?" August said in between coughs, a small frown on his face.
"I got you. Call me on my break, aight?" He held his fist out, and August gave him dap while his frowned turned into a smile.
Dayvon grabbed his work bag from the walk in closet before heading towards the kitchen where Autumn was now cleaning. She usually cleaned while she cooked but her hands were tied up with a sick August this morning so she wasn't able to.
"You look so handsome in your uniform." She watched him approach her as she dried her hands off with a paper towel.
"Can you stop talking to me like I'm a slut?" His arms wrapped around her waist while she laughed, caught off guard by his TikTok reference.
"You are one. Look at you." She smiled, feeling his hands drift down to her ass.
"That ain't nothin' new. Let me see yo' mouth ma." One of his hands came up to grab her face, and she tilted her head back, meeting him halfway for a kiss.
"I love you. You know that?" He let go of her bottom lip, bringing his hand back up to her waist.
"It's not like you tell me a hundred times a day or anything." She shrugged with a smile.
"A hundred and one. I love yo' whole life. I'll do anything to make sure you happy." He pecked her lips twice more, causing her smile to grow.
"I love you more. Thank you for being you." She wrapped her arms around his neck to give him a hug, and he returned it around her waist.
"Have a good day today. Be safe." She kissed his cheek while tightening her grip on him.
Dayvon held her for a little longer before finally leaving the house, locking the door behind him. Autumn finished cleaning up, and then she went back to Dayvon's bedroom to be with August.
Spider-Man played on the TV to keep August occupied along with his iPad, and Autumn went into the bathroom so that she could finally do something new to her hair.
"We eat Ching Chong, diamonds they go boing. Hop inside that pussy like a trampoline, boing." Autumn sung along with Young Thug, recording herself on story mode on TikTok.
Her hair was now styled with the four bundles she ordered on Dayvon's Amazon account, and she did two dramatic edges above her eyebrows. Her leave out was flat ironed perfectly so it blended with her bundles as if it was a frontal. She was so proud she hadn't lost the talent of doing her own hair.
She'd also done her makeup and even threw on some jewelry that was gifted to her by the women from Dayvon's church. She looked so good, she couldn't stay out of her camera. One of her drafts that she'd accidentally posted was even starting to gain some traction on people's For You Pages.
In the middle of her recording another TikTok video, the doorbell rang, followed by five knocks on the door. Her mother had stopped by earlier, and neither her nor Dayvon was expecting any other company. She figured it had to be Jasmine.
"Is Dayvon here?" Was the first thing she said when Autumn opened the door.
"No." She answered vaguely, seeing no reason to mention that he'd be here soon.
"I just came to get my stuff." Jasmine told her, and Autumn looked near the driveway to see a Mexican girl getting out of a pickup truck.
"He put everything in the garage already." Autumn stepped to the side to let her in, and Jasmine shoved her hands deeper in her coat as she walked in with a sly roll of her eyes.
Obviously Jasmine knew her way to the garage, so Autumn sat on the living room couch while she went to go get her things with who Autumn assumed was her best friend, Vanessa.
Together, the two made trips back and forth to get all of Jasmine's things. It took them half an hour, and Jasmine didn't even tell Autumn when they were done, she just left and didn't bother to let the garage door back down.
Autumn only realized she was gone when Dayvon walked in through the side door that led to the garage.
"She ain't text me to let me know she was coming. I would've told you." He sat a few bags of groceries on the countertop, and Autumn nodded because she believed him.
"She didn't really say anything. Just asked if you was here and could she get her stuff. She brought a Mexican girl. That's the best friend, right?" She asked out of curiosity.
"Yeah. Her name Vanessa. I ain't never liked that girl 'cause she the type of bitch to put shit in her friends head to make them delusional like her." He shook his head at the past arguments he had with Jasmine just because Vanessa had her thinking he was sneaking around.
"You sure was always offering to take Jas over there."
"Yeah so I could be alone with you. Duh." He said as if it was so obvious, making Autumn laugh. He wasn't shit.
"What'd you buy?" She finally looked up from her phone, allowing Dayvon to see her all the way.
"Damn. You pretty as fuck. I like that lil shit on yo' lips." Dayvon leaned down to kiss her without warning her, and she laughed, grabbing his face.
"You like it so much you tryna put some on your lips too?" She smiled, knowing he was referring to her lip combo.
"Shut yo' ass up." He mushed her head, making her laugh again.
"You didn't answer me. What did you buy?"
"Shit for you to cook tonight. Shrimp fried rice and those lil' steak bite things that be at the hibachi places. And I got you some more stuff since Jasmine took all the girl products and shit." He told her, showing her a bag with pads, tampons, and panty liners inside.
"I'ma take you to the beauty supply tomorrow so you can get some more hair stuff. And wherever else you wanna go, we can go." He added, beginning to pull the groceries out of the bags.
"You are so sweet in your own way. My mommy gave me the details to my bank account today. I can buy stuff on my own now." She chuckled, finding it cute how he kept offering to do and buy things for her.
"I'm yo' man. Just 'cause you got yo' own money don't mean you gotta spend it." He shrugged as if it meant nothing to him, causing her smile to grow.
"How much you end up getting?" He asked.
"12.9 million. But the twelve million is the currency exchange from bitcoin. So only 900,000 actual dollars." She told him.
"Only?" He repeated with a head tilt, earning another laugh from her.
"Oh, I forgot to ask you-do you have, like, a drain cleaner brush? 'Cause August poured the pancake batter out in the sink instead of the trash this morning. Now it's stopped up." She shook her head when it didn't drain after she poured her cup of sweet tea out.
"Yeah. Hold up." He walked to the closet in the hallway to grab it, moving two vacuums out of the way in the process. When he closed the closet door, he briefly glanced in Autumn's opened room, momentarily stopping in his tracks.
He went inside to make sure he wasn't tripping, picking up a ziplock bag of white pills from the dresser. He held them closer to his eyes to get a better look at what he assumed was Percocet pills, but some of them were horizontal bars, which he definitely knew were Xanax.
"Autumn, tell me I'm tripping." He was back in the kitchen quicker than he realized, damn near holding the bag in her face.
"What?" She questioned confusedly, pulling his wrist back so that she could actually see what he was holding.
"Where'd you get those from? Why do you have them?" Autumn instantly recognized the contents of the bag, taking a step back from him with a frown on her face.
"What you mean G? These was in yo' room! I'm trying so hard not to accuse you of nothin' but I'm getting pissed off man. My son be in yo' room Autumn. Tell me I'm tripping." He threw the bag on the counter nearest her.
"You're tripping, the fuck? I know you ain't thinking they mine?" Her eyebrows creased deeply.
"Autumn they was in your room." He repeated.
"What does that mean? Dayvon where would I even get these from? Are you being serious?" She continued to frown, and when he didn't respond, it deepened.
"First of all, how would I buy them? I just got my money two hours ago. Second, how would I get them? The people I used to buy drugs from stay downtown. I don't drive Dayvon, remember? How would I get that far? And I don't even know this address for anybody to deliver."
"Third, you have cameras. Why would I be that fucking dumb? And while my baby here? Dayvon what kind of sense does any of that make?" She threw the bag back towards him, now upset that he'd even contemplate for a second that she would have drugs around her son.
"So how they get there?" He frowned as well.
"I don't know! Maybe ask your girlfriend who has a crazy friend that gets her to do dumb shit if she knows?! She was just here! She's so damn obsessed with being in my place that I wouldn't put the shit past her."
"And for you to think I'd do something as stupid as doing drugs around my kid-the same kid I know I wouldn't be able to be around if I was still on them-is fucked up. You didn't even give me a chance to explain before you just decided they were mine. You know how hard it's been for me Dayvon. Why would I take ten steps back?"
Autumn walked away from him as soon as she realized she was crying, not bothering to wait on his response. She went into her room and unintentionally slammed the door behind her; it shut so hard she was surprised it didn't fall off the hinges.
Instead of following behind her, Dayvon pulled his phone from his pocket to watch the security footage from the front door to see if anyone other than Jasmine and Hazel stopped by. No one had.
He went to the hallway camera, rewinding it until about an hour ago. Pressing the fast forward button, he waited a few seconds before releasing it to play it back in normal speed. He ran his hand down his face after seeing Jasmine quickly throw something into Autumn's bedroom, then she turned around to head in the direction of the garage.
"Man, what be wrong with bitches?" He dropped his phone in frustration, bringing his hands up to cover his face. He was so mad. He couldn't even think straight.
He would've never expected Jasmine to do something so evil and wicked like that. And on camera, too? What was she looking to gain from that? It for damn sure didn't make Dayvon want to be with her again so he didn't understand the point.
On top of being upset with her, he was mad at himself as well. He shouldn't have jumped to conclusions so fast because now he was in murky waters with Autumn. She already thought he didn't trust her and he knew he'd just sealed the deal by accusing her of having drugs in the house with their son.
Mad wasn't even the word. He was pissed.
Smh