Grant
"Do what?"
I could see tears welling up in her eyes.
"I can't make it back to my room. I'm in too much pain. I need help."
"Call your husband."
"Can't you just help me Grant? Damn."
I huffed.
It's not that I didn't want to help, I just hadn't been this close to her in a very long time.
"Okay, I—I got you. Stay right there. I can't lift you, so I'll need your assistance."
I counted to three and she began holding onto me for dear life.
"Not me, you asshat. I need you to carry Noa. I don't want him to get sand everywhere just yet."
As I prepared to grab Noa, she toppled over.
"I got you Leigh."
She looked into my eyes. From that moment I could not deny that I still loved her.
I snapped out of my daze and continued to lead both of them to Leigh's room.
Once they made it, I changed Noa for the first time, and we headed to the shores.
..
Kaine
I walked onto the shore as I prepared to have my first real conversation with Grant.
I could admit that I felt indifferent.
Noa's his flesh and blood, I shouldn't have overstepped his parentage. But on the other hand, he missed eight to nine months of his life, willingly.
I've witnessed his first words, first full steps, and his teething stage. I've fed him, clothed him, and took the most serene naps with him lying down on my chest.
I didn't want him to be afraid in his crib all alone.
This connection that I have with him, means everything to me, and Grant kind of threatened that.
I can understand how he feels about me.
As I walked towards the shore, Noa spotted me, practically sprinting towards me, and Grant was not to far behind him.
"Dada!"
"Hey, lil man."
I picked him up in my arms and I could see the immediate sadness in Grant's eyes.
"Wanna hold 'em', he got sand everywhere."
I handed him over to Grant, as he wailed for me,
"Noa calm down. Grant's nice..see. You gotta rub his back."
Grant calmed him down by following my directions.
Looking at me as if he was both amazed and disappointed.
..
Grant
So we sat.
"You may think I'm some coward." I said as I watched my son hold onto another man,
"But, I never had my father because my mother made another man who wasn't my father, think that he was for twelve years. Once he found out, she ran to my biological father for support. My biological dad had written her off completely after she decided to come clean. My sister, Yvey, was his as well, and he only took care of her for awhile. I had to get it on my own. He soon left town and my sister, because he couldn't trust a word out of my mother's mouth. So my sister and I were left fatherless. It was my fault."
"So, why put other children in the same predicament? It wasn't your fault at all."
"Guilt, man. I saw that lil girl, I saw my sister."
"And what about this lil boy of yours? Does Leigh know this?"
I shook my head,
"Nah, Leigh came around when my mama married my stepfather. He raised my sister while I was at NYU, moved my mom to the city, helped me pay for books. You would think we were the perfect family. She never asked, I'm assuming now because of her own home situation."
"I think that she and Noa deserve that explanation. What about the lil girl, you began raising her, you just gon' stop? She deserves to know something. I've been apart of Noa's life and I couldn't imagine up and leaving."
I remained silent for awhile,
"Thank you for taking care of him & loving him as your own."
"I remember when I first held Noa. I felt..everything but nothing at the same time. He looks so much like his mother." I said, ashamed.
"I don't understand that man. His mama told me he was 6 lbs, 20 inches. He'd love her unconditionally and he was the quietest baby, it's like he knew when to cry and when not to, is what she says. He's born on my birthday. I looked into his eyes, I felt our connection immediately, but I wasn't going to tell LC that."
"LC? Where'd that come from? What's y'all story?"
"She never mentioned me?" He asked looking perplexed.
"You know, she never really mentioned anyone specifically from her past. "
"So what did you know about her?"
"All I knew was that she wanted that degree bad, like her life depended upon it, and had written niggas off for awhile. She was smart as hell. Had a good head on her shoulders."
"Well I'll tell you that where we come from..that degree had to be her meal ticket. We had to get out, by way of smarts, talent, or athleticism. If you had no talent or confidence, we'd die off or go to prison, eventually. Just trying to survive being broke."
"I get that."
"As far as LC and I..we met in high school and had built a close friendship. I graduated and went to college in North Carolina, the following year she did the same but, as you know , she went to NYU , and we lost touch for a while. I'd say about a decade. We reconnected in LA coincidentally, and now we're married."
"Close?"
"Yes, close."
I laughed,
"You must be her first nigga, first heartbreak.."
He's the man that made it hard for me.
"No, that first heartbreaks were her mama and her daddy." He said with a straight face, "I was her third. You were here fourth."
..
Kaine
"Damn, so what is this? Repentance? For you? She didn't have your child, so you try to keep mine away from his father? You broke her heart, only for the next nigga not to have a chance to mend it?"
"Whoa, son. You talking about something, you know nothing about. Let's continue focusing on Noa. Not me and Leigh. That's my wife you're talking about."
"The wife that you married out of pity? Save that shit man."
"Our marriage had nothing to do with it what happened to y'all shit."
"But don't it got something to do with y'all? Y'all haven't seen each other this whole time, until recently? But end up married after a few months? You sure he ain't yours and I'm just wasting my time."
"What the fuck is wrong with you—here, I knew you would have your doubts about paternity.."
I pulled out the test results,
"What's this?"
"Leigh, don't know I did this, but he's yours. You don't have any reason to deny him anymore. He needs you."
I picked up Noa, "I'm taking him back to his mama, tide is getting pretty high. As long as he's splitting his time between of our homes, he's mine and yours. I'll do anything for him. Since he came from you, if you need anything, we got you."
"That start with him calling you Dada, I can't take that."
"I can be his Pops."
"I can deal with that. You might be a solid dude."
"I'll take him back to Leigh.."
He nodded in agreement.
..
Leigh
I sat for hours, listening to the waves and seagulls. I shut off all of my devices except for an old record player Kaine had, which was playing soft jazz.
I ended up falling asleep on the couch. I was awakened by the sound of heavy feet hitting the aged wood of the ancestral property.
"Daddy's home.." I said, he laughed looking down.
"What's wrong Kaine?"
"Nothing. Just wanted to say thank you for sharing your son with me."
"Thank you for being so generous to us and allowing me to share."
"But, Grant is his father, Leigh. I don't want him to hurt my baby boy. To ensure he don't, we made an agreement. I'm his Pops, no matter what. But his daddy is his daddy, his flesh, and I don't want to get in the way of that. Blurring the lines between father and son can be very detrimental to both relationships and Noa's mental state further down the line."
When did he become so understanding?
I smacked my teeth, "He left me and Noa! Fuck him and his feelings. He deserves nothing from me. He's lucky I let him get this far."
"Leigh." He reprimanded.
"What?" I whined.
"That's his father."
"I can't believe that I'm hearing this from you of all people."
He eyed me.
Reprimanding me, silently.
What could I expect from the person whose hurt me the most?
I kinda liked it.
I kind of didn't.
Kaine, soon after explained their agreement to me.
I soon realized that I was very selfish towards Grant's feelings by dismissing his parental involvement.
"Ugh, I feel so stupid. I could've talked to him a long time ago about this."
"He needed another man to hear him out. You both wouldn't have gotten anywhere. And Noa would have to pay that price."
He kissed my forehead, leaving me alone to face my wrongdoings.
"I'll be in my study if you need me. It's the first door to the right once you make it to the bottom level."
..
Kaine
I retired to my study to check on my business and to get some well needed alone time
I'd been ignoring the constant ringing of my phone.
Krissy's running the office as Leigh and I work remotely, but now I've decided to finally return her calls.
"Kristina, how's the office treating you?"
"Sir, I don't know how you do this. I've never been so busy in my life. But I'm grateful for this opportunity nonetheless. The books are completed for the month, everyone is on time and present, being helpful. They know you're on leave."
"That's good. Any calls from our main competitor?"
"Radio silence."
"That's odd."
"Yes, nobody's heard from him since Leigh's incident. Some rumor flying around is that he gave up, closed up shop in the west, and moved to Syracuse."
"That's unlikely, that man hates the cold."
She laughed humorously , "I know. That's my uncle for you. Sick, sadistic, son of a bitch."
"Why won't you let me help you Kaine?"
"It's too dangerous and no matter how you feel about the man, he'll use that to his advantage. I mean he raised you half of your life."
"You're right."
"Just keep holding down the fort. That's your job. That's how you're helping me."
"How's Leigh and Noa? I miss them being around."
"They are surviving, given their circumstances. I'm sure that they miss you too. Have you heard from Eazy?"
"Yes, he's got his money lined up & he handled that job for you."
Perfect.
..
Flashback
"Yo, E, you ready?"
"Yea. You want me to really smoke this nigga?"
"If he get too rowdy, hell yea."
I remembered coordinates and streets very well, it also helped that he so happened to have a UPS truck in his driveway.
I watched as he drove around until we found his home, and when he did, he quickly put a mask on, kicking down his door.
"Yo, what the fuck?!"
He tried to grab his nine but Eazy couldn't let him do it, he shot his hand expertly and LeSane screamed in agony,
"Shut the fuck up, bitch as nigga." I said calmly, as I was on the satellite phone.
Eazy ran up on him, pinning him against the wall, "You like beating on women? Hm?!"
Eazy punched him in is already bloodied face and continue wailing on him,
"You like to break ribs?" He dropped him and kicked him in every which way. Hearing multiple cracks.
"You wanna drag women down the steps!?"
Eazy soccer dribbled him down his concrete steps.
I could hear his head hit every single one.
"Fuck, with her again and you gon end up in a cemetery."
He looked unrecognizable from the pictures.
I contemplated calling him a bus, but they'd find him in the day time.
Eventually.
..
Once I'd gotten off of the phone with Krissy.
I received a call from an unknown number.
"Hello?"
"Son..you missed me? You have such a beautiful family. So, I was thinking, we test out this prototype together. And it's not a question of if, but when. I suggest you give me an answer now, or a bullet goes through your boy's head."
I was stifled,
"Okay, tomorrow. Where are you? I'll come to you."
"I'm already here baby boy. Let's do this tonight."
..