AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I bathed leisurely, scrubbing away paint from my fingers. I hadn’t been in the right headspace to paint like that since before Rory’s passing. I was healing, but I also needed to heal old wounds.
My parents.
I needed to make things right with them. They didn’t do anything but love and want the best for me, but I was too far into my rebellious phase to see reason. I took them guiding me as wanting to control me, but as a parent myself, I could see how I was being a head-in-the-cloud teenager being led byemotions and hormones. After Kiyah was born, Rory confessed to me on one of our sleep-deprived nights that he regretted how everything went down with my parents and encouraged me to reach out, but my guilt and pride held me back. I figured the damage was already done.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s never too late, and tomorrow’s not always promised.
I downed the remainder of my bourbon and appreciated the burn as it crawled down my throat. I lit a cigarette and hummed to Ari Lennox crooning about shea butter in the background. My top lip curled when the song was cut short by an incoming phone call.
“I swear if this is Scam Likely, I’m picking up, and someone is getting cussed.” To my relief, it wasn’t a scammer. “Hello?”
“Hey, Kierra.”
My heart seized when I heard Jonathan’s sullen tone and my child crying in the background.
“What’s going on, Jonathan? Is Kiyah hurt?”
“Not physically. Can you meet me at the dojo with your SUV? I need you to pick up the kids.”
“What happened?”
“Eliza came to the dojo and decided she wanted to take her anger and frustration out on my car. The kids witnessed everything. I’m having the car towed and will ride to the precinct with an officer to press charges against her.”
“They need to throw her ass underneath the jail because now she’s doing too much,” I complained, climbing out of the bathtub.
“I agree. She’s being arrested for disorderly conduct, vandalism, and resisting arrest.”
“How are your kids?” I asked as I dried myself feverishly.
“Let’s just say they’ll be in therapy next week.”
“Fuck…I’m so sorry, Jonathan.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about. I’ll see you when you get here,” he said before disconnecting. I didn’t like how Jonathan sounded. He sounded like a man who’d been defeated.
I’ll have to take care of him real good when he gets home later.
* * *
I pulled into a parking space outside the dojo and found Jonathan holding Daisy and Kiyah in his arms, rocking them gently as he spoke to an officer. I left the truck running and approached them. Grant and Casey tackled my legs, nearly knocking me on my ass, and the look of relief on Jonathan’s face was palpable.
“Hey, boys. Let’s get in the truck. The sooner we get in, the sooner we can stop for a treat.”
“Can we have ice cream?” Casey inquired as I lifted him into the back.
“Ice cream sounds delicious. What do you think, Grant?” He glared at me as if to say, “Duh!”
“Hey, Grant, honey. Use your words for me, okay?”
“I want ice cream,” he confirmed.
“Good stuff. In you go,” I said, hoisting him up. Once he was buckled, I returned for the girls.
“I’m so sorry,” Jonathan apologized as soon as he handed Kiyah to me. She was hiccupping, snotting, and carrying on—still upset by Eliza’s rampage. I glanced at Jonathan’s damaged SUV and shook my head.
“It’s fine,” I said, reaching for Daisy, who had fallen asleep.
“I’ll be home as soon as I can,” he promised.
