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My blood is already boiling yet I need to stay mindful about Mikey. He’s too little to understand, and he’s only just stopped asking me about Derrick every day.
“Clearly, you’re misunderstanding something,” Derrick replies, raising his stubbly chin in defiance. “You can’t just throw five years together away like they didn’t mean anything.”
“You’re the one who threw them away when you cheated. Repeatedly.”
“And I said I was sorry.”
I cross my arms in an attempt to keep a definitive space between us despite Derrick trying to get closer. “You said you were sorry the first time, and then you went and did it again. The second time, too. The third time, you said it was my fault that you cheated, which is a whole new level of shamelessness. Cut the shit, Derrick. It’s over. Leave me alone, or I will file a restraining order.”
“I love you,” he says, inching toward me.
“No, you don’t. You just love the idea of having a warm body in bed next to you, regardless of what you do,” I shoot back. “That’s not me anymore. I deserve better, and so does my son.”
Mikey calls out to me just then. “Momma!”
I look at my boy. He doesn’t seem too happy to see Derrick. The worry in those big blue eyes of his tears me apart on the inside. I don’t want him to witness any of this.
“Dammit, Derrick, will you just leave?”
“No. I need to make you understand that I’ve changed,” he insists.
I can’t help but scoff. “I wonder if you hear how ridiculous you sound.”
“I have changed! I’ve got this new business venture happening. Potential partners. It’s gonna be big, babe, and I want you to be a part of it. I wanna share the fruits of my labor with you and the little guy.” He pauses to smile and wave at Mikey, but I can tell it’s not a sincere smile. I see everything so clearly about him now, including the fake gestures of affection, the tension in every smile, everything. This man mimics humanity, but he never truly internalizes it. “Doesn’t he miss me?”
“No he doesn’t. Leave, Derrick.”
“Why are you being so damn stubborn?” he asks.
“That’s it, I’m calling the cops,” I say, pulling my phone out.
He reaches for it, and I take a quick step back. “Come on, Amaya, don’t be difficult. I’m just trying to make amends here!”
A black Lexus pulls up. The sheer size and the subtle metallic glimmer of its topcoat catches my eye as the driver gets out. It takes a second for me to recognize Kace and to register what’s going on.
“I thought I told you to leave her alone,” Kace says, his tone hard and clipped as he looks at Derrick.
“What the hell, man? This ain’t the Sequoia Estate, it’s a public street!” Derrick retorts, increasingly aggravated while I’m still trying to wrap my head around this unexpected shift.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him.
“We had plans, remember?” he replies.
For a moment, I’m stuck wondering what the heck he’s talking about until I realize what’s happening. Kace was worried about me, and clearly, Derrick’s presence confirms that he had every reason to be worried. He followed me all the way back to Sacramento, and now he’s taking on the part of protector to make Derrick go away.
My pride normally would not allow such a skit to go any further, but Mikey is close to crying.
“Momma! Momma!” he calls out, his eyes filled with tears.
I hate to see my baby like this, and the fact that Derrick has contributed to his discomfort only makes me despise him more.
“You had plans?” Derrick hisses, then gives me a disgusted look. “So, you’re banging your boss now?”
“It’s none of your fucking business,” Kace steps in. Once again, he towers over Derrick in a way that makes my ex-fiancé seem small, meaningless, even. “I thought I told you to stop bothering Amaya, yet here you are.”
“Hey, man, it’s a free country. This is a public sidewalk. I’m allowed to be here,” Derrick replies.
I show him my phone. “I’m calling the cops, Derrick. This is low, even for you.”
