Page 47 of Still Yours

“I'm going to get you out of here. I know you can't hear me, but I got you. I'm your dad, and I'm going to do whatever I have to in order to raise you.”

He picked up Ethan and hugged him, but when he sat him down again, he started screaming. Dexz didn't know what to do until Ethan reached for a soother that was on the bed. He was a big boy, but he still acted like a one-year-old. Dexz watched him lie down and calm himself.

He raced off when he snapped out of it and heard the shower running. He burst into the bathroom and was caught by surprise when he saw Kayla in the bathtub, passed out. He looked around the bathroom and saw blood spattered on the walls and the mirror, with needles everywhere. Kayla had shot up almost every vein in her body until she overdosed.

He shook his head and then checked her pulse, but there was none.

“Fuck, Kayla.”

Dexz called the front desk girl and had her call 911, but he left before they got there because he was a hot commodity with the police. He strapped Ethan into the car seat that was in the room and got away from the hotel.

He drove around Harlem in deep thought, trying to figure out his next move. He was hurt about his son's condition and felt like everything he was going through was his fault. It was his drugs Kayla was using, and he was the one locked up while his son had to watch his mother go through a drug addiction and be treated poorly.

After riding around for twenty minutes, he found himself parked in front of his Aunt Silvia’s house. He knew he couldn't show up at Pretti’s shop with him and distract her, even though she said she would help. She had her own job to do, and he didn't want to hold her down with a kid while he figured things out. He decided to break the news to her and also see if she could care for him.

Dexz took the baby from his car seat and turned up his nose. “Damn, lil’ dude, you stink.” He shook his head. “Let me get you inside. I know my aunt will get you right.”

He used the key he had to her home and stepped inside. The air smelled of apple pie and baked chicken. His stomach rumbled, and Ethan began to cry. He figured if his stomach was hurting because of the smell of the food, Ethan’s was too. Dexz hadn’t eaten in God knows how long, and the smell of his aunt’s food sent him a reminder.

“Who baby is that cryin’ in my house?” he heard Silvia say as she walked down her foyer, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

“It’s me, Aunty,” he said when she finally appeared.

“Dexten? Boy, whose baby is that crying in my house? And he stinks!” she said loudly when she approached them as he continued to cry.

“He’s my son. I just took him from his crackhead ass mom. I just found out he was mine, and she had been neglecting him. He’s deaf and has Trisomy 21, so he doesn't understand, but I think he’s hungry.”

Feeling sorry for the baby and her nephew, she took him into her arms.

“He’s probably feeling dirty too. I’ll feed and bathe him. You look hungry yourself. Stay and eat.” She walked off with Dexz right behind her.

He followed her to the guest bathroom she used for her grandkids as she stripped Ethan out of his soiled clothes. Silvia already had diapers and clothes because she had grandbabies his age. Dexz told her everything, and she was lost for words.

“I’m going to get my life all the way together and get a house. Until then, can you keep him? I’ll pay you, and I promise I’ll be involved. I don’t know anything about him, so I want to be around as much as I can to get to know him. I just met him three days ago,” he admitted.

“Sure, nephew, I’ll do it. I can get him to a doctor and enroll him in school to see what you have to do to keep him and help him progress. Since his mom killed herself, you should be able to get custody of him, even on parole, but you’re going to have to talk to the police about what you saw and probably go to court.”

“I don’t want to fuck with the police, but I can do all of that other shit. I just left her there because I was so mad.”

“I understand, and I can set everything up private so nobody on the streets knows you’ve been talking to them. I know the chief of police. I’ll call him before you go, so we can get that straightened out, but you have five months to get your life together. You know I do not judge you, but this is a sign for you to get out of them streets. I know you’re only twenty-two, but there’s no age limit on growing up and being a good father.”

“You’re right, that’s why I’m about to get on my A-game with my business.”

“Well, I got your back, boy. Long as you follow through. I’m about to bathe him in lavender and give him some melatonin so he can eat and get some rest. He looks like his mother wasn’t feeding him. How old is he?”

“He has to be three or four. I don’t have anything on him.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

After Dexz ate, he said goodbye to Ethan and left, feeling good that his son was in a comfortable home and had a solid plan for his future.

$$$$$

He pulled in front of Pretti’s shop because he wanted to tell her the news. He knew she hated Kayla, but he also knew she'd be happy for him becoming a father.

He walked in, and his mood suddenly changed. Pretti had R&B playing throughout the shop while people got their hair cut, their nails done, and their hair done. She had turned her little black-owned business into a comfort zone. Every time he walked in, he felt relaxed.

“What’s up, Dexz?” Storm asked when he walked up to her station. She was braiding a guy’s hair in straight-back braids.