Page 20 of What I Needed

“Hey, pretty girl! Did you get some good sleep last night?”

Riverlynn responded in her baby talk, and I watched for a moment. Erissa might not have had any experience with babies, but she was a natural, and thus far, I had no regrets about hiring her. I turned to leave but paused when I heard Erissa’s voice.

“Oh, this afternoon, I have to meet the guy who cuts my grass to pay him because he only takes cash. Is it okay if I take Rivvy, or would you rather me ask him to come at a different time? I want to check on the house while I’m there, too, so we may be gone for about an hour.”

“You can take her, as long as you don’t drive your car,” I reminded her.

She rolled her eyes.

“Whatever! My car is just fine, but if you insist, I’ll drive your luxury SUV.”

“See you later.”

When I arrived at practice, as always, it was nonstop until we broke for lunch, usually sometime between noon and one thirty.

“Aye, have you heard from your baby mama?” Jaxon asked.

“Not a peep.”

“Damn, it’s been over a month,” Desmond said.

“Yeah. It’s kinda crazy when you think about it, but men go without seeing their kids for months at a time all the time, and nobody says a word,” I pointed out.

“True, because my pops left when I was two, and didn’t come back around until right before the draft,” Boris shared.

“Mine showed up a little sooner, but it was only because he saw my potential. He showed his true colors before I was drafted, and I dodged a bullet,” I told them.

We didn’t speak for a minute as we scarfed down our food.

“Men really don’t be shit,” Jaxon blurted out.

We all laughed at his observation, but I couldn’t let him group all of us together like that.

“A lot of us are fucked up, but there are some good ones out there. Jaxon, your parents have been married for forty years. Desmond, your parents aren’t married, but your pops has always been around, ain’t he?”

“We ain’t all fucked up, but don’t nobody talk about the good men out here, which makes us all look bad,” Desmond responded.

“Did you connect with the private investigator?” Boris asked.

I shook my head as I finished downing the food in my mouth.

“Not yet. I’m not sure if I want to.”

“Shit. Why the hell not?” Boris questioned.

“Man, if she left baby girl in front of my door, she did it for a reason. Clearly, she’s not ready to be a mother.”

“You got a point, and honestly, if she wants to see her, she knows where to find her,” Jaxon reasoned.

“Exactly. Plus, what am I supposed to say to her when I find her? I honestly don’t care why she left her, because this shit could’ve been handled a number of ways other than leaving her at my door and running away. If I find out who she is, she’s not getting my daughter back, so there’s really no point.”

“We hear you, bruh. Calm down,” Desmond said,

“I’m calm, man, but I get pissed every time I think about the shit. It’s not like I denied the baby. We could’ve figured this shit out had she told me what was up.”

“Everything you’ve said is on point, bruh. We’re on your side,” Jaxon said.

“Shut the fuck up, man. Y’all had plenty of jokes when I told y’all about this.”