Page 28 of A Little Bit of Sweetness

“You might think you’re better than me ’cause you got your shit together, but you ain’t better than me, Q.”

“Bye, Trisha. I don’t even know why the fuck I pulled over here to try to talk to you,” I said, turning to walk away.

“Fuck you, Quint.”

I stopped and looked back at her. “No, you know what, I do know why I came. I promised our son that I would find you and let you know he wanted to see you. No matter how fucked up you are, he still wants to see you. When you come to your senses and remember what’s really important in life, you know where to find us.”

This time I didn’t stop until I was back in my truck. I didn’t look back as I tore out of the parking lot and headed back to the shop. I was so distraught as I barreled down the street that I almost ran a red light. I slammed on brakes, causing the boxes in the back seat to slide onto the floor.

My head fell back against the headrest as I gathered my thoughts and waited for the light to change. I used my shirt to dry my face. I was so pissed that I couldn’t control the tears streaming down my face. Although I was furious, more than anything, my heart broke for my son.

I was disappointed in myself for having a child with someone without the capacity to care about him. Vick was one of the greatest blessings life had ever given me. I couldn’t imagine anyone, especially his own mother, not being absolutely in love with him.

I turned the air conditioner on high to help cool myself off as I made my way back to the shop. Thinking about the bullshit Trisha was on reminded me of the run-in Shiloh had with her son’s dad at mini golf. With all the shit he was talking, he barely even looked at his son. He didn’t bother to try to hold or play with him. He was more concerned with Shiloh being with me than me being around his son.

It pissed me off that he tried to embarrass her by bringing up the fact that they had to have a DNA test after their son was born. Shiloh and I had never discussed Amber, but another man was supposed to be her dad until she was almost three years old. I missed precious years of her life because her mom had a live-in boyfriend who she didn’t want to know that she’d been sleeping with me on the side.

It didn’t matter how she got here. Amber was my pride and joy. From the moment I knew she was mine, I was committed to being the best daddy she could ask for. How dare a bitch-ass nigga try to play with the mother of his child and make her look bad. Trying to expose her only showed his hand. He still wanted Shiloh, but if I had anything to do with it, she would never look his way again.

As far as I was concerned, he was out of the game for good. He didn’t love or respect her, and it didn’t seem like he gave a damn about their son. His time was up. Just pulling back up at the shop and seeing her pretty-self hanging out the window of her food truck, talking to customers, instantly reset my mood.

I drove past the front of the truck as slow as I could so I could watch her for a minute. When our eyes connected, I winked, making her cute ass blush. Yeah, whatever our little baby’s sperm donor’s name was fucked up big time. He was as good as dead to us. I couldn’t wait to show her just how serious I was about making her mine.

Shiloh closed right after one, and I had the guys tow her truck inside the garage so I could work after hours. Since I was fixing her truck free of charge, I didn’t want my crew to feel obligated to help. I had no problem making sure my lady had what she needed. I didn’t need any help in that department.

By five, Warren had Vick to call me and let me know he was good. He was taking the boys to his mom’s house for dinner, which meant I didn’t have to worry about what he would eat. Auntie Shar loved to cook, and she loved having the boys around.

“How long you gon’ be in the shop tonight, cuz? It’s supposed to storm tonight.”

“I should be done in about an hour and a half. I got a truck I’m working on solo. I wanted to do it after hours,” I explained.

“Oh, OK. I remember you said something about that.”

“Yeah, I should be able to wrap it up in a little bit. I’ll call you when I’m on the way to get Vick.”

“Alright. I’ll holler at you later.”

I ended the call with my cousin and started a random playlist that could get me through a few hours of work. I had put in over a hundred radiators, so it was second nature to me. As I removed the damaged radiator the shop’s phone rang. It was after hours, but since I was in the building, I put it down and headed to the phone.