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Blaze was forty-five minutes late picking them up before Kinsley went back into the school to call both her parents. Of course, her father didn’t pick up. Usually when he was on his bullshit, he didn’t have his phone nearby.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a project due last week?”
“She didn’t tell us until Friday for Monday, and I forgot.”
“What do you need from the store, Kinsley?”
“Some construction paper and a project board.”
Shaking her head, Denali turned toward the refrigerator and looked inside to see what she was going to cook. Her kids didn’t eat leftovers after the third day, so she usually cooked twice a week.
“Well, I’m about to cook, so I’m not taking you to the store. Call your daddy and tell him to bring you what you need. If he doesn’t, I’ll do a Target delivery order for you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Kinsley agreed, trying to quickly leave the kitchen.
“Hey! No TV or iPad for the next two nights. Next time you have a project due, tell me as soon as school is over. You know we don’t play about those grades in this house.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kinsley left but returned quickly and leaned against the doorframe. “Daddy ain’t gonna answer the phone. He didn’t answer when I called him at school. Can you just do the delivery order now?”
As much as Denali wanted to defend Blaze, she couldn’t. Her daughter was right. There was a really great chance he wouldn’t answer if she called. They wouldn’t hear from him until he stopped doing whatever he was doing and got back to his phone.
“Alright, baby. Gone to your room.”
Groaning, Denali walked over to the kitchen table and grabbed her phone. She called for her son, Amir, and asked if he needed anything from the store before she placed the order. When he said no, she went onto the Target website, trying to think of anything else she could add to make the delivery fee worth it. Deciding to stock up on toiletries and fruit, Denali was just about done with her order when she received a call from Blaze. A part of her wanted to ignore it and let him think the worst, but she’d never been that type.
“Hello?” she answered, sitting in the brown chair that was closest to the back door.
“You got the kids?”
“Who else would have them, Blaze? Oh, I’ll tell you… any-fucking-body! You had my kids at school an hour after it let out and I had to leave work early to pick them up. Where the hell were you?”
“I apologize, D. I got a call for an interview with this construction company that I couldn’t pass up. My phone was in the car. I wasn’t expecting the shit to take so long, otherwise I would have asked if you could pick them up.”
“Did you at least get the job?”
“Yeah, but it’s eight to five, so we’re going to have to figure something out for the kids.”
“Well, that’s fine. I’m just glad you got the job. Plus, you’ll be working while they’re at school, so you’ll have no reason to not spend time with them throughout the week.”
“And the shit pays double what I was making at the warehouse, so that’s a plus. I can start back helping you with the bills now.”
Rolling her eyes, Denali shook her head. His ass could havebeenhelping her with the bills, but she let it ride. When they first got together, Blaze never had financial issues. She didn’t know it, but his job was a front. He was heavy in the streets, and the money he used to pay her bills and spoil her was profit from his illegal deeds.
He’d purchased them a home in Germantown, but when he was arrested, Denali sold it for his bail money. Blaze had gotten locked down right after Amir’s first birthday. He ended up doing five of his ten-year sentence and had been struggling to find a legit job that paid well ever since. Throughout the summers, he would wash cars and cut grass, but the money he made he would blow on himself and the kids. As long as Denali could cover the bills and see the smiles on her children’s faces, she was good, but because her job was commission based and the boutique business was starting to slow down, it wasn’t as easy as it was to handle everything on her own anymore.
“I hope so, because my commissions aren’t flowing in like they used to, so I need your help with more than just the kids’ clothes and stuff. If you’re going to stay here, you need to help with the bills again too.”
“You don’t have to worry about that now. Didn’t I take care of you before I got locked down?”
Massaging her temple, Denali nodded. “Yes, Blaze.”
“And I’m going to take care of you now. I ’preciate you being patient with me. Shit’s finally looking up for me, and I’m going to spoil you just like I used to back in the day.”
“Mhm. Right now, I just need you to stop by Walgreens and get Kinzy a couple of things for her project.”
Blaze chuckled. “I can do that. Just text me what she needs, and I’ll stop and get it on my way home.”
“Okay,” she agreed with a nod before disconnecting the call.
