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“We can only hope.”
* * *
It doesn’t take long for me to get the kids home and to explain to the parents on the phone what happened at the center. When I’m finished and begin to close up the building, I’m surprised to see Reese is still here.
The combined anger and embarrassment of it being my guest who contributed to this chaos bubbles back to the surface.
“What are you still doing here?” I ask, and he blinks quickly in obvious confusion.
“Uh . . . what do you mean? I’m waiting for you.”
“I’m done for the day. I’m just going to go home.”
Reese shifts his weight and shoves his hands into his pockets. “All right, I’ll drive you home.”
I want to tell him that I don’t need him to drive me home, but the last thing I want right now is for another fight to break out on the premises. “Fine.”
We walk in stiff, thick silence to his car, and the drive to my house is more of the same. I have nothing to say to Reese. He did enough talking for the both of us with his fists.
When we get to my house, I’m tempted to leave him on the porch with my slammed door in his face, but he steps in before I have a chance.
“I don’t get it,” he says the second I lock my front door.
“What?”
“I said I don’t get it. Why are you mad right now?” He glowers.
“Why am I mad? Are you kidding me? Do you really not get why I’m so fucking pissed off right now?” I snap at him.
He just screws his face and crosses his arms over his chest in response.
“Fucking hell, Reese, you walked into a community center full of young impressionable kids and knocked some dude out. Trust me, I get it. Benny’s father is a dick, but I spend day in and day out trying to show those kids that violence and fighting aren’t going to get them out of their problems. They all look up to you, and instead of setting a good example, you basically undermined everything I’ve been doing,” I shout at him, my fists balled at my sides and my breath coming fast as I get most of my issues off my chest.
“What the hell did you expect me to do? Just let him put his hands on you?” he barks right back. “I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t realize it was an ongoing thing with him. All I saw was a man in my woman’s face threatening to hit her. He was disrespecting you. I’m never going to let something like that slide. Audience or no audience.”
“He wouldn’t have done anything to me. I know men like that. They only like to beat up on people they think are weaker than him.”
“Yeah, I know people like him too. He’s not going to stop until someone makes him. I made him stop.” He sighs, lowering his voice to a calmer tone. “Look, I’m sorry all that shit happened in front of the kids. I didn’t realize the kids were back there watching. All I was concerned about was making sure you and the little boy were okay. I’m sorry. Truly. I’ll go back and talk to the kids if it’ll make things right.”
Taking in all my options, I think about his offer. It won’t change the past, but if he was able to sit down with the kids and explain to them that what they saw isn’t the proper way to handle things, maybe it’ll smooth things over.
“That could be okay.” I step closer to him and let my head fall onto his chest. I appreciate his apology, and if I’m honest with myself, the fight, along with the shit the cops mentioned to me, really has me deep into my feelings.
He wraps his arms around me and holds me close, kissing the top of my head. “You forgive me?”
“Depends.” I look up at him with a smirk.
“On?”
“What I get in exchange for my forgiveness.”
He smiles wide before he lifts me off the ground and walks me to my room. “How about some pampering? You’ve had a stressful day. You hungry?”
“Hmm, yeah. I missed lunch,” I admit. “I’ve got some fruits in the fridge.”
“Sounds good. You get comfortable. I’ll get it.” He walks out, leaving me in my bedroom to wait.
I kick off my shoes and pull off my shirt leaving my jeans and undershirt on, doing my best to let the stress of the day seep out of my pores.
