Chapter 14
Kalil
It’s been almost a week since Riley’s funeral. Mak is slowly starting to show signs of her normal self again. This morning I took her to the building I’m giving her to be a trainer. It was the happiest I’ve seen her in weeks. She started talking about putting balance beams in one spot and parallel bars in another. I had no idea what she was talking about, but she seemed happy so I went with it. We stayed there for about an hour while she went over how she wanted it to look and the colors she wanted to paint it. She told me I couldn’t just give it to her; I have to sell it to her. I’m not sure why this bothers me. She isn’t like any other female I’ve ever been with. Prime example, last night for mood music she made a playlist. The first song that played was Joe Budden’s “Remember the Titans.” I think there were maybe two actual slow songs mixed in and they don’t really count since they had rappers in them. Most chicks would be happy and go with the flow. Not her. She said I should be glad that she’s still living with me. What type of shit is that? She even told me she wanted to buy her own car. Said she didn’t want to be that dependent on me. I understand her need to be independent, but what about my need to be a provider? We went out for lunch and now we’re headed to get KJ. She wanted me to drop her off at home before going since Jasmine has an attitude, but I make her come with me.
“Maybe she doesn’t want me around KJ,” she says as we pull into the driveway.
“She’ll get over it.” I get out and go to the door. I never have to actually knock. KJ is usually too excited to stay in the house and wait. He’s always outside when I come for him. I can hear voices inside, but no one answers the door. I yell for Jasmine to open the door. I hear her yelling, but can’t make out what she’s saying. KJ is crying, telling her he wants to go with me. She finally opens the door.
“It’s not your turn to have him yet.”
Is she fucking serious? “Since when do we actually go by the schedule?”
She points towards Mak and says, “Since you started messing around with her.”
“What the hell does she have to do with anything?”
“Everything, I don’t want her around my son!”
I’m pretty sure Mak can hear her, but I’m not about to entertain this. “KJ come on, let’s go.”
“He’s not going with you, Kalil.”
“Daddy, I need help,” KJ says.
I push past Jasmine and follow his cries into the kitchen. The house is a mess. KJ is in his high chair and reaching for me. I don’t even try to figure out what’s on the plate in front of him or why he’s in a high chair.
Jasmine follows me to the door and says, “If you take my son I’ll call the cops.”
“Let me know how that works out for you.”
When we get back to the house I try to wrestle with KJ, but he doesn’t want to. He goes to Mak and turns into a snitch.
“Daddy hurt my belly.”
She brings him over to me and holds my hands while he does his version of punching me in my stomach. I pretend to cry, but he ignores me. They go into the kitchen and I lie down on the couch. I can hear them singing and laughing as I start to doze off.
When the laughing stops I hear Mak say, “KJ no, you’re supposed to tell me when you have to potty.”
KJ responds with, “I sorry, don’t hurt me. I promise not to again.”
“Why would you say that? I’m not going to hurt you, stop crying. Let’s go change your clothes and you can play with your toys in the bath tub.”
He doesn’t stop crying. I hold my head up and watch them as they come out the kitchen and go to the stairs. “KJ stop crying, nobody’s going to hurt you.” He doesn’t even look my way.
“I’ll give him a bath, maybe he’ll feel better afterwards.”
I lie back down. A little while later I hear KJ screaming and Mak trying to calm him down. When I get to the bathroom where they are I see her kneeling on the floor by the sink and KJ in the corner by the tub. “What happened?”
“I don’t know, I tried to undress him for a bath and he just started screaming.”
I squat in front of him and ask, “What’s the matter, man? You don’t wanna take a bath?”
“Mommy said not tell Daddy.”
I reach to pick him up and say, “You can tell Daddy anything.”
“No!” He pushes my hands away.
“KJ stop. What’s wrong with you?”
“Kalil, don’t yell at him, he’s scared.”
I ignore her. He has no reason to be scared. “Stop crying and take your clothes off so you can take a bath.” He doesn’t move. I pull him closer to me and start taking his clothes off. He actually fights me. Mak would have a fit if I popped him, but I’m seriously considering it. I think she can read my mind. She squats in front of me and tries to calm him down.
“KJ it’s okay, you’re just…” She stops and frowns. I frown at her. She’s not helping at all right now. He’s still struggling to get away from me.
“KJ whatever you’re doing right now you really need to cut it out.”
Mak looks up at me and says, “Kalil, his back.”
I don’t like the look in her eyes. I let KJ go and he turns to her and hugs her. There’s a good chance I’m going to jail tonight. KJ isn’t as dark as I am. Bruises show up easily on him. This is more than a bruise. My son has the print of an iron on the lower right side of his back. I pull his pants off and see two thick marks on his butt. They look like belt marks. I’m too upset to ask him what happened or do anything other than stare at the marks.
Mak asks, “KJ do your boo boos hurt?” He shakes his head left to right and she asks, “Can you tell me how you got them?”
“Troy had accidents. Daddy got mad.”
Who the fuck is Troy?
“Daddy’s not mad, baby. He just wants to make sure you’re okay.”
“Mommy said daddy mad at my boo boos.”
“Is that why you didn’t want to tell Daddy?” He shakes his head up and down, and she says, “It’s okay. Does the water hurt your boo boos?” Another head shake. “Okay, I won’t let the water touch it.”
I leave the bathroom and try to call Jasmine at least three times. She doesn’t answer. This is the real reason she didn’t want him to go with me. It had nothing to do with Mak. I have no idea who Troy is, but she apparently let him do this to my son. Without thinking I punch the wall. It hurts a lot more than I thought it would. I tell Mak I’ll be back as I head for the stairs. She yells my name and grabs my shirt just as I’m about to go down.
“You’re not going over there while you’re this upset.” How’s she going to stop me? I keep walking. She doesn’t let my shirt go. “Kalil, stop, just calm down first.” She slips in front of me and puts one hand on the wall, the other on the banister. It’s almost funny. I pick her up and move her aside. “KJ, Daddy wants a hug!” She’s cheating. She knows that other than her, he’s my only weakness.
“Really, Mak?”
“Yes really.” She folds her arms across her chest as KJ comes to the top of the stairs.
“Hug Daddy.” He’s holding his arms out to me and he’s still naked.
I smile. “Daddy has to go for a minute. I’ll give you a hug when I come back.”
Mak checks my pockets and says, “KJ, get your PJ’s we can go with Daddy.”
She’s looking for my keys. When she realizes they’re not in my pockets she goes downstairs.
KJ runs to his room as he yells, “PJ’s Daddy.”
Makynzee
Kalil is in his evil mode again. I’m pretty sure I added to it by taking his keys. He tried calling Jasmine a few more times and she wouldn’t answer. He’s letting his anger cloud his judgment, which is why we’re headed back to her house now. I’m hoping she’s not there. Troy either; whoever he might be. I’m not that lucky. She’s on her porch smoking a cigarette and talking to some guy. They look like they’re arguing.
Kalil gets out th
e truck and says, “Stay in here.”
I watch as he walks towards the porch. Jasmine is yelling at him, trying to explain what happened.
“It was an accident. He was playing by the ironing board and it fell on him.”
Sounds like a lie.
“If it was an accident why didn’t you tell me? Why’d you tell him not to tell me, why the fuck did I have to come all the way back over here instead of you just answering your damn phone?” He’s not even focused on Jasmine. He’s watching the guy on the porch, who for some unknown reason, is smiling at him.
“Because I knew you would react like this!”
“How does an iron accidentally fall on his fucking back Jasmine and why does he have belt marks on him!?” I glance around the neighborhood to see if their yelling brings out any neighbors, but it doesn’t. I wonder if I look that tiny when I’m standing next to Kalil. I don’t think I do, I’m taller than her.
“He’s a toddler, he gets into all kinds of things!”
“Jasmine you can miss me with that bullshit, tell me what happened to KJ.” I feel like I should intervene, but I guess I’m not moving fast enough. The guy on the porch says something. Kalil is still watching him. Jasmine looks shocked.
“Troy stay out of this,” she yells.
I get out of the truck.
Kalil says, “KJ said Troy had an accident. What does that mean?” He doesn’t take his eyes off of Troy. Jasmine is looking at me. I’m waiting for her to answer him. I need her to say Troy had nothing to do with this, but I know better. She looks too scared. I glance up at Troy. He’s walking towards Kalil. Maybe he has a death wish. He does see the look in Kalil’s eyes, doesn’t he?
“She said it was an accident. What more you want her to say?”
I don’t even think I saw Kalil move. I just know he’s no longer by Jasmine and she’s screaming for him to stop before he hurts Troy. She yanks at his shirt to try and pull him away. That’s not going to work, I tried it earlier and I’m pretty sure his intentions are to hurt him. Why do people say such dumb things when they’re scared?
“Makynzee help me!”
Like that. What the hell am I supposed to do? I don’t move, but I guess I should probably do something. If I don’t, Kalil will probably kill him. I say his name. I know it’s too low for him to hear me, especially with Jasmine’s yelling. I go loser to them and say, “Kalil, stop, you’ll kill him.” That wasn’t stupid, right? It seems like he considers it. Briefly. Jasmine tries to pull him away again. This time she grabs his arm. He shakes her off causing her to fall back onto the porch. I’m not stupid enough to try to break them up. I’m not stupid enough to let Kalil keep punching this guy either. Plan B. I can hear KJ crying. That means he can actually see us. Jasmine is up again and yelling something incoherent. I tell her to shut up; her voice is annoying the hell out of me. “Kalil listen, KJ is crying for you. He can see you…you don’t want him to see you like this, right?” I think it’s working. I run to the truck and open KJ’s door wide enough for him to see me, but not a clear view of Kalil. I wipe his face and say, “Call your daddy, baby.” He screams for him. Jasmine isn’t yelling anymore. I look back at the porch and see Kalil backing away from Troy.
While walking away he says to Jasmine, “You let him put his hands on my son, you’ll never see him again.”
She follows him from the porch. Stupid! Why can’t she just leave well enough alone?
“Kalil, it wasn’t like that, let me explain.”
“You should have been explaining when the shit happened!”
She pushes him and yells, “You can’t keep him away from me. He’s my son, too!”
He grabs her arm and pushes her away from him. “Then act like it!”
I leave KJ and go to Kalil. I grab his face with both of my hands and force him to look down at me.
“Not worth it, let’s just go.” He stares at me. Doesn’t move or respond. I wonder what he’s thinking.
Jasmine says, “We have joint custody Kalil. You can’t just take him. I’ll call the cops and tell them what you did to Troy.”
She can’t be serious. I let Kalil go and turn to her. “Your son has belt marks on him, and an iron burn on his back. Call the cops. Let’s see if they’re more concerned with your boyfriend’s injuries or your child’s.” She glares at me. In this instance she reminds me of my mom. How could any woman put a man before the safety of their child? It makes no sense to me. Kalil’s hands are on my waist. I see movement from the corner of my eye. Troy is struggling to get up and KJ is calling for Kalil again. He gently pulls me back towards the truck. Jasmine doesn’t watch us leave this time. She’s already on the porch helping Troy up as we leave. He pushes her away and stumbles towards the porch steps. She follows him. Idiot.