My hand flew across her mouth before she could even finish her sentence. “Bitch didn’t I tell you to stop disrespecting my sister?” I could hear Dru snickering behind me.
“Do you know how delusional you sound, shorty? Shit was never that. Moo ain’t never made you think y’all would be anything more than what you are.” He spoke. I could tell he was irritated by the tone of his voice.
“Fuck you Dru! You don’t know what the fuck we had!” She jumped up from the bed and got into his face.
I yanked her back and shoved her onto the bed. “Aye, chill the fuck out.”
She glared at Dru before turning back to me. “Moo wasted my fucking time. If I can’t have him, then no one can.” She wiped her face as a smirk spread across her lips. “You know what Rell and I have in common? Blessing is a problem for both of us. I wasn’t even aware of their beef. See, when you give a man some good pussy, he’ll do whatever to get it again. All I had to do was fuck Ricky once. Ricky and Rell are cousins, if you didn’t figure that out yet. Anyway, like the two idiots they are, they shot at the tour bus and failed, then shot up the club and failed again. So,” She shrugged. “Here we are. Now, can you fucking let me go?”
I stared at her for a second, processing her words, then nodded. “Aight, here’s what’s going to happen…”
Anger surgedthrough my body as I pushed the door of Sage’s daycare open. Bless received a phone call from the school’s director about Sage’s involvement in an altercation with another student. I’m trying to figure out what type of altercation one-year-olds were getting into. Bless is in a meeting with contractors, so she called and asked me to pick her up. I didn’t hesitate.
“Welcome to Brightside Learning Center. How can I help you?” The lady at the front desk asked. She didn’t bother to look up from her phone.
“I’m here to pick my daughter up,” I responded, resting my hands on the desk. She looked up at me, and her eyes widened.
“Oh shit. You’re that football player! Can I?—”
“Where’s my daughter?” I cut her off, not in the mood for the friendly shit. Before she could respond, an older lady stepped into the hall and waved me over.
“Hello, Mr. Simmons. Blessing told me you were picking Sage up. She’s right in here. Can I have a word with you?”
I nodded and followed her into her office. Sage was sitting in a playpen, her face streaked with tears. She stood to her feet and reached for me as soon as she saw me. I scooped her up, tightly embracing her. After a moment, I took a seat in front of the desk. “What happened?” I asked as I rubbed Sage’s back, comforting her.
She sighed and looked at me. “One of the older toddlers bit her during playtime. There were no skin tears, but the spot is a bit swollen.”
I lifted Sage’s arm immediately, seeing the small teeth marks on her arm. My blood boiled at the bruise forming around it. “How did this happen? Where was the teacher? Matter fact. Where the fuck the toddler at?”
“Calm down. His mother is on her way to get him. We don’t tolerate biting, but he is a toddler. This is a normal thing for his age group.”
“That shit ain’t normal! My baby has a bruise on her arm. Where that lil nigga at?”
The office door swung open, causing my head to snap towards it. My heart stopped when I saw the last person I thought I would see, son perched on her hip. Out of all people I expected to see today, Kynnedi damn sure wasn’t one of them.
I scoffed and shook my head. “Kynnedi.”
She paused, looking at me. “Saint…”
“Of course, your son is running around biting other kids.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!” She snapped.
“Exactly what I said. Blessing be up here later to withdraw Sage’s enrollment.” I stood from my seat.
“Mr. Simmons, please. I don’t think the situation is that serious. Withdrawing Sage is unnecessary.”
“Don’t tell me what’s unnecessary when my child is involved. Clearly, they weren’t being supervised for this to happen. Be glad I’m not blasting y’all on social media and filing a complaint with the board. Do better.” I didn’t wait for a response before I left.
I heard footsteps approaching as I secured Sage in her car seat. I pressed a kiss to her cheek and gave her the sippy cup I’d filled with her favorite juice.
“Saint..” Kynnedi said behind me.
I turned to face her with a scowl on my face. “What?”
“Lorenzo wants to apologize to your daughter.”
I couldn’t stop the laughter that erupted. “So, you left me. Told me you didn’t want a life with me, but turned around and let another nigga knock you up, then had the audacity to name the lil nigga after me? Get the fuck out my face.”