“Daddy, I’m so very sad,” she sighed, truly laying it on thick.
“And why are you so very sad, baby girl? Aren’t you going to a party with cake, bouncy houses, and ice cream?”
“Yes, but you left and haven’t come back yet. I wanted you to come.”
“Sugar, I wanted to be there, but Daddy had to come to work.”
“I hate work,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Me too sometimes, but I’ll be home before you wake up tomorrow, and then no more work for daddy.”
“And, and this dress is ugly.”
“Cadence, you and mommy look very beautiful. I like your hair too.”
“I got braids like a big girl.” She smiled, now bouncing in her seat.
“Exactly, so be a big girl and go easy on your mama today, aight? Let me talk to her right quick.”
Cadence handed the phone back over without protesting, already humming something to herself. Crisis averted for the moment.
“You good?” Ducane asked, quieter now, just for me.
“Yeah. I’m good.” I glanced at Cadence, who’d found something fascinating out the window. “She’s been like this all day. I think it’s you.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“It’s not good or bad. It’s just a new reality. It was just me, and whatever mood she woke up with was mine to manage. Now half of it’s about you not being in the room.”
He was quiet for a second.
“Shit, that’s on you, ain’t it?”
I hung up and reclined back into the seat. That was rude, and this was another phase of this that I wasn’t going to deal with for much longer.
My phone buzzed. I declined it. It buzzed three more times. I declined those, too. When Kareem’s phone started ringing I already knew who it was.
“It’s for you, Skye,” Kareem said, holding it back toward me. Ducane’s voice came through before I even had it to my ear.
“That was extremely rude and unnecessary, Cane. And if our child wasn’t in this car, ear hustling,” I said, looking over at Cadence. “I’d tell you where to go and how to get there.”
“Oh, I’m Cane now.”
“That was a very Cane thing you said, but hey, it’s okay. Just keep being a grown-ass man-child about this. She misses you, and somehow you turned this on me.”
“My bad. I ain’t tryna be here, but it’s what I gotta do. I guess I got an attitude too.”
I looked out my own window for a second. “I gotta let you go. We’re here.”
“Tell the twins I said happy birthday.”
“I will.”
“Bye, daddy. See you when you get back. Love you.” Kareem parked and helped her out, and I was still holding the phone, feeling an array of emotions. The first being irritation. The second sadness. And the third, lying underneath, was joy. I was happy to have him back, even if he was being petty.
“I shouldn’t have said that shit, Skye, my bad for real. I’ll be home in the morning.”
“Cadence will love that. See ya.” I disconnected and grabbed Cadence’s gift and hand. We made it to the backyard, and Cadence took off running to hug her cousins. My phone vibrated again. Ducane was not about to get on my nerves.