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“Daddy!”
“That’s for putting your hands on my child.”
Ahmad didn’t flinch. He remained calm as he touched his jaw and stood upright. His eyes danced with anger. He looked over at me, and I frantically shook my head. His eyes moved to Kari who had her hands over her face, peeking through her fingers.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Ahmad! I didn’t mean to get you in trouble!”
“It’s okay, Rabbit. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He cleared his throat and made his way up the steps. “Y’all come inside.”
He left us in the yard. My parents looked at me.
“What have you gotten yourself into, Nala?” my father asked.
“It’s a lot to the story, Daddy.”
“Clearly. How are you so comfortable with a man that kidnapped you and your child?”
“Ahmad isn’t a bad person—”
“Bullshit! Look where you are! Look how you got here! It’s like Avery all over again.”
I fought back the tears stinging my eyes. He hated Slim and he never let me forget that. While he never placed blame on me for staying with him, he didn’t have to say it for me to know that I played a major part in him treating me the way he did for so long.
Ahmad wasn’t a saint, but he was the person I depended on to keep me safe right now. If he decided he was done and forced me to fend for myself, I was dead. I swallowed hard as I looked up at my father.
“Come inside. We’ll explain everything.”
I didn’t offer any further explanation as I carried Kari up the steps. Once inside, I placed her on her feet and stooped down to her.
“I need you to go upstairs while the grown-ups talk, okay?”
“Okay,” she said solemnly.
She headed for the stairs. Just as she reached the steps, Ahmad was coming up from the basement. She looked up at him with the saddest expression on her face. He stooped down to her and she reached out to stroke the jaw my father hit him in. Then she did the sweetest thing.
She kissed his cheek, then wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. He hesitated for a moment before hugging her back. His eyes met mine and I quickly turned away.
My parents finally entered the house, catching the end of the exchange between him and Kari before he sent her upstairs. He stood to his feet and motioned us over to the kitchen table. I hobbled over and took a seat with my parents following suit. Ahmad copped a seat next to me. Sitting with his hands clasped in front of him, he exchanged glares with my father.
Clearing his throat, he spoke.
“Mr. and Mrs. Stanton, I know you have a lot of questions and I have answers. However, before I give you those answers, let me set some rules. Stay your ass in your seat. I get that emotions are high, but, Mr. Stanton, respectfully, if you come across this table, I’ma fuck you up. Now, I let you slide outside because of lil Rabbit, so don’t ever think you bitched me.”
My father frowned. “Nigga—”
“I’m not done. Now we can handle this shit like four grown ass people, or it can get real ugly. Outta respect for Nala, I’m trying not to shoot your ass, but you got my trigger finger itching right now.”
“Ahmad,” I said firmly. He turned to look at me. “There won’t be a problem. Right, Daddy?”
My father was far from a punk, but I was sure he could see Ahmad’s urge to put him on his back in his eyes. He sat back and folded his arms.
“As long as you keep it a hundred, ain’t no problem. Make no mistake, I’ll die over mine.”
“I don’t wanna kill you, but you ain’t finna disrespect me either. I’ll tell you what you wanna know.”
My father nodded. “Start talking.”
For the next thirty minutes, Ahmad and I gave my parents a full rundown of how things came to pass. A mixture of emotions played on their faces. My father’s fists were clenched so tight I knew his hands would hurt when he stretched them out.
