Page 60 of Full Court Press

“What happened?” Braelyn asked.

“I don’t know, but that was Khalil’s grandmother. She told me to come to the hospital as soon as I can.”

“Let’s go.” We all hurried down the street with my heart pounding. I had no idea tonight would go like this. On Halloween, of all nights. I didn’t know what happened, but I prayed Khalil was okay.

I sat next to the bassinet with my elbows on my knees and head low. I may have appeared calm, but my whole body was on fire. The amount of rage I felt after seeing my baby with her arm bandaged from third-degree burns made me want to find Nia and choke the life from that neglectful bitch.

I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. I tried working with her because Kiyanne deserved to have both of her parents in her life, but this shit was beyond inexcusable.

I knew I shouldn’t have trusted her.

My nana told me not to let her leave with her, but because I wanted Nia to be a mother for fucking once, I allowed her to take her on the weekends.

Big fucking mistake.

While I was at home getting ready for the Halloween party, Nia’s grandmother called to tell me that Nia had left Kiyanne with her ten-year-old cousin after the party. From the information she gave me, Brianna was in the kitchen, cooking chicken nuggets on the stove, while Kiy was in her bouncer, and she accidentally knocked the pan over and burned her leg and Kiy’s arm.

Mena immediately rushed them to the hospital and called me, explaining what happened. I barely finished dressing before Nana and I hurried out of the house to get to the hospital. I was so heated that I forgot my phone at home.

I didn’t feel bad about going off on Ms. Mena when I arrived because this was as much her fault as it was Nia’s.

Seeing my baby all bandaged up made me want to kill Nia’s dumb ass and put hands on Ms. Mena too, who left after I cussed her ass out.

Where the fuck was the supervision?

Why the fuck did they have my baby in the kitchen in the first fucking place, and who authorizes a ten-year-old to look after a four-month-old baby?

This shit was too much and had me questioning my own fucking fatherhood. I didn’t ask for this, but the little princess who had to be sedated due to her being in pain, lying in the big bassinet, made tears come to my eyes.

Nana placed her hand on my shoulder as I looked up to see her holding out a sandwich to me.

“I can’t eat right now, Nana.”

“Try, baby. Please.”

I sat back, taking the sandwich from her. “Did you get in touch with Piper yet?”

“Yes, she’s on her way. Your mom is on her way as well.” She rubbed my back as I attempted to take a bite of the sub sandwich she’d bought me. I looked over at my baby girl, and tears welled in my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall.

“You can tell me you told me so. I wouldn’t even be mad about it.”

“I ain’t doing that. In life, we make mistakes. The only thing you have to do now is learn from them.”

“I want to strangle her stupid ass so bad,” I griped.

“But you won’t. You weren’t raised that way. Let God work. He knows what to do about this situation, and He will handle her as He sees fit.”

I leaned my head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling.

“I’m a bad father, ain’t I?”

“Absolutely not. You are an amazing father.”

“If I’m amazing, then why do I keep making stupid-ass decisions when it comes to Nia being a mother to our daughter? I got a lot of stress on me. The combine is coming up soon; four different teams are already trying to sign me, and being the freaking pillar of True is taking a toll on me. I try not to let it get to me, but at this point, I don’t know if I want to⁠—”

“Don’t you dare say it, Lilo. I know it’s stressful to have a child with someone who isn’t mentally stable, but that’s why you have me. I may be older, but I am more than capable of taking care of Kiyanne. You just insist on trying not to put too much on me by rejecting my help. I know you want her to be a mother to Kiyanne, but you can’t make nobody do nothing they don’t want to do, Lilo. You hear?”

I sighed. “Yeah.” Just then, the curtain opened, and Piper appeared. As soon as I saw the red marks on her face, her hair disheveled, costume ripped with little specks of blood on it, my solemnity turned to anger again.