Page 52 of Only for Me

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “Nah, you aren’t dressed, Kari. That shit is thin as hell. You’re gonna fucking freeze then blame that shit on me.”

After glaring at me a few seconds longer, he tried to lift from the ground, planting his hands beneath him and lifting one foot, but he stumbled and crash landed again.

“Fuck. Is this really my life?” I mumbled.

I moved close enough to offer my hand which he knocked away. “I don’t need you to do shit for me. I said go in the gotdamn house. And where is my baby while you’re out here trying to freeze to fucking death?”

“I’m not answering questions. You’re drunk and high…” He reeked of alcohol and weed which explained his behavior, or at least some of it. The problem was, what had made him get this damn high and drunk? While he struggled to get up, I walked to his Range and leaned inside, hoping he was too out of it toremember the key fob. When I found it in the center console, I snatched it up, slammed the door, and hit the locks.

“I’m going inside. You have ten minutes before I lock the door then your ass is sleeping out here. At least with me keeping this…” I held up the fob. “I know you can’t hurt anyone else tonight. If your dumb ass wants to freeze to death, then I guess I’ll have to explain to Avi when she’s old enough that her father was an amazing quarterback and also a gotdamn idiot.”

I stormed off, leaving him standing in the center of my lawn, and slammed the door when I got inside. I paced the living room for what felt like an eternity before the door opened and Omiri shut it behind him, turned the lock, then leaned against it, glaring at me with his eyes blazing red, looking like he had been dragged through the pits of hell.

“Are you really this stupid? You can’t even stand up straight and you got behind the wheel of a car. You could have killed someone. You could have killed yourself.”

“Would it have fucking mattered?”

The weight of his stare and the seriousness in his tone made my chest tight. After a few minutes he pushed away from the door and stumbled to the sofa, balancing himself on whatever he could get his hands on until he sank into the corner, dropped his elbows into his thighs, and buried his face in his hands.

I placed the key fob on the table furthest from him and crossed the room cautiously, stopping in front of him.

“Hey, what the hell is going on with you?” Originally I was angry but now I was concerned.

“Just leave me the fuck alone for a minute Makari, damn.”

I reared my head back.

“You don’t get to pull up at my house at three in the morning drunk off your ass, crash into my gotdamn car, and tell me to leave you the fuck alone. Whatever the hell is going on, there’sbetter ways to deal with it than putting your life and others in danger. I can’t fucking believe this. I can’t believeyou…”

He lifted his head and glared at me. “Bruh, I don’t even know why the fuck I came here.”

“Me either and I wished you hadn’t. This…” I flicked my hand in his direction. “What you did tonight is so insensitive. You don’t have a damn clue how this feels.”

“This isn’t about you, Kari. None of this has shit to do with you…”

“It has everything to do with me. You got drunk, got behind the wheel of your truck, and drove here. What if I had to explain to Avi that she lost her father because he was stupid enough to drive drunk or what if some other mother had to explain to their daughter that her father wasn’t coming home like my father didn’t come home because another selfish muthafucker decided he didn’t give a damn about his life or anyone else’s and got behind the wheel of his car when he could barely remember his name.”

My chest was tight, tears were in my eyes, and he just stared at me like a gotdamn insane person. “You know what fuck it. You don’t care so I don’t care. Do what the hell you want to do, Omiri.”

I stormed off but didn’t get far because his hand wrapped around my wrist and he yanked me toward him. I landed awkwardly in his lap and he wrapped his arms around me.

“Hey, chill, calm the fuck down, Kari. Shit man, my bad, I didn’t know.”

I struggled to free myself but he held me tighter, mumbling chill over and over again with his face pressed against mine.

“I messed up, aight. Can you please just calm the hell down?”

“Can you just let me go? I don’t want to do this with you.”

“Kari, chill, man. I’m sorry, aight. I fucked up but I wasn’t being selfish. Can we talk for a minute?”

“Talk…” I snorted. “I don’t want to talk, Omiri. I want you to let me go so I canleave you the fuck alone.”

He snorted and held me tighter, shifting his body beneath mine so \ I was against his chest, my legs between his.

“Tonight was rough. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“You’re being the exact person I thought you would be.”