Page 45 of Quiet as Kept

“Let’s talk,” I said.

Dakota was in my arms, so Jayla tried to pick up Destin. Destin wasn’t interested. She kicked and wiggled until Jayla reluctantly put her down.

“I feel like they don’t love me,” she whined.

I didn’t respond. Instead, I walked into the girls’ room. Trinity was standing at Dakota’s bed, fully dressed, and loading her suitcase.

“Hey, Trin.”

The girls ran into her open arms, and she gave them hugs “Hey, big bro.”

“Can you give us a minute?”

She nodded, gave the girls one last firm hug, and left the room.

Jayla plopped down on Destin’s bed.

“Look, I don’t want you to ever say that I tried to keep the girls from you, so here they are. You probably want to get some kisses and hugs, maybe read them a story, or braid their hair . . . whatever you need to do to feel like y’all had bonding time because you can’t stay.”

She made a small gasping noise.

“You can’t, Jay. I don’t know if that was your intention or what. But if it was, if it wasn’t, you can’t stay here. Your life isn’t here. I mean, it could be on Jackson Island, but it can’t be here.” I pointed down to the floor. “It can’t be here in my house.”

She rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. “For a person who never had much to say, for these last few days, you’ve been saying a mouthful.”

“Keeping my thoughts to myself made everybody comfortable, except me. It’s my time.” I shrugged my shoulders. She sighed. “You still haven’t heard from dude?”

Her head fell, and she looked down at her feet. “He keeps saying he’s on the next flight, but you see he isn’t here.”

“Do you know where he is? Why don’t you just go to him?”

“Because I don’t have any money.” She had an attitude like I was the one who ran her pockets. “All the money is his. He won’t let me work a job, and he rations the money.” She blew out a heavy sigh. She lowered her voice to add, “I’m in a fucked up position.”

“How much do you need, Jay? Enough for a plane ticket where? Miami? L.A.? London?”

“I would love to go to London to pack my stuff and come back to the States.” Crocodile tears began to form in her eyes. She was such a cry-on-cue little actress. “But I don’t have anywhere to live here.”

The conversation I had with my father ran through my mind. He’d asked me what I would do if my ex needed me, and I said throw money at the problem. The fact that I was actually inthe same hypothetical situation and was fully prepared to throw money at the situation made me want to smile. My therapist would be proud of how self-aware I was. It had taken years for me to come to know and understand myself. This was proof that I was moving in the right direction.

“Where would you want to live . . . hypothetically?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Miami.”

I had a property in Miami. It was the same one she stayed in when she went to have the mommy makeover almost two years earlier. I bought it when I thought flying from major city to major city to hit up strip clubs and fuck indiscriminately was where it was at.

Now, I was a full-time dad and completely uninterested in wasting time on women or situations that didn’t serve my current lifestyle. I had no use for a place in Miami.

I nodded slowly. “I’ll have Dawn book you a ticket for tomorrow.” I was already texting my assistant telling her what I needed. “She’ll get the place in Miami ready for you and arrange for your things to be shipped there from London. I’ll give you her number so you two can talk. Two things. First, don’t treat my assistant like shit. She works for me, not you. Be kind and courteous to her. Understand that everything she’s doing for you is because I asked her to do it. Treat her like she’s doing you a favor because she is. Secondly, don’t play with my girls’ emotions. We’ve been in this room talking for the last few minutes, and you haven’t paid either of them any attention. You haven’t tried to hug them or engage them. Nothing.”

Her mouth fell open. “You just saw me pick Destin up, and she wiggled out of my arms. They don’t want to be bothered with me, Kept.”

“They don’t know you, Jayla. They’re kids. Do you expect them to make you feel welcome when you walked out on them?They’ve been here all along. They know each other. You’re the stranger. You need to act like the stranger you are and try to get to know them.”

“I love them, Kept.”

She must’ve seen the skepticism on my face.

“I do,” she insisted. “But I’m so distracted right now. I don’t even know where I’m going to be living.”