Page 11 of Steel

“Hey, boo.”

“Hey, Mommy.”

Nayelli came over to greet me with a hug. I squeezed her tightly as I smothered her face with kisses.

“Hey, beautiful. I missed you.”

“You say that every day, Mom.”

“So I can’t miss you every day? You’re mine, and I’ll forever miss you when you aren’t right up under me.”

She playfully rolled her eyes and smiled. “I missed you too.”

“How was school?”

Her smile dropped. “I don’t wanna talk about school.”

“Nayelli.”

“Mom, please.”

“Tell me what happened.”

She sighed. “Those same girls pulled my hair at recess. One of them said she was going to cut my braids off.”

I frowned. I was sick and tired of these little girls. Ever since Nayelli started that school, it’d been this one group of girls targeting her. I’d been to the school several times. The principal called meetings with the parents, and they brushed it off as kids being kids. Fuck that. My baby was being bullied, and I’d be damned if she took her life because somebody’s brat had a one-sided beef with her.

“I’m coming up there tomorrow.”

“Mommy, no! They’ll pick on me worse if you come?—”

“Nayelli, this has to stop. I’m not standing for you being bullied. If I have to pull you out of that school, I will.”

“I wish we’d stayed home!” she yelled. “I hate it here, and I hate you! You could have left me with Grandma and Grandpa!”

“You aren’t your grandparents’ responsibility.”

“You moved me away from my friends because you lost your job. This is all your fault!”

She ran off upstairs, and a few seconds later, I heard her bedroom door slam shut. I palmed my face, fighting back tears. She was right; it wasn’t fair, but life wasn’t fair. We all had to play the hand we were dealt and deal with the consequences of our actions.

“You want me to talk to her, Neha?” Dinah asked.

I shook my head. “No. Let her cool off.”

“I’ve told you about this gentle parenting shit. She tries that with you because you’re soft on her.”

“Dinah, not today, okay? I need some wine, a hot bubble bath, and?—”

“Some dick.”

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s not go there.”

She waved me off. “So we’re going to this school?”

“No, not we. Me.”

“Neha.”