Page 54 of Steel

“You too.”

We disconnected the call, and I took a deep breath. I was nervous as fuck to let KJ out of my sight with someone he wasn’t extremely familiar with. His whole little life, he’d only been around my family. FaceTime calls and visits here and there were one thing, but spending the whole weekend with a practical stranger was another.

I’d never keep him away from Ms. Anita, so I had to suck it up. Hopefully, this visit went well, and she really was ready to be present.

I satin the pickup line waiting on Nayelli to get out of school.

I decided to pick her up today so we could have a conversation. While she wasn’t being disrespectful anymore, she was still quiet around the house. This time it was because she was upset I told her she needed a break from self-defense class. I trusted my sister to take her, but the part of me that wanted to protect her didn’t want her going when I wasn’t around to keep an eye on her myself.

She told me she’d finally started making friends, and taking that away from her was ruining her life. I felt bad about that because I knew how important being liked was to her right now. While her self-worth shouldn’t be defined by being well liked, I also realized she was just a kid. She had feelings, and they mattered.

I decided to make peace with her today and meet her where she was with this. As I sat in the pickup line, waiting for her tocome out. When I finally noticed her, the first thing that caught my attention was the bright smile on her face. Next were the kids walking out with her. She was laughing and talking with them like they were old friends.

My heart swelled in my chest as they all gave her a hug before she ran to the car.

“Hey, baby,” I said, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

“Hey!”

“Looks like you had a great day.”

“I had the best day. I made some friends!”

“You did! That’s wonderful, Nayelli. I’m so happy for you. What are their names?”

“Prince, Kadence, Jaiden, and Reagan. Jaiden is in my class.” She waved to them as we pulled off. “Guess what happened today?”

“What?”

“Those girls tried to bully me again at recess, and Kadence told them if they mess with me, she was going to punch them in the face.”

“Nayelli!” I exclaimed.

“What? She’s my friend. She took up for me.”

“And that’s great, but she can’t be threatening other kids.”

“Well, they threatened me.”

I sighed. “Just . . . don’t get in any fights. I can’t control other people’s kids, but you will not be fighting, Nayelli Malone.”

“I won’t.”

“Good.” I was quiet for a moment. “So . . . I’ve decided you can go back to the defense academy.”

Her face lit up. “Really!”

“Yes. But Dinah and I will take turns going with you. I need to keep eyes on you.”

“Mr. K is a good daddy. He’s really nice, Mom.”

I looked over at her, hearing those words. “I’m not saying he isn’t. I’d just feel better being there.”

“You said he used to be your boyfriend?”

“A long time ago.”

“Were you gonna get married?”