Page 36

CHAPTER 36

RICHARD

“Thanks for meeting me here,” I say when Miriam’s friend Susanna climbs the stairs with all three of her boyfriends falling in line behind her.

It didn’t take long for us to realize that Miriam needed a lot more than she grabbed when it was just Kevin and her hurriedly packing things up. I volunteered to make a run because I have an extra agenda planned on my way home.

Susanna nods as Chester says, “Not a problem. She doing alright over there?”

“I told her she could come stay with us, but apparently my safety wasn’t guaranteed in my sleep.” I turn to Theo, Susanna’s burly bodyguard, and snort.

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Using her key, I unlock the apartment and step inside, seeing it for the first time. Fuck, this place is tiny, but clean and organized. The rest of the group crowd in behind me and I immediately feel claustrophobic. “How did you all fit in here?”

Theo slaps me on the shoulder, making my body jerk forward, and I stumble a step. “ We didn’t live here. Just the two of them, and they’re short. We brought a few bags and suitcases, so Susu and I will start in the bedroom.”

Glancing at the silent woman, I find her studying me curiously. I’m not sure what to make of her, but Miriam said she’s a good person. Knowing her backstory, it’s hard to fit the idea of this pixie of a woman being taken and almost buried alive by her grandfather. She must sense where my mind goes, because she huffs and flips her hair over her shoulder before walking away.

“They’re both like that,” her third boyfriend, Vance, says, leaning toward me as if he’s imparting a secret. “But you’ll appreciate it. Let’s grab the kitchen and living room stuff from her list.”

Between the four of us, we’ve pretty much emptied out her apartment, with the exception of some kitchen items and furniture. Looking around the space, Chester plants his hands on his hips and blows out a frustrated breath. “I hate that she’s spending money on this place and isn’t even living here.”

“I paid up her lease.” It comes out without me even thinking, and Susanna whips her head in my direction.

“Does she know?” It’s the first time she’s spoken to me and I’ll admit, I’m surprised at how raspy her voice is. I had expected something higher and lighter.

Nodding slowly, I say slowly, “Yes… I told her. She wasn’t happy, but I made good arguments.”

Instead of scolding me, she simply raises a brow curiously. “Huh.”

“Alright, let’s get you loaded up. We’re making a trip out to see her next weekend. Already spoke to Cooper about it.” I appreciate Chester pushing everything along because I’m definitely anxious to get on the road. After a few trips, my car is packed full and before I pull away from her apartment building, I enter her dad’s address into my GPS system.

I hadn’t let him know I was going to be here, but I was able to learn from Miriam that her father works a very early shift and is normally home before dinner. Since it’s after five in the evening, I test my luck. Grabbing the file on the passenger seat, I exit my car to knock on the front door after the hour drive to his place.

Her little brother, Lorenzo, answers, frowning when he sees me standing on the front stoop. “What’s up? Miriam isn’t here. Well, she’s not really ever here. You know she doesn’t live with us, right?”

I’m glad to see he’s not holding any grudge against me. There’s only confusion about why I’m standing here alone. “I know. I’m actually here to talk with your dad. Is he home?”

The door opens further and the man in question is frowning at me. “Hi, Richard. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Listen, can we speak privately for a few minutes?”

He nods and ushers Lorenzo out of the way. “We can talk outside. The boys won’t give us any privacy if we talk in there.”

I’m not sure why I’m nervous all of a sudden because normally I have no problems being firm and confrontational with people. But this is Miriam’s dad, so it’s an entirely new situation for me.

“Do you mind if I’m frank with you?”

He holds his hand up, encouraging me to proceed, so I do.

“I think we need to get a few things straight and make sure you’re aware of what’s really going on with your daughter. Are you aware that she’s on bedrest for the remaining duration of her pregnancy?”

Rolando scratches at his head. “Yeah, she mentioned that. Said she was shacking up with someone too. Christian said it was a cop.”

I frown. “I wouldn’t consider it shacking up. She needs someone with her for most of the day, and living alone wasn’t feasible.” I struggle to get the next words out, but I decide to say fuck it. I’ve got nothing to lose. “You haven’t called her. Not once. Not to check on her or see how she’s been feeling. It’s been two weeks, Ronaldo.”

“She told me she was fine. We don’t always talk regularly. She knows I’ve got a busy schedule with work and the boys. It’s why…” He trails off and I narrow my eyes at him.

“It’s why she was always coming over here, taking time off from her busy life to clean up all of your shit. Do I have that right?”

I don’t feel an ounce of guilt as his face tightens and turns red in anger. “Miri should never have left. I’m not sure if it matters to you, but we’re a family and families have to stick together. Instead, she chose to go off and waste her time?—”

“That woman doesn’t waste a fucking second of her time. Do you even know what her schedule is like?” It took me less than a day of knowing her to know she’s anything but someone who would waste any energy on work that wasn’t important. But since we’ve all learned more about her, I’ve learned that she works from the second she wakes until she crawls into bed well into the night. “She works six ten plus hour shifts on her feet, then goes to school almost full time. Seriously, she’s one class short of being considered full-time. Then uses her only day off to spend the entire thing helping out a family in need.”

“They’re strangers!” he shouts at me, but all I can do is shake my head.

“You’re clueless. Call your damn daughter, Rolando . If any of you want to come visit, let her know and we’ll arrange to come pick everyone up.” I take a step closer until he hunches his shoulders. “She’s laying in a bed, miserable and sad. But you want to know what the worst part of it is?”

He doesn’t answer me. It doesn’t stop me from laying into him.

“The worst part is she’s on that phone every night talking with her brothers, helping them with homework, listening to their problems, and breaking up arguments. And she’s feeling guilty that she’s not here to help you out. You, a grown ass man who was mature enough to have six children, but so weak that he thrust every parenting task on the shoulders of his only daughter.”

I glance at the window and see more than a couple sets of eyes peering out, and I’m glad. They all need to know the sacrifices their sister has made for them. “She’s exhausted herself taking care of all of you, and she can’t do it anymore. I’m sure she’ll try, but you have to understand that she has a little baby coming in just a couple of months, which is going to require all of her attention.”

“You got her into that mess,” he snaps back.

Nodding, I agree. “I did, but I don’t consider it a mess. It’s a goddamn blessing in my opinion. If nothing I’m saying is sinking in for you, maybe take some time tonight and search up the definition of ‘parentification’. You might learn what you’ve done to your daughter. Let me know if you plan to visit.”

Turning on my heel, I walk away, unsure if I’ve done the right thing. This wasn’t at all what my intention was when I stopped by. I wanted to urge him gently to reach out to his daughter and also reassure him that we’re taking care of her. I’m taking care of her.

As soon as I’m seated behind the wheel, I drop the file I never showed him next to me and start my engine. I see her older brother, Christian, outside arguing with their dad. Clearly, he heard more than I had intended and I only hope Miriam isn’t pissed as hell with me by the time I arrive back at Kevin’s place.

I’m only on the road for about fifteen minutes before Tatum is blowing up my phone. I don’t answer the first two times he calls, but finally answer on the third.

“ Well, you certainly had an eventful evening. How’s the drive, man? ”

I bark out a laugh. “It’s going fine enough. I’m pretty sure I know why you’re calling.”

His tone is teasing when he says, “ Do you? I don’t know about that, but I’ve got a pregnant woman here making faces at me to give her the phone. She had a string of calls and texts back to back that I’m sure she’d love some clarification on… What’s that, Miri? Did you want to talk to Richard? ”

I hear her shout at him in the background, yelling for him to give her the phone so she can talk to ‘Dick’. If I wasn’t driving, I’d close my eyes in frustration, knowing I’m about to get an earful. I probably just shoved the bit of progress I’ve made with her about a mile backwards.

“Just let her talk to me, Tate.”

He chuckles and I hear her cursing at him before she’s breathing heavily into my ear. “ Well, if it isn’t my favorite person ever . I hear you made an extra stop on your way home. ”

“I did.” There’s not much I can say. I won’t deny it. “It didn’t go great.”

“ Apparently .” She pauses, so I give her time to decide to say whatever she wants. If she asks me to not come over there tonight, I’ll give her that much. “ Christian said you laid into my dad pretty hard. ”

I don’t say anything because she knows I did. Then, there’s a loud sigh from her end.

“ You should have told me you were going over there. I’m annoyed by that, by the way. But thank you. All of my brothers are already apologizing for monopolizing my time and some of them are already begging for rides to come visit. You started a shitstorm, you know that, right? ”

Both of my brows hit my forehead. I wasn’t expecting that from her. Not one bit and now I don’t know what to say. “I, uhh… You’re welcome?”

She laughs softly. “ I’m just saying, I appreciate the white knight routine. I could have handled them, but it feels nice to have them all sucking up, even if it doesn’t last long. ”

“You’re welcome,” I say again, more firmly this time. “Do you, umm, do you need anything else before I get back?”

“ No, Richard. Thank you, though. I’ll see you when you get here. ” She must have handed back the phone to Tatum, because his next words have me rolling my eyes.

“ Damn, I was about to get popcorn to listen to the ass chewing. Hey! That hurts, woman! ” I chuckle, listening to him tease her. “ Alright, man. Drive safely, and we’ll see you when you get here. Kev ordered pizza for dinner. We’ve decided it’s going to be a cheat night. ”

I press on the gas so I can get back to the house a bit quicker. “Sounds like a plan. See you in a bit.”

Hanging up the phone, I relax into my seat and let my smile take over for the remainder of the drive, feeling as though I’ve maybe finally done something right.