Rodney laughed. “You’re too damn melodramatic, Tameka. You should have gone into acting. Were you always this way? I must have missed it before I asked you to marry me, but it’s definitely the reason I got out of our marriage.”
“You are unbelievable, Rod—” My mouth snapped shut when I heard the school bus coming down the road, and I mentally cursed Rodney.
Once Kevin saw his father, I wouldn’t be able to send him away without making our son cry his little heart out. Rodney smiled, crossed his arms, and waited for our kids to emerge from the big yellow school bus as if that had been his plan all along.
The second Kevin’s feet hit the pavement, he ran full speed toward his father. “Dad! You’re here!”
“I came to get you guys for the weekend. I bought waterpark tickets for the three of us. Doesn’t that sound like fun?” Rodney said, smiling at Kevin.
“Yes!” Kevin pumped his fist. “Mom, can we go?”
Owned by Rodney again, I plastered a fake smile on my face and opened the front door, so Kevin could run inside to get packed. “Sure,” I said, hoping Rodney wouldn’t make me eat that word.
Eva wasn’t amused by Rodney’s pop-up trick. She stood off to the side with her mouth in a straight line, and her arms crossed over her chest.
“Hey, Eva Bear,” Rodney said in a baby voice.
“Dad, I stopped being called that when I was eight years old,” she mumbled.
“Sorry, I forget you have reached the double digits. You are a mature ten-year-old now.” He paused and looked at Eva. “Go get packed so we can get to the waterpark. We need to be there in fifteen minutes.”
Fifteen minutes? This man probably only has a few hours to spend with the kids before his wife is on his heels again.
Eva looked miserable as she stared at me for confirmation that she had to go. My heart broke for her.
“Eva, go inside and let me talk to your father.”
I had a rule not to let our children see us argue. But, the more Rodney pressed me, the more I thought about bending that rule. I turned to Rodney and glared at him.
“Eva doesn’t want to go with you, Rodney.”
“Since when did we start letting the kids decide what they want to do?”
“When you started not showing up when you were supposed to.”
“Tameka, she will be fine. I’ll take them to the waterpark, and if she wants to come home after that, I’ll bring her back.”
“Are you sure? Because I don’t want any mess out of you, Rodney.”
Rodney threw his hands in the air. “Gentleman’s promise.”
“First, show me a gentleman,” I mumbled as I spun on my heels and went inside to talk to the kids before they left.
Eva and Kevin both had packed for the impromptu weekend with their father, and Kevin bounded down the stairs, yelling, “Goodbye, Mom!” He kissed my cheek and was out the door.
I met Eva in the middle of the stairwell. I hugged her as I said, “You’ll be home on Sunday, sweetheart. If you need me before then, give me a call. You have your phone, right?”
She nodded, and I kissed her cheek.
“Bye, Mama,” Eva said and walked to the front door slowly.
I watched them load into Rodney’s truck that had seen better days. He gave his young fiancée a late model BMW while my kids had to ride around in this barely-working contraption of a truck. A little piece of me rode away as I watched it disappear down the street with my children inside. I closed the door and heaved a sigh. I didn’t know what I was going to do now that the kids were gone, but I didn’t want to be alone.
A little after 8 p.m., I left home dressed for a night on the town. Kemara had plans with Channing, and my friends, Alise and Jayne, were both busy, so I was riding solo. I drove around town until I saw this place that looked like a beacon on the hill, drawing me to it. Club Elite. As many times as I passed by this club, I never thought to go inside. Yet tonight, I strolled through the darkness with only a hint of light shining from the strobe lights. A song by the Black Eye Peas was playing setting a relaxing mood as I approached the bar.
“Excuse me, can I get a Long Island Iced Tea?” I asked the bartender.
“Yeah, sure,” the bartender said.