“Here,” Bruiser said removing a card from his wallet and handing it to Alise. “It would be best if you hire a guard, and I have some qualified men that work with me.”
Alise reluctantly took the card. “If I hire you, I may not be allowed to leave my house,” she replied sarcastically.
“I’ll let you come out for air sometimes,” Bruiser said, maybe jokingly, but then again Bruiser didn’t tell a lot of jokes.
Alise started to her car, which was only a few feet away. She turned to look at Bruiser before she got in and rolled her eyes. Bruiser hopped in his truck and fired it up, taking off behind Alise in the same direction. I had no doubt that my boy was going to follow her to make sure she got into her house safely.
“What in the hell just happened?” Tameka asked unbelievingly.
“I think my boy Bruise is in love.”
Chapter 10
Tameka
“Hey, Rodney, come on in. I just told the kids to clean their rooms before they leave, so we could have time to talk,” I said as I stepped aside to invite Rodney inside.
“O-kay,” he said slowly. “Is something wrong?” He stood in the foyer looking at me as if he wasn’t sure if I was about to scold him or praise him.
“Come in here, and let’s go sit on the sofa,” I said inviting him to follow me into the living room where I sat on the love seat and he took a seat on the sofa. It felt like a full minute passed with nothing but thick silence before I asked, “Do you want anything to drink?”
“No. I’m fine.” Rodney intertwined his hands together and leaned forward as he looked at me. “Tameka, I can’t remember the last time you invited me inside of your house to sit down, and you’re letting off some weird energy that I can’t read. What’s going on?”
“It’s something that’s been weighing heavy on my mind, and I’ve been meaning to talk to you about it,” I said and watched as a moment of hopefulness entered his eyes.
“You mean about us?” he asked.
“Kind of, but it’s more about the kids.”
“What is it?”
“I ran into Melody twice in the past few months.”
“Oh, her,” Rodney said, and his chest visibly deflated. His dark brown eyes lost all the light they’d had before, and now he was looking at me with a flat expression. “What about her?” he asked.
“I went to the doctor’s office with Tameka a couple weeks ago, and she was there with your baby.”
Rodney’s eyes perked up again at the mention of his child. “Did you see the baby?”
“No. She was there with a couple who she said would be adopting the child. I just want to know why you consented to something like that. Did you once think about the fact that Eva and Kevin will have a sibling out here in the world that they will never get a chance to know?”
“First of all, I didn’t know she was even thinking about giving the child up for adoption. She’s been keeping me in the dark with everything that involves the baby. Frankly, I don’t even know if it’s a girl or boy. That’s how in the dark I am.”
“Wow. Well, yeah, according to Melody, your child is up for adoption if it hasn’t already happened,” I said in a softer tone than before as I realized Rodney wasn’t as callous as I thought in this situation.
“No one is taking my child. That’s not happening, not even over my dead body,” Rodney said as fine lines began to crease his forehead. “I really can’t believe this girl has our child up for adoption. I mean, she already cleared out my bank account and took all the valuables out of the house. Now this.” Rodney’s eyes started quivering as if he were fighting back tears. His health and Melody’s treatment of him were really humbling him.
“Did you sign any paperwork at the hospital stating that you were the father? How can she do this without your consent?” I asked.
“I didn’t even know when the baby was born, so I didn’t get the opportunity to sign any paperwork. During the time she was in labor and having the child, I was still under the impression that I was your husband, and I didn’t care about what was going on with Melody, even though people kept telling me about her.”
Rodney paused and looked into my eyes as if he were searching for the old me, the one that loved him down to the sound of his footsteps after he arrived home from work each day. I was certain he would never find that Tameka again.
He continued, “I still want to fix things with us. I do, but—”
“The only thing we can fix is the way we raise our children together. We can make it the best we can, but there will never be an “us” again,” I said sincerely.
“I know, and I hate that I realized how wonderful you are too late.” Rodney blew out a deep breath and sat back in the chair. “So she told you that she was about to give my child up for adoption, huh?” he asked with sadness in his eyes.