Page 95 of Unlucky You

I turned away from him and addressed the other guy before I ended up catching a charge too. “What’s the charge?”

“Assault,” the guy responded robotically.

Raiden’s grandfather smiled smugly. “Which is a parole violation. You won’t be seeing him for a while. Five years to be exact which isn’t long enough but it’s better than knowing he’s living his life while my daughter can’t.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? These are people’s lives you’re playing with. You don’t have to care about Grand, or even Raiden, who by the way is your own flesh and blood. But at the very least you can move on with your life and leave them the hell alone. Do you really believe this is what your daughter would want for them? That kid is her son. She loved him, even if you don’t. What wouldsheexpect fromyou?”

He moved so quickly I almost stumbled backwards from the way he crowded my space but I managed to stand my ground. “You don’t know a damn thing about my daughter. I lost her. That man ruined her life and took her from me…”

“And you’re taking Grand from his son. Seems to me like you would be more understanding of what it means to lose someone you love, you fucking dick.”

“You might want to watch how you talk to me, little girl. You don’t know who I am.”

I edged closer. “I don’t give a shit who you are but trust when I say you’re going to care whoIam. Whatever strings you pulled today to make this happen can’t be legal. I will call every news outlet in this city to tell them what happened and they will eat that shit up. If I have to fuck up your life, and his…” I swung my arm to the side, pointing at the other guy he was with. “I will not blink twice before doing so.”

“All of this is cute but doesn’t matter. Grand Sinclair is a murderer. He is going right back to prison. You should be grateful. I’m saving you and thatbas…”

My mind spazzed, knowing exactly what he was about to say. I balled my fist as tightly as I could and punched him in the mouth with all the force I could muster. The second he recovered from the stun of being hit, he lunged at me but the other guy stepped in front of him.

“Johnson, that’s enough. You’re already pushing things with us being here. Leave the woman alone.”

“You work for me.”

The man moved closer and got in his face. “I work for the state. I don’t work for you and you might want to be careful about pissing me off, all things considered. Again, you’re pushing it with shit. Go home. You got what you wanted,” he warned and after one last death stare, Raiden’s grandfather turned to leave. The guy jerked a hand down his face, glared at me, then followed.

“You know this is wrong, but you let him do it. Grand didn’t violate his parole.”

The guy swung his eyes at me one last time. “Actually, he did, and considering his charges, assaulting someone is the biggest infraction he could have committed.”

“He was provoked,” I yelled as he walked away. The guy didn’t bother granting me a response. He simply got in his car and left.

I headed back inside, found my phone, and sent my sister a text requesting Tali’s number. Once it delivered I struggled to lift the sofa and quickly moved the cushions back in place. Luckily it was small enough for me to handle. I was going to get Raiden out of here and hopefully Tali could help me figure out what to do about Grand.

After breakfast,I took Raiden to Target and let him grab a few things to keep him busy. We ended up with a Lego set that took me an hour to assemble because of the intricate details and only took him ten minutes to destroy after he decided the two pickup trucks would have a crash landing off the coffee table.

We watched videos on his iPad, then ordered subs for lunch. I was running out of ideas to keep his mind occupied and distracted from his father not being there with us. He assumed Grand was working and I didn’t tell him any differently. A lie by default which I felt terrible for but I refused to bring adult problems into a child’s world. I also didn’t feel it was my place.

Our day worked out to be pretty fun, but by the time Raiden curled up next to me and crashed midway through the movie he selected after dinner, I exhaled a sigh of relief. I had a newfound respect for single parents because who the hell would think spending the day with a six year old would be so mentally and physically exhausting. I hadn’t realized how much until I was startled at the soft click of the front door closing. I sluggishly peeled my eyes open to find Tali crossing the room.

He settled onto the coffee table and dropped his elbows to his thighs, peering at me with exhausted eyes, but he smiled at the visual of Raiden curled up next to me.

“I wasn’t sure which one of you would be the first to tap out.”

I glanced at the tiny body next to me and grinned. “We had a long day.” I shifted Raiden and gently lifted him into my arms but Tali stood and intercepted his body by carefully taking him from my hold.

“I’ve got him. He’s heavy as hell when he’s asleep like that.”

I didn’t argue and while he got Raiden situated in the bed, I collected the plates and cups from our dinner and took them into the kitchen. Tali returned shortly after and hopped on the counter. I turned to face him, leaning against the one on the opposite side.

“You find out anything?”

“Not much about what’s going on with the charge but I talked to him,” Tali stated cautiously, turning his eyes on me.

“He called you?”

Tali nodded and gripped the counter. “He’s been working hard as fuck to keep his past detached from not just you but Raidy too. He’s pissed that they pulled up while y’all were here. You have to give him time to work through that.”

His ego and pride suffered a blow.

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