Page 23 of In the Lonely Hour

“Train her?” Andres repeated. “She ain’t no fucking dog, bruh. The fuck wrong with you?”

“Ma?” Dior called, slowly stepping into the living room. “Can daddy leave? I’m uncomfortable.”

“See that? That’s that shit I’m talking about,” Carlos roared, stepping around them. “What kind of child asks some shit like that?”

Before Andres could stop himself, the sight of Dior’s pacing and head shaking as Carlos walked over to her and told her not to talk about him like that had him grabbing his shoulder. Carlos turned and swung but Andres weaved before connecting both fists to the sides of Carlos’s head. As his large body fell backwards, Dior yelped. The impact caused her to cover her ears as her rocking went into overdrive.

Dior went from crying to screaming to falling and curling up in a fetal position.

“Go get the noise canceling headphones,” Andres ordered, kneeling in front of Dior as she squirmed. Layla kneeled next to him. “Blow in her face gently and slowly to regain her attention. When she’s completely focused on you, slowly lower her hand from her left ear.”

Layla did, it took about a minute, but eventually, Dior calmed down enough to focus on her mother’s breathing. Layla softly removed Dior’s hand from her ear.

“It’s okay,” Andres assured, voice low and soft. “You’re fine, Dior.”

“Everything is okay, baby. We’re right here.”

Andres put the noise cancelling headphones over her ears and blocked her view of Carlos. He helped her to sit up and he held her hand while she continued to focus on Layla breathingin her face. When the rocking stopped, Andres lowered the headphones and Layla instructed Dior to breathe with her. Andres wiped her face, continuing to repeat that she was okay and that they were right there with her.

Once she’d calmed down fully, they took her into her room. Though she didn’t need to be alone, Andres wasn’t comfortable allowing Layla to be around Carlos when they heard him stir. However, Dior was his main priority, so he let Layla tend to Carlos alone.

“Are you okay?” he asked Dior, to which she nodded. Her body shrunk in shame. Head lowered, Dior’s shoulders were hunched and her stomach caved. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re safe. You’re not alone. I’m not going to letanythinghappen to you.”

Dior nodded before hugging him. Andres smiled softly and held her until Layla returned. Her expression worried him but she remained quiet as she took Dior into her arms. After putting the noise cancelling headphones back on Dior, Layla said…

“He said you can’t come to the house again. I told him that was impossible because you’re helping us and he said we can go too. If we’re not out within thirty minutes he’s going to call the police. He’s paying the rent and his name is on the lease, unfortunately, so there’s nothing I can do but comply.”

“She just had a meltdown, Layla. If you uproot her right now, she’s going to shut down. Just tell him I’ll leave and not come back.”

Her tears began to fall as she shook her head. “I’m not going to let Carlos control us like this. If he wants to put us out, we’ll go. Can you follow us to my parents’ house?”

“Of course. If you’re sure that’s how you want to handle this.”

“I’m positive. I don’t know why he’s being such an asshole but I’m not settling for it.”

“You’re dealing with a man with a big ass ego, Layla. He’s been controlling this household and doing whatever the fuck he’s wanted for quite some time. Then I came in and started shaking shit up. He’s going to continue to act out until he gets what he wants.”

“But I don’tknowwhat he wants. Obviously not me and Dior.”

“He may not want to be with you, but he wants you to himself. Here in this fucking house. While he does whatever he wants.”

Layla continued to wipe her tears before they could slide down her face. “Well, those days are over. I meant it when I said that. No, I don’t want to uproot Dior right now, but I have to do what I have to do.”

“I’m sorry. I know you wanted me to let you handle him but I couldn’t take it anymore. When he started going over to her, I could tell she was overwhelmed and about to have a meltdown. Had I known he would swing I wouldn’t have grabbed him, but I didn’t know what else to do to stop him.”

Layla kissed the corner of his mouth. “You have nothing to apologize for. You did the right thing. I hate that she saw that, but you protected her, and that’s all that matters to me. She’s calm now, and that’s the quickest she’s ever snapped out of a meltdown. That’s proof to me that your help is necessary. So if I have to leave our home to continue to make sure she gets that, it’s not even a question.”

Though Andres appreciated her words, he still felt like shit. The last thing he wanted to do was put Dior in a position to where she saw that side of him. However, if knocking Carlos out was the only way to keep him from saying something that was traumatic for Dior while she was already overwhelmed, Andres would have done it again.

He stayed with Dior while Layla packed them both bags, and now was the only moment he wished he had his own home instead of staying with his parents. So far, he’d been enjoying spending time with them. Now, he needed to start looking for his own place. One with lots of space.

Carlos sat outside in his car until they left, and it took everything in Andres to not knock his ass out again when Dior said she didn’t want to leave her room. A vital part of keeping her calm was making sure she felt safe and secure. Layla had set up her room so that it was perfect for her and Andres got irritated all over again at the thought of her not having that security.

Her parents had begun to build a nice little setup for Dior. So she wasn’t going to have everything that she was used to, but it was going to be enough to keep her mind occupied while her emotions continued to settle. Once they had her taken care of, Layla walked Andres back out to his car. He offered to stay for a while but Layla insisted that she didn’t want to take up any more of his evening… like there was anywhere else he’d rather be.

“I apolo—”

Before he could finish, Layla was kissing the words off his lips. Relaxing against his SUV, Andres wrapped Layla in his arms.

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