Page 63 of Dare to Dance
“That sounds familiar.” Dad smiled at Mom. Then he gave me a pointed look. “Boxing may not be the job to support a family.”
Boom. Reality begins.
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “I’ll do whatever it takes.” I would work five jobs if I had to, although if I signed with Gail Freeman, I could have my future set. In the meantime, I had money saved from my previous bouts, and Jay paid me well to train clients. I could find a small apartment for Ruby and Raven.
A cold hard wind blew.
“Let’s put out the fire and get some dinner,” Dad said.
Kelton grabbed a small pail of sand that we always had ready when we built a campfire.
Dad pulled me in for a hug. “I love you, son. I know you’ll be the best damn father.”
Doubt niggled in the back of my psyche. I didn’t even know where to begin to be a father or how to gain the patience to be one.
“When can we meet Ruby and Raven?” Mom asked.
As we broke apart, Dad and I exchanged a not-so-surprised look. We both knew Mom wanted to spoil Raven.
“Sweetheart,” Dad said. “Let’s make sure Kross is the father.”
Great idea. I didn’t want Mom getting attached if Raven wouldn’t be in our lives.
“Then Ruby,” Mom said. “Invite her to dinner tomorrow.”
I’d left Ruby with my cold attitude. She probably thought I didn’t want anything to do with her or Raven. I had to make sure she knew that wasn’t the case. “I’m not sure she’s ready.” But maybe now that I’d met Raven and the truth was out on the table, Ruby would reconsider meeting my parents.
18
Ruby
The yellowed, weathered colonial home stuck out like the bad stepchild among the other houses on the street. The black shutters were chipped at the corners. Overgrown bushes hid the quaint wooden porch where I used to sit on warm, balmy summer days. My mom had even sat with me, crocheting as we rocked in the handmade chairs my dad had made, talking about school, boys, ballet, and the future. So many dreams had shattered in one night as the world came to a screeching halt with one knock, one piece of paper, and a team of detectives. They’d stormed in with a warrant, tearing our memories from drawers, walls, and closets, while my mom and I watched in abject horror.
I’d wanted to believe my father was innocent and hadn’t done anything to jeopardize our lives. But it was hard when pictures and surveillance had told the whole story. At first, anger and shame at what my father had done became a staple inside me. But as my own life had taken a turn for the worse, I began to realize that my dad had gone to great lengths to provide for his family when he’d lost his office job because of downsizing. It was ironic how my own life mirrored his. I wasn’t selling drugs, but I would do just about anything to get Raven out of foster care, including make a deal with Trent. I didn’t know the specifics yet. He’d said he would be in touch. But I filed away Trent and his deal when I boarded the bus. I wanted a reprieve from my life in the city.
The For Sale sign leaned, touching the tips of the weeds and dying grass.
“Ruby?” A male voice called my name, pulling me from shattered memories.
Nick Mendoza, who’d once been my friend, sauntered through the bushes that separated our properties, pushing his blond wavy hair from his light-brown eyes.
“Nick, is that you?” The boy I’d hung out with late at night on my porch was no longer a boy, but a good-looking man. Up close, he was even prettier. He had clear, smooth skin, an angular jaw, bright-white teeth, and nice lips. “What happened to your pimples?”
He rumbled out a hearty laugh. “I see you still know how to win a guy over. I also see you’ve turned into a knockout.”
I dropped my gaze to the dead grass. “Hardly.” If he’d seen me a month ago, he wouldn’t have complimented me.
He chuckled lightly. “Still shy, too.”
My mom had sold the house not long after my dad was carted off to jail. “Do you know why the house is vacant?”
“After you moved, the house was sold to a young couple, who got foreclosed on about six months ago. According to my mom, the market sucks. So, my sister, Tasha, gave that Kross Maxwell dude my number. He called me a few weeks back. I’m sorry, but I told him that you’d been pregnant. Did he ever find you?”
I bobbed my head. “Yeah. The neighborhood hasn’t changed much.” Today was one day I didn’t want to think about Kross.
I’d been stupid not to listen to Ms. Waters. I should’ve told him way before yesterday. I should’ve prepared him. Every time I had thought about telling him, I’d gotten cold feet. In truth, I wanted him to see Raven first. I believed in the cliché that seeing is believing. That way, he couldn’t have exactly denied the resemblance. I was probably scum to him. “He needs time,” both Norma and Ms. Waters had said. Maybe so, but hurt still wormed its way into my chest.
Nick dangled his car keys in his hand. “What brings you up here anyway?”
