Page 97 of Arris, Jayme & Dyani
We dapped each other up and I left the guys to meet up with Jayme. Blake wanted a snack so we took him to one of the food trucks. Then Jayme mentioned wanting to grab a drink so I told her go ahead without us. I loved Blake but he hadn’t mastered the art of walking and eating just yet. He had tunnel vision and right now that vision was stuck on the little plate in his hand.
I checked my phone to see if I’d gotten a hit back about Reena. She’d been running and ducking for a lil minute now but I was confident I would get at her eventually. Shit. I wasn’t giving up until I did. The fact that she’d cheated on Jayme, dotted Dyani on the forehead, and fucked with my place of business that let me provide for my family meant her ass had three strikes. I was getting her the fuck out of here.
I looked up and dropped my phone into my pocket when I heard crying. I looked both ways and my eyes landed on a little girl. She was on the ground sobbing, an ice cream cone on the ground in front of her and what looked like a little gash on her knee from falling.
“Shit.”
I looked around to see if I saw anyone coming toward us who looked like they might be her adult but didn’t so I plucked Blake up and quickly walked over to her.
“Hey. You’re okay.” I dropped to a knee. “You’re alright.” I plucked her up and set her on her feet. “See? You cool.”
If I’d learned anything from raising Blake it was that kids fed off their parents. As soon as you started acting dramatic, like they were dying, they fed into that shit. When you acted like nothing was wrong, so did they.
“Why you crying?” I asked seriously. “Huh?” I tapped her little elbow lightly when she didn’t answer. “Does your knee hurt or are you upset because you dropped your ice cream?”
“Both.” She sniffled and wiped her nose with both hands.
I plucked the napkins I’d grabbed for myself from my pocket and offered her one.
“Look, we can get you a Band-Aid and a new ice cream, but you’ve got to stop crying, okay?” I waited for her to nod. “I’m Arris.” I offered her a hand.
“Lainey.”
“Nice to meet you, Lainey. This is my son, Blake. Do you see your parents?”
Lainey looked around then shook her head.
“No.”
“Alright. Well let’s get you a Band-Aid and a cone, alright?”
“Yes, please.”
“Cool.”
I tied Lainey’s shoe before anything else. Then I hopped up and picked up the dropped ice cream in a napkin. I walked it over to the nearest trash, came back, and grabbed one of Blake’s hands and one of Lainey’s to walk them over to a small group of concrete roses. I was sure they had a little first aid spot around somewhere but I also knew these women long enough to know they had what I needed in their purses.
I scanned the area while they patched her up but didn’t see anyone who looked frazzled or like they were looking for their kid, so I took Lainey to get an ice cream cone.
I sat her and Blake at one of the little tables and sat across from them, keeping my eyes on them while they talked about some show Blake watched with Jayme and ate their snacks.
They finished and I walked around the table and washed their hands over the grass with water from my bottle. I wasn’t walking nobody’s kid who wasn’t mine anywhere near a mothafuckin’ bathroom. I let Lainey dry her hands on the bottom of my shirt like Blake did without asking.
Then I walked them back toward the bouncy house.
We were halfway there when a woman half my size damn near barreled into me.
“Lainey!” She dropped to her knees and hugged her. “Where have you been? What did I tell you about walking off, baby? You can’t do that kind of thing.” She sniffled and it was obvious she’d been crying when she looked back at me.
I scratched the back of my neck and thought about just walking off on her ass.
“I’m sorry. I went get ice cream.”
“You went get ice cream, huh?” The woman scoffed. “Well I hope it was good because you won’t be getting any more for a very long time, kid.”
“But—”
She cut Lainey off. “No buts. Little girls who don’t listen don’t get treats.”
