Page 28 of The Hellcat Barbies: Zora
Morgan’s head whipped back toward him. “You don’t get to make that decision.”
“I do,” he said. “That’s what custody means.”
She stepped closer. “You’re not keeping her from me.”
“You’re keeping yourself from her when you put yourself and everything else before being her mother.”
“Oh, so now you’re perfect?” she shot back.
“I’m far from it… but I’m present.”
All the back and forth was getting to Semerah, so I decided to step in.
“Y’all need to calm all that down. She’s right here.”
Morgan turned toward me and gave me a stare that would’ve killed me if she had the ability to. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Yeah, but somebody needs to be the adult here,” I said. “You’re upsetting her.”
“And you are… what, exactly?”
Before I could answer, Semi stepped in front of me.
“She’s someone who respects my kid,” he said. “More than I can say for you right now.”
“Don’t push it, Semaj,” she warned
“You walked in here pushing it,” Semi said. “If you want to see Samerah, do it the right way.”
Morgan looked between the three of us before giving her attention back to Semi.
“This conversation isn’t finished,” Morgan insisted.
“It is today.” He opened the door. “Get the fuck out.”
She stared at him, then at me, then at Samerah, jaw tight. She finally walked out without even acknowledging her daughter.
Semi slammed the door and locked it before he came back to the couch and crouched in front of his daughter.
“You good, Peanut?”
She nodded and climbed onto his lap once he sat down.
The room went quiet again, but the tension still clung to the air.
Semi held Samerah for a moment, letting the room settle around her before he shifted his focus anywhere else. His hand moved slowly along her back, grounding her, making sure she was okay.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with that,” he said. “She came in here on ten, and you didn’t deserve to be dragged into it.”
I shook my head lightly. “You don’t owe me an apology. I just didn’t want her sitting in the middle of all that.”
He nodded slowly, the tension in his shoulders loosening. “Still… thanks for stepping in the way you did.”
Before I could say anything else, Samerah shifted, stretching out so she could lie across both our laps, one small hand restingnear my knee while her legs draped over Semi’s. It was her way of pulling the room back together, claiming the space again.
Semi rested his palm on her back, steady and warm, and I moved a curl away from her forehead. The house finally felt calm again, the earlier commotion fading into the background.
10
