“Shut up, Shorty,” Malek growled. I ignored him as I looked into Travis’s eyes.
“Baby, you got me and the kids. Don’t stoop down to his level.” I kept my hand on Travis’s shoulder, though he had relaxed enough that I knew there wouldn’t be a fight. “I asked you a question, Malek. What are you doing here?”
“I came by here to see my daughter.” His fists were down, but he was still pretty agitated. “And if you didn’t want me to know where you live, you shouldn’ta put it on this.” He pulled a rolled-up paper from his back pocket and waved it at me.
“And? What’s that supposed to be?” I was in no mood for guessing games.
“It’s the subpoena you sent to Ma’s house. You tryin’ to get my rights as a parent taken away?” He shook his head. “You think you’re real slick, don’t you? Sending this to Ma’s house instead of Nana’s. You knew I wouldn’t get it.” He was right. I didn’t want to deal with his ass when it came time for Travis to adopt Maleka, so I had purposely sent the papers to his mother’s house. That woman was so cracked out, I figured there was no way he’d ever see the subpoena. Then we could just claim him unreachable and everything would be smooth sailing. Malek took great pleasure now in telling me how my plan had failed.
“I guess you didn’t know my ma ain’t on crack no more. She lives with me at Nana’s now.” I knew Travis was gonna be pissed about this. He’d told me to just make up an address, but I had to be stupid and put his mother’s. Who would have ever expected that lifetime crackhead to get straight? I’d have to deal with Travis later, but for now I still had to get rid of Malek.
“So you’re living with Nana, huh? I thought you lived in
D.C., Mr. Big-time Rapper,” I smirked.
“Yeah, well things didn’t work out,” he mumbled.
“Somebody finally tell you that you can’t rap?” That got a laugh from Big Momma, who was still standing nearby, ready to jump back in if I needed her.
“Very funny, Shorty. You should be on the Queens of Comedy.” He could front all he wanted, but I knew I’d just hurt him. Once upon a time I had been his biggest supporter. That time was long gone.
“Well, if you don’t like the jokes, get the hell out my yard.” I jerked my head in the direction of his souped-up hoopty.
“I’m not going anywhere till I see my daughter.” Back to that. Damn, he wasn’t playin’, no matter how many people he was up against.
“I told you. You ain’t got no daughter around here. Now get the hell outta here ’fore I call the police.” Big Momma was heated. Malek ignored her and spoke to me.
“Look, Shorty, you know how I get down, so don’t make this hard on yourself. You might as well go get my daughter and bring her over here. I just wanna give her my Christmas present, then I’ll leave.” Malek gave me a wicked smile that sent chills down my spine. He was right I did know how he got down. Things were bad enough already, but he was prepared to turn it up a notch if he had to; and the trouble he could bring was much worse than a little fight with Travis. I did not need this bullshit, especially on Christmas. Time to give him what he asked.
“You wanna see your daughter, Malek?” My eyes got small and they never left his.
“Yeah.” He nodded.
“You really wanna see your daughter?”
“I said yeah.”
“Okay.” I nodded. I could see the disapproval on Travis’s face, but he didn’t know Malek like I did. “You got two minutes; then you’re gonna leave, or I’ll be the one calling the cops. You got that?”
“Ah’ight” His body language relaxed a little.
“I wouldn’t let him see shit.” Big Momma sucked her teeth.
“Please, Big Momma, let me handle this.” I gave her a pleading look. She didn’t answer, so I said it again. “I know what I’m doing. Let me handle it.”
“Ah’ight, child. It’s your life.” She lookedat Travis as she said this. I knew what she was thinking, but I could smooth things over with Travis as soon as I proved my point to Malek. Maleka knew who her family was, and I was about to prove that to her father. I just had to let him put his foot in his mouth one more time.
“Malekal Maleka! Come here, baby!” I called to my daughter. She came skipping over to us.
“Yes, Mommy?” She looked a little nervous. No doubt she’d picked up on the tension in our group. I stroked her hair to calm her and introduced her to her father.
“Maleka, this is Malek.”
“What’s up, Maleka?” Malek bent down on one knee to be at her level.
“Hi.” She waved. “Your name sounds kinda like mine”
“That’s right.” He looked at Travis and smiled smugly, then turned back to Maleka. “You’re a very pretty girl ”
“Thank you,” she replied bashfully, twisting as she spoke.
“You’re welcome. This is for you.” He tried to hand the shopping bag to her, but Maleka pulled back. She looked up at me uncertainly.
“What’s wrong? It’s a doll baby. Don’t you like doll babies?” Malek was confused. I guess he’d expected to buy his daughter’s affection with a lousy doll.
“I like dolls, but I’m not allowed to take things from strangers,” Maleka told him.
My grin was a mile wide. I knew my child, and I knew what would happen when Malek demanded to see her. He brings his triflin’ ass around after all this time, expecting his daughter to jump in his arms. Please, maybe that woulda happened if she knew who the hell he was, but she already had a family, complete with a daddy and a new baby brother.
“I’m not a stranger, Maleka. Ask your mommy” Malek’s expression softened. He was looking for some help from me all of a sudden, and I was more than willing to oblige.
“Oh no, honey, he’s not a stranger at all. Are you, Malek?” Our eyes met, and I know he got the point. He was out to sea and I would not be throwing him a life jacket. At least not one that would work. “Matter of fact, why don’t you tell her who you are, Malek?” I smirked.
“I’m your daddy, Maleka.” He said it without much conviction. Could it be he already knew he’d lost this battle?
Maleka screwed up her face and shook her head at him adamantly.
“No, you ain’t! You ain’t my daddy.” She grabbed Travis’s arm with both her hands. “Travis my daddy, right, Travis?”
“That’s right, baby. I’m your daddy.” He scooped her up into his arms and kissed her cheek.
Everything seemed to stand still after that for a few seconds. No one said a word, but Malek’s mind was spinning, I’m sure. He was breathing heavy, probably getting angrier by the second. I could tell by his eyes that his male pride had been wounded. I was afraid he might try and attack Travis while he was holding Maleka. I think Big Momma had the same fear.
“Don’t you do nothin’ stupid, Malek. Not unless you wanna spend the night in jail.” Big Momma positioned herself between Travis and Malek.
“Big Momma, will you take Maleka in the house and give her some ice cream?” Travis asked.
“Uh-huh, I think that’s a good idea. Come on, child. Big Momma wants some ice cream, too” She reached for Maleka’s hand and led her toward the house.
“You know this is some foul shit, Shorty? You ain’t had to do this. You coulda made sure she knew who I was” If I didn’t know better I would have sworn he was about to cry.
“No, you didn’t” My eyes were wide with amazement. “No you didn’t just try to blame this on me. I raised that girl by myself for four years without your sorry ass. You ain’t brought her a pack of Pampers or sent a birthday card since she was born. Matter of fact, do you even remember when she was born? When’s her birthday Malek?”
He glared at me, tryin’ to be a hard-ass, but he sure didn’t have an answer.
“I didn’t think you knew. So don’t you dare come around here telling me what I should’ve done. If you wanted Maleka to know who you were, then you should’ve brought your black ass around.” There was a momentary silence while I let my words sink in. “You’ve seen your daughter. Now it’s time to leave.”