The Ties That Bond | Chapter Two (unedited)

“Shai, let’s go!” Raleek hollered, knowing he was loud enough for her to hear him despite them being in separate rooms in his room. “You keep playing, and you’re going to be late.”

“Mmm,” she whined from wherever she was. “I know. But if I hurry, that means the time I’ve been spending with you is over.”

“Get your dramatic ass in this kitchen,” he chuckled, placing a plate on the table. Because Shai was inexperienced in the kitchen, and that inexperience included almost burning her house down by attempting to boil literal water, he took the initiative to make breakfast for them whenever they spent an evening together.

Yawning, Shai appeared in the doorway sporting one of Raleek’s t-shirts bearing the Fire Station 32 emblem.

“If you want to get rid of me, it’s so much easier just to say that,” she teased, stepping on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek before slipping into her seat at the table.

“Yeah, I stood here slaving over a stove to make you start your morning with something other than a pop-tart because I hate you and want nothing to do with you.”

“Well,” Shai shrugged, winking at him. “Remember, you said it, not me.”

“I’m not entertaining your foolishness today,” he chuckled, finally sitting across from her. “What do you have planned today besides your shoot?”’

“Nothing much; I’m going to check on her and ensure she’s okay after all the madness from the other night.”

“Speaking of that, how are you?” Raleek studied her carefully while digging into his breakfast. “I know nothing happened, but still.”

“Honestly,” Shai shrugged. “I’m not sure. Mainly, I’m worried for Iniko. It’s like she can’t catch a break, and I’m terrified about something happening to my friend.”

“At the risk of sounding biased, I can say that she’s in the best hands possible. Kenyon would destroy the entire city before he’d let anything happen to her.”

“I genuinely hate the circumstances, but I’m glad life brought those two back together. It’s like the universe knew she would need him.”

“And he damn sure needed her, whether his stubborn ass wants to admit it or not.”

“Wel,l you know, men,” Shai rolled her eyes, playfully sticking her tongue out at him.

“I don’t want to hear any whining about how you miss me tomorrow when I’m on shift since your little ass wants to spend our last few hours being mean to me.”

“Oh, that is such a stretch,” she giggled. “But I will miss you, just to be clear.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, on a different note, have you talked to Camila this week?”

Raleek snorted. “I tried. Ever since she got served for our custody hearing, she’s been acting an ass, which isn’t surprising. I just hate how she can’t see how negatively it affects us being the best parents to Mel that we can be.”

“Well, she’s emotional right now. Her family fell apart.”

“That’s on her. Spiraling because you lost a family you didn’t want makes no sense to me, so I can’t understand the emotional reactions.”

“Sometimes we don’t know how important things are to us until we lose them,” Shai pointed out. “Don’t get me wrong; I completely agree that she took you and the relationship y’all shared for granted and will have to take some accountability for that. But, I don’t think you should be surprised by her reactions to anything because they’re human. And I don’t foresee you two smoothing things out anytime soon.”

“Since when are you team Camila?”

“I’m team Melody,” Shai corrected. “No one understands better than me how important a relationship is between a girl and her father. I’m only trying to get you to see things from a different viewpoint so Camila’s reaction to things doesn’t frustrate you and influence how you react to them. When emotions get involved, things get sticky, and if she’s hell-bent on making your life hard, you need to be as clear-headed as possible to not let her knock you off your square.”

“I hear you, Shai. And you’re right. But it’s different when you’re in the middle of it.”

“I know, and I’m not trying to undermine your feelings. So—”

Raleek’s phone vibrated violently on the table, silencing whatever Shai was about to say. Noticing it was Camila, he sighed heavily. “See, and this is why I hate talking about this girl. When you speak up the devil, they damn appear,” he grumbled, reluctantly answering. “What’s up, Mila?”

Shai shot him a look that clearly said to be nice while collecting her plate and leaving the room to give him some privacy.

“Hey, are you at the station?”

“Nah, I’m home. Why? What’s up?”

“I don’t know. Melody’s been behaving weirdly this morning, and I’m not sure if I should take her to the hospital.”

“She’s been acting weird like how?”

“She’s warm but not necessarily fever-warm, not eating, and sleeping like crazy. I don’t think it’s to the point where I need to take her to the doctor, but—”

“I’ll be there in a few,” Raleek interrupted, uninterested in hearing the end of her statement. If there was one thing he’d learned from his paramedic training, it was that things weren’t always as simple as they seemed. Just because their daughter wasn’t exhibiting extreme symptoms of being sick didn’t mean nothing was wrong. 

He ended their call and stood without allowing Camila to get in another word.

“Everything okay?” Shai’s concerned eyes found his.

“I’m not sure, but I’m about to find out. Mila thinks Mel is sick, so I’m heading over to see if everything is cool. I’ll let you know when I get there and keep you updated,” he stalked past, stopping to kiss her forehead and then her cheek. “I’ll keep you updated on what’s happening.”

“I hope she’s okay.”

“You and me both. Lock up for me,” Raleek called, stalking out of the kitchen. One quick change of clothes and a few short words to Shai later, he was out of the door and heading to Camila’s.

During his drive, Raleek briefly contemplated his decision to drop everything at Camila’s call. His daughter was always his number one priority; that was never in question. But if there was one thing her mother had proved, it was that her motives were questionable. Raleek didn’t want to think the worst. Still, Camila made it hard to give the benefit of the doubt—not only through the actions that ruined their relationship but also through the behavior she displayed since their separation.

It was one of the main reasons he hadn’t revealed any information about Shai. He wasn’t ashamed of her or their budding relationship, but it was a long shot. But Raleek knew without question Camila wouldn’t handle the news that he’d moved on well, despite her not wanting him in the first place. All her current decisions were based strictly on emotion, and Raleek wanted to bring as little drama to Shai’s life as possible. If that meant keeping things under wraps for now, he was all for it. He just hoped Shai understood his motives as well.

Making a mental note to discuss it with her later, he pushed the dilemma to the back of his mind and pulled into Camila’s driveway. Parking, Raleek climbed out and inhaled deeply, hoping this visit went smoothly.

After releasing his breath, he headed to the door, knocked twice, and waited for her answer. While waiting, he kept his promise and texted Shai to tell her he’d arrived. No sooner than Raleek hit send did the door swing open, revealing Camila sporting a concerned expression.

“Hi,” her soft voice said as she greeted him and stepped back to let him in. Thank you for coming.”

“What’s up?” he nodded, stepping inside. “Where’s Mel?”

“In her room, you know where it is.”

Nodding, he stalked past her, trekking down the hall of the home they once shared, and pushed his daughter’s door open. Upon seeing him, she grinned wide and pulled herself up in her crib, releasing a giggle.

“What’s up, pretty girl?” Raleek questioned, reaching inside to lift her into his arms. “What’s going on, huh? You not feeling good?”

While Melody did feel warm, after further inspection, she seemed to be her usual cheery self, at least with him. Sinking into the rocking chair in the corner of her room, he cradled her to his chest, grateful to get a little time in with his mini-me before his shift started.

However, the peace he thought he’d get was interrupted when her mother appeared in the doorway.

“You two look cozy,” she smiled softly, gazing at the two.

Unmoved by her attempt to start a conversation, Raleek barely spared her a glance. “If you have something you need to handle without worrying about Mel, I have time to kick it with her longer before my shift starts.”

The dip of Camila’s eyebrows let him know that his attempt to be nice was about to go very left. “If I’m not mistaken, it sounds like you’re trying to get rid of me.”

“Or, spend time with my daughter without you hovering over me.”

“Our daughter,” Camila corrected. “And I didn’t know it was such an issue for her mother to be around you. I guess whoever you’ve been with lately is—”

“Mila,” Raleek interrupted calmly. “Don’t go there. I didn’t come over here for this.”

“And I didn’t invite you over here for this.”

“Exactly,” his eyes bored through her. “I’m here because you called to tell me something was wrong with Mel. So, I’m here to check on and spend time with her. Not converse with you.”

Camila’s hands went to her hips. “Well, unfortunately for you, she’s too young to communicate for herself, so we have to communicate on her behalf. Yes, I wanted you to come over and ensure she was okay, but there was another reason.”

“Why am I not surprised,” Raleek grumbled, casting his eyes on Melody. Her fist was tucked into her mouth as he watched her parents intently. Not wanting to create a situation that would upset her, he took a deep breath and attempted a different approach with Camila. “What’s the reason?”

“Mel’s birthday is rolling around way sooner than either of us wants, and I wanted to see if you had a free day to maybe go to lunch and iron out the details of her birthday party.”

“Whatever you want to do is cool,” he shrugged. “It’s your party.”

“You don’t plan on being there?” Mila raised an eyebrow.

“Given the circumstances, it’s best if we do things separately.”

A scoff escaped as she stared at him, dumbfounded. “Leek, you can’t be serious. I know you feel a way about how things ended between us, but taking it out on our daughter is cruel. She deserves a day where both her parents celebrate her.”

“And if your behavior wasn’t so erratic, I may have been willing to bite the bullet and make it happen. But it’s like you don’t know how to separate your feelings from what’s best for Mel, and the last thing I plan to do is create more confusion or give you a false reality of the situation.”

“I don’t know how to separate my feelings?” Camila argued. “You’re the one who allows your hate for me to cloud your judgment.”

“Contrary to what you think, Mila, I don’t hate you. Had you never done what you did, my eyes would have remained closed to the truth of what our relationship was. We were wasting time.”

Folding her arms, she glared at him. “I wonder how deeply your feelings for me could have been if it were just that easy for you to walk away from me. From our family.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with being easy. I respect myself more than to remain in a relationship with a woman who doesn’t want to be with me. And if the conversation I overheard wasn’t enough evidence of that, then you having the balls to fuck around with another man behind my back was. You’re lucky I haven’t asked if you were careless enough to have Mel around him because I truly don’t want to know the answer.”

It might have sounded crazy, but Raleek genuinely wasn’t sure what he would do if he found out Camila had their child around the man she was cheating with. He’d rather spend the rest of his life in the dark about it rather than risk it.

“Leek,” Camila softened her tone, gazing at him with the saddest eyes he’d ever seen. He still wasn’t moved. “I don’t think enough words exist for me to express how sorry I am for what I’ve done. It was you, not me.”

Raleek couldn’t hold in his snort.

“I’m serious,” she pressed. “I was immature and stupid, and I let family pressure allow me to make stupid decisions instead of just communicating my feelings to you. It’s one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made, and although your answer is no right now, I hope one day you can find the space in your heart to put our family back together again.”

“I’m good, Mila,” he answered swiftly, standing. “Things with us were good while they lasted, but I can’t pretend as if I ever felt like I was the one for you. I’m a safe option, something you can be content but not completely happy with, and I ain’t settling for that shit.”

“You did make me happy,” Camila insisted.

“Well, then, you had a hell of a way of showing it, Mila,” he countered. “I think I’m a take Mel to the station to see the gang. My mom can pick her up and drop her back off to you.”

“Raleek,” Camila gently grabbed his arm as he walked past. “Just answer this for me.”

His expression was unreadable as he stared down at her. “What’s up?”

“Are you seeing someone else?”

There was a bout of silence before he replied, “Are you sure you want to know the answer to that question?”

Tucking her lip between her teeth, Camila slowly removed her hand from his arm.

“I’ll let you know when my mom is on her way back with Mel,” was all he said before leaving the house.

He wasn’t worried about a bag or anything else Melody might need because he kept things for her at his house and an extra bag in his car in case of emergency, so he was never caught lacking.

After getting Melody settled in the car, he climbed in and called Shai.

“Hey you,” she answered two rings in. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, Mel’s cool. She’s heading down the station with me now.”

“She’s good?”

“Yes, from what I can tell. I won’t go so far as to say her mother was exaggerating, but yeah.”

“As long as Melody’s okay, that’s all that matters.” 

“Yeah,” he replied absently, debating whether to take the conversation in the direction his feelings pressed him to. He’d never been insecure, but the reminder that Camila had indeed played him had Raleek feeling off his square. “Lemme ask you something, Shai,” he began, unable to help himself. “Are you sure you’re cool with this?”

“What does this mean exactly?”

“Us.”

“Where is this coming from?”

“I’m just asking. The last thing I want is to make you feel obligated to be in a situation you don’t want to be in.”

Shai was silent for a few seconds before asking, “Did something happen while you were at Mila’s?”

“No. But being around her reminded me that she was settling—”

“Leek, I’m not settling,” Shai interrupted. “And if I felt for a second that I was, I’d have no problem walking away from all of this. I’m here because I want to be. And because you bullied me,” she added, getting a laugh out of him.

“As if I could bully your little ass.”

“I definitely remember you sitting outside my house demanding I give you a chance.”

“Because you were being stubborn and about to let a good thing pass you. I had to make you see what you could miss out on, girl.”

“And are you sure you aren’t just interested in me while waiting for things with Camila to even out?” She questioned out of left field.

“Shai, I know how insane it is to have a child under one and not be with her mother. But, if you don’t trust anything else I tell you, I need you to trust that I mean every word when I say I promise that chapter of my life is a wrap. Mel is a package deal, and if you don’t want to date a man with a child, I understand because it takes a lot of compromise or patience. But you never have to question my motives when it comes to her mother.”

“And you never have to question my motives when it comes to you,” she shot back. “I’m here because I want to be and enjoy you.”

“I enjoy your big-headed ass, too,” he chuckled, continuing his drive to the station.

Part of him felt stupid for allowing Camila’s infidelity to make him question Shai. But he was human and needed just as much reassurance as the next. As long as she was for him, he was for her, and nothing, least of all Camila, would get in the way of that.