Hold On Tight(57)

“Can y’all leave so I can get dressed?” Kimmy asked in an angry screech. “I’m sick of hearing about his love for Sienna and her damn titties. It’s me who’s pregnant with his baby. Not her. Me. Me who he fucks whenever he needs to get off. Not her. He treats her like a porcelain doll. She’s not gonna be his baby momma. I am.”





Present day . . .


SIENNA

Dewayne had actually shown up instead of texting me to take Micah to his parents’ on Saturday morning. Then he’d driven me to work, with Micah sitting between us in the truck, excited about going to get breakfast with Dewayne after they dropped me off.

It was easy enough. Micah being there made it easy. I didn’t make eye contact with Dewayne if I didn’t have to, and I focused on Micah. That was why I was even in this truck with Dewayne: Micah. He did it all for Micah, and I understood that. He’d made sure I understood why he was doing this.

However, when Dewayne came walking into the shop at lunchtime to pick me up, he didn’t have Micah with him.

“Where’s Micah?” I asked as I picked up my purse.

“My parents have him. We have to go get your car,” he replied.

Oh. Well, that was good. I thought. I just hoped I had enough money. I still owed for the towing, too. I wasn’t sure who I owed it to and how much. I would find out once Dewayne and I got in his truck.

“Hey, Dewayne,” Gretchen said, and wiggled her long pink fingernails at him, then winked.

He didn’t do anything more than nod at her, and then he motioned for the door. “Ready?” he asked.

I waved at Hillary and Gretchen, although at the moment I wasn’t in the mood to do anything but scowl at Gretchen. I wished she’d never told me about her and Dewayne. I followed him outside. He opened my door for me, and I climbed inside and buckled up.

Dewayne got in on his side and we were on the road without a word from either of us. I hoped this wasn’t going to be a long, awkward ride.

“Reckon you’re not gonna be happy with me, but you’re gonna have to get over it and understand that I’m doing what’s best for Micah.”

I tensed up. This didn’t sound good.

“I had your car towed to the junkyard where it belonged. It’s now scrap metal. Seeing as how I did that, I owe you another car. I’ll gladly replace your old one, and although you’re ready to punch me in the face right at this moment, you’re not going to because I’m driving and because you and I both know Micah needs a safe vehicle. He also needs his momma in a safe vehicle. What you were driving was as unsafe as it gets. And it was polluting the earth.”

I just stared at him. He’d had my car turned into scarp metal. My only means of transportation. My paid-for car was now gone. “I can’t believe you did that,” I said, still in shock.

“I want you and Micah safe.”

We were safe. Well, maybe the car breaking down at night hadn’t been safe, but otherwise that car had worked just fine. “I can’t just let you buy me a car,” I said, my voice raising a notch from the panic. “I can’t . . . That isn’t something someone else buys you. It’s my job to supply a car for me and my son. Not yours.”

Dewayne pulled into the Chevrolet car dealership. He was really doing this. I wasn’t going to let him. I couldn’t.

“I’m buying my nephew a safe vehicle. You can’t stop me. I can buy his mother something to safely carry him around in. Someone needs to take care of you, both of you. I’m the uncle. It’s my job.”

I fisted up my hands and hit my thighs in frustration. “No, it isn’t!”

“Yeah, Little Red, it is. Now, I did some research on good family SUVs, and the Tahoe ranked really well. It’s safe, and they have one here that’s two years old and in great condition. I want you to come see what you think. If you like it, then it’s yours. If you don’t, then we will go to car lots all damn day until you find something you love.”

“You can’t afford this,” I argued.

He cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, babe, I can. Now get your ass out of my truck and go look at that Tahoe. They’re bringing it around now.”

Okay. Fine. I would look at it. But he was not buying it for me. For Micah. This was ridiculous.

* * *

An hour later I drove my new Chevy Tahoe off the lot and was completely in love. It had everything. Even a sunroof. The radio worked and it had seat warmers. Micah was going to be giddy with excitement over the television that flipped down from the ceiling.

When I had finally given in and admitted to loving the Tahoe, Dewayne had grinned like a little boy on Christmas morning. He had been happy about it. How he was happy about dropping this kind of money on someone made no sense. I was stressing out over the price, but Dewayne assured me that he had the money and could pay cash. That he wanted to do this.