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Authors: Shana Burton

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Chapter 35

“Marry a man I don't love or risk losing my son.”

â
Lawson Kerry

Mark barged into Lawson's classroom two days before her weeklong deadline to tell Namon the truth. He pulled Lawson off to the side, interrupting her lunch with Lydia. “I need to talk to you. You already know what this is about.”

“Don't manhandle me,” she replied, pulling away from him. “And I'm not going to discuss
that
here.”

“Is everything all right?” asked Lydia, concerned.

“No.” He took a deep breath. “I apologize for coming in here and interrupting you guys like this, but I need to speak to Miss Kerry alone.”

“No, you don't have to go anywhere,” said Lawson and crossed her arms in front of her. “I'm sure whatever Coach Vinson has to say to me, he can say in front of you.”

Mark fumed. “I need to talk to you alone, Lawson, but if you want our business all over the school, then fine with me.”

Lydia rose, but seemed reluctant to move. “Is everything all right?”

“No,” Lawson confessed, but the thought of her baby daddy drama being fodder for the teachers' lounge was a bit too much to swallow. “However, it's something only the two of us can work out.”

Lydia took the hint. “I'll be right across the hall if you need me.” She collected what was left of her lunch and ducked out of the room. Mark closed the door behind her.

“Now, what was so urgent that you had to come storming in here like a maniac?” inquired Lawson. “Poor Lydia looked like she was scared half to death.”

Mark sat down on top of one of the students' desks. “I want you to know that I've come to a decision.”

Lawson gave him a sideways glance. “Oh, you have?”

“Yes.” He paused. “I want Namon to come live with me.”

Lawson looked at him in total disbelief. “Have you lost the little piece of mind you had left? After the way you acted the other day, you'd be lucky if I let Namon come over for a
visit
. You can forget about him living with you.”

“I already told you that I'm willing to take this all the way to court if you keep denying me from getting to know my son.”

“Do what you have to do, Mark. You and your court threats don't scare me. My money can retain a lawyer just as quick as yours can.”

“You can stand here and talk all tough, but we both know you don't want to go toe to toe with me in a courtroom. You will lose, Lawson. I can almost guarantee that.”

“It's a chance I'm willing to take.”

Mark hopped off of the desk. “Going to court will be grueling and expensive and will take a lot of time from us that we can be spending with Namon. If we're honest, I don't think either of us wants that, therefore, I've come up with another solution.”

She rolled her eyes and muttered, “I can't wait to hear this.”

“I already told you that I'm a strong believer in doing the right thing when it comes to my child, so . . .” Mark took a deep breath. “I think we need to provide Namon with the kind of stability and family that he needs right now.”

“He already has that.”

“No, he has a
variation
of that, but not the real thing. We need to take ourselves out of the equation and do what's best for our son.” Mark sighed and calmly stated, “I think you and I should get married.”

“
What?”

“I want to be with my son, you're not going to let him live with me without you. Getting married makes the most sense. It just seems like the most logical solution.”

“Mark, we can barely stand to be in the same room together as it is. Why would you even consider something like that?”

“We got along just fine before all this came out about Namon. There were actually times when I felt chemistry between us. Marriage may not be the most conventional solution in this situation, but it's the only one that can guarantee that everyone gets what they want. Being raised by both of his parents is the best scenario for our son.”

“While developing this master plan, did you forget that I'm marrying Garrett?”

“He's a good guy, but he's not Namon's father, no matter how hard he tries to be.”

“He's the only father Namon has ever known, and he's the man I love.”

“You said yourself that you all have been together for ten years, and you ain't made it down the aisle yet. That should tell you something.”

“What it
doesn't
tell me is that I need to marry you.”

“Lawson, I'm not going to beg you. It's either this or I fight you for custody.”

“Mark, Namon doesn't even know you, and what he does know, he doesn't like. Why don't you stop thinking about yourself for five seconds and consider his feelings?”

Mark shook his head. “Fourteen yearsâ
fourteen years
out of his life that I'll never have again. In four years, he'll be going off to college. If I'm going to build any kind of relationship with him, all I have is now. And like it or not, the key to that happening is being married to you.”

“I don't know how being trapped in a loveless marriage could possibly be what's best for Namon or for anyone else.”

“It doesn't have to be loveless if we don't want it to be,” said Mark.

“Mark, I'll always love Garrett. I'll never love you.”

“Never say never.”

Lawson rolled her eyes.

“Hey, I'm no more in love with you than you are with me, but in time, our feelings could change, and we could end up having a great marriage. More importantly, Namon would have a real family.”

“He already does.”

“No, he's being raised by a single parent and her boyfriend. That's not the stable environment I want my son to have.”

“Please explain to me how living with a single father who also has a child with another woman is better.”

“It's not. I don't want our son torn between two families, having two sets of step-parents, two homes, and two different lives. He doesn't need that. But he does need both of his parents raising him in a Christian household as man and wife. Just think about it, Lawson. When you do, you're going to see that I'm right. In your heart, you know that being raised by the two of us is better for Namon than being raised by you and Garrett.”

“Garrett has been nothing but good to Namon.”

“But he's not his father,” repeated Mark. “I am. We can give him the family that he's never going to have with Garrett. It's either that or drag this thing out in court.”

“So, those are my choices, huh? Marry a man I don't love or risk losing my son.”

“The choice is yours, sweetheart,” Mark said and stood eye to eye with her. “I won't settle for anything else.”

Chapter 36

“God will make him stop, baby, one way or the other.”

â
Kina Battle

Kina sashayed into the apartment and planted a wet kiss on E'Bell's cheek.

He looked up from the television. “What's with you?” he asked.

“I bought you something.” She handed him a workbook.

“What's this for?”

“It's a study guide for college entrance exams.”

E'Bell frowned. “Why are you giving this to me?”

“I've been thinking about it. Baby, just because you didn't go to college right after high school doesn't mean that you can't go now.”

“I already told you that I'm too old to play college ball.”

“I'm talking about getting your degree, not touchdowns. You're interested in starting your own business, right?” He nodded. “A degree can help you get there.”

He snarled, “And just who is going to pay for all this college? You know I don't make enough money to be wasting like that.”

“You might qualify for a scholarship, or you could get a student loan.”

“Ain't nobody gon' give me no loan, and you know that.”

“It's a guaranteed student loan. Anybody who applies can get one.”

“And just who is gon' pay it back?”

“That's a bridge to cross after you graduate. Besides, with your degree, you can get a better paying job and make enough to pay back the loan.” She sat down next to him and opened the book. “Just look at some of the questions. They're not even that hard.”

E'Bell pushed the book aside. “Kina, I ain't been in school in fifteen years. I don't remember all this stuff.”

“Just try. See what comes back to you.” Kina set the book in his lap. “Okay, read number one.”

E'Bell stared at the page, squinting his eyes. “Man, I can't read that little bitty writing. It's making my head hurt.”

“I'll read it. The first one is an analogy.
Jettison
is to
accept,
as what is to what?”

“Huh?”

“Jettison. It's a verb.”

“Like a person, place, or thing?”

“No, that's a noun.” She pointed to the multiple-choice options. “Which one do you think is the best answer?”

He pushed the book away again. “I told you I can't read all this small writing.”

“It's not that small, E'Bell.”

“So, now you gon' tell me what I can see with my own eyes?” he charged.

“No, I wasn't trying to do that, but if you can't read itâ”

“I can read!” he cut in. “You think I'm stupid or something?”

She touched him. “Baby, I wasn't insinuating that you can't read or that you're stupid. I just meant that you might need glasses.”

“I don't need you to tell me what I need.” E'Bell flung the book across the room. “And I don't need this book either. Since you think I'm so dumb, why don't you just take your fat behind somewhere else to live?”

“E'Bell, you're not dumbâ”

“I must've been to marry you.”

“All I'm trying to do is help you. Why are you getting so upset?”

Kina put her arm around him, but he jerked away. “Did I ask for your help, Kina? I work at a school, and seeing one every day is more than enough for me.”

“But think of what it'll do for Kenny to see both of his parents in school, still pursuing their education.”

“School just ain't for everybody, and we are the kind of people who ain't got no business being in somebody's school. Now, I don't want to hear no more of this foolishness. The house ain't clean, and there ain't nothing here to eat. If you got to be around here fretting over something, fret over that, and leave me alone.”

Kina stood with her head held high. “Then I'll just have to go on to school without you.”

E'Bell bolted up. “What? You gon' defy me like that?”

“When it comes to this, yes, I am.”

Without warning, he slapped her, and she fell down on the sofa. He pulled her up by her hair. “Don't you ever talk to me like that again, you hear me?”

“Yes,” she sobbed. “E'Bell, please stop! You're hurting me!”

“I told you one time that there ain't gon' be no school!” He shoved her to the ground. “I ain't telling you that no more!”

Kina wept, curled in the fetal position on the floor. E'Bell stepped over her body and grabbed his keys. “Either you get these silly ideas about school out of your head or I'll beat them out of you!” E'Bell slammed the door shut on his way out.

Kenny tore into the living room, crying as hard as his mother. He covered her with his own body. “Mama, why did he do that to you? You said he would never hit you!”

“Go back into your room, baby. You don't need to see me like this.”

Kenny wiped his mother's tears with his sleeve. “Let's just go, Mama. Let's just go someplace where he can't hurt you anymore.”

Kina sat up. “My place is here, Kenny, with you and your father.”

“But why?”

“Because I love him. I just want him to stop hurting me.”

“Who's gonna make him stop?” wondered Kenny.

“God will make him stop, baby, one way or the other.” Kina sat up and hugged her son. “He will. Just trust Him.”