Getting It Right (BOOK THREE)

Chapter 40

Keenan's dad watches from the doorway of the kitchen as Keenan puts all of Neveah's belongings into a bag. Old toys, a bag of diapers, clothes she never wore, a box of Jordan's he never got the chance to show Aubrey. All of it gets stuffed into a big plastic bag with her name written across it. He pauses when he picks up a yellow teddy bear that was given to her the day Aubrey was released from the hospital. Her birthday is written across the bear's belly in black sharpie with a heart at the end.

He stares at it for a moment, no doubt reminiscing on the glorious day of her birth. After swallowing hard, he tosses the bear into the bag and grabs a pair of pajamas to fold. His father steps into the room and stands bedside him. "Doing some cleaning?"

"Yeah," He places the pajamas in the bag too. "I'm going to mail all this to Aubrey, no use to keep it around any longer."

"Mailing it would take days, you don't just wanna bring it over to her?"

"No." Keenan responds. Seeing Aubrey with Jeremiah made it clear that he needs to destroy that little bit of hope still lingering inside of him. And keeping Neveah's stuff around his room isn't helping at all. Plus, hanging with Khelani reminded him of how much fun he's been missing out on. She likes his music, knows how to have a good time and isn't afraid to be a little risky. She may play the sweet and innocent role but the girl is wilder than he expected.

There was a point where she let him drive her jeep while she stood up on the seat belting out radio hits at the top of her lungs in nothing but her bathing suit. She sure did keep Keenan on his toes with all her antics and to be honest, he enjoyed it. A little fun is exactly what he needed.

"Did something happen yesterday? What made you suddenly decide to get rid of all this stuff?" His dad asks.

Keenan stops folding and leans back on his hands, looking up at his dad. "I saw her yesterday. First at the beach, she was there with her aunt and Neveah. I turned away and a second later I saw her running off the beach frantically, they jumped into her aunts car and sped off. They left their stuff on the beach and for a second I thought about ignoring it but it felt wrong. So I grabbed all their things and put it in Khelani's car in case they didn't come back. Then her aunt called a few minutes later and said they were at the hospital near by, so I went there to bring their stuff and make sure everything was ok."

"Was it?"

"Neveah choked on a bead and couldn't breath. The doctor dislodged it but Aubrey was a crying mess." Keenan remembers how scared she looked with tears running down her face and her hair all over the place. Her aunt was biting her nails the whole time, pacing back and forth. "Her boyfriend was there."

His father's eyebrows raise, "So you met him?"

"Yup, some wise guy named Jeremiah who made it obvious that he didn't want me there. So I gave her her stuff and left." Keenan scowls at how Jeremiah low key tried to diss him by getting his name wrong. "I don't care though, if she's happy I'm happy."

"Are you sure you're happy?"

Keenan nods his head. "Of course I'm not happy with the circumstances but I'm not going to dwell on it for too long either. What good does that bring?" He smiles proudly. "Anger management did me well, huh?"

"I guess it did." His father pats his back. "I know you miss both of them, maybe you should consider just being friends."

Keenan's eyebrows furrow and he makes a face. "After what she did to me, pops? I don't think so...I won't ever be able to forgive her. Being friends just isn't in the question."

" Think about it," His father urges.

"There's nothing to think about." Keenan stuffs the last pack of diapers into the bag before tying it off and standing up. He and his dad stand at the same height and he meets his eyes easily. "I think it's best if we both pretend nothing ever happened between us."