Fathered

1: Prom Night

I remember waking up that day to a phone call from my friend, less of a friend more like a sister, Chakitta.
"How can you not be going
to prom?"
Ah yes prom, love is in the air, the birds are chirping, yada yada yada. All prom was was an excuse for people to get laid. But you let any female tell the story it's an unbelievable rite of passage, Yeah right its a load of bull shit and if you fall for it you are as dumb and naive as everyone else. Maybe it's because I'm cynical according to everyone else. I just think I'm smarter. Does that make me cynical? Oh it does ok then.
"Chakitta prom is an absolute waste of time and you don't even have a date."
"Whoa whoa whoa hold on there little bro I could've had a date I just didn't want one."
" Bitch, we family, why is you lying? you know you wouldn't have had this problem if you had just gone with Salvador."
She is a little sensitive about the subject.
" Now you didn't have to go there Cedric."
I felt the discomfort in her voice and I can tell I hurt her feelings but the stubborn prick would never admit that it was possible that her feelings could get hurt.
" listen sis I can't go even if I wanted to I'm spending the day with the most important girl in my life."
She laughed and said, " And who might that be?"
Right on cue she walks into the room wide-eyed crying and a nasty bruise on her knee she jumped into my arms and yelled out,"Daddy!!!" I wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her forehead.
"What's wrong baby girl?"
She studderred in attempt to catch her breath and finally was able to tell me she had fallen trying to ride her skates.
" look baby your aunt chakitta is on the phone, you don't want to hear you crying do you?"
She shook her head no and tried to fight back the tears and as I put the phone to her ear she sniffled and muttered the word, "Hello..."
" Hi baby, don't you cry okay you got to be a tough little one okay."
"Okay..."
"Now when I finish tonight I'm going to come over and we're going to watch a movie and beat up your dad, Okay.."
"You promise auntie..."
"I promise my little rebel."
Having chakitta in her life meant a lot because her mother was never in the picture, but it never seemed to bother Malia either that, or she was very good at hiding her pain maybe she got that from me. I looked at her, got a band aide and put it on her. "See baby good as new." As I sat and watched the movie I checked in on my social media and saw everybody getting ready for prom. For the most part it was basically the same. Girls posting champagne party pictures with the guy the may be sleeping with tonight. You know it's a very interesting thing about people, the more you look and pay attention and observe the more you realize everyone is the same there's an old proverb I'd like to quote a historic document claimed that all men are created equal, therefore making all men the same as most women would like to argue however, there's also another saying that says women have equal rights as men and a woman can do anything a man can do thus, making them the same as well. Philosophy was one of my strong suits. A lot of people look at me as the lonely cynic who bailed on all his senior activities, it wasn't that I bailed I just had more important matters to deal with. Malia is the most important thing in the world to me and I have to make sure she is okay and well taken care of.
Being a single parent isn't easy, I now see what mothers are talking about, it's hard raising a girl with no mother that's why is so important for me that Chakitta is in her life.
A few hours went by and before I knew it, it was dinner time. My phone was blowing up from all of the prom notifications. People loved making a big deal out of small occasions. I looked at malia and said, "what do you want to want to eat?"
She looked down and bit her lip. She gazed her eyes back onto me and yelled "Taco bell!"
"That's my girl lets go for a walk"
We sat and ate and my daughter looked around at the other families. I could see she felt like she was missing something. She looked at me asked the question I had been avoiding for years.
"Dad, why doesn't Mommy love me."
"You see the kids around here, you think they're happier than you?"
" I don't know."
"Look baby girl, I love you and I will always protect you no matter what."
"Okay Daddy."
I understood the way she felt not knowing where you come from is a hard position for a kid. I didn't trust her mother to be around malia because she wasn't around me for very long, she didnt even fight for her daughter. What kind of mother is that? I can never even fathom how you can leave your own child.
We finished eating and I realized that it's gotten pretty late so I looked at my daughter and told her "let's go home." We got up and dumped our trash like civilized people and walked out the door. I asked my daughter was she feeling alright having had the talk we just did I wanted to make sure she didn't feel like she needed a mother to feel loved.
Instead she looked up at me and said, "Daddy I'm tired can you carry me?" She reached her arms out to me and I replied, "Of course princess." I picked her up and stood at the crosswalk while she fell asleep in my arms. The light turned red as the crosswalk symbol came on and I began to walk across. When I had gotten to the middle I heard loud music and a horn, I turned to look and notice I'm face to face with the grill of a speeding party bus and then....
I Blackout.