On The Ropes

Round 18

Tyreek's POV

I know that something's wrong with my baby. I'm not entirely sure what it is because he won't tell me, but I know my husband well enough to know when something's up. I know that things are rough for him with me in here. He has to handle things alone that we're supposed to handle as a unit. I hate that what I did is only adding to the stress.

If I could go back and stop myself from ever getting into that bath tub, I would...

But unfortunately, I can't change shit. I just have to deal with this new course I've been set on.

I'm hoping to get out of here before the kids' prom, though. I don't want to miss too many important moments for my sons.

I've been doing good. Medicated as fuck, but good. I've been doing my mandatory therapy sessions, letting them poke and prod my brain while I trauma dump. I've been eating and getting my weight back up—And I've gotten back into working out so Quan doesn't fight me when I get out. I can only do so much here—Seeing as they definitely won't trust me with weights—But I'm doing my best.

I've actually arguably gotten my weight up too much, which means DeAndre is going to be absolutely obsessed with me now, then start complaining when I drop the weight again.

"Yo, Reek." I heard a whisper from the other side of the room, making me raise my brows and turn my head to look at my roommate. Some young kid who thought he had nothing left to live for. Interesting story—Apparently he jumped from his apartment balcony and miraculously survived the fall. Did time in the hospital and then was shipped off to the ward like me. "I heard Roots say you gettin' released soon. That's true?"

I chuckled quietly at his words. "First of all, stop callin' that lady Roots, Kai." I scolded him playfully. One of the nurses had upset him, and the first thing he noticed was the woman's overgrown roots—Which he hyper focused on, especially after her insistence that she was a natural blonde. "Second of all... Yeah, it's true." I nodded my head. "I'm gettin' better, showin' signs of improvement, takin' my meds and shit. They don't think I'm a danger to myself no more."

A smile spread across Kai's face, causing me to match it. "I'm happy for you, man. Your kids prom is comin' up, right?"

"Yeah, man." I nodded my head, laying my head back again as I stared up at the ceiling. "I need to be there for their special moments. Prom, graduation, when they move to campus for college." I listed. "They're growin' up, y'know? I can't miss another second. They'll be gone before I know it. Off livin' they lives and shit."

Kai nodded as I spoke, a slightly sad expression on his face as he listened. "That's great, Reek." He offered me a small smile. "Man... I wish my parents were like you." He huffed. "They couldn't care less if I lived or died."

"I'm sure that's not true, Kai." I frowned.

Kai chuckled and shook his head. "I appreciate you tryna make me feel better, man, but those are literally their words."

Oh... "Damn." I muttered.

Sometimes I forget that other people have shitty parents too, and that it wasn't just a me thing.

"Not to get too personal..." I began, and Kai gestured for me to continue. "Was they always like that? Or did it change as you got older?"

Kai blew out a breath and shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, they were cool when I was a kid. Loved me and shit..." He then let out a dry laugh. "Always told me that they were blessed to have a daughter, but would've been happy no matter what as long as I was healthy... Guess that stopped applyin' as I got older and decided to confide in them that they ain't have a daughter."