Next Generation (Paused)

2

April 24, 2202

New Orleans, Louisiana

"Daddy! Daddy! Guess what happened at school today?" The front door is slammed shut as the sound of quick steps and a book sack with barely anything in it comes towards me. I open up my eyes to a hyper 7-year-old, who is smiling with two missing teeth. "Who gave you a gallon of sugar?" I joke, and she slaps my knee with her little hand.

"This is serious Daddy," she shakes her head with every syllable.

"Okay, okay, tell me what happened," I chuckle.

"Okay," she pauses for dramatic effect, "you remember Tommy T?"

"The smart Indian kid that is al-"

She cuts me off, "-ways telling on people. So, guess what happened Daddy?"

She's so dramatic, I blame Ray, "What happened sweetheart?"

"He told on ME! Can you believe it?!" She shrieks.

I pick her up as she goes on talking about the other child. I walk to the kitchen and place her in a high chair before pushing her in, so she can be closer to the counter. As I open the fridge, she takes off her book sack and continues, like someone cursed her out on the freeway. I grab some apple slices and put them on a plate along with a spoon filled with peanut butter. I hand it to her and she takes it with a short thank you before munching away. I sit in the chair next to her and watch her eat her snack.

"Now what did you do for him to tell on you?" I raise my eyebrow at her.

"That doesn't matter!" She dodges the question and I shake my head.

"You're a mess, you know that?" I tell her, and she giggles while nodding. She hums a tone as she eats her snack. I watch her eat calmly. What did I do to have such a wonderful daughter? I don't deserve her.

"Daddy?" She calls out to me.

"Yes, sweetie?" I ask while tilting my head.

"Can I have some crackers also?" She turns towards me, fluttering her eyelashes.

"You know that Ray is coming with dinner, right?" I ask as my heart melts slightly.

"Uncle Ray Ray is coming?!" She screams in excitement.

My ears ring from the pitch of her scream and I cringe. She must have some type of trait that kills your ears. "Finish your snack and don't rush or you will get a stomach ache," I remind her, and she nods thrilled at the news. I get up out of my seat and kiss her head before walking upstairs into my room. Ray called me earlier and said he was coming over with something important. I can already feel a headache coming on from thinking about it. However, I couldn't help the curiosity I felt. I knew it was about Tonya and we constantly had arguments over her and the subject of her trait. He doesn't understand why she doesn't show signs of a trait, especially from a bloodline like mine. She's like a traitless kid and it's hard to believe.

She was supposed to show signs of one when she was four and that was three years ago. I didn't think much about it until she came home one day, crying because the other kids teased her about being traitless. They called her weak and useless. Even words I couldn't believe should be in a child's vocabulary.

It broke my heart that she was so upset about it. I gave her a big speech about how those children don't know anything about her makeup and that her trait isn't ready to bloom yet. However, Ray believes that she just doesn't have a trait despite my bloodline. I have to keep my faith though. I can't bring myself to believe that it isn't true. I grab my phone off the nightstand before opening it up, seeing a text message from the man himself a minute ago.