Treat Me Like Somebody

Kania| IX

Karson:

I was sitting on a stool in front of our mini bar island in the kitchen. A turkey sandwich in front of me along with a large bag of barbeque chips.

Pretty, Elijah, and Alton sat around me. Them too eating sandwiches and reaching inside my bag of chips.

Tonight I'm going with Mercy back home. It's time for our parents to come together and for us to get shit straightened out. My parents don't know they're grandparents and I know they're going to blow up on me.

What scared me the most wasn't the part where I would have to face my father. It's the part where I'm meeting my daughter for the first time. I was no longer a coward. It's time for me to face my responsibilities.

"The championship win tomorrow is going to be sweet. We're going to win for the third year in a row." Elijah spoke up. All of them excited for tomorrow's game.

I am turning in my swim shorts before I leave. I recently got back on the team last week after being suspended for fighting with Beau. Water polo meant a lot to me but my daughter meant more. Missing the biggest game of the season is the best decision I've made all year. Water polo is ending in a few weeks anyway. Finals are coming up too. First semester will be over and I'm planning on spending time with Mercy and Kania for Christmas this year if everything goes well this weekend.

"Yeah. That trophy is going to look hella good sitting next to my bed." Pretty smiled wide and pretended to kiss a trophy.

Alton shook his head and laughed. "Damn. I'm surprised your ego isn't as big as your forehead yet."

Elijah and Alton laughed at Pretty as he reached to touch his forehead. "Shut the hell up Alton. Burnt ass."

The guys went back and forth clowning each other. I just wasn't in the mood to joke around. I'm still stressing over my situation at hand.

"What's up?" Alton asked me after they finished joking around.

Looking down at my untouched sandwich I ran my hand across my hair. I trusted my friends. They're practically my brothers.

"I have a daughter."

Alton and Pretty silenced. Elijah thought it was a joke and burst with laughter. "Yeah right."

I didn't say anything and Elijah's laughter died as he remained quiet as well.

"So. Mercy was telling the truth?" Alton said. I knew he wanted to tell me he told me so. I just didn't want to hear it.

Pretty furrowed his eyebrows, "You fucked Mercy? Now she's pregnant?"

"No dumbass." Alton said.

Running my hands down my face I groaned before telling them everything. How my old friends told me a lie, Mercy crying to me telling me that she's pregnant, me finding out the truth a month later, what happened at the beach, and just everything.

"Damn. No wonder she hates you." Elijah said. I didn't blame her. I would too for what I did.

Sighing I said, "I can't go through with the bet. I don't want to."

Pretty shook his head. As if there was no way of getting out of it. "It was never about you fucking her. You were an asshole to the girl and I knew she didn't deserve that. So. The only way to get you closer to her was to form a bet. We actually thought you two might end up together but that's definitely not gonna happen."

"Y'all tricked me?"

"I wouldn't call it tricking you. We just wanted you to man up." Alton said. I wasn't angry for what they did. I am actually grateful.