I sat up all night listening to Vanessa snore, as I planned our lives for the next few months. Kim's been ignoring my text since I cursed her out about going to Vanessa's class. I was starting to think that she was just as crazy as her brother. She claims it was her first day and that she had no idea that Vanessa would be there, but there was no way I was going to believe that. I wanted to cut ties with her for good, but that was only if it was proven that I wasn't the father. The DNA test was all I needed to accomplish this, yet it was the main thing I was avoiding.                                     

                                                                ~     

Waking up the next morning, the sound of the alarm clock interrupted the little sleep I managed to get. Vanessa slept through all the noise. I had to go to work today, but I still didn't know how I was going to tell Earl that I was leaving. He knew my goal was to get my own shop, but he also  knew that I wasn't financially there yet. Many times he's offered to dig into his savings to help and I could never accept it.

Walking in, I saw Earl at the cash register scratching his head.

"Chris, what do I press again to cancel a transaction?" he asked.

I laughed, "old man, what you gonna do when I leave here?"

He chuckled, "I really don't know."

I caught him up to speed and informed him that I was starting up my shop sooner than expected. Will found out about my idea recently, and became fully invested in my dream. Without saying, I'm sure this came with a price.

"I'm happy for you Chris, but how did this happen?" The look of concern made it hard to ignore the little boy within me, who was screaming for help. If only I could tell him the truth. Knowing he had a military background and often visited the local gun range, I would do anything for his assistance. His guidance. But the last thing I wanted to do was bring Earl into my mess. 

"Well, I got a deal through a friend that I couldn't let pass. It's right off of Powerline and 12th street."

"That's a pretty rough part of town, you gonna be safe there?" he asked.

I flexed my bicep, "you think I'm afraid of anything?"

He smiled, though he couldn't hide the look of worry that was plastered on his face. Shit. I was worried about me too. 

He fixed his glasses on his face and asked, "Well, how much longer do I have you for?"

"I'm gonna finish out this week, then I'm gonna move on."

"Well, I would say I'm proud of you, but I know it's nothing compared to how your parents would've felt. Your dad would have been smiling from ear to ear."

It felt as if someone stabbed a knife right into my heart. Just the mention of my dad made me feel ashamed. Chris there are just some things that men just don't do.  He'd pound that saying into my head growing up, anytime I made a mistake. That's what he'd call them anyway. I'm sure he was shaking his head in disappointment. Even if he wasn't physically here on Earth, I could feel his glare blazing down on me from heaven.

"Bring it in son," Earl said with his arms outstretched. We embraced longer than we normally did. I stepped foot in this shop before I even had hair on my chest. I'm going to miss this place.

Going into the break room to put my lunch in the fridge, I saw that Kim was calling. When I saw that i was alone, I was relieved.

"Now you want to call me? I've been texting your crazy ass!" 

"Is that how you talk to your child's mother?" she asked as if she knew this to be true.

"I'm really not in the mood for this Kim. I'm only going to tell you this once, stay the fuck away from my wife!"

She sighed, knowing Kim she rolled her eyes too, "only if you tell her about this baby. I don't wanna do this alone. If you don't tell her, I will. Or maybe, I'll just tell Will since he's always at your house!"                                                                                                                               

If she were in front of me, it would take God himself to keep me from hurting her. She knew the things to say that would set me off, now my whole day was going to be fucked up. I thought she matured during our time apart, and that she was over these childish tactics. Kim was literally pushing me to my breaking point.

"Kim...listen. Let me do things on my own time. Please. You don't know the shit I'm dealing with."

"So what about me?" I'm dealing with shit too! How do you think it feels to be pregnant by a married man?"                         

"Stop playing the fucking victim! You knew I was married from the get go! Pregnancy was always a possibility, so cut that shit out and woman the fuck up!"

She was silent. Maybe I was too harsh. No I wasn't. She needed to be put in her place. But what if this backfires and she tells Will or Vanessa? Or Both? Fuck!

"Look....Kim.."

"Fuck you!"

She hung up. I stared at the image of my parents on my phone's screen. Saving their picture as my background years ago, today was the first time i felt like they could see right into my troubled soul.