Chapter 17 - Darnell Comes to the HouseDarnell came without calling.
Marcus opened the door.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Darnell held an envelope.
“I need to talk to Kiara.”
“She’s at work.”
“I can wait.”
“No.”
Darnell’s jaw tightened.
“It’s her house too.”
Marcus looked at him.
“No, it isn’t.”
Darnell glanced past him.
“Monique home?”
“No.”
“Then why are you deciding who can enter?”
“Because my name is on the deed.”
Darnell laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The house. Money. Deeds. That’s your language.”
Marcus’s face remained calm.
“You came here after putting Kiara’s name on business paperwork without permission. The language is appropriate.”
Darnell raised the envelope.
“I’m withdrawing everything.”
“There was nothing to withdraw because she never agreed.”
“I’m cleaning it up.”
“Good.”
“Can I speak to her?”
“She told you not yet.”
Darnell’s eyes narrowed.
“She tell you that?”
“Yes.”
“Of course she did.”
Marcus started closing the door.
Darnell put his palm against it.
Marcus stopped.
“Move your hand.”
“I’m not here to fight.”
“Then move it.”
Darnell did.
Marcus left the door partly open.
Darnell lowered his voice.
“You think you won.”
Marcus stared at him.
“I think my daughter is hurt.”
“My daughter.”
Marcus’s jaw flexed.
Darnell saw it.
“That still gets you.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Marcus almost closed the door again.
Darnell spoke quickly.
“I know what she said to you.”
Marcus froze.
“She told me.”
“That’s between me and her.”
“She feels guilty.”
“She should.”
Darnell looked surprised by the bluntness.
Marcus continued.
“And I should be careful not to use that guilt to control her.”
Darnell laughed.
“You always talk like a therapist.”
“No. I talk like a man trying not to repeat mistakes.”
“What mistake did you make?”
Marcus stared at him.
“Thinking if I did enough, nobody could question what I was.”
Darnell went quiet.
Marcus stepped outside and closed the door behind him.
“You want to know something?”
“What?”
“I hated you.”
“I know.”
“No. I mean I hated you in ways that embarrassed me.”
Darnell watched him.
“Every birthday you missed, I got another chance to prove I was better.”
Marcus looked toward the driveway.
“And that felt good.”
Darnell’s expression shifted.
Marcus continued.
“Then I hated myself for feeling good, because the only reason I got to be the dependable one was that Kiara was disappointed.”
Darnell said nothing.
“I didn’t keep you away.”
“I know.”
“But I also never called you and begged you to come back.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
“I know.”
Marcus looked at him.
“But sometimes I told myself that made me noble.”
Darnell’s voice became quieter.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I’m done letting either one of us build identity by making the other smaller.”
Darnell looked down at the envelope.
“I really did love her.”
Marcus nodded.
“I believe you.”
Darnell’s head snapped up.
“You do?”
“Yes.”
The answer seemed to hurt him more than accusation.
Marcus continued.
“Love is not the question.”
“What is?”
“What did you do with it?”
Darnell looked away.
A car turned onto the street.
Kiara’s.
Darnell straightened.
Marcus stepped aside.
Kiara parked.
When she saw Darnell, her expression tightened.
She got out slowly.
“Why are you here?”
“To fix the paperwork.”
She looked at the envelope.
“Did you contact Patterson?”
“I sent a correction.”
“Did you contact the lender?”
“Yes.”
“The document service?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Darnell held out copies.
Kiara took them.
He waited for gratitude.
None came.
“I’m trying,” he said.
Kiara nodded.
“I see that.”
His shoulders relaxed slightly.
Then she added, “Trying now doesn’t erase what happened before.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
She looked at Marcus.
Then Darnell.
“I need both of you to hear something.”
They waited.
“I am not a prize in a contest between the man who stayed and the man who left.”
Marcus nodded first.
Darnell looked stung.
Kiara continued.
“And I am not a redemption story for either of you.”
Marcus lowered his eyes.
Darnell swallowed.
“I don’t know what my relationship with you will be,” Kiara told Darnell.
He nodded.
“But if there is one, it will be based on what you do next.”
Darnell looked toward Marcus.
Then back to her.
“Okay.”
Kiara walked toward the door.
Darnell called softly, “Baby girl.”
She stopped.
He immediately regretted it.
Kiara turned.
“That name used to make me feel chosen.”
Darnell’s face fell.
“Right now it makes me feel managed.”
She went inside.
Marcus remained on the porch.
Darnell stared after her.
For the first time, he looked less like a rival father.
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