Fool Me Once

Brenton smiles when he sees me. “It’s the last Sunday of the month.” When I give him a look, trying to figure out what he’s implying, he adds, “Home Depot day.” Oh, shit! I completely forgot.

Zane must hear him, because he yells, “Yes! Home Depot day!” He runs to his room and, a second later, comes out with his bright orange apron. “I’m ready!”

“Ready for what?” Keegan asks, confused.

“The last Sunday of every month, Brenton takes Zane to Home Depot for their craft day. They make stuff out of wood. Sierra and I usually go get our nails done.”

“Like hell he is,” Keegan hisses, then turns to Brenton. “You’re not taking my fucking kid anywhere.”

Whoa…

“Daddy, you said a bad word!” Zane giggles, completely unaware of the high tension in the room.

“Sorry, bud,” Keegan says. “Why don’t you go play in your room while Mommy and I talk?”

Zane frowns, but does as he says.

Once he’s gone, I say what I’ve been thinking since Keegan spoke. “Your kid?” I’m trying to keep calm, but who the hell does he think he is? He might not like Brenton, but that doesn’t give him the right to tell me how to make decisions for our son.

“You know what I mean.” He hits me with a glare that if I were a weaker woman would have me cowering, but I’m not, and I’m not going to let him intimidate me. “He”—he jabs a finger toward Brenton—“isn’t taking our son anywhere.”

“Yes, he is,” I argue, refusing to back down. “He’s been taking him every month for who knows how long. Zane looks forward to it.”

“Then I’ll take him,” Keegan says.

“No,” I volley back. “Brenton has been in Zane’s life for the last three years, since he was born, and I’m not going to just cut him out because you two are at odds. Unless you have some legitimate reason why Brenton shouldn’t be allowed to take him, then he is. Do you?”

Keegan’s jaw is ticking, his lips pursed together so tightly they’re turning white. He glares at me then at Brenton, but doesn’t say a word.

“Is there a reason why Brenton shouldn’t be allowed to take Zane to Home Depot?” I ask again.

“Fuck this!” Keegan yells. He gets in Brenton’s face, and I’m scared he’s going to hit him. I glance at Kolton and Sierra, who are both watching silently. I try to tell Kolton to do something, but he’s only looking at Keegan and, for some reason, he looks almost as mad as his brother does. His fists are clenched, and his jaw, which identical to Keegan’s, is ticking in the same way.

“Anything happens to Zane, and I’m going to hunt you down and kill you,” Keegan warns.

“Keegan!” I yell. “Stop it!” This is getting out of hand. He can’t seriously be threatening to kill Brenton over taking our son to Home Depot.

Without another word, Keegan pushes past Brenton, knocking his shoulder on his way, and stalks out the door.

I have no clue what the hell just happened here. My first instinct is to chase after Keegan, but before my feet move, Kolton’s hand is on my shoulder. “Let him go. He just needs to calm down.”

I nod once and then head to Zane’s room to let him know he can go with Brenton.

“Daddy was yelling,” he says, looking up from his Legos.

“He was mad,” I tell him honestly. “Sometimes adults yell when they’re mad.”

“Is he mad at me?”

Oh my heart. Keegan and I are going to have to have a chat. He’s never been around a child before, and this is a learning curve for him, but he’s going to need to learn that it’s not okay to behave that way in front of our son.

“No, sweetie, he’s not mad at you. Do you want to go to Home Depot with Brenton?”

“Yes.”

“Then you better get going. He’s waiting for you.”

Zane runs out of his room and straight to the front door where Brenton is waiting. “I’m ready.”

Brenton looks at me. “You sure?”

“Yes, I trust you.”

“All right, little man, let’s go.”

After they leave, Kolton says, “I better go find Keegan.” He kisses Sierra’s cheek and leaves.

“Was I wrong?” I ask her once we’re alone.

She nibbles on her bottom lip, not answering right away.

“S?” I push. “Was I wrong? You’re my sister. Talk to me.”

“I just think Keegan wouldn’t have done that unless there was a reason.”

“I asked him if he has a reason, but he couldn’t give me one.”

“I know.” She nods several times. “Maybe it was just jealousy…” She lets her words linger as I fill in the blanks: but what if it wasn’t.

Keegan

I stay behind his vehicle at a distance. Close enough to not lose him, but far enough away that he won’t see me tailing him. If he stops anywhere, it’s game fucking over. Lucky for him, he doesn’t. He goes straight to Home Depot. I watch from a few aisles over while he helps Zane make some wooden car thing. There are about thirty other kids here with their parents, all making the same thing. Zane laughs and runs around, and Brenton stays with him. He shows Zane how to hammer the nails, and Zane is all smiles the entire time. When they’re done, Zane gets an award and a pin for finishing, and Brenton takes a picture, telling Zane he’s going to send it to his mom.