Life After A Balla

ask her to assist him. She also noticed that Jordan had been avoiding his father as well.

She had a flash back remembering when Jordan busted in the door from school on Sandino’s first day home from the rehab center. He was so excited about his first day of football practice but his mood quickly changed once he saw his father. Sandino however, was glad to see Jordan and glad to hear that he was following in his footsteps playing football. When he saw Jordan’s reaction to seeing him and the way he ran out of the room, Sandino lowered his head with a sad look on his face.

Skye knew his appearance was overwhelming for him, not to mention she knew both her sons had a lot of mixed emotions still bottled up inside when it came to their father. The only thing Skye regretted the most about leaving Sandino was the impact it had on them. She headed to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She stood poking around inside and pulled out a turkey and cheese sandwich she’d made earlier and a Pepsi. She popped the top instantly turning it up.

“Aahhhhh, now that’s what I needed,” Skye said, plopping down at the huge maple leaf granite bar in the kitchen.

While sitting there, it reminded her of Ms. Petra and how she would come in the kitchen and sit at that very bar and talk with her almost every day while she cooked delicious Jamaican meals. Skye took a deep breath thinking about how much she missed Ms. Petra, and wondered how she was doing since Skye hadn’t been able to locate her. She’d called the number Ms. Petra had given her only to find out the number had been disconnected.

“Ms. Petra, I really wish you were here to help me deal with this bullshit right now,” Skye said, as a tear rolled down her left cheek. She quickly grabbed a napkin off the counter and wiped her face.

Weakness is no longer tolerated. I need to pull myself together. I’m the one in charge here, she thought.

Suddenly her thoughts were broken when Quinn walked into the kitchen. Her eyebrows lifted when she noticed he wasn’t wearing his normal uniform. Instead he had on just a wife beater that exposed his ripped muscles and a pair of basketball shorts. Skye almost lost it when she saw the print in front of the shorts.

What the fuck? This dude is hung like a damn horse, she thought to herself.

“Thank you so much for watching Payton while I was gone. Since Jordan is out and I haven’t had time to interview for a nanny, I really appreciate that. I do realize that’s not a part of your job description.”

“No problem. She actually went to sleep once I fed her, and has been asleep ever since, so I didn’t mind,” Quinn responded. “She’s a good baby.”

“Yeah, I lucked up with her.”

“I know you’re not drinking that garbage, Skye,” Quinn said, frowning up his face up at the Pepsi sitting on the counter.

“Yes, I am drinking it. You so called healthy people kill me, always talking about this isn’t good for you, that isn’t good for you. Shit, we’re all gonna die anyway so why not go out enjoying something you like,” Skye joked.

Quinn shook his head at Skye’s comment. “I see right now I’m gonna have to get some healthy food up in here and get you on a good diet. Plus, how are you gonna keep that body tight if you keep putting junk in it?”

Skye blushed. “I guess you’re right. I do need to start eating healthy, but at least I’ve started working out again. Shoot, you should’ve seen me a few months ago. I gained so much weight. But in all the right places though.”

Quinn looked her up and down with a devilish grin. “I’m sure you did.”

The two were quiet for a minute.

“Skye, I have to run out for a little while and I need you to go and sit with Sandino. He’s already dressed and in his wheelchair. You can push him around outside for awhile if you want.”

“Oh nooooo, I got something to do,” Skye lied.

Quinn wondered why she was always purposely avoiding her husband. In fact he noticed that her son was doing the same thing

“Look Skye, technically it’s my day off. I haven’t been out of this house since I got here. I have to run and get a few personal things, but it will not take long.”

Quinn hoped she didn’t get upset for him speaking his mind or even worse fire him because he really needed the job. But he felt the need to challenge her because the more she avoided Sandino the harder it was going to be for her to deal with his condition. He turned to walk away then suddenly remembered he forgot to tell her she had a visitor while she was out.

“Oh yeah, a man stopped by while you were out earlier. His name was Bruze…Cruze or something like that. He said he would come back a little later.”

Skye’s expression changed. She’d already told Cruze over the phone that she needed some time and he wasn’t respecting her wishes.

Quinn noticed how upset she got. “Is everything alright? I assume that wasn’t somebody you wanted to see.”

“You assumed right, but thanks for the message,” Skye responded.

After leaving the kitchen, Quinn reappeared a few minutes later. He pushed Sandino into the kitchen. “Why don’t you take him outside by the pool so he can get some sun?”

Skye gave Quinn the evil eye. “Who the hell works for whom around here?”

Quinn threw up his hands. “Just an idea,” he said, walking out of the door.

Finally deciding to take Quinn’s advice, Skye grabbed her Pepsi along with some other items. She paused when her stomach started to growl and decided to take a few bites of her sandwich. When she looked over at Sandino starring at her, she became irritated.

“Can I enjoy my damn food without you drooling at it?” she spat. “You’re about to make me lose my appetite.” When he kept looking, Skye walked over to him. “Evidently your ass is hungry so here,” she said, stuffing half of her sandwich into his mouth making him gag. Skye then pushed Sandino outside near the pool talking shit the entire time.

“When the hell did my name get RN, at the end of it? This is some bullshit. Quinn is pushing his luck with the stunt he just pulled.”

Skye positioned Sandino by the pool then sat several feet away from him in a lounge chair. As she sat reading a book on her Kindle and enjoying the sunshine, she could feel Sandino watching her with those crazy eyes that once terrified her. She rolled hers and acted like he didn’t even exist.

Suddenly, Skye heard her cell phone ring. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Cruze calling. Instead of ignoring it like she normally did, this time she decided to answer.

“Hello.”

“Hey, baby,” Cruze said.

“I’m not your baby, and let’s get something straight right now. Don’t just be dropping by my house unannounced. I told you I needed some time so give it me,” she said, slamming the phone down.

A few seconds later the phone rang again. Pissed, she looked at the caller ID again. This time is was Toni, Sandino’s lawyer. Skye debated on whether or not to answer. She was enjoying her day and wasn’t in the mood to deal with any business, so Skye decided to let the call go to voicemail and listen to her message later.

When she saw Sandino looking at her again like he was wondering who was calling, Skye frowned up her face at him. “Why the hell are you looking over here? You need to mind your damn business and don’t be worried about whose calling my phone.” She then busted out laughing. “That’s the same shit you use to tell me…wow!”

When Skye saw Toni calling a second time, curiosity took over. Once the phone stopped ringing, she quickly decided to check her voicemail.

Hi, Skye. This is Toni Vaughn calling. Hey listen, I’m calling to see if you’ve looked at the news lately. I’m pretty sure you have since this has been all over the local news as well as some of those entertainment shows. We really need to discuss the recent pictures that were surfaced displaying Sandino in his wheelchair. I do realize that you wouldn’t have taken any pictures of him and submitted them to anyone, but it looks like someone else did. It also looks like it’s now been brought to the world’s attention that Sandino has been petitioned to take a paternity test. Now, of course you and I both know who is probably responsible for all this, and because Sandino doesn’t need this negative publicity right now, I need for him to go ahead and be tested so we can clear things up. We can talk details when you call me back. Talk to you soon.

Skye cringed at the mention of the paternity test. Even though she hadn’t bothered to watch the news, she