Page 48 of Signs and Signals

“I didn’t know my mother went to your home and did all of that. I know that is no excuse. I can promise you, all of you, there is no engagement. I did not know about a party, and yes, the people on the Legends PR team should have caught this, but there are times when things slip through the cracks. I will fix this, I swear on everything I love, I will fix this.” I hit the elevator button and step in, leaving Amara in my home again. I am fixing this now. No more chances, no more anything. I am done.

I enter my mother’s home, nodding at the housekeeper, who lets me in and tells me my mother is in the library. WhenI walk in, I should be shocked at what I see, but at this point, nothing to do with my mother is shocking.

“I see you did not heed my warning, Mallory. You will be served with a restraining order before dinner time. No, get out of my sight,” I growl as I walk in and see what looks like a planning of sorts.

“Atlas, have some class, and don’t speak to guests in my home that way, it is beneath you. This is not how I raised you to behave,” my mother scolds me.

Mallory looks like she is unsure of who to side with, I get it, my mother could do a lot of damage to her reputation and her family’s, but neither of them has ever seen what I am capable of.

I pull out my phone contacting my attorney first, letting him know to have the restraining order against Mallory filed right away and served before dinner tonight. Yes, the order was already drawn up, has been for quite some time now, I just have never filed it through the appropriate channels.

“That call was to my attorney—I am sure you both heard. This next call will be to the police to have you escorted off the property. The restraining order is already complete and being filed as we speak, the officers can escort you home just in time for the delivery.”

“I am going, please don’t call the police, which will be made public,” Mallory pleads, then rushes out the door, purse in hand.

“Now for you, mother. I gave you the chance to come clean, not even an hour ago, and you didn’t. Did you think I would not find out I was involved in an engagement I knew nothing about? Was I just going to be told about this engagement when I was coerced into going to the party, under false pretenses? I told you this was it, the last time.”

She looks as though she has done nothing wrong, the binder shows wedding arrangements sits in front of her. She isnot hiding what she and Mallory were doing when I walked in, she no longer cares. Still, she says nothing to defend her actions, which is fine, because I don’t want to hear anymore lies spew from her lips.

“I will no longer accept any invites to any event that is linked to your name, as a host or a guest. You will not contact me in any way, you are no longer welcome in my home, at my games, or in any aspect of my life. As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a mother, and you no longer have me as a son. I told you to stop, and you didn’t. This is the last time you meddle in anything I care about.

“Never in my life have I ever been ashamed of being a part of this family, of wearing the name Kensington on the back of my jersey. Just know, I will do everything in my power to get that changed. I am going to call my manager and have him arrange a meeting with the entire organization to get my jersey changed to Atlas. I hope they will bend the rules just to spite you. If they don’t agree, just know every time I wear the name, I am embarrassed, ashamed, hurt, and angry that I have yours and even dads DNA running through my body.”

I turn and leave, not looking to see if she has anything to say, or what emotion is showing on her face. I will never step foot in this house again. She knows what she needs to do to end this, and if she doesn’t, she will lose me forever.

Chapter Twenty-One

Indya

It is the second week of October; everything seems to be going back to normal for the most part. Amara has been acting weird for the past couple of weeks, she leaves at random hours of the evening, sometimes coming in late from work. Maybe she met someone who knows.

I have been watching the playoffs with Haven, she says it so she can watch Zander pitch, but I know it is more than that. We watch the games even when Riverside isn’t playing but when they are playing, it hurts to see Atlas, I want him to be happy, but then again, I want him to be as miserable as I still am.

We are in the last game of the Division Series, if the Legends win this game they will advance to the League Championship series. They have already played two out of the five games set to be played, but if they win three of those, they will automatically advance with three other teams. From what I remember Atlas telling me when we had our study sessions, this is the game they lost last season.

The game starts at four p.m., so I decide on making a grazing dinner for tonight, so we can eat whenever we want and when we want.

The table and what little counter space we have, and coffee table are covered in foods ranging from sandwiches to chili and cornbread. Multiple dips, chips, veggies, and fruits are mixed in with everything to snack on, along with pitchers of juice, lemonade, and tea, with some water bottles thrown into the mix.

“It looks like Super Bowl Sunday is about to happen here,” Silas says as he and my sisters walk in the apartment. He is taking in all the food, seeing if it is up to his standards, it’s not, but he will keep that to himself.

After appraising all the snacks and food, he kisses my cheek, he tells me he needs to speak to me in private after Haven is in bed for the evening, then he is off to search for his favorite person, Haven. The girls follow me to the living room, claiming a spot on the sectional to watch the game with us.

As the woman sings the national anthem on the television, Silas, comes in from the hallway, with a look of sorrow on his face. When Haven comes flying around the corner I know why.

Haven is in the jersey Atlas had given her when we traveled to visit him, her leggings are a pair with baseballs all over them. Zander had seen them at a store and picked them up for her. Over the leggings is a pink and purple tutu, which has charms of baseball mitts and bats placed in random places on the tulle, which looks self-done, because I remember buying that tutu and it did not have any charms hooked to it at that time. Then placed firmly on her head of curls is the princess crown she received from Maggie. God, it seems like a lifetime ago all those things happened, when in reality, it has been months.

Is it time?

I nod yes to Haven, and she jumps on the couch next to Silas, grabbing his hand to hold, while she watches the game. Idoubt she has any idea what is going on, all she cares about is seeing the people she loves.

If she has questions, which she will ask when the game starts, she will ask one of us, usually Silas, they are usually about the game and how Atlas or Zander are playing, or if the Legends are winning or not.

I swear sometimes I forget, she is four, and can’t read or comprehend things the way she will when she is older. But Zander and Atlas both have each given her signals through the television that they are thinking of her, every game.

I didn’t notice until the last game we watched, Amara was the only one watching it with us. It was the fourth inning, and Zander was pitching, Haven standing so close to the television, like it would make her closer to him. She said he could feel her cheering him on when she was closer to the TV. Again, she is four, so I just let her believe whatever makes her happy.

Then Amara coos, “Awe, that’s sweet of him to do,” which confused me so when I asked her to clarify she says, “Before every pitch, Zander drags his baseball cleats on the mound, then he touches his bracelet then his chest, he gave Haven her very own baseball signal.”

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