Page 15 of Jackass

“Jesus Christ, Blade, she’s fucking fine,” King bellowed, and Sammy jumped.

Blade turned on King.

“What the fuck is going on? I walk in here and you two are glaring at her. The girl looks terrified.” He crossed his arms over his chest, blocking Sammy. “Where’s my old lady? You were supposed to take her shopping today.”

“She’s in the kitchen, having a snack with my daughter,” I informed him.

I knew the moment my words sunk in.

He dropped his arms from his chest.

“Your daughter?” he asked.

“Yea, just met her today. At Walmart, of all places.”

He turned and looked behind him at Sammy.

“What’s going on, Sam?” Blade asked her pointedly.

“Jack, can we please talk in private?”

“No,” King snarled. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell him he had a daughter?”

I realized then why King was so angry. When I told Beck she should have understood why I was angry, I didn’t realize that King did too. His brother, the local sheriff and Beck’s father, only found out about her a few months ago.

The sheriff missed out on two and a half decades with his daughter, but King also missed out on all those years with his niece.

I needed to de-escalate this quickly.

“Sammy, let’s go up to my room and we can talk.”

“Jack—”

“Prez, I appreciate you having my back, but she’s right. We need to talk privately.” I squeezed his shoulder, letting him know I had this.

Taking Sammy’s elbow, I guided her out of the common room to the hallway.

“Do you want to check in on Charlie?” I asked, stopping in front of the doors to the kitchen.

“Could we please?” She offered me a grateful smile.

“Yea, come on.” I pushed the door open and followed her into the room. My daughter sat at the table with Beck, eating cheese and crackers.

“Hey, baby, you doing ok with your Auntie Beck?” Sammy asked, crouching down next to our little girl.

“Hi, Mommy. We havin’ a snack. Auntie Beck told me I could have anyfin’ I wanted. I knew you wanted me to have somefin’ helfy.”

Sammy smiled at our daughter. “You’re right, baby, you did a great job picking that out.” Sammy looked up at me briefly beforeshe turned back to Charlie. “Baby, I’m gonna go talk with Daddy. Will you be ok hanging out with Auntie Beck?”

“Yes, Mommy. We havin’ fun. I like Auntie Beck. She’s nice like Auntie Carrie.”

Who the fuck is Carrie?I stared down at Sammy, willing her to look at me so she would see the question in my eyes.

She didn’t.

“Ok, baby, you be good. Daddy and I will be back soon.” Sammy kissed Charlie’s head and stood.

She turned around just as Blade walked into the room.

---