Page 52 of A Player's Prayer

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Nodding, I said nothing as I dropped my head back against the seat. Lost in my thoughts, I jumped at the ringing of my phone. Seeing it was the doctor’s office, I tried to answer immediately. I had forgotten I was waiting for a callback. Feeling my phone vibrate, I pulled up the voicemail I’d already mentally prepared.

“Hi, Dakota, it’s Nurse Pat from Grove Medical and Associates. I regret to inform you…”

Hearing the door open,I snapped my head up and locked eyes with the most menacing man I’d ever seen. Sitting at the small table inside the tiny visiting room, the air was stifling. While the mug on his face told me he wanted to snap me in half, that shit didn’t move me. At the end of the day, I was a man just like him. Doing that shit would never be as easy as he thought.

“Do I know you, nigga?” He looked from me to the person sitting to the left of me. “I ain’t really up for visitors today.”

Pushing my chair from the table, the legs screeched as I stood to my feet. I walked around the table and stood before the man who would one day be family. Hearing the door close behind the guard, I stepped to the man of the hour.

“I just wanted to come down and formally introduce myself to you. My name is Adrian Mills.” I extended my hand to him. He looked down at it for a few minutes before he accepted. “And I’m in love with your daughter.”

Gripping my hand firmly, he never took his eyes off me. “Maine Jenkins.” He shook it before squeezing it. “You hurt my baby?”

“Sir—”

“You made her cry.” He gripped my hand so damn tight, my knees buckled, and it took everything in me not to drop to the cold-ass concrete floors. “The next time you break her heart, I’ll rip yours out and feed it to your mother. I don’t care who you are or what you have. Kodi is my entire world, and I will die about her.”

“I will do the same.” I held his stare. I could have sworn I felt a bone pop out of place. “I love your daughter more than anything in this world.”

He stared at me for a few more seconds before he yanked me into his chest and hugged me. The big, strong muthafucka knocked all the wind out of me, but I played it cool until we broke apart, taking our respective seats.

“You okay, man?” Marcellus asked from the side of me. “You need some water or something?”

“Fuck you!” I hissed at him, flexing my fingers. Giving my attention back to Maine, his glare was still in place. “I know you weren’t expecting me, but I would like to have a few minutes of your time to discuss Kodi.”

“Is she okay?” The dark, menacing mask dropped from fear of something being wrong with his daughter. “Did something happen to my baby?”

“No, and as long as you’re straight with me, I can keep it that way.” His eyes squinted at my words. “She told me abouther ex, a nigga named Percy, and her hoe-ass friend, Zaria. I would like for you to fill me in on the real.”

When Kodi told me about her fake-ass friend and hoe-ass ex last night, my blood boiled. There was no way in hell I was going to let anything happen to my baby. This morning, I dropped her off at work and told her I would pick her up when she got off. As soon as she clocked in for her shift, I was on a jet for an hour and a half flight to Florida. I paid the warden a pretty penny under the table to have a private conversation with Maine. Kodi had no idea of the lengths I would go to for her. Nothing and nobody was off-limits.

“I’ve always been a getting-money-ass nigga. Whether it was robbing or selling dope, I always did what I needed to do to provide for my daughter. When her mother died, I knew I had to go harder, so there were times I went days without seeing my girl.” He dropped his head momentarily before bringing his eyes back to me. “I made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve always loved my baby. I made sure she was protected as best I could from the inside. My mother could only do so much, so I was happy to learn that Kodi had learned to protect herself too. I’d gotten word that my baby girl knew how to beat ass and shoot a muthafucka, if need be.”

“Do you see this?” I pointed to the faint scar on my face and lip. “I know what Kodi’s hands do.”

“She told me, lil’ nigga.” He side-eyed me, causing me to chuckle. “Before I got jammed, I had my mother create a trust for me at a bank out of town. I knew I needed my money to be secure because hustling ain’t forever. Call me paranoid, but I didn’t trust the locals, and I’m glad I didn’t. Kodi never knew about the trust, and I didn’t have intentions of telling her until I was home. My baby girl may have learned how to protect herself physically, but when you have a big heart like Kodi, youtend to let people eat off you, even if they have nothing for you to eat in return… you feel me?”

I nodded, agreeing with his words to the fullest. I leaned forward on the table. “That Percy nigga… How did he know about the money? I’ve been doing a little digging in the city, and he seems to think you have some money buried at your mama’s house. I don’t know what type of surveillance y’all have over there, but he went over there after Kodi left town and tore the place apart.”

When I got to the city this morning, the first thing I did was go by Dakota’s family home. The people here didn’t know a damn thing about me, but money will make anyone talk. One of her neighbors, an older lady, informed me that Percy and Bear have been over there every day snooping around when they think no one is looking. She said she wanted to call Dakota and tell her, but she felt it was best she minded her business. After going into the home with the key I copied from Kodi’s chain, the place was trashed. I could see that at one point, it was a cozy home, but it had been ransacked from top to bottom. Before leaving, I called Dre Boudreaux and asked if he could get some people to install a security system on the house and hire some folks to get it cleaned up. He assured me he would.

“I’m going to kill them!” He growled as he slammed his fists on the metal table. “My gut told me he was always a jealous-ass nigga, but my love for the nigga wouldn’t let me believe it. He would look out for Kodi as much as he could, but I see it was a front to see if I left her money.” He dragged his eyes to me, and I could see the murder in them. “I wasn’t a flashy man, but I wasn’t humble either. Everyone knew I made money, but I didn’t think he would try to hurt my daughter to get it.” He dropped his head in his hands, slapping it repeatedly. “Kodi told me she overheard her ex and her best friend talking?—”

“I know all about that,” I stopped him. The last thing I wanted to do was talk in circles. “I’m here about a solution. I will never question your love for your child and your willingness to protect her. I came here to let you know that I’m her protector now. You did your best given the circumstances as her father, but I’m here to take over and handle business as her man. Dakota Jenkins is in the hands of a real nigga, no… she’s in the hands of a real man. I ain’t playing about her, and I’m laying down anybody that thinks shit’s sweet.”

Glaring at me, he said nothing. At the end of the day, he was a father and a man. I wasn’t here to emasculate him or his role in her life. I just wanted him to know there was someone here to carry the load.

“What are your plans for my daughter?” He leaned forward, getting in my face. “You love her that much that you’d die for her?”

“Put me on the front line and watch what I do.” With my glare mirroring his, my words didn’t waver. “As far as my intentions, she’s going to be my wife and the mother of my children. The only thing she has to do is wake up every morning and breathe; I’ll handle the rest.”

He didn’t say anything, but the slight softening of his eyes was enough. Slumping back in his seat, he nodded toward Marcellus. “Who is this?”

Marcellus pushed his briefcase open and grabbed a new legal pad out of it. “I’m the man that’s going to get you out of here…”

As I leaned against the metal table, my mind went back to the conversation I had with Kodi’s father when I visited him in prison weeks ago. When I told him I was going to do whatever it took to make sure his daughter was safe and secure, I meant it. Ensuring her safety was the reason the niggas kneeling before me were dying today.

“W-Wild, please!” Zaria was the first to cry out when I pushed off the table. “I will leave Dakota alone! She will never hear from me again! Wild, please! I’m with child!”