Page 53 of Broken
When her ball hits the last pin standing she cheers and I join her in celebration. “Good job Momma!” McKenna shouts, jumping from her chair. She runs to Katherine and when Katherine picks her, they do a little spin.
“Are we ready to go?” She asks McKenna. That was the last frame and she totally smoked my ass.
“Yes!” McKenna says as she's put back in the ground.
Katherine joins me on the bench as we swap our shoes out. “I told you she loves this place.” She whispers to me as McKenna does a twirl in her dress.
“I'm glad we came.” I tell her, tying my shoes. “Where to next?” I ask.
Today is all about McKenna, “Home. So we can talk to her.”
Home, she called it home, not her house. My heart skips in my chest as we put our shoes up and head for the door. We're about to flip this little girl’s world upside down, all because I couldn't answer a single call from her back then.
When we get home, McKenna races me to the door as Bailey pulls up to the driveway. Katherine goes to talk to her as we use the key to get in.
“Are you staying?” McKenna asks as we walk into the house.
“What do you mean?” I shut the door behind me as she drops to the floor to take her boots off.
“You're nice and Momma is happy.” She points out, observant little girl.
“I don't know if I'll keep staying here at the house, but I'd like to.” I say squatting down to help her pull the boots off.
“But you're staying here not leaving?” she looks up at me, using her big round dark eyes as a weapon. It's strange to look into her eyes and see myself there, reflecting back through the image of a little girl.
“We'll talk about it when Momma comes back in.” I say collecting her boots as she stands up.
“Why do you call her Kitty?” She walks to the couch and sits, I follow her, setting the boots down on the table as I go.
“Because her name is Katherine, and some people call her Kat. So Kitty, made since to me when I was younger.”
“How long have you known Momma?”
“Almost all my life.” When I say that, she stops talking and just stares at the wall.
The front door opens and we both look over to see Katherine smiling from ear to ear. “Hey, sorry. Bailey said she wouldn't be able to watch McKenna this week. Her mom's in the hospital. She's gonna drive down to stay with her.”
“Oh, I'm sorry.” I say, “Is she close with her mom?” Why did I ask that, it's not really my business.
“No, her mom left when she was sixteen, but she doesn't have anyone else to sit with her.” Katherine walks to the living room and sits on the coffee table in front of McKenna and I. “Did you have fun today?” She asks.
“I did. I left my duckie in the car.” She had gotten a giant stuffed duckie at the arcade with her collection of tickets. Apparently she had been saving up to get it.
“I'll get it in a little bit for you.” I reply.
“We have something we want to talk to you about.” Katherine says, propping her elbows on her knees as she looks at her daughter. Our daughter. She's mine too.
My palms suddenly feel like a swamp, as I brace myself for the news. It already seems like she wants me around after her.
“You know how you asked me why you didn't have a daddy like the other kids?”
“Yes.” She gets up from the couch and grabs her coloring book and crayons from the basket next to the table. She sets herself up.
“Hey, we're trying to talk here.” Katherine says, turning her body to face McKenna.
“You can talk while I color.” She says opening the book to a skull with roses. It's like a little kids emo coloring book.
“Well, West is your daddy.” She just says it, not much of a lead up and my breath catches waiting for McKenna to respond.