“Good. Then let's tough this out and get back up on that horse.”
“There isn't a horse,” Grace mumbles as she stands up and glares at the boy who pulled her hair. I have no idea how to handle this situation, but I'll be damned if I let some brat get away with that. I look around for an adult that could possibly be the kid's parent.
“Hey,” Zayden says, walking right over to the boy and leaning down in front of him. “It's not okay to hurt people like that, dude. And don't ever touch a girl without her permission, buddy. So not cool.”
The kid just stands there and glares at Zayden as a man in Levi's and a white t-shirt comes over and looms big behind the boy. His dad, maybe? I have no idea, but I decide to corral our brood before things get bad. I think our playdate here is over.
“Don't you talk to my boy like that,” the man says as Zayden stands up straight and I'm pleased to find he's actually taller than the big man who's glaring at him. “You have a problem, you talk to me.”
“Did you not see your kid pull my niece's hair? Knock her onto her back? That's some serious stuff, man. All I was saying was that I don't want your son to put his hands on her.”
“Boys will be boys,” the man says and I find myself gritting my teeth as I collect the twins and make them put their hands on the stroller. They're so slippery that Zay and I have almost lost them three times since we got here a half an hour ago. The only way I can keep watch on them is to play this game where they have to touch the stroller at all times.
“Boys will be boys? What kind of bullshit is that? So he has a right to act like a brat? Screw that. Tell your son to keep his fucking hands off my niece.”
“My son has a right to be a boy,” the man says and I watch in horror as Zayden's colored fists tighten, his knuckles turning into sharp points of bone beneath his marked skin. “Now back your faggot ass off and let's be done with this.”
Zayden closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and then opens them back up to smile at the man.
“You might want to send your son away for this one,” he says as the man starts to turn and then shakes his head at Zayden. Zay waits for a minute as the brat boy scrambles back into the playground and then reaches out and puts his hand on the father's shoulder.
“Fuck you,” the man says as he turns back and scowls.
Without warning, Zay's fist explodes into the guy's face and I kid you not, the man practically topples over, falling to the foam covered floor like a board. All around the playground, I hear the adults go silent.
Uh-oh.
“Want to play a game?” I whisper to the kids. “Let's all race to the car. If everyone plays fairly, you'll all get a prize.”
I start pushing Sadie's stroller, grabbing Zayden by his muscular arm and dragging him away before anybody gets it together enough to stop him.
As soon as we hit the parking lot, we all start to run, and we don't stop until we're piling into the minivan and peeling the hell out of there.
Maybe I should be mad at Zayden or maybe I should be explaining to the kids that violence doesn't solve problems but … that guy was a serious asshole. Screw him. I feel like I've spent a good portion of my life trying not to rock the boat.
I glance over at Zayden as he shakes his head and smiles wryly, flexing the fingers of his right hand. Here's somebody who's definitely not afraid, who does his own thing when he wants and how he wants. Maybe he doesn't always make the right choice—punching some a-hole in the mall probably wasn't the right choice—but at least he stood up for himself, for Grace.
I smile.
“You are so goddamn stupid,” I say as I look down at the hole in the knee of my jeans. When I glance back over at Zayden, he's looking at the road with his eyebrows raised and his lips pursed. “But also kind of cool.”
His lips curl into a smirk as he reaches over and playfully taps me in the shoulder.
“Boys will be boys, right?” he jokes as I laugh my ass off, until there are tears streaming from the corners of my eyes.
“You're the best nanny ever,” I say and he touches a hand to his chest.
“Aww, you flatter me,” Zayden mocks, batting his lashes at me.
I smile back at him, but I hope he knows that I'm telling the truth.
I really am gonna miss this guy.
I can see the change in Brooke as soon as the last of the kids falls asleep, the way she starts pacing and threading her fingers together, stretching them out in front of herself as she paces.