Baby Carlile

“Lacey, come here so Mama can braid your hair before school!” I yelled through the house. My daughter came down the stairs wearing a shirt that said “You gotta let me be me” and All Time Low under it, blue skinny jeans, and black converse. She handed me a red bandana and some hair ties before sitting in front of me.

Halfway through the braid Lacey asked, “Mama, when will I meet Daddy?”

I stopped braiding her hair in shock. Lacey hadn’t really asked about her father before, what the hell had brought it up now? “Why do you ask baby?”

“Some girls at school asked why you always pick me up and why Daddy never does and I said I didn’t know where my daddy was and they made fun of me until you picked me up,” she said as she moved
her knees back and forth and hit them together.

“Hopefully soon baby,” I said as I put the hair band at the bottom of her braid. I tied the bandana around her hair and handed her her Star Wars backpack. “Time for school.”

“Mama, I don’t want the other girls to make fun of me,” Lacey said quietly.

“If they make fun of you again I want you to tell me so I can tell the school, okay?” I said as I looked back at her. She nodded and went back to looking out the window. Once we got to school I gave Lacey a kiss before she got out and I drove to work.

“You’re looking a little down, are you okay Fayette?” my boss, Markus, asked at lunch. I was poking around my salad, not even really eating.

“I’m fine, just thinking about how my daughter is being made fun of at school because she doesn’t know who her dad is,” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.

“Well maybe you should try to get a hold of her dad,” Markus said as he sat next to me.

“I could get a hold of him really easily, my brother is friends with him, but I’m just scared, he didn’t even know I was pregnant when I left,” I said.

My parents sent me to Ohio to get away after a suicide attempt and there I was in a relationship Austin Carlile, got pregnant with his child, and then more or less ran away to Huntington Beach. I still talk to my parents and siblings, but the only time I see them is when they come out to visit since I don’t have the money to go out there to visit them.

“Well you should get his number from your brother and tell him,” Markus said and hit my arm lightly. I nodded and ate a few bites of my salad before my next appointment came in.

“Hey Val,” I said as I led the blonde back to my chair.

“Hello Fayette,” she answered as she sat. Once she told me what she wanted and I had started she asked me about Lacey.

“She’s being bullied at school because she doesn’t have a relationship with her father, but besides that she’s good,” I said. “How is the new baby?”

“He’s fine, Matt’s watching him right now. We should have a play date with them,” Val suggested. A tall man sat in the seat next to mine so one of my co-workers, Kristy, a huge bitch, could cut his hair.

“The next cook out is on Friday, you should come!”

“I will, once I’m done with training,” I promised.

“Training?”

“I’m training to be a tattoo artist,” I said proudly.

“Really? You should tattoo the guys,” Val giggled.

“I will, don’t worry,” I laughed.

“So, Lacey’s being bullied?” Val asked.

“Yes,” I sighed. “You know I raised her without her father, a few girls at school are giving her shit for it.”

“That’s crazy, kids these days are so brutal,” Val gasped.

“I know, I told her she can’t start any fights, but she can finish them,” I laughed.

“That’s so like you,” Val giggled. I shrugged with a laugh as I put the finishing touches on her hair. We walked up to the cash register and Val paid, leaving an extra twenty dollars.

“Val, it’s only forty dollars for the hair cut,” I said and tried to hand her back the third twenty.

“That’s your tip,” Val said as she pushed it back towards me.

“Val, you don’t need to give me any tips, you’re a friend.”

“Let me tip you well dammit. Buy Lacey something super nice for her birthday,” Val said sincerely and
I got choked up.

“Okay,” I nodded and shoved the twenty in my pocket. She waved as she left and I wiped my eyes so I didn’t mess up my make-up.

“Hey, can you ring up my costumer?” Kristy asked.

“Sure,” I nodded. “That’ll be twenty dollars,” I said as I typed it into the computer.

“Um, is your name Fayette Barakat by any chance?” the guy asked. I looked up in horror to see Austin standing on the other side of the counter.

“Austin?” I asked. Markus hip bumped me out of the way and finished letting Austin pay since I was too shocked to do anything.

“Fayette, take the rest of the day off,” Markus said as he faced me and away from Austin and looked to the side. “Pick up Lacey and spend some time with her,” he said as he handed me my pay check and gave me another look.

I nodded and put the check in my purse before grabbing it and going back by Austin.

“It’s been so long, how are you?” Austin asked as he led me out of the hair salon.

“I’ve been fine, what about you? I saw Of Mice & Men was picking up, that’s good for you,” I said. My phone started playing Alex’s “It’s a picture of my cock on your computer” song. I blushed as Austin laughed. “Hello?”

“Hi, Miss Barakat, Lacey seems to have been involved in a fight and we want you to pick her up,” the person on the other line said. I sighed and rubbed my forehead before agreeing to pick her up and hung up.

“What’s got you so down?” Austin asked.

“I need to go pick my daughter up from school, she got in a fight, do you want to come with?” I asked before even thinking about it. I instantly regretted it as he got into the passenger seat and I drove to Lacey’s school.

“I’ll be back,” I said as I went inside. I was led to the principal’s office to talk with him, Lacey, the girl Lacey fought, and her mother.

“Hello Miss Barakat, please take a seat,” the principal said and motioned to the seat between Lacey and the girl’s mother.

“Now Jessica, what did you say to Lacey to make her get mad and punch you?” the principal asked.

“Why are you assuming it was my daughter that started the fight, do you not see how this child and her mother look?” the girl’s mother asked. I should have known by her tight up-do and the pearls around her neck that she was going to be trouble.

“Hey, don’t say anything mean about my Mama,” Lacey said and I shushed her.

“Lacey Rose, you need to show respect for people even when they don’t show respect to you,” I chided. She nodded before crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair with a pout. “And didn’t I tell you not to start fights?” Lacey nodded, knowing that saying ‘only finish them’ would get her in trouble.

“I made fun of Lacey for not having a Daddy,” the girl said and kicked her legs around.

“No wonder the child is so violent,” her mother huffed.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t talk badly about my daughter,” I said and the principal nodded in agreement.

“Lacey, why did you hit Jessica?” the principal asked.

“Jessica and her friends were making fun of me for not having a daddy and have been for a while, and I was sick of it so I punched her,” Lacey said. Lacey was suspended until the next Monday (it was Thursday now) and Jessica was suspended until the next Wednesday, since she had also been bullying Lacey.

“Lacey, Mama has a friend in the car, so don’t be surprised okay?” I said as I held her hand and led her out of the school.

“Okay,” Lacey smiled. “Mama, when am I going to see Daddy?” Lacey asked as I buckled her in.

“Sooner than you think,” I smiled and kissed her forehead. “Wanna go to the park?”

“Yeah!” Lacey squealed. Once I closed her door I saw Austin turn around to talk to her. He waved and she waved back before I got back in the car.

“I like him Mama,” Lacey giggled as Austin sang along with the radio.

“Me too baby, me too.”