one!â
âWhy do you ask?â Chauncey questioned.
âTatiyana and Kaiya are my daughters.â He pointed to the two girls. âMy name is Chris.â Chris gave Chauncey an awkward handshake that contorted his fingers in all sorts of ways.
âHow many kids does she have?â Chauncey asked.
âShe got five kids. She got a set of twins who live with their grandparents in North Carolina,â Chris replied.
Five kids without a ring. Chauncey could not fathom what would possess her to have so much unprotected sex. How could any woman in this day and age expect to be successful with five kids and no husband?
âI had to do some investigating on some Law & Order type of stuff to get to the truth,â Chris offered.
âWhy did you stay with her?â
âBecause she is fine, and she was getting those county checks and child support checks from the other baby daddy. I had it made while I was out of work, but not too long after Kaiya was born, I bounced. Gabbie was too much drama for me.â
Chauncey no longer saw the man in front of him as a man, but as a statistic. âHow often do you visit your kids?â
âOften. At first I didnât, but then I became a changed man.â
âWhat happened? Did you find the Lord?â
âNaw, child support. They tried to take a brothaâs driverâs license and everything. Thereâs only so many times you can quit a job to avoid paying child support before your family stops loaning you money.â The guy patted Chauncey on the back. âTake my advice. If you donât want to pay, put a helmet on your soldier.â
It took Chauncey a minute to realize what helmet and what soldier Chris was speaking of. He did not know that such a brute was capable of a figurative analogy.
Gabrielle walked up with drinks in her hands. âDonât be trying to scare him off, Chris.â Gabrielle sat a drink down in front of Chauncey.
Chauncey stood up and handed Troy over to Chris, then made his way toward Gabrielle. âI need to talk to you.â
âYou want to play me in air hockey? Itâs impossible to score on me,â Gabrielle said.
With five kids, evidently not. With his hand on her back, Chauncey led Gabrielle outside the pizza-making room and into the video game area.
âListen, Iâm sorry, but this isnât going to work,â Chauncey said.
âChris is such a hater. I swear!â Gabrielle rolled her eyes.
âYou have a lot of kids, who you did not tell me about.â Chauncey struggled to get his words out in fear of offending the young single mother.
âChauncey, you seem like a nice dude, but if you canât handle that I got three kidsââ
âFive!â Chauncey put his hands on top of his head in disbelief.
âWhat a hater, dude.â Gabrielle turned around and mouthed something to Chris, who only smiled and waved back at her.
Chauncey used this time to flee, taking off in a brisk walk toward the exit.
âChauncey! Chauncey!â Gabrielle shouted, but Chauncey did not break his stride.
He was through with online dating, and he was through with his search for a wife. At least for now.
Chapter Ten
Quincy
Two Days until the Retreat . . .
Â
Â
âI canât take this, Lord,â Quincy said, as if the Lord were sitting in the chair across from his desk. He lifted up his desk calendar, which was covered with scribbled-in meetings and deadlines. He removed a copper key from underneath his desk. He then proceeded to unlock the bottom drawer, and a bottle of 150-proof vodka rolled. It was more of a gut check. Could Quincy face down his temptation another day and not give in?
âTwo hundred eleven days,â Quincy said to himself. He had no patience to work twelve steps; he had just made up his mind to rid himself of anything toxic. Quincy did not classify himself as an alcoholic. He had moments of weakness and moments when the