Chapter One

1

Jermaine’s Day

Jermaine Banks sat on the side of the bathtub as his three-year-old-son, Khalil, played in the sudsy water with a green-and-white plastic boat. The boat was one of the few toys that remained from Jermaine’s own childhood. Khalil loved it and wouldn’t take a bath without it. As Jermaine watched his child’s carefree smile, he felt uneasy. He knew that, in order to keep that smile on his son’s face, he was going to have to make some drastic changes in his life. But how? He was almost thirty years old with only a high school education and absolutely no work experience. Just as he got lost in his thoughts he looked up to see his pregnant girlfriend, Erin, in the doorway.

“Are you guys almost done?” Erin whined, crossing her arms.

“We just got in, Erin. Give us a minute,” Jermaine said, shaking his head.

That girl wants everything on her time, he thought.

“I’m just checking, no need for the attitude,” Erin said as she turned and stomped down the stairs to the living room.

Jermaine shook his head again and went back to washing his son. For the most part he loved Erin and she was a good woman. She had her ways, but who didn’t? They had been together through a lot of thick and thin. Even when Jermaine had stepped out on her and got Khalil’s mother, Amani, pregnant while Erin was completing her undergraduate work at Morgan State University down in Baltimore. But then again, that forgiveness had come with a price, and now that Jermaine was trying to take a more active role in Khalil’s life, he was starting to notice that Erin was pretty ambiv