Tuesday Morning - 6:52 AM
Salome woke to Kai's babbling through the baby monitor.
She'd barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Demarcus's face—the rage, the entitlement, the way he'd looked at her like she was property he'd temporarily misplaced.
But Kai didn't care about her nightmares.
Kai needed breakfast, a diaper change, and someone to smile at him like the world wasn't falling apart.
So Salome got up.
She moved through the morning routine on autopilot—warming a bottle, changing Kai's diaper, dressing him in the little dinosaur onesie her mother had bought him. He giggled when she kissed his belly, his tiny hands reaching for her face.
"Mama loves you," she whispered, holding him close. "So, so much."
By 8, they were in the car.
The babysitter—Mrs. Lisa, a swee
