Rell, Kiara, Ja'Kir

Rell, 32

Ja'Kir, 9 

Kiara, 6

"The first time, man… it was a shock. I had him with a girl I wasn't even going with, so I was definitely new to it. I was excited at the same time, but the way she did it was kinda' crazy. She said one week she was gonna' get an abortion. Then after nine months, she's telling me, 'oh yeah, your son was born yesterday.' It was crazy. It shocked the shit out of me but I don't have any regrets. I was happy I got him."

"I'm a single father now. The kids usually stay with their mothers but I get 'em on my weekends or my days off from work. When I get 'em we just always like to have fun. I'll usually take them somewhere, like the beach or aquarium. I enjoy doing things like that. Laughing with them, playing with them. I love it all. There's nothing bad about fatherhood. It's a little hard at first, because you gotta' adjust your whole lifestyle but then everything just becomes natural. At the end of the day, I'm a kid at heart myself and they love it, too."

"I kinda' raise them like my parents raised me. I basically try to have fun with them but also keep them disciplined. You gotta' know how to discipline your kids without causing them to grow to hate you. Sometimes you gotta' be hard on them but you gotta' also make sure they know it's because you love 'em."

"Sometimes I struggle with keeping my word on certain things with them. I might have a lil' situation where I gotta run to do something, or I might've forgot about a plan that I already promised them, or I said that I was gonna' do something with them and then it would have to be the next day. I don't like letting them down, you feel me? That's my struggle."

"I don't want them to be out in the streets wildin' cause it's only trouble. I mean I been locked up before for some bullshit, but I hope they don't have to go through that, you feel me?"

"I'm a lil' tougher on him 'cause he's older and he's growing up in Newark. It's rough out here, you know how it is. The killings and all that. You don't want your kid to go outside and get mistakenly hit by a stray bullet, you feel me? I mean, you can't really do much about it but just try to protect them as much as you can."

"It's definitely different with a daughter, 'cause I never did a woman's hair before. Like, the only thing I can do is put it in a ponytail. Even that was hard at first. I struggled with it for a while but then I eventually got the hang of it, you feel me? The more I did it, the more it got easier. Pulling her hair, at first she didn't like it. She would say ‘Ah daddy it hurts,’ nah mean, so I had to get the right touch, you feel me?"

"I love 'em. My daughter...she's really friendly. She sticks up for me like no other. It's a different type of love, but I want her to have a harder shell. She's pretty so I don't want her to have problems with other little girls out here hating. My son...he's stubborn. He needa' be less stubborn and argumentative. Those are the only characteristics I want them to change. I just hope they stay humble. Other than that, they're good money."