“She’s a child. She don’t need to get used to anything like that right now.”
“I understand.”
Dallas kissed me, sliding her hand down my chest and into my boxers.
“Not tonight. I gotta be up early tomorrow.” I pecked her, removed her hand from my bottoms, and turned my back to her.
I wasn’t too sure how I was going to get rid of Dallas, but I didn’t care as long as I ended up with Amara.
21
Nehemiah
I stopped the video playing on my computer and asked, “So what you think?”
Roxie smiled brightly before replying, “I love it so much. It’s crazy how editing can make things seem so much cooler than it really is.”
“I told you.”
“You did. I felt so stupid filming some of these scenes, but you were right, that it would look dope once everything was put together.”
“See? You gotta trust the professionals.” I saved the video then shut the computer off.
“Well you are definitely easy to trust.” She looked me over, and I simply nodded.
“Uh, is it okay if I use your bathroom before I leave?”
“Yeah, of course. You didn’t have to ask that.”
Roxie’s house was huge, and she had so many damn bathrooms that it was hard to remember the closest one.
I finally found the one right outside of her studio room and relieved myself. I washed my hands, and when I got ready to get my shit from the room, I heard some sniffling. Taking my time, I slowly entered to see Roxie looking at her phone with tears streaming her cheeks. This was awkward as hell, and as badly as I wanted to soundlessly grab my bag and slip out, I knew I couldn’t.
“Hey, you aight?” I sat back down, cocking my head some so that I could see her face.
“Yes.” She wiped her face quickly, making it obvious that she didn’t even know I was back in the room. “Oh my gosh.” She looked away, embarrassed. “I know this is weird.”
“What happened? You were just cool a few minutes ago. Don’t tell me you crying because I had to piss.” I joked to lighten the mood.
“No.” She chuckled, finally facing me. “Today has been a bad day, but I put on a mask when you came to hide it all.”
“Oh, may I ask why it’s been a bad day?”
“My boyfriend told me we need to take a break.”
“Mac?”
“I only have one boyfriend, Nehemiah, so yes, Mac. And to make things worse, a so-called friend of mine said it’s because he’s trying to get with some girl.”
It bet not be Camarih.
“Oh damn. Well sounds like to me you dodged a bullet. I been told you, you could do better.”
“Yes, but all the guys who are better than him are taken.”
“Not all of them. You just have to look harder, and like I said, maybe not in this industry.”
“But men who aren’t in this industry don’t understand my life and complain too much. They’re also very jealous.”
“There’s a nigga out there who will understand and won’t be jealous, Roxie. He may not show up in the next month or so, but he exists.”
She stared at me for a little bit and then just started crying hard as hell. I tried to recall what I’d said, because it didn’t seem bad enough to be making her cry.
“I know I look like a fool, but I love him.” She bawled, causing me to pull her into a hug. We were in separate chairs, so it placed a barrier between us, thankfully. “And the only other man I would even think about trying something with is… you.” I didn’t say anything, so she asked, “If you were single, would you date me?”
“I probably would, but I’m not single, and I won’t be single anytime soon.” I made it clear.
Initially, Roxie wasn’t a woman I’d fuck with seriously, but after getting to know her, it was possible… if I was single.
“Can you stay and have some food with me?”
“Roxie—”
“Please, it’s just food. I don’t have any friends, and the ones I do have aren’t true friends. They only hang around me because I have money and success. Please.”
She looked so damn sad that I nodded to agree.
After Roxie cleaned herself up, she had her chef make us an early dinner. I actually had somewhere to be, but luckily, I didn’t schedule it so I could be there at any time.
Eating dinner with Roxie wasn’t as bad as I thought. We literally just had some cool conversation. Plus, the food was hella good and free. Last time I had a meal that fire, it cost me four hundred dollars. We ate dessert too, and once that was completely gone, I left.
Heading straight to my next destination, I made it there a little after 8 p.m. and said a prayer before exiting the car. Entering the studio on MLK, I heard Tony’s voice and that new artist Brooklen’s as well.
“Hey, hey.” I knocked on the archway of the door since it was open.
“What?” Tony frowned.
“Damn, you can’t say hi?”
“No. What you want?”
“Hi, Brooklen. Is it cool if I have a moment with the boss here?”
“She was bouncing anyway.” Tony nodded for her to leave, and she did, even though it was obvious she wanted to stay.
“Okay.” I sat down, feeling nervous since Tony was watching me with a scowl. “I’m just gon’ come right out with it.”
“Today, hopefully.”
“Yeah, of course.” I chuckled, but when he didn’t, I stopped. “You know I love your sister, a lot. I think I’ve loved her since the first time I saw her—”
“What the fuck is this, a poem? If you don’t hurry the fuck up so I can lock this muthafucka up and get home to my bitch.”
“I wanna get married to her, but I wanna make sure it’s cool.”
“You wanna know if it’s okay with another grown ass man? So you a bitch ass nigga.”
“Nah, she wanted to make sure it was cool.” I corrected myself.
“Oh, so you don’t give a fuck what I think then?”
Was this a trap?
“Well, nah, it’s—”
“Let me see the ring.”
“I haven’t gotten it yet. I just made the appointment with the jeweler, so I won’t be able to pick out the ring until tomorrow.”
“When you get the ring, I wanna see the shit, and I will let you know then if it’s cool. Aight?”
“Aight.”
“Get out.”
I nodded, getting up and leaving the room as quickly as I’d come in, laughing. Whipping my phone out as I walked to the car, I decided to text Jilly.
Me: He wants to see the ring before he approves.
When I saw she replied with the crying laughing emojis, I just shook my head at her.
I drove straight home, and while I took a shower, Jilly ordered pizza since that’s what she was craving. I was still on cloud nine every time I thought about the fact that she was having my baby.
Putting on some nightclothes, I went downstairs to the den where Jilly told me the food would be. After getting situated, I let her choose something to watch so we could eat.
“Tomorrow, I can’t pick up Timothy.” She sighed.
“Why?”
“I have an appointment.”
“For the baby? Why you ain’t tell me?”
“No, not for the baby, for work. I umm, it’s a new artist that wants to hire me.”
“Who?”
“You wouldn’t know them.”
“I wouldn’t know them?” I pointed to myself. “I’ve made videos for literally half the music industry. Who is it?”
“It’s a secret.” She giggled, but that shit was suspicious.
“Jilly—”
“Anyway, I cannot go. Plus, her little man was flirting with me the last time I went, and I didn’t like that.”
Hearing that Star’s nigga was not only parlaying in a house I bought and with my son but also flirting with my woman, had me forgetting about the shit I originally wanted t
o know.
“Flirted how?”
“Just complimented me, told me he could change my life, and called you out of your name.”
“Why you just now telling me, Jilly, what the fuck?”
“Because it is not a big deal! Men hit on me all the time. Do you tell me every time a girl calls you handsome or flirts with you?”
“No, because it never happens,” I lied. I knew Jilly, and that question was a fucking trap. She was more like Tony than she realized.
“It better not be happening. Let me find out some hoe is complimenting you and offering you sex!” she growled.
“Why you mad when I just said it never happens!”
“I don’t care!”
“Aight, hold up.” I put my plate down. “This ain’t about me. This is about the fact that my baby mama’s nigga was flirting with you. This ain’t no random man on the street.”
“Fine, next time I will tell you.”
“Nah, it won’t be a damn next time.”
“Ooh.” Jilly cooed, getting into my lap.
“Jilly, no, I’m not feeling it.” I tried to stifle my laughter as she kissed on my neck.
“Your dick disagrees with you.” She pointed out the fact that my mans was already hard.
“Welp, shit, he wins.”
We both chortled, before I started removing her clothes.
The very next day…
Thankfully, I was able to meet the jeweler earlier than scheduled so that I would be able to get the ring for Jilly and pick my son up. I was close as hell to telling Star I would be late, but it wasn’t worth all of the damn drama she would cause over it.
Some days I couldn’t believe that I had actually planned to spend the rest of my life with that woman. Come to think of it, I never really told myself I would marry her, but I did love her and thought, at the time, that I would be with her for life. Meeting Jilly was a huge blessing, and I had to remind myself to thank God for that shit. Had it not been for her, I’d probably be two more kids in with Star’s ass and miserable.
I got out of my car and called Star as I neared her door so that she could hurry up. By the time I hung up, I saw her pulling the door open, wearing an attitude already.
“Hey, wait. Let me talk to you before he comes out.” I stopped her. She’d let me know Timothy was using the bathroom and she’d go check on him.
“What, Nehemiah?” She folded her arms, poking one of her hips out. Like always, Star’s body was crazy nice. Her brown skin was always smooth looking, and she kept her hair done, no matter what.
“Relax. I wanted to talk to you about a couple things regarding yo’ man. For starters, I’ve never met this nigga in my life, and you already got him staying here with my son.”
“He’s not staying here. He’s not here right now, is he?”
“Shit, I don’t know. Is he? If so, I wanna talk to him too.”
“Well he ain’t, okay! He’s at work. And you’re always busy, so I am not going to put my personal life on hold until you can schedule us in.”
“You a damn lie. You’ve never once asked me to meet this nigga. Shit, you’ve never even mentioned him. He just happened to answer yo’ phone when I called. Bottom line, I don’t want him around Timothy until I meet him and approve.”
“I didn’t approve of Jilly.”
“You had no reason to disprove of Jilly.”
“Oh, and you have reason to when it comes to Dre?”
“Who the fuck is—see, I don’t even know his damn name! And yes, yes I do. Jilly already let me know he was trying to get at her.”
“Oh, please! She is not even his type!”
“Jilly? Jilly is every nigga with eyes’ type!”
“You must really think you got something with that girl!” She laughed. “Anyway, she’s lying. I will let you know when it’s a good time for you to link up with Dre.” She walked off.
“It needs to happen before he’s around Timothy again!” I shouted at her back, but she ignored me.
Finally, Star returned with my son, but he didn’t run to me like he usually did.
“Say hi to your daddy, Timothy.” Star shoved him toward me lightly, as I kneeled down to be his height.
“Yeah, man. What’s wrong with you?” I jokingly punched his stomach.
“Hi, Daddy,” he finally said somberly.
“What’s wrong, Tim?”
He simply shrugged, and when I looked up at Star, she did the same in return. Sighing, I picked him up, said my last few words to his psycho mama, and then bounced.
“Ice cream!” Timothy shouted from the back seat. He’d been quiet the whole ride until now.
“Okay, let’s get you some. It’s the weekend, so you deserve it.” I pulled over in front of the ice cream parlor.
Monitoring traffic, I got out of the car and then pulled him from the back seat before locking my Lamborghini truck. Hand in hand, we entered the ice cream place and both got sundaes. I usually would’ve driven him home to eat it, but I wanted to see what was bothering him before we saw Jilly.
“This is good. Thank you, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome.” I leaned over to kiss him. “You doing okay?” I quizzed, and he nodded. “Why didn’t you speak to me when you saw me?”
“Because.”
“Because what?”
“I’m angry.”
“Angry why? What I do?” I frowned, wondering what he was talking about. I knew he was a kid, and kids were strange, but my son and I never had issues. It was always us against Star if anything.
“Because you’re not gonna be my daddy anymore.”
“Huh? I’m gon’ always be yo’ dad, even when you get to be my age.” I rubbed his head. “Why you say that?”
“Mommy said you and Jilly have a new baby coming, and that you weren’t gonna be my daddy anymore.” He finally looked up at me. I had to take a deep breath so I wouldn’t rage out and kill his mama.
“Listen,” I put my ice cream cup down onto the table, “Yes, Jilly and I are going to have a baby, but you and that baby are gonna be brother and sister or brothers. I’m gonna be both of y’all’s dad.”
“You promise?”
“I promise. I put it on my life, and everything I love—”
“Even your car?”
Yes.” I chuckled. “I put it on my car. I love you way more than I do any of my cars or anybody in my life. You understand?”
“Yes.” He nodded happily.
“Don’t let anybody, not even your mama, tell you that I won’t be around you or love you, okay?”
“Okay.”
I could see how quickly his mood changed, and I tried to remain calm while he finished his treat. Soon as we were done, I headed right back to Star’s house.
“Stay right in here, aight?” I looked to my son from the front seat, and he nodded before tuning back into his kiddie iPad.
Star emerged from the house with a confused expression after I’d texted her, so I exited the car, locking it as I met her at the steps of her front door.
“What?” She shrugged in an irritated manner.
“Why the fuck you tell Timothy I wasn’t gon’ be his dad no more?” This was the first time in a long time that I wanted to hit Star.
“Oh.” She twiddled her thumbs. “I was angry when I said that, but I explained that to him! I don’t know why he still went and told you!”
“Because he’s a child, Star! You can’t say shit like that! And what the fuck would possess you to even utter those words to him!”
“What the fuck would possess you to go and get that bitch pregnant! It wasn’t enough that you left me for her, you had to buy a condo together, and now she’s gonna have a baby! You’re just erasing everything we had!”
“Star, I get that you’re upset about this shit, but you gotta get over it. You and I are done with. We were done with before Jilly even came into the picture. Had you not been pushing me away and toying with me like you owned me, maybe we could’ve las
ted. However, that is not what happened, and I have moved on. I’ve been with Jilly for a minute now.
“I try with you and try to show you respect, because of the love we used to share and my son, but you making the shit hard for me. I don’t give a fuck what you say; it’s no way you love me this damn much. This is all a pride thing for you.”
I was basically pleading with her ass to give the bulshit up. I was tired of this shit, mentally and physically.
“You don’t—”
“Star, all I have to say is keep that nigga away from my kid until further notice, and quit putting shit into Timothy’s head. Everything else, you gon’ have to work out in therapy, with yo’ man, or at a retreat or something. The time limit on me giving a fuck has run out.”
“Get the fuck out of my driveway!” Star screamed, tears welling up.
Shaking my head, I took my ass back to the car and floored it out of her damn driveway.
When I got home, Timothy was asleep, so I laid him down on the couch in the den so that he could wake up once Jilly was done with dinner. I could smell it when I walked in, so I guess whatever she had to do ended early.
“Did you tell Star you were pregnant?” I stood in the doorway of the large kitchen.
“Shit! You scared me.” Jilly covered her chest with the oven mitt. “I didn’t mean to, but she said some rude things to me, and I had to let her know.”
“Jilly, I would’ve preferred to sit her down and tell her something like that. You know she’s still sensitive to the subject of us being together.”
“Okay, and? It’s not like we got together six months ago, Nehemiah. It’s been a couple years now. Why are you still protecting her feelings? Do you wanna be with me or her?”
“You know the answer to that already. What are you even talking about?” I shook my head, getting heated.
“Okay, well right now, it kind of seems like you don’t know.” She turned the oven off. “Just keep in mind, you only have room to care about one woman’s feelings, not two. So think about whether you want to protect Star or have a relationship with me, because both of those cannot co-exist.” Jilly left the kitchen, not giving me a chance to say anything.
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