by Love Belvin
So, no. I did not want to discuss my dilemma that didn’t seem to add up to hers, which was wholesome.
Suddenly, I felt a soft hand cover mine. I traced the arm up to Lex’s chocolate pools.
“You forget, I only wear the title in church. I wasn’t groomed for this life either,” her tone was comfortingly pliant. “A man brought me in—more like snatched my ass. If we’re going to be friends, you gotta remove the halo only you see over my head.”
My face jumped in a flash before straightening and I took a deep breath. I felt weighted from carrying so much alone, but now wasn’t the place to unload. Today was for Kyree.
“We found out two days ago.” A tear slipped and I quickly swiped it away then threw my eyes to where I last saw Trent.
“And you’re stressed over it? Why?”
“I wanted to earn my place here before expanding it. I’ve so much to prove,” I breathed, sniffling back the impending tears.
“To who?” she whispered back. Her nostrils grew. “Not to Trent; he married you.”
I shook my head, eyes closing at the pain I felt when I thought of this ordeal. “After getting over me seducing my way into his bed, I think he knows my feelings for him are pure. But it’s a maintenance act with him. Trent’s not as…settled on the inside as he is the outside. He’s just regained his career, got new roommates, and lost his father-figure. A baby could possibly push him over the edge.”
“Or he can man the hell up and accept responsibility in all of this. You may have seduced him, but it takes two to procreate.”
“It’s not that simple. We’re fighting for privacy now. I can’t even post pictures of my new family on social media, afraid people will screenshot and share it freely for people to pick apart. All of my accounts are private, but I don’t trust everyone on my lists. I feel stuck in a glass house.”
In my peripheral, someone was nearing us.
Lex winked. “Welcome to my world, Jade,” she sang clandestinely.
“Hey,” I breathed, piping up as Trent approached. “Time to gather the troops to sing happy birthday to the kiddo.”
“How old are you now?” the crowd sang.
“Eight!” Ky shouted, pushing his fist in the air.
“How old are you now?”
“Eight!” He stuck his tongue out and did a two-step.
“Happy birthday to you!”
The room went up with hand claps and whistles from me and my boy, Juan, a tight-end from the Jets. Beneath me, Jade clapped. I knew she wanted today to be special for him.
“Make a wish now, Ky!” Lashawn told him.
Kyree bowed his head and closed his eyes, pausing for a few seconds before blowing out the candles. He had help from his friends when he struggled.
We all clapped again. Ky pushed both arms in the air, bouncing his head to his own beat.
“What you wish for?” April asked.
“You can’t tell!” his classmate, Kipper, yelled, panicking.
“Yes he can,” Lex followed up. “So we can all know how to pray!” She was being comical, mocking Ezra, probably.
Kyree shrugged. “My first wish was for my big homie to win the Super Bowl next year!” I laughed. Seemed like the whole room did. “My next one was for”—he bent over and frowned his face, growling—“Trent to let me show my friends our man-cave! The girls don’t have to go!”
We all laughed again.
I shrugged with my palms then gripped Jade’s shoulders in front of me. “That’s little mama’s call, young soldier.” She vetoed that.
“No one beyond the main floor,” she reminded. “Your friends have already taken over this floor and the basement. That is all.” She flipped her head up to look at me. Her smile was beautiful and sneaky at the same time. I missed that from her. My slick ass little one. She was up to something. “Maybe next year you can have a sleepover in there!”
And there was the gag.
The kids lit up the room, liking that idea. And I liked having them here. Was glad I pushed for this.
Jade turned her face up to me again, this time sticking out her tongue.
Yeah. She was being slick. I reached down and bit her nose for it.
Everybody laughed again. At least that’s what I thought until my eyes somehow went to the corner right behind Kyree. His pops stood there, mean mugging. His boy next to him didn’t seem to have an expression either way.
“All right!” Jade clapped her hands as she spoke to get everybody’s attention. “In the kitchen, Ky’s going to hand out goodie bags. You guys can hang out just a little longer before we bring this thing to an end and I clean the place up. But thanks for coming to celebrate Kyree’s eighth birthday!”
“Go, shawtie!” Lashawn sang while dancing. I caught on right away and cut a step with her from across the room. “It’s ya birthday!”
Jade turned to look at me, sporting an annoyed face, but I saw the humor in her eyes. I pulled her into me during the bootleg acapella performance, but kept it clean.
“Oh!” April yelled from the other side of the room. “That’s where Kyree gets that tongue hanging out his mouth from! You turning that boy into a Bailey!” She laughed.
That snapped me out of my playful mode. I knew she was speaking of the way we like to dance at every occasion, but that may have been taken the wrong way. It was enough Ryshon was on one today, our first time meeting. It stopped my dancing and I straightened.
“Could you help Ky stay organized with the gift bags in the kitchen?” Jade asked, taking off.
She didn’t wait for an answer.
“Trent, where can I change a diaper?” Ezra asked me, holding Lisa-Mare, who was sucking on a pacifier.
The smile left my eyes when I realized what he was going to do. I looked around.
“Where’s L?”
“I don’t know. Helping Jade, I presume.”
“Oh.” My lids stretched. “Okay. Anywhere you want. My office door is closed, but unlocked if you want privacy.”
He nodded once, but hesitated when he stepped off. “A word please.”
Ezra tossed his head toward the open doorway. We went off to the side, kids zooming past us.
He whispered, “Be careful. I sense an adversarial spirit. Not minatory, but provocative.”
I may not have been able to define all the words, but I caught the message. Ezra was picking up vibes from ol’ boy, too. I nodded my understanding and Ezra took off.
Ryshon and his boy were still standing in the corner as the kids were filing out.
“Yo, Ryder, you wanna help Ky give out the bags? I can stay in here and clean up while you handle that.” I pointed toward the line of kids, on their way to kitchen.
I addressed him by his street name to give respect. I was trying to include him in on today. I knew too well what it felt like to be looked over with family. He was Ky’s dad and I respected that. Even when they were down in the gym, shooting hoops; it was weird seeing Ky play with another man, but I ate that spirit of jealousy. This was his dad. Ryshon had been up and missed this time. He was more than welcome to it in my crib.
He swiped his nose, hardly giving eye contact. “Nah, man. Y’all got this.” Then he went back to his phone.
I stood there for a moment, trying to process the shade in that. After showing my ass two nights ago in the hospital, I decided to walk off.
“But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” The scripture popped in my head because it wasn’t filled with emotion and rage like it was at the hospital.
I just brushed it off.
“Oh.” My mouth pouted in surprise. “Y’all in here?” I asked from the entryway of the living room.
Both Ryshon and Little X glanced up from their phones.
“Oh,” Ryshon smiled. “Don’t worry. We ain’t taking pictures to post and shit.”
Little X laughed and I looked away, uncomfortable. They both made me feel uneasy. Trent has been telling me to relax and give Ryshon a
chance to be a father. That was hard considering he showed with none of his daughters, but brought Little X. Did he feel he needed security? Trent wasn’t a threat.
“Well, I came to tell you Ky’s looking for you. He’s about to leave.”
“Where he going? To StentRo’s house?” his tone was cynical, and I knew it was because Ryshon wasn’t adjusting to the new life Kyree and I had taken on. “I thought his son was his new bestie.” He laughed.
I swallowed. “No. They’re out of town for the week.” Jordan and Zoey were bummed about missing it, but Stenton had an obligation to some tour in China and it had been planned for months. “He’s staying over Lashawn’s tonight. He’s upstairs, getting his bag, if you want to see his room.”
Ryshon glanced around the high walls. “So this ya style, huhn. It’s ya speed.” I didn’t know how to answer that. “I coulda given you something more than the apartment in E.O.”
“Like you did Shontel?”
His smile dropped and eyes landed on me. “Maybe, yeah. If you woulda been patient. I got big things happening. Truth be told, I ‘on’t think you ever believed in me. You ain’t never hold me down when I was away.” He shrugged with one shoulder. “It’s all good, though. I know where I snatched you from.” He whistled, eyeing the art on the walls. I’d finally finished with this room. “This one dope. Who this?”
I turned in his line of vision. “It’s a conceptual piece. A girl out of Baltimore. Maya…” I tried to remember. “Maya something Asante.”
We met her at an art exhibit Trent’s friend, A.D. Jacobs, had last fall in the City. Trent knows nothing about art, except what appeals to him. I liked to think it was what spoke to him. I tried showing him as much as I could so this room could reflect the abstracts of his beautiful mind. It was strange having Ryshon here, absorbing Trent’s energy.
“This one sick, too.” He pointed to the opposite wall near the fireplace. “What’s that?”
My eyes squeezed closed before I turned. Jesus bleeding from the cross. His head pricked with a spiked crown to mock Him. His arms stretched wide, helplessly, and His face dripping with blood, tears, and sweat.
“That’s a wax piece. An artist by the name of Monet.” I turned back to him.
“This the shit he in or you?” He stepped closer.
And that’s when I noticed the gold caps in his mouth. All day, I hadn’t given Ryshon a full inspection. I had no reason to. I couldn’t tell you the color blazer Pastor Carmichael wore or the type of shoe, Leonard Maze, Connecticut Kings’ fullback, had on today. I had no level of curiosity, so long as Kyree had on clean and matching clothes and Trent wore the Gucci t-shirt and sweat pants I laid out for him, along with the Ase Garb socks and sneakers. Those two were my only concerns.
I tried for a smile. “Mr. Bailey’s house. Mr. Bailey’s style.” I stretched my hand toward the doorway. “Do you want to see Ky off before you go?”
“What I wanna do is find out why you ain’t wait for me. I may not be able to give you Monet art in a big ass mansion or a Range, but I coulda hit you off with ya own crib and nice whip.”
There was a pregnant pause before I could respond.
“Like you bought Shontel the Benz and a house the same month Ky got evicted?”
Once again, Ryshon’s face fell. “Ky ain’t get evicted. His unemployed moms did.”
I scoffed, shaking my head while my eyes went to my feet. “That’s how disconnected we were.” I peered into him again. “I was employed, Ryshon. I worked two jobs. I wasn’t trying to lay up and have you do everything. I just needed your help making ends meet until something better came along for me.”
“Something better like what? A star quarterback for the Kings?” He snorted. “Nah, baby. Better things come to chicks who go to school and hustle for a better life.”
“I was doing that, too,” shot quickly from the pits of my stomach. “Still am in school, for your information. Look, I don’t know why you keep going down memory lane. I’m fine with how things turned out. I just want to move forward. Just want to co-parent successfully for Ky’s sake.”
“That’s the problem. I still gotta be concerned about ya future. This ain’t gone last. True story. I see ya rock. He gone want that back. Them Gucci slippers you been switching ‘round here all day in may come with you. I just wanna give you a out right now before I move on to the next.”
I turned to walk away. I had enough on my mind. The last thing I needed was Ryshon’s bullshit. I didn’t even want him in my home.
“You can leave now.” …with your friend.
The two of them in the same room gave me the creeps.
“Oh, so you wanna nigga to leave the mansion, huhn. Lemme show you how you gone be leaving when that rabbit pussy get boring to him.”
As I whipped around to face him, I heard Little X’s juvenile laughter.
“What the hell did you sa—” I started.
“Which one’s ya baby daddy, J?” I jerked my neck back to find it was Lex who yelled that over me to get our attention.
Her face was in a small plastic plate that held the cake she was devouring.
Ryshon scoffed. “The realest nigga you ever seen that’s about to blow this bitch now that we being kicked out by the bootleg ass lady of the house.”
My eyes fell shut and shoulders dropped. I could take on Ryshon all by myself. I’d been doing it for years. But I couldn’t do it in front of Trent’s first lady.
Shit…
As Ryshon and Little X moved to leave, Lex continued picking at the cake when she casually asked, “Oh, so you the one that couldn’t make her come with your mouth?.”
My face opened and lungs filled. I’d told Lex that one night, last year, when they had us over and she and I drank too much on her back porch while the guys were in the house talking. She’d just been cleared to drink again—from her husband—a couple of months after Lisa-Mare was born.
Ryshon froze in place. His hard eyes assessed Lex from head to toe. She was tall—amazon tall. Taller than him, and apparently not the least bit afraid of ruffling his feathers.
“Who the fuck is you that you concerned about what I can do to her. You should wanna know what I could do wit’ a real woman. You’s a big one. I can make you do some shit.”
“Ha!” Lex’s alarming tone had me leaping in place. “Dawg, if you ain’t using ya mouth; I doubt ya dick fuckin’ with much. I’ll pass.”
“Yo, who the fuck—”
“Alexis…” Ezra rounded the corner with a full on scowl.
His eyes went to every player in the room. It was probably her blaring—and perfectly antagonizing—cackle that caught his attention.
“Oh, hey, babe. I was just in here looking for Jade so she can show me the wedding bands she and Trent finally decided on. You know with him being so rich, legally employed and all, it took them some time to settle on something.”
Ezra’s eyes narrowed with amused admonishment, but that’s all I could pick up under the thick beard.
“Lisa-Mare is sleeping in her car seat. Let’s go,” he rasped with lifted brows.
“Yeah. I think that’s a good idea,” Ryshon followed up with.
Ezra turned with his brows still hiked. “I’m sorry. I don’t think we’ve met. I’m a friend of Mr. Bailey’s. My wife here is, too. Is there something you feel you need to discuss with me?” Then his forehead wrinkled. “Because I am quite confident you weren’t going to express it to her directly.”
Ryshon snorted again. “Yo, pardon me?”
Broad rounded shoulders and a beard rounded the corner.
No…
My face fell again. I could cry. If they’d just held off a few seconds longer, I could have handled this alone.
“Hell is this?” Trent asked with an impassive expression, but his shot to me first then to Ryshon.
“Oh, you missed it, Trent.” Lex giggled under her glaring husband. “Dude over here just admitted to defeat about his head game and was about to leave.�
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“Alexis!” Ezra growled.
“Fuck you say, bitch?” Ryshon shrieked at the same time.
Ezra did a one hundred-eighty degree athletic turn toward Ryshon, so fast that even he flinched before recovering.
But the pastor caught himself, yanking the lapels of his blazer and taking a deep breath while rolling his neck.
Holy shit…
Ezra had a temper.
“My dearest Jade, I think it’s best your associate here leave right away. I don’t do too well after the first strike.”
“No! Wait!” Lex piped up. “He’s supposed to ask Trent how not to be a fuckboy and how to up his head and stroke game, baby.”
“Alexis!” Ezra shouted, creating a rumble beneath my feet.
“Yo, man—” Ryshon started, but Little X grabbed him at the arm, telling him it was time to go.
“Yeah, you should,” Trent gritted. “Because you got one more time to call anybody a bitch in my house and I’mma make you meet the one in you, bruh! Fuck wit’ me.” Trent stepped toward Ryshon, and I charged in front of him to futilely hold him back.
“Tyheem!” I screamed to the top of my lungs, unable to get the words out of my befuddled brain. “John!” I called for the new security, who moved in yesterday. I couldn’t hold him back and Ezra seemed past the point of control himself. “Trent, please!”
It all happened so fast. Ryshon barked back at Trent and Little X held him back, throwing eyes to Trent and Ezra. All humor drained from Lex’s face as she braced her husband. And Tyheem appeared in the hall. John was on his heels and quickly assessed the situation, grabbing Trent.
Tyheem moved in the middle. “Yo, y’all gotta go. The fuck you think you gone do with his big ass, yo?” He laughed, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. “Do ya self a favor.”
Trent pushed against John. “Nah, B. Let his little ass try it.”
Ryshon rolled his eyes, scoffing while he shook his head. “I’m trippin’. You got these people thinking you some snow white, I see.” Ryshon crossed the threshold.
“You would never understand. Just go, please!” I tried.
That stopped him in his tracks. “Word?” His eyes widened with shock humor. “Don’t make me peep ya card in front of ya ritzy friends. You ain’t no angel. Little X proved it.” He turned to Trent, tossing his forehead to gesture to me. “Don’t trust her around your friends, bruh. I did and she fucked him.”