Daddy Taught Me Better

by Ebony

  “Jaden it seem like you have it all figured out so I’m not going to preach to you but if you never remember anything else I have ever said to you I want you to remember this. What is it for a man to own the world, yet lose his soul?”

  “Deb you wasting your time talking to him, he dumb as hell, but honestly I don’t know why he married Kasey in first place. He thought he won a prize when he snatched her up and now see that he didn’t get anything but the free toy from out of a McDonald’s happy meal.”

  “Auntie why you don’t like Kasey? That girl ain’t ever done anything to you.” I asked my Auntie Ellie. She never liked Kasey from the moment her and Jaden started dating. It was confusing because most mothers wanted their son to end up with somebody like Kasey.

  “I don’t like her ass, simple as that. I don’t need a reason not to like her. She walks around like she better than everybody else when she ain’t nothing but another dope dealer’s wife, it’s not a damn thing special about that.”

  I was about to reply to my aunts comment until we heard a baby crying. I don’t think anything I said would have a difference anyway.

  “Jaden get up and go get your hollering ass baby while I fix these plates so we can eat.”

  My aunt was making our plates when Jaden came back rocking Jade in his arms. She was indeed a gorgeous baby.

  “Oh my goodness Jaden she is beautiful, look at her hair and chubby cheeks. Let me see her while you make her a bottle.” My mother requested.

  As we sat down to eat my mother wouldn’t let anybody pick up a fork until grace was said, which irritated my aunt. Halfway through our meal, I guess my aunt couldn’t hold in her anticipation anymore.

  “So nephew when are you going to give Jaden the rundown on handing everything over to him? You sitting here eating up all my food and haven’t said anything yet. Don’t tell me you changed your mind.”

  Before I could get a word out, my mother intervened, “Ellie I don’t understand why you entertaining your son taking over a damn trap house. Why would you continue to encourage this behavior when you know what this kind of lifestyle brings?”

  “Don’t come up in here judging me. I didn’t see your ass talking all that when your son was the one running shit for all those years now you want to come in here and rain on my parade.”

  “Ellie you don’t know what the hell you talking about. I always encouraged Apollo to leave all that foolishness alone. I didn’t just tell him I showed him a different way.”

  “Well good for you, what you want a damn cookie or a communion water for it? What worked for your son may not work for mine.”

  “Hold on y’all, let me talk to Jaden. He a grown man and he can make his own decisions.” I said intervening in their conversation before things got out of hand.

  “Jaden as of today I have nothing to do with the trap house. Whatever work is left, it yours to sell. I don’t want any of the profits from it. If you get in a bind, don’t call me concerning no beefs, no shortages, nothing. You will need to find your own connect as well.”

  “Wait a minute, why can’t you link me up with your connect? You been dealing with him for years so I know you can put in a good word for me.”

  “Jaden I vouch for no man. I can’t vouch for what another man will or won’t do and I definitely wouldn’t do that for you. You move sloppy in these streets, too flashy and loud. A real boss move in silence, you should never have to tell someone you the boss of something or you hold some type of power. Your aura and presence should speak for itself.”

  “Oh, so you just going to throw a nigga out in the ocean without a lifejacket. I’m your damn cousin and that’s how you going to do it.”

  “Man, I’m not about to keep holding your hand. You the only reason I been in the game this long, making sure you ate just as well as I did. I been told you I wanted out, I afforded you the same opportunities I have. How many times I been asking you to leave the game behind and come on and invest in this real estate with me? Every time you turned me down, talking about you wanted to be king of the streets. You can’t be king of something you don’t own. These streets belong to you; the city owns them and I’m not trying to get caught up in them losing my freedom or my life.”

  “So that’s it huh Apollo, I should have known it was going to be some shit with you. You just don’t want to see me succeed because everybody will see that I am a better boss than you. You a low key hater, you been jealous of me. I have everything you always wanted. The house and the kids with the picket fence, only thing I’m missing is the fucking dog. ”

  That last statement was the straw that broke the camel’s back, now this nigga had me heated. I pushed the plate of food I was eating away from me because I had lost my appetite talking to his dumb ass.

  “Nigga fuck you and fuck whatever people you talking about and what y’all stand for. Making moves just to prove some shit to people is going to get your ass jammed up. Keep thinking these streets are a damn playground for you to play in. I’m washing my hands of this shit, out is out and that’s my word. That jealousy shit I’m not even going to speak on because if it wasn’t for me, your ass probably would have been washing cars or working on somebody assembly line. Come on ma, let’s go.”

  “Wait a minute Apollo; let me talk to Jaden real quick.” My mother stated making me halt my footsteps.

  “Jaden you don’t have to continue to be in these streets. I have some properties that are going for little or nothing. You can have your money working for you the legitimate way. There would be no need to look for a connect or having to look over your shoulder for the presence of your enemies or the law.”

  “Deb don’t worry about my son, I got his back. I’ll help him find a connect. Without Apollo having a cut of the profits he will make more money in one night than y’all will make flipping houses all month.”

  “Ellie stop trying to live through your son. Your ambitions to be a trap queen is why this boy is so messed in the head. After what happened between you and his father you would think that you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with that lifestyle. Keep it real with yourself, you don’t like Kasey because she living the life that you thought you were supposed to have years ago. You need to let that go because you are destroying your son in the process.”

  “I’m sick of hearing about this sperm donor, can someone please let me in on this secret,” Jaden said to my mother.

  “It’s not my story to tell you when your mother deal with the demons of her past maybe she will have enough courage to tell you the truth.”

  “You know what Deb; get your self-righteous ass out my house. I have heard enough of your preaching for one day, got me thinking I’m sitting in Sunday school instead of at my own dinner table.”

  I could see my mother right eye twitching which was a clear indicator that she had reached her limit. I grabbed my mother’s hand before she unleashed on my aunt. My mom was a Christian woman, but God wasn’t done working on her yet. As we were walking out the door, my mother stopped and turned around and said to my aunt, “Ellie you will reap what you sow, the seed that you have planted in your son is going to turn around and bite you right in the ass, mark my words.”

  My aunt slammed her door as soon as my mother and I crossed the threshold of her door to the outside. I just shook my head as we got in the car pulling out of her driveway. I didn’t want to say anything to my mother right away because I know she was pissed. I gave her some time to calm down before I spoke.

  “Ma what’s the big secret about auntie and Jaden’s pops.”

  “I don’t even want to think about your aunt right now, let alone talk about her.”

  “Come on now ma, keeping secrets is not good. If Jaden knew this secret, he may have been able to make better decisions.”

  “Your Auntie Ellie was dating this one guy named Steve; he was a good hard working man. Your grandparents were so happy when she began dating him because it seemed as though he was able to tame her wild ways. Then he changed th
e hours of him working to the midnight shift and started going back to school as a way to be able to afford a better life for him and Ellie in the future. However, it left your aunt with too much time on her hands. She began to run around with the neighborhood up and coming dope boy Jason, running his drugs for him. Next thing we knew she winds up pregnant with Jaden and doesn’t know who the father is. I will give her credit that she was honest and told both potential fathers that she wasn’t sure who the father was. Steve was hurt but he accepted the pregnancy and said it didn’t matter who the father was Jaden was his child and Ellie would be his future wife. Now what shocked us all is that Jason said the same thing. However, his motives weren’t pure at heart. Your aunt was so caught up with the excitement of the fast life and fast money that she broke things off with Steve to be with Jason full-time. Your aunt couldn’t see how Jason was using her because she relished in the gifts he would buy her when it all actuality it wasn’t gifts because she worked for everything he gave her. Your aunt was the perfect mule because she was pregnant, back then who would look at a pregnant woman as transporting more dope across the state than a man. Jason and your aunt was supposed to get married, my momma tried to warn her that Jason didn’t mean her any good but you couldn’t tell Ellie nothing when it came to Jason. My momma and daddy decided they would not be giving their blessing to her in that marriage and would not be attending the wedding. I thought that would change Ellie’s mind, but it only made her go harder. On the day of the wedding, Ellie was left standing at the altar with no groom. It crushed her heart to the point that she became the bitter woman she is today. The day that Ellie had Jaden, Jason showed up at the hospital with his wife.”

  “You mean to tell me that this man was already married?” I asked my mother.

  “Yes lord, it was a scandalous mess. Him and his wife took one look at Jaden and didn’t see any of his features in him. Jason didn’t even have the balls to say anything, his wife spoke up for him and told Ellie that Jaden didn’t look anything like her husband or the kids they had together and to never contact him again as they walked out the room. Ellie was devastated, she cried the whole time that she was in the hospital and refused to hold Jaden or feed him. When Ellie was released from the hospital, we thought she had come to her senses and was embracing being a single parent, but that would have been too much like right. Instead, one day she got Jaden and herself all dressed up and went down there to Steve’s job when he was getting off one morning to tell him he was the father. Ellie had messed that up as well, that man wanted no parts of Jaden or her. He didn’t even take the time to look at Jaden. The last I heard he had moved out to California and was successful lawyer with his own family.”

  “So who is Jaden father then?”

  “Hell if I know, I don’t know who the damn pappi is. Our genes so strong that Jaden looks like his mother. Every time I look at him, I be trying to see if I could see somebody else in him.”

  “Man that’s messed up, why auntie didn’t get a DNA or something?”

  “It wasn’t that easy back then as it is today. There wasn’t any home test being done; they didn’t even do DNA via swab back then, your blood had to be drawn. Plus if you didn’t have any idea where these men moved to or how to locate them there wasn’t anything you could do. She never looked at Jaden like a mother looks at their child. She felt like him being born was the cause of all her problems, when it was her own actions. My momma tried and tried to get her to love Jaden the way she loved us until the day she died, but a mother’s love is not something that can be forced. Either you do or you don’t,”

  “Ma you honestly think Auntie Ellie don’t love her own son. She goes hard for him; she is his best friend,”

  “Apollo I don’t think, I know she doesn’t. Over the years she has said it more times than I care to remember, she curses that boy every chance she gets. She could care less if something happens to him out there in those streets. She just wants what she thinks Jaden being born took away from her and that’s being a trap queen. She goes so hard for him because she is protecting her investment. She still gets excited just as much as her son about that street fame mess. That’s the real reason why she doesn’t like Kasey; she views her as an obstacle in her way.”

  “Dang ma, I didn’t know auntie was that twisted, no wonder he acts like that.”

  “You got that one right. That aunt of yours doesn’t love anybody but herself. How can anybody expect for Jaden to know how to love when the one person that was supposed to love him didn’t, just sad and pitiful if you ask me.”

  “I guess I should be thanking God for you and my pops.”

  “I hope you been did that.” My mother said while letting out a chuckle.

  I pulled up into my mother’s driveway and cut the car off.

  “Ma I’m about to go upstairs to my room and take a nap before I go home.”

  “No problem baby, I’m going to take me one too; having to deal with my sister today was too much on my soul.”

  ***

  I didn’t realize I had been sleep for a couple of hours until I heard my phone buzzing on the nightstand. I looked at my screen and saw it was a text from Kasey letting me know she was on her way to the hotel with her information. I got up out the bed to let my mother know that I was about to go and give the key to Kasey house for her. My mother and I said our goodbyes as I headed home to get freshened up to go meet with Kasey. On my way home I decided to go ahead and call my connect to let him know I was officially out.

  “What’s up youngin, how you been?” My connect said when he answered the phone.

  “I can’t complain, taking it one day at a time and just living.”

  “So what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

  “I know we had talked a little while ago about me stepping out the game entirely when I downgraded to just one trap house so I was letting you know that as of today I am officially out.” I had a sit down with my connect some time ago to let him know my plans of getting out the game. At the time, I was copping major weight from him and of course, he didn’t want to take a loss. We devised a plan where I would turn over all my trap houses to whomever he chooses while I kept the one that I let Jaden run. Therefore, it would be a win-win situation for everyone.

  “I knew this phone call was coming, you had a good run.”

  “Yeah you right, it’s time for me to bow out gracefully. These streets don’t owe me nothing, they been good to me; however all things must come to an end.”

  “Have you appointed someone to take over for you?”

  “I turned it all over to my cousin. I’m not saying you have to deal with him. That is solely your choice.”

  “So Apollo are you saying that your cousin can’t be trusted?”

  “What I’m saying is I am my own man and he is his own man. We are two different people, so, therefore, we move differently. You have to decide if the way he moves coincides with how you want business to be handled.”

  “I see, Apollo you are wise beyond your years. Say less.”

  With those final words, the call was disconnected and I felt free from the bullshit, as least for the moment.

  Chapter 19 – Kasey

  I made it back to the hotel and decided to take a hot shower before Apollo came to my room. As I washed the day’s stresses away I thought to myself, it wasn’t all that bad, what was meant for my bad God will turned it around for my good.

  I applied my lotion and threw on one of my Nike Sweat suits with the matching Nike sandals. The ringing of my phone snatched me away from my thoughts, I immediately thought it was Apollo and I got butterflies in my stomach. Looking at the caller I.D., I noticed it was my daddy calling me.

  “Hey Daddy,”

  “Hey baby girl, I was just making sure you made it in safe. I don’t know why you felt the need to stay at a hotel with all this room at our house.”

  “I know dad, I just needed some me time.”

  “Yeah I understand where you coming from, but befo
re I go to bed, I called to apologize to you.”

  “Daddy why would you need to apologize to me, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I never wanted to be that father where my children didn’t feel comfortable with coming to me and being able to talk to me about anything. I’m not passing judgement, that’s something you will never have to worry about. Of course, I’m going to always tell you what’s right or wrong but never assume what I might say. So promise me no more secrets.”

  “I can’t say I promise you that daddy because at the end of the day I’m a grown woman and there will be things that I need to keep to myself and handle on my own. I will promise you that I won’t suffer in silence again if it’s something that gets overwhelming I know now that there is nothing I can’t speak to you about. Is that a deal?”

  “Yes that’s a deal, I can settle for that. Kasey is that someone knocking at your door?”

  “Oh yeah Daddy, let me call you back.”

  “Kasey, who is that at your hotel door this time of night?”

  I noticed how my Dad put emphasis on hotel door and knew he would be asking some questions. I opened the door, placing my finger up to my lips, letting Apollo know not to say anything while I let him enter my room. I didn’t know how I was going to get my Dad off the phone now without being rude because I wasn’t going to lie to my daddy.

  “Daddy this is one of those times where I’m going to elect not to tell you who was at the door, what I will tell you is that I’m okay and I simply handling my affairs.”

  “Kasey is Jaden there?”

  “No daddy, when I told y’all I was done, I meant that. Jaden and I should never be a thought in your head again unless it about co-parenting.”

  “Uhhh-hmmmm, Kasey just because people say when God closes one door HE will open another one with bigger and greater things doesn’t mean you have to answer the first knock.”