by Andrea Sad'e
"I got it," she said handing me my Tylenol.
"Hello" I heard Rayna say in an excited tone followed by two hellos from a man and a woman whose voices I didn't recognize.
A light-skinned beautiful woman with long natural curly hair walked in followed by a brown-skinned man. They stood their awkwardly for about ten minutes and I stared at them long and hard. I started to notice that the woman looked a lot like Ahleya and the man looked like Mark, no this couldn't be.
"Anybody gonna tell me what's going on? or everybody just gonna stare" then the woman walked up close to me and touched my face.
I felt the connection as soon as her hand touched my skin but I was still in denial so I needed to hear someone say it.
"Anthony. My name is Camila Rowland, and this is Mark Rowland we're your parents.
Chapter 14
Ace
My mind was racing right now. It was so hard to believe that they were here.
"Why did ya'll decided to show up now? You left me to be raised by Mark to be on drugs?"
They looked at each other like it was their first time hearing this story so I just decided to wait for an explanation.
"Anthony, your father and I were in the game. We got caught up in a lot of shit and got sentenced to 17 and a half years. The same amount of time, to the day. We just got out. We used to call but Mark never let either one of us talk to you; and the letters. There were so many letters written to you but never a response. Ever since you were born, Mark felt like you had taken his place. It took us 15 years to have you and you were our miracle baby. We missed you so much," she said before hugging me.
On instinct I hugged her back and it felt so good to hug my mother. Wow, my mother.
"Son, we've heard about everything your brother has done and about the drugs he's been doing," my dad said.
"Yea, man, it's crazy. I never thought my own brother would have me laid up in the hospital over a business that he handed down to me, but now Imma have to kill him."
They both looked at each other. "Well son, I'm sure your brother never told you this but the drug business that he took over was mine. I was a kingpin and when I got put away, the business went downhill for a while and that's when Mark took over. He stopped answering our calls and made everybody cut us off and swear not to ever tell you anything other than the story he created about us. We have never done any drugs other than smoking a little weed," my dad said.
I was in total shock. I had been living a complete lie. Just as I was about to speak, everybody heard Ahleya crying on the monitor. Rayna got up and went to her room that she had just had decorated and got her.
"You had a baby, Anthony?" my mom asked me.
"No, I didn't. Mark did." I went on to tell them how she’d ended up here with us.
"Wow, you're a great person, son," my parents said.
"Yea, I'm not letting her go back. Ever. The adoption should be final in a couple of months. I have a man on the inside that can get it done in a shorter period of time."
Just then, Rayna came downstairs with my princess in her arms and gave her to me. "She was wet. Let me go make her a bottle."
I nodded my head and picked her up and pecked her little lips. I swear she feels like mine, and I'll never treat her any different than I would treat my children. I looked up and my mom had a big smile on her face.
"She looks just like you when you were a baby, Anthony. She looks more like you than Mark. It's crazy. I can tell you're gonna be good to her. Now let her MeMe hold her," she said, stretching her arms out.
"Sure, you just have to wash your hands first, ma."
"Oh shoot, my bad, super dad," she said, laughing.
I started laughing. "I just can't have my baby getting sick," I said, kissing her cheek and handing her over to my mom.
"Let me get up and walk around a little bit so I don't get stiff."
"Yea, son, let me help you," my dad said, getting up and leaving Rayna and my mother on the couch alone.
"Son, I know that this has gone too far to say you guys need to bury the hatchet, so Imma just be straight up with you. I got yo back. The day that lil nigga turned his back on your mother and I is the day he died to me. Your mother and I missed you so much and it hurt us to the core that he wouldn't let you communicate with us. The nigga doesn't exist in my book. Son turned enemy, but the thing about it is Mark isn't smart like your mother and I. We finessed the game for 15 years before we got locked up and we were making bank. Killing any nigga that got in our way. From what I've heard about you, son, you are the one who inherited our brains and our mindset and you will take the game further than it has ever gone."
"Yea, pops. I'm just tryna make it. I have a little girl that will be depending on me now. I have a girlfriend who is down for me who I love and I can't let this nigga threaten my family like this. He been breathing too long and Imma have to handle him. I just gotta heal up first."
He shook his head at my response and kept walking.
Rayna
"Thank you so much for having that private detective find us. I'm glad my son has someone in his life willing to go to such lengths for him to feel complete."
"Oh, you are so welcome. I just know how incomplete I've felt since my dad walked out on us when I was little and I could only imagine not having either one of my parents, even though my mother turned into the wicked witch of Atlanta."
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Camila asked me.
"Well, my mother abused me physically but mostly mentally. Her boyfriend raped me repeatedly when I was ten years old and she did nothing about it, so I left one day. I never went back, and I haven't seen her since," I said with a blank stare.
It was quiet for a minute before Mrs. Camila started to speak. "Rayna, I know we just met but I can tell that you are a great person but until you forgive your mother and that man, they will forever have a hold on you. You gotta forgive them, baby," she said while rocking Ahleya.
I shook my head. "You're right. I'm gonna call her and invite her to dinner tonight. Would you mind staying?"
"Actually, Mark and I were wondering if we could stay here for a few weeks until we started making money again. I promise we won't be a bother and I will help with Ahleya and housework."
I put my hand up to stop her. "You guys are most welcome here. The help with Ahleya would be nice though," I said, laughing.
"Why don't you go make arrangements with your mother and I will sit here with Ahleya and watch some TV," Camila suggested.
I shook my head and got up to go give my mother a call. I dialed her number and something in me wished it had changed so I could avoid this moment. The phone rang and she picked up on the third ring.
"Hello, mom," I said into the phone.
"Well hello, daughter, I guess you're grown now, huh?"
I sighed heavily. "Mom I didn't call you for this. I was just calling to invite you over to my house for dinner."
"Your house? You have a house? Wow, I guess I could. Where do you live?"
I gave her my address.
"Wow, you live in Buckhead? Okay," she said sarcastically.
"Just be here at seven, mom."
She said okay and with that the phone call was ended.
I hoped I had made the right decision.
Gena
I got out of the shower and looked at my protruding belly. I'm almost five months and my baby bump had become pretty big, along with my butt. I bent over to get my oils from under my cabinet when I felt a hand slide across my freshly waxed love box, I stood up as quick as I could without falling over. This baby has my center of gravity all off causing me to have the balance of a one-year-old.
"Kendrick, what the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"Well, you shoulda put on some clothes," he said, continuing to lick his lips.
"Bruh, get out," I said, pushing him towards the door.
"Stop," he said before grabbing my ass. "Getting fat back here, Miss Ghetto Booty."
I tried to push
him off but he wrapped his arms around me from the back and started working his hands between my legs, and it felt damn good. These pregnancy hormones had me wanting to go like a rabbit but I had to hold out. Even though he said he used protection, as we all can see, niggas lie. I told him he had to get tested anyways and then we could work on trust before we ever had sex again.
"Kendriiiiick, please stop."
"Ragena, stop fighting it. I can feel how much you want me," he whispered in my ear while nibbling on it.
"What did I tell you the first step needed to be? You thought this shit was a joke." I looked up and saw him smirking in the mirror. I looked at his eyes and realized he was high.
"What’s so damn funny, Mr. McNeil?" I said with a clear attitude.
He put his hands back between my legs.
"What did I say?!"
He dug in his back pocket and handed me a folded paper. I picked it up and read it. It was all his test results. He’d tested negative for everything and I was happy but I wouldn't dare show it.
"Yea, you better be glad."
"Now can you shut the fuck up with all that dumb shit and let me handle this?" he said before sliding two fingers in me.
"Shit," I mumbled.
"Yea, I know you missed daddy," he said cockily.
He backed me up towards our bed and laid me down before putting his head between my legs and going to work on my swollen pearl.
"Shittttt, Kendrick." He stopped and licked my thighs. "No. Go back," I said, pushing his head back down.
"Daddy's sorry for hurting you, ma," he said in between sucking my pearl.
"Ohhhh, fuck, I'm cummingggg!” I said before my legs started to shake and I released all my juices on his face. As soon as I could feel my legs, I got up and ran to the bathroom and closed the door and locked it.
"What the fuck, Gena?" I heard him yell through the door
"I hope you didn't think you were about to fuck me this soon. I'm still hurt! Plus, we gotta be at Rayna's house in 30 minutes for dinner."
"Man, fuck Rayna right now."
I started to laugh silently cause he was 38 hot. “Go get dressed, Kendrick!” I heard him walk out and I opened the door.
"OH, AND BRUSH YO FUCKIN TEETH, TOO!" I said, laughing before I realized he was throwing a pillow at me from the room’s door.
I shut the door and started the shower again to take a quick one before heading to Rayna's house.
Ace
"Where's my baby at?"
"She’s with your mom, she just put her down for a nap."
"I miss her. Ya’ll been hogging her all day," I said truthfully. I had to give my mom props though. "My mom is so good with her. I was thinking about hiring her as a live-in nanny."
"Well, I talked to her today and they don't really have anywhere to go anyways so I told them we have a couple extra rooms they could choose from until they get back on their feet. I hope you're okay with that," Rayna said.
I sat and thought about it for a while. "Yea, I guess that's fine. The guesthouse isn't being utilized. They can take that so they can have their own space. I'll have furniture, groceries, decorations and all that put in there tomorrow. They can take a guest room for the night. I'm gonna pay my mom to be Ahleya's nanny and I'll let my dad be a manager at the gym I'm gonna open. We'll see how it all goes, but I just hope they are the people I hope they are."
"It'll be fine, baby," Rayna said before walking out of the room.
She’d told me her mom was coming and I hoped she ain't bring no bullshit drama with her cause I'd cuss her ass out in my house bout my baby. I walked down the stairs and Rayna was opening the door for Slick and Gena's big belly.
"I can't wait to meet my niece. I hope her head not big like her daddy. Hey, Kenyah, this is your Uncle Ace. The realist nigga alive," I said, talking to her stomach.
"She just moved," Gena laughed.
"What? She ain't neva moved for me before!"
"See! I told ya! She know a real nigga when she hear one," I said, laughing.
"Slick, hush. She just started really moving more. You'll have your time," Gena said, rolling her eyes and I just laughed.
"Ain't shit funny," Slick said and I threw my hands up in surrender before we both started laughing.
We walked out on the back porch and lit a blunt. I was still sore and ready for these stitches to come out next week but for the most part, I wasn't feeling that bad. This blunt was about to have me on cloud nine.
Slick took a couple pulls off of it and handed it back to me. "Bruh, what we gone do bout Mark?" Slick said.
"When I get these stitches out, ain't no more breathing for that nigga. His bitch gotta go, too. I just hate to do the shit to Ahleya's parents. Everybody deserves the chance to meet their parents." I had introduced Slick to my parents earlier that day before he went home. We walked back in the house and my parents were sitting at the table with my dad and Gena.
"Where's Leya?"
"I just put her in her crib, she was falling asleep after her bottle. Her monitor is right here," my mother said, holding it up. I was kinda sad. I would be the first one in her room when she woke up. I was used to her being up under me.
Just then the doorbell rang.
"I can get if you want," my mom said.
"Could you? I'm finishing fixing plates! Thank you!" Rayna yelled from the kitchen.
My mom got the door and in walked Rayna's mom and that nigga Kennith behind her. My jaw instantly tightened but I wasn't gonna ruin this chance for Rayna to talk to her mom, but she would never again be able to bring this child molester in my fucking house.
Rayna walked out of the kitchen with plates and when she saw Kennith, I could tell she was pissed off. I looked over at Slick who had the same look on his face that I had.
How the fuck would this evening go?
Rayna
"Hello, mother."
"Hello, Rayna, aren't you gonna speak to my boyfriend?"
"No. I can't believe you're in a relationship again with a man who fucked your ten-year-old daughter."
"I'm going to disregard that comment and just have dinner, Miss Kingston. This is a nice house you have. How quickly did you have to lay down to get all this?"
"She actually didn't sleep with me for a long time after moving in," Ace chimed in, clearly pissed.
"Well, mister?"
"Ace," he answered.
"Well, Mr. Ace, how long is a long time for you? Two weeks?"
"Almost five months we lived under the same roof and never had sex. Your daughter is of great quality but I assume she got that from her father’s side, huh?" Ace spat.
I looked over at his mom who was red in the face and his dad was sitting back with the thug lean waiting for the shit to pop off. Kennith was just sitting there eating like it was gonna be his last meal.
"Could you slow the fuck down and have some manners?" Mrs. Camila said, clearly pissed off after realizing this was the man I had talked to her about.
"Bitch, shut the fuck up," Mr. Kennith said and before I knew it, Mr. Mark had gotten up and punched Mr. Kennith in his stomach, causing him to wince in pain. Ace and Slick sat back in their chairs and watched. Ace definitely got his punch from his dad.
"What the fuck are ya'll doing to my man?"
"Shut the fuck up, hoe! My man this! And my man that! Do you realize that the nigga took your daughter’s virginity from her?! Her innocence? I should beat yo ass and make you my bitch like I did my hoes in prison. Matter of fact, fuck this!"
And again, before I knew it, Mrs. Camila had gotten up and punched my mom right in her mouth with so much force that it sent her flying.
"Damn, ma, that was a prison yard punch," Ace said.
My mom looked up pitifully at Mrs. Camila,
"Nah, you wanted to beat on her since she was too young to defend herself now beat my ass? Let’s go."
My mom sat there and started crying.
"Damn, I wouldn't even waste my time on you," Mrs. Camila s
aid, sitting back at the table to finish her dinner.
"Well, I think it's bout time for ya'll to get the fuck outta our house," Ace said, starting to get up.
"Sit down, son. I got it" Mr. Mark said, clearly wanting Ace to rest his body.
“Thanks, pops," Ace said before sitting back down. "I don't even feel that sore anymore" Ace said.
"Cause you high, nigga," Gena said, chuckling.
Ace
Everybody finished their plates and I noticed Rayna had disappeared. I made a mental note and walked everybody out the door. I helped my dad bring their bags in the house and gave them everything they needed for the night.
I went in Ahleya's room and kissed her on her cheek. She squirmed and woke up. I sat in the rocking chair and played with her for about 20 minutes before my mom walked in with her night clothes on and a bottle in her hand.
"I've already put her bassinet downstairs in the guest room. Go check on Rayna, I'll stay up and play with her until she goes to sleep."
"Ok, thanks, ma."
"Where's my granddaughter?" I heard my dad ask before taking Ahleya from my mom and kissing her little cheeks.
"Bye, Ace. Go handle business."
"Alright, ma. Thank you," I said before kissing her on the cheek and dapping my pops up. I went downstairs and smoked two blunts before heading upstairs. I walked in my room and Rayna had just gotten out of the shower and she was crying.
"Rayna, come here" I said sternly. She finished putting her T-shirt on and walked over to me. "I know you're hurting, ma, but I promise I'll never let anyone hurt you again." She looked away. "Look at me, beautiful."
"That was so embarrassing. I've always been a good child and she could never just simply love me. What did I do so wrong?" she said between sobs.
I know my words weren't gonna do much for her tonight so I was gonna make her feel loved. I had been waiting to give her this gift but now was the perfect time. I went in my closet and pulled the box from the shelf.
"Rayna, I'm giving you this as a promise and to show my appreciation. I don't give a fuck about anybody cause if nobody else loves you, just know I do and if nobody else got you, just know I got you. I love you, girl," I said before sliding the huge promise ring onto her finger while kissing her lips.