by Tynessa
After hugging my stepfather then telling everyone to have a nice night we were out the door. Bo was putting the kids inside his car when we walked outside. Nothing was said as Bino and I walked to the SUV. Since Bo was parked in the driveway he drove to where we were parked and when he pulled up he got out and walked over to us. Bino was mugging his ass so hard. He looked as if he could go through Bo’s ass and I know he noticed that shit, too.
As he was taking the last bag out my hand he held my hand a little too long and tight for my liking. I quickly snatched away and looked back at Bino. Luckily, he was looking down at his phone. I turned back around to face Bo and he had the nastiest smirk on his face. I wanted to slap that shit right the fuck off his disrespectful ass.
“Make sure you have my kids back here tomorrow, Bo. I’m not playing with you,” I said as I hopped inside the truck.
“You know I wanna go off in that nigga shit, right?” Bino asked as soon as I got inside. He said it loud enough for Bo to hear. While the whole time he kept his eyes on Bo. I didn’t respond.
“That fuck nigga wanna beat on women and shit. See if his bitch ass swing on a real nigga,” Bino fussed as he watched Bo’s car pull off.
I could tell seeing Bo angered Bino all over again for putting his hands on me. I leaned my head back into the headrest and prayed we’d get through this trip in one piece.
Debbie
“We’re going to be up here for the rest of the week. Mama wants us to do a little house work around here,” Willie said. He and Ronny were still in Jersey. They’d been up there for only two days and I was missing him terribly. I thought it was funny I was missing him more now than I did the whole 20 plus years we weren’t together.
“That’s fine, baby. Just go ahead and make sure she’s straight. You know where home is when you get back,” I replied.
“Oh yeah, I’m ready to come back now. You know a nigga missing you and shit.”
“And I miss you, too.” I knew he could tell I was smiling hard. I honestly didn’t care, though.
“Well I’m about to run to the store. I’ll call you later on.”
“Okay, baby. I love you.” I said. He said he loved me back and we ended the call just as the doorbell rang. I looked out the window and saw Ronny’s SUV parked behind my car that I barely drove. I opened the door and moved aside so Shan and my grandkids could enter.
“Hey, Grandma’s babies,” I kissed all of them, including Kelly. I considered her my granddaughter, too. I hugged Shan.
“What brings you by?” I asked.
“Just wanted to get out the house. I miss my husband,” she pouted.
I rolled my eyes upwards and shook my head. I knew how she felt because I was missing Willie as well. I just didn’t want to let it show in front of her.
“Child, the man has only been gone for two damn days,” I said.
“You know you miss Daddy Willie, too. Don’t act.” She laughed and I failed at trying to hold my laugh in.
“I can’t stand your ass,” I said jokingly. “We might as well get over it because their asses will be gone for the rest of the week,” I let her know.
The look on her face let me know she didn’t know. She took out her cell phone to call Ronny then put it on speaker.
“What’s up, bae?” he answered on the first ring.
“So when was you going to tell me you was staying the whole damn week?” she asked.
“Shit, I just found out a few minutes ago my damn self.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
I heard Ronny smack his lips before saying, “Man, don’t be like that. You know I miss you and the kids.”
“We miss you, too. Go ahead and take care of your business, bae. I love you and I’ll see you when you get home.” He said he loved her back and after telling her to kiss the kids for him they hung up.
I was so happy they finally got their shit together. He couldn’t have given me a better daughter-in-law. Shan and I might’ve had a rough start in the beginning, but I loved her as if she was one of my own. Too bad I couldn’t say the same for her sister. I only dealt with her because she was the mother of one of my grandkids.
Chapter 5
Star
I’d just dropped CJ off at Cornell’s house. I was kid-free so I was going to make it an ice cream and Lifetime night. I was parking my car at the grocery store when Shan called.
“Hey, Sis. What you up to?” she asked once I answered. I noticed she’d been a lot happier since her and Ronny got married.
“Just walked in the store. Since my baby is with Cornell I’m getting me some snacks and making it a Lifetime night,” I answered.
“Why don’t you just come over here so you won’t be at home alone? I can use another adult around. These damn kids giving me a headache.”
I laughed before telling her I would be over as soon as I left the store. Just as we were ending the call I heard a deep voice say my name. I turned around and came face to face with the brother from the gas station.
“Are you following me?” I asked. After dealing with Drea’s crazy ass I had to be careful.
“Not at all, sweetheart,” he smiled. He had the perfect set of pearly whites and a deep dimple on the side of his left cheek. This nigga had the smoothest chocolate complexion and was sporting a short haircut with deep waves. His thin sideburns were connected with his goatee that was trimmed very neatly. Dressed in an all-black Armani suit with a pink tie, he looked like he was fresh out a magazine. This nigga was looking better than he did the first day I saw him.
“So why you never hit a nigga up?” he asked.
“I’m sorry about that. I been busy,” I lied. He twisted his lips like he knew I was lying. I bust out laughing.
“So why you really didn’t hit me up, Miss Star? You have a man or something?” he asked as we walked down the aisle of the store.
“Nope. No man here!” I responded.
“So what is it? You’re not interested? I’m a big boy; I can handle rejection.” There was that damn smile again.
“It’s not that. I honestly forgot,” I lied once again. Truth was I threw his number out the window as soon as I left the gas station that day.
“Well that means I can get yours since you can’t remember to call me,” he smiled. I rolled my eyes upwards.
“I guess,” I finally gave in.
He took out his iPhone and I programmed my number in it. Once I cashed out he walked me to my car. I learned his name was Theodore and he promised to call me once he got home and was settled. He seemed like a decent guy, and just from that little walk around the store I looked forward to his call.
When I got to Shan’s house, she and the girls were watching a movie. Niyah, Destiny, Ni-Ni, and Kelly were sitting on the sofa while Shan was on the loveseat.
“I was starting to think you wasn’t coming,” Shan said to me.
“Yeah, I got caught up. I ran into a guy I met the other day at the gas station.”
“What? How does he look? What’s his name? Girl, I want all the info,” Shan said. She always had been nosey. I laughed.
“Well I don’t know that much about him. You know, just the basic shit. He’s single, no kids, no girlfriend, and never been married. Oh, and he’s a therapist.”
“Well shit, he sounds like a good catch. What’s his name?”
“Theodore,” I said.
“THEODORE!” Shan yelled while laughing. I just stared at her before bursting out with laughter myself. “I’m sorry but is he an old man?”
“No, fool. He’s only 29,” I said.
“Well he sure has an old man’s name. I can’t wait to meet this cat,” she said, still laughing just as my phone was ringing.
“You are so childish,” I said as I answered it.
“Hello.”
“Hey, is this Star?” I noticed Theodore voice right away. Smiling, I got up and walked to the kitchen.
“Yes, this is she,” I said.
“Hey, what’s up, Miss Lady
? This is Theodore. Are you busy?” he asked.
“I know who you are. No, I’m not busy. Just sitting at my sister house chilling with her and her kids,” I replied.
“Well I can hit you up later if you want. I was just thinking about you and decided to call,”
“How about I just call you when I get home?” I said.
“That’s cool. Just don’t forget this time,” he responded. I promised him I wouldn’t and we ended the call. I was actually looking forward to getting to know him.
Brooke
We got through my mother’s funeral in once piece. Sitting at the kitchen table with Bino and my stepfather, I spotted Bo on the other side of the room staring at us. He had been doing that all day. I rolled my eyes and looked dead at Bino and he was staring right at me.
“You know, even though your mother is no longer with us I still want to be in the kids’ life Brooke,” Edward said. It was funny he said that. Since I’d moved away my family really didn’t have that much to say to me. When I would call my mother would have the nastiest attitude so I just stopped calling altogether.
I was about to respond but was cut off by Bo. “Yo, B, can I talk to you for a minute about our kids?” he asked. I looked dead at Bino. I saw nothing but fire in his eyes as he sat there with his nostrils flared.
“Sure, what’s up?” I remained seated with Brandon in my arms.
“In private. I don’t need everybody to hear what we have to discuss about our kids.” I was getting sick of his ass. He acted as if everyone didn’t know we had three kids together. I rolled my eyes at him for the umpteenth time that day.
Bino turned around in his seat and was now staring directly at Bo. I almost bust out laughing but I knew it would only make things worse. I handed Bino our son and kissed his lips, just to fuck with Bo.
“I’ll be right back, baby,” I said to Bino and walked off. I didn’t have to turn around to know that he was still watching us as we exited the house.
“Why are you trying to start shit, Bo?” I asked as soon as we stepped outside. He laughed.
“What you talking about? I just asked could we talk about our kids. I don’t need mothafuckers all in our business,” he said.
“What damn business, Bo? You haven’t seen the kids since the divorce. If it wasn’t for my mama passing away ain’t no telling when you would have ever saw them again,” I said calmly. I wasn’t mad at all that he’d been absent from my kids lives. It wasn’t like they were hurting for anything. Bino and I took good care of them and they hardly mentioned their own father back at home.
“I been trying to get in contact with your ass but you changed your number on a nigga. So don’t sit up here and act like I don’t give a damn about my kids,” he said with an attitude.
“Bo, you know damn well if you really wanted to talk to your kids then you would have found a way. I bet you find a way to do everything else.”
“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked.
I folded my arms underneath my breasts and stared at him. I didn’t say anything back and he continued to talk.
“You sitting up here playing house and shit with the next nigga. Then you had a baby by this nigga,” he damn near screamed in rage.
“I sure did. Now is that what you called me out here for? If it is then I’m going back inside.” I turned to walk away but he grabbed my arm and spun me back around facing him.
“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to argue with you. I just wanted to apologize for everything,” he said, a lot calmer.
“No need to apologize, Bo. The kids are fine and don’t have to want for shit,” I let him know.
“Okay, that’s good to know. But I want to apologize to you for everything I’ve done.” He took a step closer to me and grabbed a hold of my hand.
“I miss you, Brooke. I never meant for any of this shit to happen.” Before I could even respond Bino was walking off the porch with a deadly mug. This shit was not about to go down right now.
“You got a problem with keeping your fucking hands to yourself?” Bino asked Bo. I looked down and Bo still had a tight grip on my hand. I quickly snatched away and turned to Bino.
“Baby, we were just talking,” I said.
“What the fuck was y’all talking about that y’all had to hold hands and shit?” Bino asked.
“We were talking about the kids.”
“You really take me for a fucking fool, don’t you? I been seeing the way his bitch ass has been looking at you all fucking day. I’m trying to keep my cool out of respect for you and your family. Any other time I would be knocking his punk ass the fuck out,” Bino roared. Bo just stood there smiling before turning to me.
“Handle your business, B. If you need me I’ll be inside,” he said then winked at me.
“Bino, no!” I screamed but it was too late. One blow to the face and Bo was on the ground with Bino over him ponding his face into the pavement. I begin to panic. I didn’t want Bino to get locked up for killing Bo’s ass. I knew if I didn’t stop him then he was going to kill him.
I tried to grab Bino’s arm but he jerked away. The look he was displaying on his face was something that I’d never seen before.
“Bino, please stop,” I begged.
By now my whole family was standing on the porch. Everyone was watching but no one came to break up the fight. I heard Angel crying and I’m guessing Bino heard her begging him to stop as well. He finally snapped back into his senses. Breathing heavily he looked up at my family. He walked over to my stepfather and took Brandon out his arms then walked towards the SUV, not saying a word. I just stood there in shock about the whole situation. That shit wasn’t cool at all!
Chapter 6
Brooke
I watched Bino strap Brandon into his car seat. I looked at Bo and he was slowly getting off the ground. It wasn’t until Bino was getting into the driver’s seat that I started gathering my kids.
“You’re not about to take my kids with that nigga!” Bo yelled. I wasn’t in the mood to argue with him.
“Bo, I’m not going to leave them with you. You’re angry and there’s no telling what’s running through your head,” I said to him. My Aunt Tracy walked off the porch and over to us.
“Brooke, do you really think he’s going to hurt those babies? Those are his kids and he has every right to keep them.” Nobody asked for her fucking two cents. Aunt Tracy and I were close at one time. When she found out I was a dancer shit went left with us.
“Aunt Tracy, mind your business. This is between Bo and me.”
“You know it’s not right for you to try to keep those kids away from him. You went down there and moved in with that girl and her family and just turned your back on your real family. That’s why my son is missing now, because of your so-called friend,” she had the nerve to say.
She still didn’t know Dre was dead. He was always doing a disappearing act so she thought he was coming back, like always. When Shan told me what went down with Dre I promised to take that shit to my grave. I totally understood Ronny’s reason for killing him. I honestly didn’t feel one sense of sympathy for neither Dre nor his punk ass cousin Eric.
“Auntie, I’m not about to go there with you,” was all I said.
“Keon, Kendrick, and Angel, get back here!” Bo yelled out. Keon and Kendrick went over to him. Angel kept walking to the car.
“Have my kids here by ten!” I said then walked on to the car.
When I got in Bino pulled off. Neither one of us spoke a word on the way to the hotel we were staying at. When we got there I headed straight to the shower. I didn’t know why he was so mad at me for. Hell, I should’ve be the one mad for the shit they pulled at my mother’s repast.
I got out and slipped on my bathrobe. Walking to the other side of the room I entered the room the kids were sharing.
“Hey, baby. What are you doing?” I asked, laying down beside Angel.
“Nothing. Watching Sam and Cat.” She loved that show. I had to
admit, it was a little funny.
“You love this show, don’t you?”
“Yes. Mama, why was Bino beating up my daddy?” she asked. I almost bust out laughing because Bino was kicking his ass.
“Because your daddy did something that Bino didn’t like,” I simply said.
“What did he do?”
“He grabbed Mommy’s hand.”
“What wrong with that?”
“It’s the way he did it, Angel. Bino didn’t like the way he was touching Mommy,” I replied.
“I was laughing when Bino was beating him up but I didn’t want him to get into trouble that why I was begging him to stop. Daddy is so mean. He wouldn’t even let me watch Sam and Cat,” she said seriously. I just laughed.
“I miss Kelly,” Angel said sadly.
“So do I. When we get back home we’re having a girls’ day out. We’re going to spend up Bino’s money,” I whispered to her so Bino wouldn’t hear and we both laughed. I decided to sleep with Angel that night and let Bino and Brandon sleep in the other room.
Cornell
“Up, up, Daddy,” Kandice said with her arms stretched out. I did as my little angel demanded and picked her up.
“You don’t have to ask me but once, little lady,” I said as I kissed her cheeks. This little girl really had my heart.
“You have her and CJ so spoiled,” Kandi said to me.
“They’re my babies. They lived with me for a whole year while you was away so I had no other choice but to spoil them,” I replied.
“So are you staying for dinner?” asked Kandi.
“Yeah, might as well. You want to stay for dinner, Kandice?” I asked. She nodded her little head up and down as if she knew what I was saying, before hopping off my lap. Kandi and I talked about the new man in her life while she fixed our plate. It made me happy just to see her happy.
“CJ and Kandice, come eat,” she yelled while walking out to get them. Minutes later they all walked back in giggling. They sat down and we began to eat in silence. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her.