Tori merely placed up a hand while continuing his stroll.
“Aye, it’s Jaylen, right?” Tori questioned, as he stepped up to his adversary.
Jaylen scowled. “The fuck are you over here for, nigga?”
Tori smiled snidely. “What’s all the hostility about, man? That aint no way to treat your stable brother.”
“Stable brother? The fuck are you talking about?” Jaylen gritted.
Jalero smirked. “That’s something we say when we fucking the same pussy, nigga.”
Tori pointed. “You got it, bro. Anyway, I stepped over because I told Rye that I wasn’t gonna keep her lil’ secret.”
“Man, what the fuck are you talking about?!” Jaylen fumed, speaking louder than he intended to.
Tori was thoroughly enjoying every second of this. “I’m just letting you know that I fucked Rye a few times after Cali. I asked her if she was sure if the baby was yours, and she told me to chill until the baby gets here. Then she’d give me a DNA test, and I thought that you’d like to know that. You know, to keep everybody honest, cause our girl can tell a lie from time to time.” He winked.
“Nigga, you got me fucked up!” Jaylen seethed, as he moved in on Tori, before Jalero stepped between them.
“Nah, main, chill out,” Lero urged. “This aint the place, nigga.”
Tori opened his arms, smiling, tauntingly. “What’s all that for? I’m just a black man looking out for my fellow brother. Hoes are for everybody, right?”
Jaylen tugged at his pants, as they slipped off his waist. “Move, Lero, man. Just let me slide him one time.”
“Nah, I can’t do that. It aint a good look for you, main,” Jalero persisted.
“Yeah, listen to your homey,” Tori said mockingly, sounding like a redneck racist.
Jalero’s neck snapped around. “Aye, man, move around with this bullshit or step outside. Cause we aint about to stand here and argue with your lame ass in front of all these people.”
“Go outside for what?” Tori narrowed his eyes, as if he was confused. “Why would I argue over somebody I’ve already had?”
Jaylen grinned wickedly, as he envisioned blowing Tori’s brains out. “Bitch nigga, just call me Future, cause you aint gon never ever get your bitch back. On God.”
“Oh, yeah?” Tori slurred, as his heart palpitated. “She wasn’t saying that when I had my dick in her mouth the other day. Or better yet, ask my boy Brad. He’s definitely had his run with her.”
Jalero tapped the tip of his nose, before reaching back, and then popping Tori in the eye. The hit was so powerful that it literally knocked him off his feet.
Jaylen smiled brightly, as he yanked his uncle back. “Come on, man, let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Jalero took heed, as they hastily headed to the nearest exit.
“You tripped out, unc,” Jaylen voiced, as they headed to the valet to grab their whips. “You told me that wasn’t the place, only to turn around and knock him out yourself.”
“Yeah, man, I had to get ‘im. He was talking too reckless, and if the laws wasn’t gonna probably swoop in on a nigga, I’d mash on his bitch ass again.”
Jaylen nodded in understanding. “I hear you, but if anything, that was God. Cause had you not knocked him out in there, I probably would’ve split that nigga’s wig out here in the parking lot. Cause the way he’s talking…he’s begging for me to take his life.”
Chapter 32
“Wake up. Rye, wake your ass up,” Jaylen seethed, as he shook her shoulder.
“Huh?” Rye groggily lifted her head. “What’s wrong? What time is it? Why do you have all the lights on in here?”
“I need you sit up. We gotta talk.”
Sitting up in the bed, her heart pounded in her chest. “You scaring me, boy. What’s wrong?”
“Look, I need you to answer something for me, and don’t fucking lie,” Jaylen spat with a crazed look in his eyes.
Rye frowned. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“When was the last time you fucked Tori’s bitch ass?” he asked, completely ignoring her question.
“What?” her scowl deepened. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You heard me,” he snarled. “Is this baby really mine?”
Rye gasped. “Now, wait a minute, muthafucka! I don’t know where the fuck you’re going with this, but your got me fucked up!” she dramatically clapped her hands.
“When was the last time you fucked him!” Jaylen barked out.
“Before I flew out to L.A. with him! Are you fucking happy now?!”
His nostrils flared. “So, why did that nigga come up to me, claiming that you are gonna give him a DNA test once you have the baby?”
“What? That nigga is a got damn lie! I haven’t fuckin’ spoken to him since I don’t know when!”
“So, it’s no way possible for the baby to be his?”
“Hell, no.” Rye folded her arms underneath her breasts. “But I’d love to know where all this bullshit is coming from.”
“I just told you. The nigga just basically said that the baby was his.”
She shook her head. “He’s really fucking nuts, going around lying on is dick. Like, who does that?”
He gave her the side eye, questioning everything they’d shared. Could she be trusted? “Is he lying or are you lying?”
She sucked her teeth. “What reason do I have to lie?”
He licked his lips. “Let me ask you this. How do you know Brad?”
She swallowed hard. “Oh, is that what this is about? Did somebody tell you something.”
He growled. “Answer the fucking question, Rye.”
“I told you the other day or did you forget?” she snapped.
“Is he Tori’s friend?”
“Look, it didn’t happen---”
“Answer the fucking question! Is he Tori’s friend?!”
“Yeah!” she blurted. “But it’s not like that---”
“Nah, man, I can’t do this shit,” he spat, as he headed to the closet.
Immediately, she hopped out of bed. “What do you mean that you can’t do this?”
Inside of the closet he tossed clothes into a Louie duffle bag. “I gotta get the fuck away from you. You aint who I thought you was. Going around fucking friends, but I’m supposed to believe that you aint fucking with that nigga now.”
Rye’s chest heaved up and down, as she paced back and forth. “If you’d listen, I’m trying to tell you what happened,” she expressed with a hint of desperation in her voice. “Yes, Brad and Tori are friends, but I didn’t know.”
Jaylen stepped out of the closet with his bag in tow. He gave her a look of disgust. “Am I supposed to believe that bullshit?”
“It’s the truth!” she screamed, getting herself worked up. “Me and Tori would play break up to make up. During one of those breaks I met Brad. We linked up. We dated. Had sex a few times. And then I forgave Tori for whatever he’d done and we got back together. A month later, I found out that they were close friends.”
“Yeah, right, man. How the fuck didn’t you know beforehand and them lame niggas always run together?” he questioned, after thoroughly sifting through Tori’s Instagram page.
“Because Brad was living in Atlanta when me and Tori got together, so I’d never met him. Apparently, he ran into me the minute he came back to Houston. I didn’t know that they knew each other.”
Jaylen shook his head. “Yeah, okay, man. Tell me any fucking thing. When we first heard of that cat when he was trying to sign Jeremy, we all checked out his page. You was all over it, dating back fucking years. Yet, you trying to tell me that his friend didn’t recognize your picture, even if you didn’t know who he was?”
She opened her arms. “Have you thought about the fact that maybe he knew who I was and just didn’t give a fuck?”
“Nah, have you thought about the fact that as man I don’t want somebody that’s fucking everything moving? Here I was sympathiz
ing with your situation. Lying dead to get in that nigga’s ass, only to find out that you probably needed a foot up your ass.” he headed for the living room.
She was right behind him, wearing his long t-shirt. “Where are you going, Jaylen? Huh?”
“Away from you,” he responded with his back to her.
“Could you just listen?” she pleaded, grabbing his arm.
Spinning around, he jerked out of her grasp.
“Okay, I used to fuck up,” she confessed. “Tori would be on his bullshit, so I was on mine. Hell, sometimes even when he was on his best behavior I’d fuck around. He’s cried and begged me to stop. He’s caught me at hotel rooms with other niggas. Shit, that was why me and Wale stopped dealing with each other. Tori banged on our hotel’s door all night, and I had to beg Wale not to go out there and shoot him.”
Jaylen’s stomach churned. “And you think that I can fuck with you after hearing all this bullshit?”
“Yes,” she sniveled.
“Girl, you fucking crazy. How?”
“Cause Tori wasn’t you. None of those niggas were you, Jaylen. I didn’t give a damn about him!” she professed. “Sometimes I hated the feel of his touch…but with you…its different. I love you. I need you. None of those niggas could be you! I cheated because they weren’t you! I’d never do you like that. I get sick to the stomach when I think about another man touching me the way that you touch me. I can’t see nobody but you! So, don’t you walk out that fucking door, and leave me,” she bawled, breaking down, while holding her chest. “My heart can’t handle that, right now. So, please don’t goooooo,” she sobbed.
Jaylen stood watching her cry her eyes out and it was all too much for him. His head was swimming and he just had to get away. “Look, man, I can’t do this with you, right now. I’m gone.” He headed out the door.
Rye collapsed onto the floor, as she realized that karma had come back to haunt her in the worst way possible.
***
Sitting up in bed, Rye glanced around the room. The sun was seeping through the slits in the blinds, indicating that a new day was in full effect. Like second nature, she picked up her cell and called Jaylen. Like all the other times she’d called, he didn’t answer. He’d been gone all night, and she just refused to accept that he’d walked out on her.
Determined to find his ass, and make him listen to her, she eased out of bed. She then held her back as she wobbled into the closet. Glancing down at her feet, she realized that they were swollen.
“Fuck,” she grumbled to herself, as she plucked a pair of Nike leggings with a matching tee from the closet’s rack.
Slowly, she traveled into the master bath, while her back was killing her. Removing Jaylen’s t-shirt was a task within itself, as she found herself short winded. By the time she’d brushed her teeth, changed into her clothes, she was struggling to catch her breath, and she’d sweated out her edges. Nonetheless, she was determined to find Jaylen, so she scooted her swollen feet into his Gucci flip flops, and headed to the living room
With her head down, Rye stepped to the front door, prepared to leave out.
“Where are you going?” a voice questioned from behind, causing her to twirl around.
“When did you come back?” she held her chest.
“I asked where are you going?” Jaylen reiterated.
Seeing him sitting there relaxed, smoking a blunt, agitated her for some reason. “Why? You haven’t answered my calls all night, so don’t act concerned now.”
He smacked his lips. “Girl, watch out. If it was really something you needed, or you were in distress, then I’m sure that you would’ve carried your ass out of that room. I been sitting on this couch since an hour after I left out the door.”
“Ooh,” was all she could say.
“Are you gonna come sit down and talk to me?” he patted a spot beside him on the couch. “We need to talk about some shit,” he blew smoke through his nostrils.
She held her back, taking a few steps, before coming to a halt. “Oh, shit,” she groaned, holding her back.
He frowned. “What’s wrong.”
She winced in pain. “I think that I’ve been experiencing contractions…oh shit---”
Jaylen watched the she wet her pink leggings. “The fuck is that? Did you just piss on yourself?”
Rye shook her head. “No…I think my water just broke.”
***
“Knock, knock, glama coming through,” Chantel announced, as she stepped into the hospital room with huge balloons in tow. Right behind her was Big Jaylen, Roz, Ray-Ray, Raven, Big Jahrein, and Raquel.
Konya smiled and waved, as she sat in a chair, right at Rye’s bedside. “Hey, yall.”
“Aye,” Jaylen Junior spoke, as he sat on the opposite side of Rye’s bed.
Chantel waved him off. “Yeah, yeah, let me see this here baby.” She stepped over to the foot of Rye’s bed. “Is he sleeping?”
Rye nodded, as she gazed down at her beautiful son. Although, three weeks early, the delivery had been a success and the baby was a healthy six pounds five ounces. Rye had been initially terrified, thinking that she was having the baby too soon, until the doctors explained to her that her baby was considered full-term as her pregnancy ended at 37 weeks.
“Did you name him yet?” Chantel questioned anxiously.
Rye shook her head no.
“Well, we clearly don’t need anymore Jaylens in the family, so I hope that aint it,” Raven quickly spoke up.
Big Jaylen cut his eyes at her. “Well, who said that?”
“I did,” Raven twisted her neck. “You got ya junior already and my damn son name is Jaylen too. What more do you want?”
He chuckled. “Let me find out that you still bitter about that. You need to point all that aggression your man’s way. He was the one who lost that bet and had to name yall child after me.”
Jahrein glared at his older brother. “Nigga, you always gotta bring up old shit.”
Big Jaylen shrugged pettily. “Say, Rye, let me hold the baby.”
“Good luck with that,” Little Jaylen grumbled. “She won’t let nobody hold him.”
“Come get him,” Rye offered, why ignoring Jaylen’s comments.
“No uh, I called first,” Chantel babbled, as she stepped around her son and everyone else, and swooped the baby right out of Rye’s arms. The moment she laid eyes on the baby her heart melted. “Oh my God,” she became choked up. “This is Junior all over again.”
“Move, let me see,” Raven persisted, as she squeezed between people to get to the baby. “Oh, yeah, baby.” She peeked over Chantel’s shoulder. “See, I told you, Rye,” she glanced at her baby sister. “Every Braxton comes out with that damn unibrow. Yourns aint the exception.”
Rye rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
Chantel nodded. “That’s right. He’s ours, baby, without a doubt.”
Big Jaylen gazed down at the baby. “Let me hold that lil’ pink nigga.”
While everyone in the room fawned over the baby, Jaylen stared Rye down as she purposely ignored him. He’d already concluded that she was one stubborn broad, as she went into labor, and managed to keep an attitude with him. Then once the baby was born, he’d only held him briefly, and Rye had been hogging him ever since, on some petty shit.
For the next few hours, the hospital room was overrun with family and friends. Konya was the last to leave, and she’d only left because there wasn’t enough room to sleep there with Jaylen being there as well. Therefore, at this point, the room was eerily quiet, as Rye pretended that she and her baby were the only two in the room.
“So, are you gonna let me hold him now?” he finally broke the silence.
Rye refused to give him eye contact. “You sure that you wanna do that? I mean, I don’t want you getting attached to him, when he could potentially be for somebody else.”
Ignoring her smart remark, he stood up, and removed the baby from her arms. Cautiously, he sat down. For a long while, he j
ust sat staring at the baby, who was utterly perfect in his eyes. Unibrow and all. “He looks like a Jaylen the third to me.”
Rye pursed her lips, without saying anything.
“I know he’s mine, Rye. Without a shadow of a doubt, and I’m sorry for putting you through that on your last day of pregnancy. I know that’s a fucked-up memory to have.”
She rolled her eyes without saying a word.
He kissed the baby’s cheek. “I fucked up. I know that. I shouldn’t have allowed them people to get in my head. That’s my bad.”
Rye sat up a tad. “What people?”
“That nigga you used to fuck with…and your sister.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “I already know what Tori’s lame ass told you, but what did DeAndra say?”
“A bunch of shit that basically amounted to you being a hoe. Hating shit, really.”
“Yet, you believed her?”
“Nah, not exactly. But I did verify some of the shit she claimed, which had my mind wondering. That’s why I came to you. I wanted you to tell the full story then, but I let it go. Then when Tori’s bitch ass came with the same claims, it ran me hot.”
“Okay, but I really don’t understand how we got into an argument over some shit that happened before I even knew you.”
“Cause, man. The shit is different. I mean, I know that we didn’t come together as virgins, but I don’t wanna hear about or picture you with other niggas. I feel like you was made for me, you know what I’m saying? So, when I hear about you and the next nigga I’ma get jealous. Flat out. It don’t matter when it happened. I can’t help that shit. So, I was in my feelings, and that’s my bad.”
Rye took a deep breath, before doing something she’d never done before. “Here.” she reached out, handing him her phone.
“What you giving me this for?”
“Look, we have a fresh baby, I got a new shop, and you have multiple businesses to run. I don’t wanna waste unnecessary time on bullshit. You thinking that I’m worried about anybody else but you and our son, is just that. Bullshit. So, I wanna start this journey off on the right foot. No secrets. Therefore, I want you to go through my phone and read every text message. I don’t care. I just wanna show you that I have nothing to hide.”
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