The entire interaction between her and Lyric was uncomfortable and Patricia sensed it. She kept the conversation flowing and made sure to engage everyone in it. Lyric was the same as she had always been and Patricia missed having her around. She hadn’t seen her for a while but Jena did tell her that she was pregnant. She also knew that Lyric was her daughter’s supervisor and Jena wasn’t too happy about that either.
“I guess we need to get going. I wanna go see Sabrina before I leave though,” Lyric said after being there for almost an hour.
“Thank you so much for coming Lyric. It was really good to see you,” Patricia said as she stood up and hugged her.
“It was good to see you too,” Lyric replied with a smile.
“It was nice to meet you, Bronx. You make sure you treat my girl right,” Patricia said as she hugged him too.
“Always,” he replied, as Jena looked at them and discreetly rolled her eyes.
He had been peeping how she looked at Lyric the entire time they were there and he didn’t understand her attitude. She did Lyric dirty but she was acting like it was the other way around. Bronx felt bad about what happened, especially to the baby, but Jena was still being a bitch.
“I’ll be praying for you and the baby Jena,” Lyric said.
“Thanks,” Jena replied as she watched her mother walk them out of the room.
She knew that Patricia was going to tell Lyric something about her. If she wasn’t still in pain, she would have jumped out of bed just to listen.
“Thanks for coming Lyric. I know that you and Jena aren’t friends anymore, so that was sweet of you. I can’t believe that she ruined y’all friendship over that bastard who doesn’t give a damn about her or their daughter. He’s talking like having a disabled child is a disgrace.” Patricia frowned.
“Yeah, we ran into him right before we came into the room,” Lyric said as she shook her head.
“I should have let Justin beat his ass like he wanted to,” Patricia fussed.
“Don’t even worry about it Ms. Pat. Spencer will get what’s coming to him sooner or later,” Lyric said. She wanted to say just like Jena did but she kept that part to herself. She and Bronx said their final goodbyes and walked away to go visit Sabrina.
“Ole girl really don’t like you. Honestly, I doubt if she ever did,” Bronx said once he and Lyric had walked away.
“Why do you say that?” Lyric asked.
“The way she looks at you says a lot. You were probably so busy being her friend that you never noticed that she wasn’t really yours,” Bronx said, giving her a lot to think about.
He was right in a way and Lyric did ignore a lot of the bad vibes that Jena gave off. Jena would always say that she was jealous for one thing or another but she always said it in a joking way. She also remembered times that they would go somewhere and Jena would criticize her choice of clothes. Everyone else would compliment her but Jena would always find something wrong. Lyric never thought anything of it, but Bronx was right. She had always been more of a friend to Jena than she was to her.
“It’s cool. I’m good on friends. My family is good enough,” Lyric replied.
“Damn. It’s like that?” Bronx questioned, taking offense to what she’d just said.
“You know I didn’t mean it like that. Besides my family, you really are my only friend,” Lyric replied, making him smile.
“Not many women can have a best friend with all these benefits. You get sex when you want it and unlimited access to the money. You out here winning,” Bronx joked as they both laughed.
He and Lyric visited Sabrina for a little while and that was a disaster in itself. Despite them having no evidence, Sabrina swore that she was positive about Tremaine’s ex-girlfriend being responsible for what happened to them. She didn’t care that the woman had an airtight alibi, she was swearing that it was her. Lyric was tired of trying to reason with her, so she let Sabina rant until she was tired. Both her surgeries for her knee and her ankle were successful, but she would be on crutches for a while. Lyric assured her that there was no rush for her to get back to work and she was happy to still be getting paid.
“I’m happy that I got that over with,” Lyric said when she and Bronx were back in the car heading home.
“Ole girl is crazy as fuck. She wasn’t trying to hear nothing that you were saying,” Bronx laughed.
“That’s exactly why I stopped talking. I feel bad for her and Jena but at least they’re still alive. That poor baby is suffering the most,” Lyric replied.
“Lil mama gon’ pull through. She lasted this long, so she must be a fighter,” Bronx said as Lyric nodded her head in agreement.
Sadly, they were both wrong. Two days after their visit, Jena’s baby passed away.
Chapter 38
“Thank y’all so much for inviting me. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to bring a gift,” Mary said when Lyric and Bronx walked over to her table and sat down.
She was sitting at the table talking with his grandmother, Mildred. Mary had been in and out of the hospital since her son’s death, but she had been feeling much better lately.
“We didn’t ask you to. You being here is enough.” Lyric smiled as she grabbed her hand.
“I don’t know where we’re gonna put all this stuff at. He really don’t even need nothing else,” Bronx noted.
It felt like Lyric would never stop opening gifts. Even with Nova, Paisley, and Kierra’s help, it still took a while. He was happy that she had a lot of gift cards because his son really didn’t need anything else. Lyric ended up moving her treadmill to the garage and turning her workout room into their son’s nursery. The room was fully furnished and his son had everything that he needed and more.
“They basically got everything that was on my registry,” Lyric replied.
“I don’t even know why you did a registry. There is no room for all that stuff,” Bronx said.
His uncles were loading the stuff up on two of their trucks to bring to the house. They were going to have to make one trip just for diapers alone.
“It’ll just have to go in the garage for now.” Lyric shrugged.
“Have y’all thought about moving to a bigger house?” Mildred inquired. When she saw the look that crossed Lyric’s face, she was sorry that she asked.
“Yeah, but she don’t love me like that grandma. She don’t want to buy a house with me,” Bronx said, trying to sound like he was hurt.
“Stop lying Bronx. You already know what we talked about,” Lyric replied.
“Hell, I don’t know what to believe anymore. At first you said that you weren’t ready. Then, you claimed it was because you didn’t want to be paying for a house that you weren’t living in. So me, being the kind of man that I am, paid the house off hoping that would persuade you to buy another one with me. I’m confused as hell right now,” Bronx rambled angrily.
Money wasn’t an issue for him and he made that known from day one. Lyric owed almost one hundred twenty grand on her house and he had his bank wire it over to her bank to pay it off. She was now officially a home owner, but things still didn’t go quite how he expected them to. She was happy that her house was paid off but she didn’t seem like she was in a hurry to get another one.
“Okay, that’s a conversation that y’all need to have in private. We don’t need to know all your business,” Mildred said as she held her hand up to stop them.
“I have to go to the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back,” Lyric said as she got up and walked over towards the bathrooms.
She wanted to snap on Bronx but she didn’t want to disrespect his grandmother or Mary like that. Walking off to control her anger was the best thing for her to do. Bronx was acting like she was stopping him from buying a house but that was his choice. He’d basically invited himself to move in with her but she let him have that. Now, he was always complaining about them not having enough room. Lyric had lots of room before he started gradually bringing all his shit there. He knew how she felt
about people being in her business but he was always saying shit out of anger.
“I guess I’m in trouble again,” Bronx sighed as he got up to follow her. He knew that Lyric didn’t have to use the bathroom. She was like him in so many ways. She would rather walk away before she snapped or said something that she would later regret. Bronx didn’t care that she went into the women’s bathroom; he opened the door and went in right behind her. There was a small sitting area before you entered the stalls with a changing table and two chairs. Lyric gasped when she saw him walk in and she was happy that she was in there alone.
“This is the ladies’ room Bronx. Get out!” Lyric fussed.
“I guess you’re mad at me now, huh? All I want to do is buy my family a bigger house for us to be comfortable and I’m the bad person. Help me understand that because I’m confused,” he replied as he folded his arms across his chest.
“I know you didn’t come in here for that.” Lyric frowned.
“Yeah, I did. What’s the problem?” he asked her like he didn’t already know.
“Fuck you, Bronx,” Lyric said angrily.
“If that’s what you wanted, that’s all you had to say,” he smirked. He grabbed one of the chairs and pushed it up against the door to block anyone from coming in. Afterwards, he unbuckled his belt and pants, letting them fall to the floor. When he dropped his boxers, Lyric’s mouth opened in shock.
“What the hell are you doing?” she questioned.
“You just said fuck me, so let’s make it happen,” he replied as he pulled her close.
Lyric didn’t even try to stop him when he pressed his lips up to hers. It wasn’t the first and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last time that she and Bronx had sex in a public place. If the mood hit them, they made it happen no matter where they were. They didn’t have a lot of time, so they had to skip the foreplay. Bronx bent down and pulled Lyric’s dress up and yanked off her underwear. She turned around and put one of her legs up in the sink right before he slipped into her from behind. They both moaned in satisfaction as he started stroking her.
“Throw that ass back!” Bronx yelled as he grabbed her hair and pulled her head back for a kiss.
“I got you baby,” Lyric said as she did what he told her to. She was almost eight months pregnant and her sex drive was something serious.
“Shit Lyric. You feel good as fuck baby,” Bronx moaned into her ear as he smacked her ass.
“Yes baby, do it again,” Lyric demanded as she rotated her hips.
Bronx smacked her ass a few more times as she moaned in pleasure. It got better every time they had sex and he never seemed to get enough of her. People often said that there was no such thing as perfection, but he disagreed. Lyric was perfect to him and he didn’t give a fuck about who disagreed. He wanted to pump her full of his babies to make sure she stayed in his life forever.
“Bronx, no. What are you doing?” Lyric whined when he pulled out of her.
He grabbed the other chair that was in the room and sat in it, pulling her down on top of him. Lyric lifted up and guided him back inside of her.
“Twerk on it,” Bronx demanded as he grabbed on to her hips and held her dress up.
Lyric planted both her feet on each side of the chair and started riding him just the way he liked her to. He liked it fast when she was on top and she always delivered. Lyric hoped the music was enough to drown out his sounds because he was loud. Bronx had his head thrown back with his mouth opened slightly. Lyric sucked on his neck and left her mark in several places. She hated when he did it to her, but she was always marking her territory.
“Damn girl,” Bronx groaned as Lyric rolled her hips and bounced on him.
“Make me cum,” Lyric said as she licked her lips and looked at him.
“You got that baby,” Bronx replied as he stood up with her in his arms.
“Oh shit, baby!” Lyric screamed as she held on to his neck.
Bronx was bouncing her hard and fast while sticking his tongue in her ear. He knew that was one of Lyric’s hot spots and she went crazy every time he did it.
“You love me?” Bronx asked as he stroked her hard and fast.
“Yes baby,” Lyric gasped.
“Say that shit then. Let me hear you,” he demanded.
“I love you!” Lyric screamed as her entire body shook.
“Fuck!” Bronx yelled once Lyric came.
She was even wetter and he wasn’t too far behind. He had to walk her over to the sink once he spilled his seeds into her. His legs were weak and he didn’t want to drop her.
“It’s always so much better when we sneak off somewhere,” Lyric laughed as she kissed his lips.
“Shit, it’s good all the time,” Bronx replied as he pulled out of her.
“I need my purse. I need to freshen up,” Lyric said.
“Shit, me too,” Bronx replied.
“You can grab a few paper towels to get yourself right. I need my feminine wipes,” Lyric noted.
Bronx picked her up and sat her in the chair while he tried to clean himself up as much as he could. Once he was done, he moved the chair from behind the door and was about to walk out of it when it flew open. Kierra stopped in her tracks when she saw him standing there and Lyric sitting in the chair with her dress pulled up.
“I don’t even want to know,” she said as she covered her ears.
It was still a little weird for her seeing one cousin’s soon to be ex husband with her other cousin. Deuce had been around for years with Zina. Now, she had to get used to seeing him with Lyric. It was weird that the baby he’d been begging Zina for was going to be delivered by Lyric. It pained Kierra to know that she could never have her two favorites cousins around her at the same time anymore.
“There’s nothing to tell,” Lyric replied.
“Yeah, I guess that’s why Deuce is in the ladies’ room and your underwear are on the floor,” Kierra smirked as she proceeded to the other part of the bathroom where the stalls were located.
“Bronx!” Lyric yelled.
“Shit. My fault baby. I’m going grab your purse,” Bronx laughed as he grabbed her underwear and stuffed them in his front pocket.
Lyric covered her face while he walked out of the bathroom with a huge smile plastered on his face. Once Lyric had freshened up, they saw their guests off and headed home. His uncles helped him unload all the baby’s things in the garage and Melody was coming over the next day to help unpack it. Now that the baby shower was over, all they had to do was wait for the baby.
***
Lyric pulled up to work that Monday morning and was surprised to see that Mr. Malone was already there. She was a few minutes early and she didn’t know what time he made it in. When she got out of the car, she was met by Nova and Jared. They were walking out of the mailroom deep in conversation.
“Hey y’all,” Lyric spoke.
“Hey cousin. I didn’t know that Jena was coming back to work so soon,” Nova said.
“Neither did I. She didn’t tell me anything,” Lyric replied.
Sabrina hadn’t even come back, so she knew that it was too soon for Jena to return. Her injuries were much worse and she had to bury her baby as well. Lyric still had two temps filling their spots until they felt good enough to work again.
“Oh, well, I saw her come in. She’s on crutches and everything,” Nova said.
“Let me go up here and see what’s going on,” Lyric said as she got on the elevator.
As soon as she got off, she saw Jena standing near her work area talking with a few other employees. They were giving their condolences on the loss of her daughter and offering her words of encouragement.
“Good morning everybody. I didn’t know that you were coming back so soon Jena,” Lyric said when she walked up to them.
“I’m not back yet. Mr. Malone called and asked to see me,” she replied.
Just as soon as the words left her mouth, Mr. Malone walked up and the crowd disbursed. “I meant to call you t
his morning Lyric, but I’m happy that you’re here. I need you and Jena in my office for a minute,” he requested.
Lyric opened her office door and put her things inside right before going to Mr. Malone’s office. As soon as they all sat down, the door opened again and Nova let Sabrina in. Lyric didn’t know what was going on, but she was curious.
“What’s up Mr. Malone?” Lyric questioned.
“So, first off, I want to say how sorry I am that this happened to both of you. Jena, I’m especially sorry about the loss of your daughter. As a parent, I can’t even imagine going through that kind of pain. I’ve been on the detective’s back about this case and I have some news for you,” he replied.
“Did they find the person who did it?” Jena asked.
“They found the car that hit you. It was burned up of course, but they were able to lift a few fingerprints off of it. I just got word this morning that they got a hit and they’ll hopefully be making an arrest soon,” Mr. Malone noted.
“Why didn’t they tell us?” Jena inquired.
“That’s what I want to know. I’ve been calling them every day trying to get an update on the case. Nobody ever returns my calls,” Sabrina spoke up.
“Truthfully, if I wasn’t on their asses as much as I’ve been, they probably would have swept this case under the rug. The police and detectives are overworked and underpaid. They just don’t go the extra mile unless it’s a high profile case. I wanted to let y’all know what was going on myself, so you won’t see it on the news and get caught off guard. I got the email with a picture of the suspect. I had to call in a few favors for that too,” Mr. Malone said as he logged on to his computer.
“It was her, wasn’t it?” Sabrina asked, referring to Tremaine’s ex-girlfriend.
“Not unless she got someone else to do it. Do any of you know who he is?” Mr. Malone asked as he turned his computer around for them to see.
“No. Who is he?” Jena asked.
“His name is Quinton Rogers and he’s a convicted felon,” Mr. Malone replied.
“Tremaine’s ex-girlfriend’s name is Tia. Is her last name Rogers? That might be one of her family members,” Sabrina said.
Heartbreak And Past Mistakes Page 38