by Belleza
“So, what’s going on with you and Asahd?” my mother questioned dipping her Earl Grey tea bag in the piping hot water.
We were seated around the table dining room table after her tree was up, and she made us a quick meal.
I felt Keira’s eyes on me because we had literally just had this conversation earlier this morning and I was forced to have it again.
“We were arguing because he was being disrespectful to me and I didn’t like the way he was treating his nephew.”
“What did he do to his nephew?”
“Roughed him up. I didn’t like that at all. You and daddy didn’t put your hands on me, so I can’t stomach seeing a child getting hit on.”
“I understand that part, but young boys are different from young girls. You can’t let him disciplining them come between your relationship and health.”
“Tell her the truth Camille. Don’t leave out the honey bun part,” Keira coached from the sideline.
“She don’t gotta tell me. I already know.”
I almost liked it better when he and my parents didn’t get along. At least I didn’t have them in my business. He knew what he was doing too by telling them I was upset with him.
Instead of continuing the conversation, I changed the topic to the maternity shoot. It slipped my mind to call the photographer when I was at Keira’s house, but I surely was going to do it now.
“I have someone in mind to take my pictures. I think he works at the place where Nicole took us.”
“Really? What’s his prices and where is he located?”
I got up from my seat and got my purse where I knew I tossed the business card. When I found it, I scanned the card and learned his name was Newton, owner of NewVisions Photography, it was an odd name.
“I really don’t know. I’m just glad I don’t have to search high and low for a photographer. He said he can take pictures of the wedding, but I’m sure he can do the maternity shoot.”
After dialing the number, I handed my mother his business card. The phone rung until it went to voicemail and I decided to send a text message reminding him that I was the girl he met days ago at a wedding hall in Center City along with my name.
There wasn’t no doubt that I was in my feelings when it came to Asahd and the way he acted. I can admit that. We lived in the same house so eventually, I was going to have a conversation with him and try my best to eat healthy just so I wouldn’t have to hear his mouth.
JOHAN
My business meeting ended quicker than I expected, so I hopped on a red eye flight back across the country to Philly. The kids were at school and Natavia was busy at work, so I decided to pull up on my brothers at one of their traps in Southwest. Since last night, Asahd been crying that Jeremy had him and Camille beefing, so I definitely wanted to know how that even occurred.
Once I pulled up at the warehouse, I parked my car and hopped out locking it behind me. I let myself in and the workers were busy unpacking a shipment that must’ve just came in. I threw them all a head nod and made my way to the office where I heard Asahds’ obnoxious voice as I got closer to the door.
“Man, this some bullshit!” he exclaimed.
“This don’t look like work,” I told them shutting the door behind me checking out the intense game off 2k they were playing.
“I did what I had to do for the longest to finally be able to do what I want to do. Let me live.”
“Ok, Oprah Winfrey,” I replied dapping him up and then Zayne. “What’s going on?”
I hadn’t even got comfortable in my seat before Asahd was going off.
“That little nigga Jeremy gonna make me knock his head off. He’s been disrespecting his mom. I said something to him the first time we were at ya crib, but when we got back to my house she was calling him and he kept declining the call. I was at the door when he started saying some shit about her and I almost blacked out on him until Camille rolled her ass into the room.”
I screwed my face up at him and Zayne burst out laughing.
“Aye, you ain’t learn ya lesson talking about that girl like that?” Zayne questioned him.
“Nah, she pissed me off. She was crying talking about I shouldn’t be putting my hands on him, but it was really because I got on her ass for stuffing her face with junk food.”
“That still doesn’t give you a right to call her fat ass.”
“I’m sure you called Keira fat too. You were on her ass as much as I am on Mill.”
I shook my head chuckling. “I can’t believe we’re related. Your women are about to bring life into the world and you busy calling them fat.”
“I mean… I don’t mean it like that. It’s just her stomach and her forehead that grew but she need to lay off the junk.”
“That was the way you should’ve said it,” I responded.
“I’m fed up with her. I’ll apologize later but get ya son man. I never had to go through this shit with the three musketeers.”
I pulled my phone out to check up on Natavia wondering why she haven’t been telling me about the boys.
Asahd pulled out his sack of weed and a blunt and began to roll up. I got a bottle of water out the fridge and relaxed back in my seat.
“What Jeremy doing?”
“Man, I can’t even explain it, but he got me tight son. Camille acting weird as fuck, and when I almost went upside his head she started barking on me. I just peep the way he’s been talking to Natavia and I don’t like that shit. She’s a good ass mother.”
After taking a drink of water, I twisted the cap back on the bottle. “I never seen or heard him get disrespectful with her.”
“That nigga ain’t dumb. Why would he do that shit in front of you? You’re damn near 300 pounds all muscle. That ain’t a fight I’m trying to be in either,” Zayne explained to me.
“Yeah a’ight, fuck a size. I was seconds away from punching on him.”
Asahd continued to tell me what happened with Jeremy before he began to rant about him and Camille asking for my advice.
We sat around and I caught up with them and it all ended up with shit talking and laughter. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to shoot the breeze with my brothers. First, it was me with the family thing going on and now we were all engulfed in expanding our families and caring for our women. I was proud as fuck because even Asahd was able to settle down and tie the knot before Zayne which I was sure was bound to happen because he loved the ground Keira walked on, no matter how insane she acted.
An hour went past before I decided to head home and shower and wait for my boys and Natavia to return home. I needed about a good few hours of sleep in my own bed and I would be set. My body was weird. My home was my sanctuary and my family completed me so staying away, I barely got sleep because I was uncomfortable. I damn sure wasn’t going to allow that to stop me from making my money. My companies were thriving and expanding rapidly, pretty soon I would have to bring in people to help me handle all the locations because I was one person with a bunch of establishments. I can only be at one place at a time and I had a family I still had to be around. Technology was developing, I can be across the world and see my loved ones on a phone, computer or laptop, however, nothing compared to physically being present.
Entering my home, I got the surprise of my life when I heard muffled cries. I placed my car keys on the console near the front door and made my way to the living room where I was sure Natavia was. I figured she was busy at work. The last thing I expected was for her to be crying at home.
“Tave,” I said calling her by her nickname I gave her. “Why you crying?”
She jumped from the sound of my voice and quickly wiped her face as if getting rid of the evidence was enough for me not to believe she was in here crying her eyes out.
“What are you doing home?” she mumbled looking down at her now wet hands.
“That’s the question I want to ask you. I’ve text you and haven’t gotten a reply. I figured you were busy.”
I sa
t next to her on the couch leaning back and pulling her close to my chest. She hugged her arms around my waist and tried to control her sporadic breathing from crying.
“I had so much to do at work… but I couldn’t focus so I took an early day,” she murmured. “Why are you here?”
“I got things done as fast as possible, so I can return home. I hate being away from y’all.” I gently lifted her head and peered down into her bloodshot red eyes and my heart tore to shreds seeing her in disparity and not knowing why she was worked up like that. I never witnessed her so sad and broken. “Why are you crying? And don’t lie. Is it Jeremy?”
“It didn’t take you long to find out,” she huffed pulling away, but I kept my arm tight around her so she couldn’t move.
“We ain’t about to do that. We are all family. I’m fucked up over the fact you haven’t informed me of his behavior. He’s my son as well.”
Natavia looked at me as if she was searching for the truth in my words and I returned an unwavering glare. One thing I didn’t play about was family. She was my woman and everything she loved I loved as well. If it came from her or involved her I took ownership as well. What kind of man would I be to want her and not her son?
This was something I explained to her numerous of times, and realizing I was still beating this in her head gave me a heads up that there were layers of fuck shit I had to unpeel. Thank God for patience.
“His father popped back up.”
Instantly, my fist clenched, and my body heat rose. “That muhfucka say anything to you? What he do?”
“No,” she shook her head. “But I can’t deal with him. He’s really terrible and he managed to brainwash Jeremy.”
“Where did you see him?”
“At the school?”
“How the fuck?”
“Exactly! Somehow Jeremy got in contact with him on Facebook, they exchanged numbers and he’s been up at school during dismissal for the past few days.”
“Why you ain’t have one of my brothers go with you?!” I shot at her, upset that she was visibly shaken but thought this was a battle she absolutely had to face on her own.
“See, this is why I didn’t want to tell you! You’re yelling at me like I’m wrong. I don’t want the fucking drama.”
I was pissed. She managed to get up off the couch and I let her, but I was up and on her heels.
“I’m angry because I don’t trust that nigga! You don’t remember how big and bad he was acting towards you? If anything happens to you how the fuck you think I’m going to feel? It’s my job to protect you and you’re in the way from letting me fulfill my duties.”
Natavia was moving fast as I spoke, so I had to grab her up and push her against the wall. Now wasn’t the time to get physical. I could’ve hurt her with all the rage I was feeling. That wasn’t on my mind though. What was on my mind was that pussy ass nigga hurting her.
Natavia dropped her head and sobbed as I stood over her. Hearing her cry simmered down my anger. I circled my arms around her and pressed my forehead against hers after I placed a few kisses on her face.
“Stop fighting me Tave, I’m your man. We’re a team, we should never go against each other let alone hide anything.”
“I know. I know, but it’s so much more!” she cried shaking uncontrollably.
She didn’t have to tell me that because I sensed there was an issue that was deeper than her son’s father being a user and a jerk.
I allowed her to cry until her tears ran dry and took her upstairs to the bedroom.
“What’s up with this nigga? Is he a danger to Jeremy?”
She shook her head.
“Has he put his hands on you?”
She didn’t respond. She didn’t move.
“Babe, you gotta communicate with me. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”
Natavia riddle with her fingers as her legs bounced up and down. We ain’t have shit to do and I wasn’t leaving out the room until she ran everything past me. The man wanted to be in his child’s life fine, but it was going to be on our terms. He wasn’t going to pop up and call shots. I wanted to fuck his ass up for even having her worked up like this.
Despite her struggles, Natavia was full of life and happy. In a matter of days, he turned the woman I loved into a mere shell of self, or at least that’s what I felt. Maybe she was this person all along and I helped her forget her troubles.
“Jerry was very abusive towards me. In the beginning it was perfect, but he transformed into this monster I should’ve ran away from as soon as I saw the signs. First it was him yelling, then he was pushing me and gripping me up that quickly turned to full blown punches to the face. I had to call out of work so many times that eventually I lost my job because I was ashamed of the bruises. We will fight, I would leave, and he would find me and sucker me into staying because at that point he was all I could depend on. My family turned their back on me. I had no money, so I went back to start back that vicious cycle,” she explained. “Luckily for me when Jeremy was born, he decided to go be with another woman. The sunshine was short lived because I had a baby to take care on my own and bills that were piled up because of him that were all in my name.”
“I wish would’ve known that shit a long time ago. I would’ve handled that nigga a long time ago.”
Natavia looked up at me moving her head from side to side. “That’s why I chose not to say anything. It will only get worse. He will come after me.” She pointed to her chest with her eyes wide with fear.
“Fuck you think I’m here for?! I wish that nigga would. When you said something to him, did he get in your face? Did he raise his voice or disrespect you?”
“No.”
“Exactly! He knows who the fuck I am. Don’t you ever sit here and act afraid of any man or woman, especially no man.”
“You gotta understand. It’s just me and Jeremy I have no brothers to protect me. I’m the black sheep of my family, so I can’t turn to them for a penny or to simply baby sit Jeremy.”
“So, what is it that he wants?” I questioned her.
“He wants to be able to see Jeremy and surprisingly Jeremy wants to spend time with him.”
“How do you feel about that? Jeremy is already acting out and he hasn’t been with the man yet.”
“I think he’s just upset honestly. He doesn’t understand because I kept him away from everything… well mostly everything. He knows how bad his father was to me, but I don’t think it’s fair to keep him from his father.”
“If it fucks up your mental peace and puts you in harm’s way, yes it’s fair.”
“He won’t touch me.”
“That I know. If he wants to see Jeremy and Jeremy wants to see him as well, I’ll be the one to make sure it happens. I don’t trust the nigga and I ain’t trying to give him any more opportunities to hurt you. Can you allow me to do that for you?”
I reached over and wiped her eyes and she had a little gleam of hope although the uncertainty was still present. Regardless if she agreed or not, it was still going to happen. I sensed Jerry was going to be a problem, and I was going to put a stop to it before it got out of control.
KEKE
My body shuddered once I felt that aching pain shoot through my body. It’s been three hours I’ve been tossing and turning, making frequent trips to the bathroom before I finally realized I may have been in labor.
“If you don’t lay your ass down,” Zayne sighed rolling over on his back and placing his arm over his face. “You’ve been getting out this bed all night.
“Clearly, I can’t sleep.”
“Try laying down and staying there”
I rolled my eyes at him as I eased up out the bed to make another bathroom trip.
“Wow, thanks for the advice. Ow!” I yelled once I stood to my feet now feeling a different feeling. It literally knocked the wind out of me. I think I’m in labor—shitttttttt!”
I leaned back onto the bed placing my hand on my stomach. It
felt like my insides were being squeezed like a lemon. The pain was so intense it momentarily took my breath away. Yes, this was definitely labor.
That caught Zayne’s attention because he was now out the bed and slipping into his sweat suit. Once the pain subsided, I eased up from the bed and went into the bathroom feeling the urge to poop again.
“Get ya ass up from the toilet before you push my baby out in there,” he called out to me from the bedroom. He walked towards the door and stepped inside grabbing his toothbrush and toothpaste to clean up a bit.
“I really think I have to shit!” I spat at him upset that with all the pressure I was feeling nothing came out. I stood up to wipe myself and saw a glob in the toilet that had a pink tinge. “What the fuck!” I exclaimed afraid that came out my ass.
Zayne moved me over, so he can take a look in the toilet working his toothbrush back and forth in his mouth. He went back over to the sink, spit the foamy paste out his mouth and rinsed his mouth out before he used his washcloth to wipe his face. By then, another crippling sensation took over my body and I braced myself on the back of the toilet with my panties and sleep shorts still at my ankles.
“Oh, my lord!” I called out swaying my hips to ease the pain. If I stayed still I felt like I was dying a slow painful death. I had to keep moving or else I may have been knocked out from the pain.
“Don’t call on him now,” Zayne aggy ass said as he rubbed my back. I shot him a look over my shoulders and pulled in a deep breath.
“Just get off me.”
“I’m helping.”
“You’re being annoying!”
He had the nerve to laugh. “I’m going to go get Naa ready.”
“Bye Zayne!” I huffed rising up from the toilet. It seems like the contractions were coming back to back. I went to the sink and quickly handled my hygiene before I was hit with another contraction.
I only made it to the bed where I stood hunched over with the comforter balled up in my hands.
“Zayneeeeeee!” I all but cried out in a midst of another contraction. The discomfort had me paralyzed and almost in tears.
