Maya would definitely be raised by us now because with Krystal gone, and me being so overprotective of Maya, I had no plans to let her out of my sight. I was going to raise this little girl to the best of my ability. At the age of six, this little girl has a father serving a life sentence and a mother who was murdered. I hate to say it, but her story is just too damn common in the back community. I had faith in Miami and me, though. We wouldn’t make Maya become another statistic.
“What do you mean he’s waving? We have another two weeks until we find out the gender. Right, Doctor?” I questioned, looking at him with hope in my eyes that it wasn’t a boy that he saw inside of me.
Miami was standing next to me, and I wanted to reach up and slap that dumb ass smile off his face. We’d brought Maya with us, and she was standing next to me, in awe of the baby that was on the screen.
“My big mouth. It slipped. I’m so sorry. I hope you weren’t planning to have a gender reveal because I obviously just revealed it right here. That’s a boy. Look at that right there,” he said and zoomed in closer on the screen.
When I saw the little penis, I broke out crying. Like, the ugly cry right in this doctor’s office. I let go of Miami’s hand, pushed him away from me, and everything. Meanwhile, he was jumping up and down in this small room, yelling out all type of stuff that wasn’t doing anything but making me cry even harder.
“Ms. Johnson, you will be fine. Boys are fun. I have three of my own. Let me give you a minute,” my doctor said before placing his hand on my shoulder to give me a little bit of support right before he walked out of the room.
Maya had her hand on my back, and she was rubbing it in a circular motion in an attempt to calm me down, but nothing was working.
“I told you we were going to have a boy! That’s what the fuck I’m talking about!” Miami boasted as he beat on his chest.
He tried to touch me, but I pushed him away.
“Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! Leave me alone, Toddrick! I’m so serious right now,” I said, using the back of my hands to get myself together.
I didn’t want to seem like I was ungrateful, but I was really just having a moment. It meant a lot for me to have a girl for many reasons. Don’t get me wrong, Vonte was the perfect boy, but I didn’t want another boy. This might sound foolish, but what if this son was into basketball and football or whatever other sport? Then, what if they had asthma? Do I be selfish and not allow them to play because I don’t want the same thing to happen to them that happened to their brother? I know, I know it’s crazy to even think like that because I could have a daughter who is a cheerleader, runs track, or even dances, and she could have an asthma attack because of that. I was obviously overthinking this entire thing and just giving myself something to stress about.
“You’re serious right now, Choc? Fuck you going to get mad at me? Be mad at God. He’s the one who gave us a boy. I had been telling your ass for months that you were pregnant with a boy, but you like to think that a nigga doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Jabari said.
I ignored him.
At the same time, the doctor was walked back into the room. He offered me a warm smile right before he went back to finishing up the ultrasound. He needed to finish checking the measurements and everything else for the baby. By this time, Miami had called Jabari on Facetime and was bragging about how we had a son on the way. Y’all do not know how bad I wanted to snatch that fuckin’ phone from his hands and throw it at the nearest wall just so I could break the shit.
“Here are some pictures. Again, I’m so sorry for ruining the surprise. Make sure you go up front and schedule your next appointment,” the doctor told me.
All I did was nod my head, and after all the gel was off my stomach, I pulled my shirt back down. With the help of Miami, I stood up from my seat. I held onto Maya’s hand as we walked out of the room together. Like the doctor had told me to, I went up front and scheduled my next appointment, which would be in another four weeks.
“You ready for Jamaica now?” Miami asked me.
I nodded and rested my head back in the seat.
“Let me leave you the fuck alone before you fuck around and get your ass cursed out right before we head out of the country. How the fuck you going to get mad at me, Shae, because I’m happy that we having a boy? You being petty as fuck, man,” Miami argued.
“And you being just as petty by waving the shit in my face! Let me process this Miami, damn! You know I had my mind set on a girl. Just forget it because I don’t even expect you to agree with me right now. That’s not even the way that I wanted to find out. I wanted to have a gender reveal,” I let him know.
“We can do a gender reveal when we get to Jamaica. We’ll just play like we don’t know,” he said.
I looked at him and rolled my eyes hard as hell, but I didn’t say anything. Miami had the fuckin’ nerve to get mad at me and call me petty because I wasn’t too thrilled that we were having a boy, but he knows just like I know that had we found out that I was pregnant with a girl, he would have been crying too. Crying and God knows what else.
Montego Bay, Jamaica
“I love everything about this house. This is so beautiful,” I said to Winter as we sat outside by the pool area.
I’d literally just met this woman maybe five hours ago, and we just naturally clicked. I haven’t had a bond with another woman like this since Mahogany. It was just something about her good spirit and her down to earth vibe that I just loved. Maybe it had a lot to do with the fact that we were both pregnant, so with the things that we were dealing with right now, we honestly had a lot in common. I was further along than Winter; she was just getting out of her first trimester.
We’d talked about a little bit of everything since we’d been around each other, and one of the things that she shared with me was that after having the twins, her fiancé at the time had all but forced her to get her tubes tied. She told me about the different procedures she had to go through in an attempt to untie them and how there was a chance that it wouldn’t have worked. Then, she expressed to me how she was just so grateful to be pregnant and able to carry Cortez’s baby.
I swear, after hearing that, it put a lot of things into perspective for me and made me realize that maybe I was acting a little selfish earlier after finding out the news of me having a son. Some women had a hard time conceiving, and then some women would conceive but would always miscarry somewhere in the pregnancy. I needed to be grateful that God was allowing me to even have this healthy pregnancy, and so far, this healthy baby.
Although a baby boy wasn’t what I prayed and asked God for, I was going to love that little boy with the same amount of love, strength, and effort that I gave to Vonte. I was still young; I’d be thirty-one in a few more months, so if I wanted to try again for a girl, then I still had time.
Sitting next to Winter was Ocean, who was Boss’ sister, and I liked her just as much as I liked Winter. Mahogany was sitting on the same lounge chair as I was, and she was holding a sleeping Jamaria. We’d all just finished eating after preparing a hefty dinner for the men, which consisted of jerk chicken, peas and rice, macaroni and cheese, steamed cabbage, and for dessert, Winter and I ended up baking a red velvet cake.
All four of us women knew how to throw down in the kitchen, so it wasn’t even a surprise that the food turned out to be fantastic, and every man in the house had come back for seconds. Even the kids ate all their food. Getting Maya to eat was like pulling teeth, but I didn’t have to do any of that tonight.
Miami had surprised me with bringing Taniya on the trip. When we got on the private jet this afternoon, she was already inside with Jabari, Mahogany, and Jamaria. That got me to smile because I hadn’t seen Taniya in a little over two months. I wasn’t necessarily mad at Miami. It just felt like we were in a competition to win something, and he was the one who had won it, that’s all.
Granted, our baby was a win to both of us, no matter what, but you know what I’m trying to say. C
razy how he was the one who ended up getting his boy, yet he turned around and had the nerve to be mad at me. Let him tell it, he thought that I was too spoiled, and I tended to act bratty when I didn’t get my way. I just think he’s mad because he didn’t like my reaction to finding out that we were having a boy in the doctor’s office.
We hadn’t really said that much to each other since we’ve been here. After we finished cooking, I fixed his plate like I always did. He asked me a total of maybe five times since we’ve been here if I was feeling okay, and that’s pretty much it. Trust me, when the night was over, and everybody retired to their beds, he and I would be on the best of terms. I couldn’t wait to test out that jacuzzi like tub that he and I had in our bathroom.
“Thank you. I’m in love with it as well. I was under the impression that we were coming to Jamaica and staying in a rented house, but Cortez actually bought this as a vacation home for us. That man and his surprises,” Winter said with a smile on her face.
I could see the love that she had in her eyes for that man. The two of them were so fuckin’ adorable to me. I said it before that I loved love, and love is exactly what the two of them had. Crazy how Boss and Miami had known each other for a few years, but this was my first time meeting her. Miami should have put this meet up together a while ago.
“This is beautiful. How did the two of you meet?” I questioned.
The men were under the gazebo, which wasn’t that far from where we were sitting. They were in a heated card game that none of us ladies wanted any parts of. They were smoking, drinking, cursing, and all of that. Winter’s twin boys were in their rooms sleeping, Maya was in her room sleeping with Taniya, and Ocean’s son was laid down as well. This was adult time right now, and we were free of all children. Of course, Jamaria’s little butt was in the mix, but she was asleep; had been for like the past twenty minutes. Mahogany just didn’t want to lay her down yet because she knew that her little butt would wake up once she realized that no one was holding her.
“Whew, girl, long story. I don’t even know where the hell to start. Ummm, I got a call one night from my fiancé at the time’s cousin, telling me that my fiancé had died in a car accident. In that same story, she was telling me not to come to the hospital and everything like that. This is my fiancé we’re talking about, the father of my kids. So, I grab my kids, and we go down there, only to find out that this man had a whole fuckin’ wife that I didn’t know about, other kids, and family that I didn’t even know he had because he told me that he and his family didn’t get along.
“Fast forward, this man didn’t have my name on anything, so when he died, or in his case, faked his death, the kids and I were pretty much left with nothing. The money that I did have in my savings had been swiped, and when I tried to get it back, I couldn’t because he was the authorized user on the account. The relationship that I had with my mother was toxic as hell, but she was the only resort that I had. I ended up staying with her for a couple of weeks, but one night, things got out of control when she started disrespecting my kids, so I left.
“I ended up sleeping in the break room at Walmart, which was my job at the time, with my kids. The next day, I was able to check myself and the kids into a women’s shelter. Cortez’s mom owned the company. I met Cortez there. He came there one night and interviewed me. Hired me right on the spot to work for him, and the rest is pretty much history. I met Cortez when I was at my lowest, and he still saw something in me. I can’t even put into words how much I love that man,” Winter said.
The whole time she spoke, it’s like I was just clinging to her every word. Her story was so beautiful.
“Bitch, we know! All you do is talk about my damn brother,” Ocean said, making us all laugh, including Winter.
“What do you mean when you say your ex-fiancé faked his death? He didn’t die in that car accident for real?” I questioned, and she shook her head no.
“Girl, no. That man was living a triple life. One with me and my children, one with his wife and their children, and the other one with his real lover, who might I add, was a man. He did all of that just because he was too much of a coward to come out and admit that he was gay.
“Granted, I would have been mad when I found out about that, but damn, I wouldn’t have been as mad as I was when I found out that all of this was just a fuckin’ role that he had to play to live in his truth. He made himself look like an ass in the end because he’s in prison right now, and when he gets out, I wish like hell he would ask me to see his kids. Hell no, not after the way he left us high and dry,” Winter spoke, and I nodded my head in understanding.
Her story was like something that you would read in a damn book. Faking deaths, a man living three lives, damn.
Everyone went around the circle, and we all shared something. Of course, I talked about getting pregnant with Vonte at thirteen, and I even talked about the way that I lost him. Mahogany shared what she was dealing with now in terms of our father and not knowing if she wanted to rekindle the relationship with him. Ocean went last, and basically, she shared about having to accept the baby that her husband pretty much had on her while the two of them were taking a break.
I loved us women coming together, sharing our problems, and not being judged or looked at with the side-eye. I was a very closed in person, sometimes barely liking to express my problems with my family because I was often afraid of judgment, but you didn’t see any of that here.
“Mahogany, I’m about to go up in the room. Come with me. I don’t trust that waiting to exhale bullshit that y’all women be on. Y’all fuck around and get into some deep ass conversation, forcing my lady to relive some shit from our past, and I don’t get no pussy tonight. Hell no, shorty, let’s go,” Jabari called out as he walked over to where we were.
He was holding stacks of money in his hands and forcing it into his pockets. I didn’t even want to know how much money they were over there playing for. Everybody over here knew that Jabari was an asshole, including his wife, so there was nothing to do but laugh at him and his statement.
“Jabari, please! Nobody is over here talking about you. Watch your damn mouth before you do talk yourself out of some pussy!” she said, standing up and handing him a sleeping Jamaria.
“That applies to you too, shorty. Let’s go, Shae,” Miami called as he made his way over.
Following him was Neo, who was Ocean’s husband, and Boss.
“How much money did you lose over there? Jabari just stuffed all that money in his damn pocket,” I said to Miami.
“Yeah, but look what I just stuffed in mine,” Miami said, going in his pocket and pulling out almost double what I saw Jabari with.
“Your nigga be cheating. I swear I’m not playing no more fuckin’ games with your ass. We bound to throw hands in this bitch,” Jabari said, sounding like a sore loser.
“Nigga, shut the fuck up and take that L. How the fuck you going to agree to play for ten bands but get mad when you lose it? I won that game fair and square, nigga,” Miami said.
Miami better not ever in his life talk shit to me for buying expensive make-up, expensive shoes, nothing, while they were over there betting ten thousand dollars on a card game. If we let them, Miami and Jabari would stand out there all night, arguing about that damn money and possibly end up fighting for real. So, to defuse the situation, Mahogany left with Jabari, and I pulled Miami with me. Soon, we were back in our room and closing the door behind us.
“Here, put this in your purse. Go shopping with it in the morning,” Miami said and handed me all the money that he’s won.
With a smile on my face, I took it from him and stuffed it in my purse. While I did that, Miami went to run the bathwater for us. I loved the smell of this house. It had that new house smell; like you could just tell that this was a brand-new home that never had anyone living in it before.
Our bedroom back in Miami was huge, but this room was almost double the size. There was a section in the room, that was like another room in
itself, which consisted of living room furniture, a computer desk with a Mac desktop and chair, along with a huge TV that was mounted on the wall.
There were two steps in the room that led to the real bedroom, which was a huge California King sized bed and another TV which rose from the floor at the push of a button. I loved everything about the royal blue and gold color scheme. The crazy thing is, this room did no justice compared to Winter and Boss’ room. Their room alone was this room times two, and that was just in space. I had no idea how the hell Winter would even want to leave her and go back home because I know that I wouldn’t.
Jamaica was beautiful. This home that we were staying in was literally right on the water. All we had to do was go outside in the backyard, open the gate, and we were on the beach. After I showered, I couldn’t wait to go out on the balcony of our room and just enjoy the view.
“This shit is so fuckin’ nice. I told Boss to let me buy it off him, and I was serious as a motha fucka too. I was down there trying to throw numbers at him, but he was going on and about how Winter would kill his ass because she loves this house,” Miami said.
Now that I was in the bathroom with him, he was removing his shirt and stepping out of the slides that he had on his feet. His eyes were low, hooded, and red. The weed smell on his body mixed with the intoxicating scent of his cologne that I still smelled on him from earlier.
“I wouldn’t mind a destination wedding out here. I mean, I know Miami has beaches and everything, but I like this better. Would you want to get married out here?” I questioned, removing myself from the dress that I was wearing.
“Shorty, my job is to just show up. I’ll marry you wherever the fuck you want to get married at,” he said, and I smiled.
Now that we were both rid of our clothes, we went over to the tub. He got in first and then assisted me in getting in. I had my long hair pulled up in a bun on top of my head so that I wouldn’t get it wet. I sat in front of Miami with my back against his chest. His strong hands were protectively holding onto my stomach as we just enjoyed the moment.
Down With the King of the South 4 Page 15
