Down With the King of the South 3

by Diamond Johnson

  I wasn’t even putting this shit on Trip because that nigga was locked up, and he wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing with Maya because it wasn’t like she could be in the cell with him. I put this shit on his raggedy ass baby mama and her raggedy ass mammy! I had no thoughts of just dropping Maya off anywhere, but at the same time, I don’t necessarily agree with Shae and I having to be the ones to raise her either. My mind was going into overdrive, and to stop those thoughts, I ended up turning on the radio in hopes that it would block out the voices that were in my head.

  Almost twenty minutes later, we pulled up to the restaurant. There really wasn’t much of a wait, so we were able to walk right in and get seated. We sat at a booth, where I sat on one bench by myself, and Maya and Jashae sat on the other side together. The waitress had given Maya a coloring sheet and some crayons, which she had yet to pick up. My daughter would have had that crayon in her hands, ready to play tic-tac- toe, although her little ass didn’t know how to play for shit, and she was only three. She would be four in a couple of months, though.

  “What kind of pizza do you like?” Shae asked Maya.

  “Chh… Chesse” she responded.

  Maya liked Shae; that much was so obvious. She wasn’t as timid around her.

  “I like cheese pizza too. I think I want to try the pineapple pizza this time, though. You like pineapples on your pizza?” Jashae asked Maya.

  She quickly shook her head no, as if that was disgusting. That shit was disgusting, and it had me looking at Shae funny. I looked at her the same way I looked at her last night when she put mustard on the donuts that she made me go out and get her at almost eleven o’clock at night.

  “You don’t ever put pineapples on your pizza. Your ass don’t even like pepperoni,” I reminded her.

  “I know, baby, but I want to try something different,” she said, and then she focused her attention back on Maya.

  I didn’t say shit. I just continued to scan the menu, although I already knew what I wanted.

  “Is… ssh… shee… going… tt… to co… come back. ff… foorr me?” Maya asked, looking up at Shae.

  More than likely, she was referring to her raggedy ass mama. I could tell that Shae didn’t want to answer that question, but she did it anyway.

  “Maya, I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Who else watches you besides your mama and nana?” Jashae asked.

  “Me,” she sadly responded.

  “You want to try calling your mommy?” Jashae asked, and Maya nodded her head that she did.

  Jashae looked over at me before she said something.

  “I have her number from the DM. I’m going to try it again,” she let me know, and I nodded.

  I watched as Shae dialed the number, and she passed Maya the phone. She reached her little hand out and placed the phone to her ear. I could see it in her eyes that she was anticipating her mom answering the phone.

  “Hi, Mommy,” her soft voice finally called out.

  I heard a bunch of screaming on the other end, although I was sitting across from Maya. Whatever her mama was on the other end of the line saying, it was making Maya very emotional because she started to cry.

  “Are… yy… you… ggg… gonna… gg… get me?” she stuttered through her cries.

  The yelling could be heard again, and this time, Shae snatched the phone and put it on speaker.

  “This is Jashae. Krystal, where the hell are you? Do you realize that Trip’s mama dropped Maya off at my job today? This is your daughter, not mine! Why the hell would you just leave her like that?” Jashae asked.

  “Because I’m no good for her right now, Jashae! I left her with Trip’s mom because I was under the impression that she would have been a better grandmother to her than my mom because my mom is horrible with Maya. Look, ain’t nobody trying to hire me in Miami, so I wasn’t able to properly take care of my daughter the way that I wanted to. I’m in Atlanta to dance, and after I stack a little money, then I’ll send for my child-

  “And where exactly do you have in mind for her to stay until you get it together?” Shae asked.

  “I don’t fuckin’ know! I don’t care, so why do you? Drop her off to a church, I don’t know!” that stupid bitch said, sounding every bit of her dumb ass mama.

  “Here’s what I think happened. You can jump in at any time you wish and correct me if I’m wrong. You were giving that pussy up to Trip in the visitation room, right?” she asked, and Krystal didn’t answer. “I’m going to take your silence as a yes. I wouldn’t do it, so I guess he had to get a dumb, gullible ass bitch to do it. In the midst of all that, I’m sure he was giving you a bunch of jailhouse lies, just so you could do whatever he needed you to do. I bet he told you he loved you and that he wanted to marry you. That’s what niggas in jail do! They fuckin’ lie!

  “I also think that Trip didn’t know a fuckin’ thing about Maya for the past five years, and now that you probably told him about her, he probably told you that he didn’t want shit to do with you or her, right? So, because he didn’t want anything to do with this, now you decide to run your ass away from your responsibilities, which is fucked up because Maya didn’t ask to be here. Oh, and to answer your question, I care because the child that I lost was once five years old, and I would hate for someone to dump him off somewhere as if his life meant nothing. I’m going to figure out what I’m going to do with Maya, while you figure it out what you’re going to do in Atlanta, but when you do get it all figured out, have this same energy and don’t come looking for her,” Jashae said, and then she ended the phone call.

  “We can box the food up to go. I don’t even care to eat in here anymore,” Jashae let me know.

  I could tell that this shit was taking a huge toll on her. I nodded because I was in the same boat.

  Two hours later

  It was late, and because we still hadn’t come to a conclusion on what we were going to do with Maya, we decided to just bring her home with us for the night. After boxing up the food at the restaurant, we ended up going to Walmart just to get a few things that Maya would need for the night. Those duffle bags didn’t have shit inside them but a bunch of dirty ass clothes and some dolls. I didn’t know what God was trying to do, by dropping this on us, but as of right now, I was following His lead.

  No matter what ill feelings that I had for Trip, I couldn’t just drop this little ass girl off anywhere. I wasn’t a nigga who moved like that because I believed in karma, and if I did some dirty shit like that, I believed that dirty shit would come from back to me. I had options on what I wanted to do, but I had yet to discuss those options with Shae. We would have to find this little girl a foster home or something. When it came down to it, though, I was going to let Shae take the lead on this, and I would follow whatever the fuck she wanted to do.

  Thirty minutes ago, Shae was in one of the guest bathrooms giving Maya a bath and washing her matted hair. That little girl screamed and cried like she was getting her ass beat. After all of that, I needed to get high, and that’s exactly what I was doing. Her screams and her cries sounded like she was in there being murdered, and I couldn’t stand to hear that little girl crying like that, so I dipped.

  I was on our bedroom balcony with a fat ass blunt. My feet were kicked up, and I was enjoying this Miami view. I’d already showered, so all I had on were a pair of Gucci sweat shorts, and I languished in the slight breeze that Miami had tonight. I left the balcony sliding glass door cracked a little bit, just so I could hear what was going on inside the house. When I didn’t hear the screaming and crying anymore, I assumed that Shae was done.

  As I drifted back into my thoughts, my phone started to buzz on the glass table before me. I looked down at it and I saw that Tahira was calling me. I smiled because I assumed that it was my daughter more than likely calling me before she went to sleep. Pulling my feet down from the railing, where I had them kicked up, I retrieved the phone and answered it.

  “Hey, beautiful,” I cooed into the
phone, under the impression that it was Taniya.

  “It’s me! Not Niya.” Tahira’s voice pounded into the phone, and right off the bat, I could hear the hostility in her voice.

  Listen, with the day that I just had, I couldn’t afford to deal with a bitch who was PMS’ing. Crazy thing is, I rarely beefed with Tahira. There was no reason for us to beef, especially given the fact that neither of us wanted the other. We both had moved on. If we ever went at it about something, it was always about Taniya.

  “Fuck is your problem?” I asked, blowing smoke from my mouth.

  “I don’t like being lied to, Miami, and you know that. You texted me earlier saying that you couldn’t make it because you had an emergency. Well, Simon went out to get pizza for me and Niya, and he told me that he saw you in there. What type of emergency did you have, Miami? You do realize that I missed work today so that I could fly down here and finally meet the woman who you’ve had around my daughter for the past few months. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m beginning to feel like every time we’re supposed to meet up, it’s always some type of excuse,” she fussed.

  I let out a sarcastic laugh while pulling my chin hairs. I was shocked that this fuckin’ conversation was even happening. I had to be careful with my words because at the end of the day, this was the lady who brought my daughter into this world, so I had some consideration when it came to that. At the same time, I wasn’t about to let her lecture me when my own shorty didn’t even do that shit.

  “Fuck is you clocking my moves for anyway? My girl don’t even clock where the fuck I’m at. Tell your nosey, square ass boyfriend to stay the fuck out my business too. If he’s going to run back to you with some shit, make sure the nigga gets the shit all the way right. Why would I lie about having an emergency? By me canceling, it put me in a situation where I wasn’t able to see my daughter, and you know that I wouldn’t willingly not go see my daughter. Like I said, some shit came up with my girl that I had to attend to, and I’m not about to apologize for that.

  “As far as the woman that’s been around our daughter for the past few months, would you be talking about the same woman that’s been doing her hair every morning when I would have to drop her off to daycare? The same one who cooks dinner for her every night? What about the one that’s up with her at night reading her bedtime stories? Shorty, get the fuck on with that bullshit, alright? Jashae stepped up where you lacked. Now, you can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe you were the one to ask me if Niya could move in with me full time while you took that job opportunity in Washington to go and chase after some dick,” I spat.

  At the same time, the glass sliding door opened, and Shae walked out. She was in her pajamas and holding a bottle of water in her hands. She gave me a look, basically asking me with her eyes if I wanted her to go back inside, but I shook my head no. I was going to tell her word for word about the conversation that we just had, so there was no need for her to go inside.

  “I will correct you because you are wrong. I took the opportunity for the job—”

  “And to get some dick on the side. Because you didn’t want our daughter to get in the way of that, you gave her to me. Look, I’m busy. Is my daughter up? I want to tell her goodnight,” I voiced, basically letting her know that I was done with her and this dumb ass conversation.

  “She’s asleep. I’m heading back to Washington in two days. Are we going to meet tomorrow or what?” she asked. I could hear the attitude all in her voice.

  “I’ll let you know, shorty. Aye, when we get off the phone, tell your nigga to fuck you. You too uptight. You pissed at a nigga for nothing at all. Go relieve some stress,” and just like that, I ended the phone call on her ass.

  I could feel Shae’s eyes on me, and I already knew that she wanted to know what happened. Before I even said anything, I finished off the blunt, blowing the smoke in the opposite direction of her because I truly thought that shorty was pregnant. She called my feelings delusional, but I called it me being so fucking in tune with her body that I knew what the fuck was going on. I ran down everything to her that had just happened on the phone, and at the end, she just shook her head. I could tell that today’s events had her too stressed out to even be able to elaborate on the shit that had just happened.

  “Maya is finally sleeping. She probably hates me too. I honestly don’t even know when the last time that little girl had a bath. Miami, the water had turned black by the time she got out. Her hair felt like it hadn’t been washed in years. After I washed it, I had to blow dry it and everything. She literally sat there and cried the entire time. I just feel like all of this is a bad ass dream, you know? I’m still waiting on the part where someone tells me that this is a prank or the part when I wake up from all of this.

  “With all the shit that I have going on, I can’t take on Maya, but what do I do because I don’t want to drop her off? We hear about little girls like Maya all the fuckin’ time. In and out of foster care, and when they do eventually get a foster home, things like rape, physical and verbal abuse tend to happen. How is it that I care more about the well-being of this little girl than her own mama? I was thirteen when I had Vonte. Thirteen! That shit was hard on me, Miami. All plans of me living like a normal teenager went out the window the moment I took that pregnancy test and found out that I was pregnant. Even with all of that, I ain’t never think to just drop my son off with nobody and not give a fuck about his whereabouts. I would have never done no shit like that to my baby!” she voiced.

  “Come here,” I called out with my hand extended toward her.

  She stood up and walked over to me then curled herself up in my lap like a baby. She looked up at me like I had all the answers in the fuckin’ world.

  “Crazy thing is, I’m not asking you to make a decision tonight. Hell, I’m not even asking you to make a decision tomorrow. This a life we’re talking about, and whatever we do decide, it’s going to be a permanent thing, so a decision like this deserves some time. Chill out, though. Don’t let this shit stress you out.”

  I was telling her not to stress although my ass was stressing like a motha fucka because I just didn’t ultimately know how this shit was going to end. There was about five minutes of silence before I decided to say something.

  “You ate that nasty ass pizza yet?” I asked.

  She laughed while playfully rolling her eyes at me.

  “It wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. It messed up my stomach, though. I was drinking ginger ale before I got this water. I threw up while I was taking a shower. I’m not going to order that kind again,” she said and laid her head on my chest while playing with my chin hair.

  “Yeah, aight. Blame it on the pizza, shorty,” I mumbled.

  Jashae Johnson

  “I want a little sister, Ma,” Vonte came into the kitchen and said.

  I mean, when did he even have the time to think about stuff like this? I was literally in the middle of cooking dinner for him, and he was upstairs in his room playing the game. It was his sophomore year in high school, and the basketball season had just ended. I was happy that the season was over because it gave me more time to have him up under me. During the season, it was nonstop practice, so at times, I felt like I hardly got to see him. By the time he got home from school, and I got home from work, the two of us would be dead tired and would probably spend only a couple of hours together, just to eat dinner and maybe watch one or two shows. Today was Saturday, and he was having a few of his teammates over, which he told me about at the last minute.

  Vonte was so damn spoiled because only he would have me in the kitchen cooking on a weekday, knowing damn well that I either eat out or order in on the weekend.

  “Vonte, move! You say that like I can just walk to the store and get you a little sister. You know how conception works! I know you do because I was cleaning your room up the other day and I saw that packet was missing two condoms. Who are you having sex with?” I asked, taking the pan from the oven and looking over at him.r />
  My son was so damn handsome, standing there looking like a younger version of Trip. With that smile, those dimples, and the nice athletic build that he had, I could already tell that those fast ass little girls were going crazy over my baby.

  “See, this is why I don’t like you cleaning my room because you always going through my stuff. Be worried when you see a full pack of condoms because that means that I’m not using protection,” his smart ass had the nerve to say.

  I picked up the oven mitt that was next to me on the counter and threw it at him.

  “Seriously, Ma. Don’t change the subject. I want a little sister for real,” he said.

  “Why do you all of a sudden want a little sister? You’re enough for me. You’re about to be sixteen. If I were to get pregnant, I would have to start all over. Changing diapers, being deprived of sleep, all things which I’m not necessarily ready for again. Who am I supposed to have this child with anyway?” I asked him, and he looked at me like I was crazy. He face had a mug, making him definitely look like the spitting image of his father.

  “My daddy! What you mean? Who the hell else are you supposed to have another child with? You trippin’,” he voiced.

  “Yeah, I’m going to have another child with a man who is serving a life sentence,” I said with sarcasm dripping from every word that came out of my mouth.

  “Vonte, you do realize that I’m doing this shit on my own, right? The bills, raising you, clothing you, feeding you, keeping a roof over your head are all things that I’m doing by my damn self. Why put myself in a situation to be a single mother of two? I’m twenty-eight. Who knows, maybe I’ll have another child down the line, but I can’t tell you that it’ll be with Trip because I would be a fool to do that. Why would you want to share me? I thought you liked being the only child,” I said, taking a moment to look at him with a serious look on his face.