“Right…” She licked the corners of her mouth.
“Since you already know my name, mind telling me what yours is?”
“Ashton,” she uttered.
“So, what’s up, Ashton?”
Dropping her eyes to the floor, she huffed. “Never mind. I’m sorry.” She gave me a faint smile before turning to walk away.
“You’re thefan,huh?” I asked afterfinallyrealizing where I knew this chick from.
Spinning around, she stared at me in confusion. “Excuse me?”
“I said,you’re the fan. The one from the ESPYs that approached me in the restroom. When I saw you at the store, I knew you looked familiar… I just couldn’t remember where I’d seen you before. That’s the same shit you said to me then… the ‘never mind, I’m sorry.’ This is your second time approaching me, so what’s up? Do you need something?” I asked and folded my arms across my chest.
“I umm…” She hesitated a second before recovering. “I wanted to tell you that night.”
Tell me that night.I knew something was up when she first approached me. The bitch must’ve gotten scared and tried to play that shit off. I was going to take a page from her book and act accordingly. I wouldn’t dare give away that my heart rate had doubled in speed when she said that shit just now. The fact that I had my baby with me was the only reason I wasn’t going to put hands on this chick. For her to even have the guts to step to me in the store was bold—bold as fuck.
“Well, why didn’t you? I mean… you was bold enough to follow me into the restroom that night. Then, when I asked who you were, you pretended to be a fan. So, what’s up? Y’all fucking? How long has it been going on?”
“No…” She shook her head adamantly. “I’m not sleeping with your husband.”
“What?”
“I mean, not as of now,” she clarified, pissing me off further.
“Okay, so he fucked you and ducked you. And I guess you thought I should know?”
Letting out an exasperated breath, she looked behind her before placing her attention back on me. The next thing out of her mouth gutted me like a fucking fish. “Kreed and I have a six-month-old son.”
“Excuse me? What the fuck did you just say?”
Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her phone and tapped on the screen before turning it around for me to view. “His name is Kreed Jr.”
I smirked at her before taking the phone out of her hand. The longer I stared at the picture, the more my heart started to ache. This kid lookedjustlike my kids. My kids were eaten up by Kreed’s genes, and the only feature of mine they carried was their pointed ears. Everything else that adorned their faces was reminiscent of the man I’d married, much like the baby on the screen. Kreed couldn’t deny him if he wanted to. The kid had his entire face. Nibbling on my bottom lip, I looked down at Kree in his car seat before tossing my eyes back up to the chick.
She was cute; she had that whole “video vixen” thing going on. I could see why my husband would be interested. Handing her back the phone, I stared at her. “How long?”
“It started before you had him.” She nodded down at Kree.
“When did it end?”
“When I found out I was pregnant.”
“Right…” I chuckled bitterly. “He knows about him?” I asked, then rolled my eyes at my own question. “Of course, he knows. And I’m certain he’s active. Am I right?”
She nodded. “He is.”
“So, if he’s active, then why did you feel the need to tell me? What are you hoping to gain?”
“Nothing… I’m not trying to gain anything, Masai.”
“So, you know my name? You think he gonna leave me and be with you? You want a family with this nigga or something?”
“No.” She shook her head and denied. “I just don’t want my baby to be a secret anymore.”
“Don’t want your baby to be a secret…” I repeated. “Yeah… okay.” Glancing down at my watch, I checked the time. “Listen, your secret is out. I don’t know what you were looking to gain or what you thought would become of this, but a bit of advice: Me and that nigga have been together foryears.He might have fucked you, but that’s as far as it’ll ever go.”
