He sat up quickly. When he spoke again, his voice was stern. “Don’t start with that shit, Dai. You and my baby girl are myrealfamily. I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell her about us. It’s not like she gon’ give a fuck anyway. I’ll make sure my sons are straight, but she can finally have who she wants, and I’ma do the same.”
Grai forcefully pushed the door all the way open. They both jumped when it slammed against the wall. Drey looked like he’d seen a ghost when he saw us standing there. “G-Grai, what are you doing here?” He stuttered.
She folded her arms over her chest. “Apparently, I’m finding out how you really feel about me.Ten years!Ten years of my fucking life, I gave you all of me, and you never even loved me.” Hearing her voice crack felt like a gut punch. She dropped her arms quickly. “What was the fucking point? Why waste our time if that’s who you wanted all along?” She pointed to the girl on the bed, who I realized was someone we both knew. It was his high school sweetheart, Brandaisha.
“It’s not like that. We ran into each other, and all the old feelings came back. I couldn’t control the shit.”
“Maybe not, but you could control not being a bitch ass nigga! I knew you were moving differently, but you really sat there and convinced me that I was tripping.” I wanted to wrap her in my arms and get her far away from this moment. I could tell it was ripping her apart. “I can forgive a lot of shit, but saying the birth of your daughter will be the best day of your life, like we don’t have two beautiful sons at home that you abandoned tonight to be laid up with this bitch, . . . that fucking hurts.” Her last few words came out hoarse with pain.
This nigga had the nerve to defend old girl. “Aye, she not no bitch.”
“Yes, the fuck she is! She’s a fugly, big-backed, cock-eyed, and cock-sucking bitch! Blue bitch! Red bitch! Sloppy ass stupid, desperate bitch! Fuck you, and fuck that bitch, bitch!” She hopped up and down on her toes. “Ohhh. You better be luckyyou pregnant, bitch, but don’t worry. I'ma give this bitch the ass whooping you both deserve.”
Grai took off like lightning as she attacked Drey. She was beating him all in the head, and he lifted his hand like he was going to slap her. I had that nigga pinned up against the wall so fast he looked confused how he went from being on his feet to up in the air. “I wish the fuck you would.” My voice was deathly low. Grai was still behind me, trying to fuck him up. “Chill, Bubbles. He not worth it.”
Drey laughed. “Bubbles, . . . Yeah, I ain’t worth it. I don’t know what the fuck you so mad for. We all know you want this nigga anyway.”
“Don’t use the way I show up for her as a reason to abandon your family. If you focused on your responsibilities instead of trying to start a whole new family elsewhere, you’d see what the fuck you have in front of you. The day you have your daughter might be the best day of your life, but the days Grai gave birth to my boys were the best days of my life. None of them need shit from you. They gon’ be good, and I put that on my fucking life.” Turning to look at his one true love, I said, “I hope you know this nigga don’t got no damn money. You gon’ be working like a slave to keep you, him, and that baby fed.”
I stepped away, allowing him to fall to the floor like the bitch he was. Grai still wanted to get active, but it was useless. The hurt was there and would remain like a boulder on her heart in the future to come. It was time for healing to begin, and that wouldn’t be possible in the room where her pain was born.
I tossed her over my shoulder, despite her kicking, screaming, and crying, and left the room. There were patrons in the hallway because of all the commotion. I bumped people out of the way as I headed to the elevator. The second we stepped on, I lowered Grai to her feet, and she collapsed into my arms. I held her close to my body. My fingers rubbed her scalp while I placedsoft kisses on her forehead. “I got you, Bubbles. I promise I got you.”
Chapter 3
Lyrix
It was well into the afternoon when I finally emerged from a deep slumber. After the night I had, I was completely depleted of all my energy. Now that I was awake, Grai was the first thing on my mind. I reached for my phone on the nightstand to call her, but it went straight to voicemail.
Taking the phone from my ear, I quickly went through my notifications. As expected, Karma had texted to let me know she had taken Lissa to the hospital. I didn’t even respond, because I was too focused on Grai. She had to be in a bad mental space. The powered-off phone was proof, but she knew that wasn’t enough to keep me away. Nothing could keep me away from her.
Things had been that way since we became friends in the second grade. I was a shy and quiet kid. For some reason, Grai took a liking to me. What started out as her noticing I was smart turned into me helping her with her homework and, eventually, twenty years of friendship. We’d seen each other through every milestone in our lives, and what she was going through now would be no different.
After handling my hygiene, I headed downstairs. I went into the fridge for a bottle of water, then shuffled to the open front door. My mother sat on the porch in her rocking chair. Shehummed softly while crocheting some new project. I pushed the screen door open and stepped outside. That first inhale of fresh air rejuvenated me. It was a beautiful and sunny winter day. I could see why my mama was sitting out there.
“Hey, baby.” She greeted me with a soft smile. I bent down to place a kiss on her cheek. For the majority of my life, it was only me, this lady, my grandfather Harold, and Grai.
“Wassup, Ma? You heard from Bubbles?”
She shook her head and placed her project in her lap. “No, I tried to call her. What’s going on? I knew something wasn’t right when she came in and asked me to get the boys to school earlier.”
I ran a hand down my face before joining her in one of the other rocking chairs. “She caught Drey cheating last night.” My mama gasped in shock. I shook my head. “That ain’t even the worst part, Ma.” I gave her a quick rundown of the story. When she started smiling, I cocked my head to the side. “What?”
“I’m proud of you for not putting your hands on him. We know you will act a damn donkey behind Grai, and don’t let there be tears involved.”
I chuckled because it was true. I’d been in many altercations, protecting my girl. Drey was not excluded either. He knew better than to play with me after I’d knocked his screws back into place a time or two. His front teeth were still crooked from one of our altercations.
I sighed. “I don’t know if she’s going to get through this, Ma. She looked so devastated.”
She placed a hand on top of mine, gaining my attention. “It will take time, but she will be okay.”
“How do you know?” She sounded so confident, and I had to know why.
“Because she has you.” She palmed my cheek and lovingly stroked it with her thumb. I shook off her hand with a grin. If there was one thing Deandra was going to do, it wasshow affection. I didn’t hate it, but sometimes, it could be overwhelming. Watching Grai with Solace helped me see things from a different perspective and gave me a new appreciation for my mother, but there were still limits to the coddling I allowed. I was a grown ass man and constantly had to remind her of that. She couldn’t care less what I thought, because she still did what she wanted to.
I began rocking the chair, allowing my eyes to study the sky. My mother was right that it would take time for Grai to heal, but my fear was that she still wouldn’t leave the nigga. Drey had done his fair share of fucked-up shit to Grai over the years.
I used to crash out until I realized that she always went back. It was frustrating as hell, but I couldn’t force someone to want more—to want someone who truly cherished and valued them. I started to keep silent during their disputes unless Grai directly involved me, but even she started to limit what she shared with me. I could be triggered by the smallest thing when she was involved.
