“You don’t know that for sure.” He sat across from me and wiped his hands over his face. I knew how my parents felt about Yale; I welcomed and loved that shit, but I needed them to acknowledge the type of nigga they raised. I meant what I said earlier: there was never any other option but for me to be her child’s father. “She went through with the artificial insemination before all this went wrong.”
“Yes, I do,” I chuckled and leaned back. “Grant never dropped off any sperm, and if he had, then I would’ve had the doctor destroy it.” I licked my lips then smirked. “That’s my baby.”
“Amethyst, what the fuck is wrong with you?” he scolded me, and I shrugged. “Do you fucking hear yourself right now? Huh? You are taking away all her fucking options!”
“I’m doing what the fuck I’m supposed to do,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m taking care of my wife.”
“She’s not your fucking wife!” he yelled as he stood. “Do you hear me, Amethyst? She’s not your fucking wife! She’s a got-damn person. One who is going through shit left and right, and every time she thinks her life is settling down, here you come tossing that shit out of the window!” Pop grilled me, then kissed his teeth. “I do not understand how y’all have been friends this fucking long, and y’all’s communication is so fucked up. From the first fucking day I saw y’all together, I knew you would never do what the fuck you were supposed to do. I knew it. I told your mama, yet she had faith that you weren’t so fucking stubborn, but I knew! I fucking knew!”
“Knew what, Pop?” I said, grilling him. “Huh, what did you know?”
“Let it go, Amethyst,” he said, shaking his head. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and started to pace. Most folks hated seeing this nigga upset, but I needed answers that none of the fucking old heads would give. The more I dug into this shit, the more I realized that this shit we were going through didn’t have shit to do with us, but with them.
“Nah, say what you gotta say, Pop,” I chuckled and sat forward. “What did you know?”
“Stone,” Mama called out from the doorway, but I didn’t take my eyes off him. This was my father, the man who raised me, showed me how to be a man, and taught me that it was okay to cry. He taught me how to love a woman, take care of all her needs, and protect her. My behavior was a reflection of him. He knew I wasn’t going to stop, no matter what it cost, as long as Yale was safe.
“I’m good, Diamond,” Pop said to her. He took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m good.” He put his glasses on, grilled me, then headed in her direction. I stood, stopping him in his tracks. “Amethyst, move.”
“Answer my question,” I said, shaking my head. “What did you know?” I loved my father and, at times, worshipped the ground he walked on, but that nigga was not without imperfections.
“Amethyst--”
“I’ve loved her for damn near ten years. She’s carrying my child. Ain’t another woman on this earth that can say the same. I want to give her my last name when all this shit is handled. I want you to see your grandbaby grow up. Teach him like you taught my brothers and me, or spoil the fuck out of her like you do her mama and mine. But this secret shit y’all been doing all these years gotta come to an end. I need the truth to end all this shit.”
“You can’t end it, Amethyst,” Pop said, shaking his head. The crazy part about all this was the look in his eyes, which screamedthat he felt he was telling the truth. “This shit is bigger than just you and Yale.”
“Then let me handle the shit that involved Yale!” I yelled as I stepped into his face. “You can’t do that? Can’t you give me the information to keep her safe? Is that too fucking hard?”
“Yeah, Amethyst, it is,” he said, nodding. “Especially when you are too fucking hard-headed to listen and follow instructions. Look, I get you love Yale, I do, and that you’ll do whatever it is to protect her, but some shit is bigger than you and Yale.”
“Ain’t shit bigger than us,” I said, grilling him.
“To you it’s not, but this just ain’t about you.”
The doorbell rang for what felt like the hundredth time, and I buried my hands in my hair and stepped back. My eyes never left my Pop as I watched him pace in front of the couch. The sound of shoes hitting the hardwood floor, echoing through the foyer and into the living room, was the only sound heard.
“Stone,” Mama called out. Pop turned and looked at her, and for the first time, I saw a piece of his armor slip away. I turned my attention to him to see Corinthians standing in the doorway. She was still in her dress from the engagement party, but it was covered in blood, mud, and dirt. “I’ll get Tulane.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Stone,” Corinthian said with a nod.
I moved to hug her, but Pop grabbed my arm to stop me from moving. I looked down at his hand, then up at him with a confused look.
“This is strictly business,” Pop said, answering my unspoken question. “We will talk when she leaves.”
Tulane entered the living room, looked at me and Pop, then turned his attention to Corinthians and sighed. He didn’t move to approach her.
“Corinthians--”
“I told you that you didn’t know the shit show you were about to open with me reaching out,” she said, looking at me. Her darkeyes held a depth of pain that I’d never seen before, and her voice was heavy. “I told you this wasn’t what you wanted to do.”
“Corin--”
“This is my fucking family, Amethyst!” she yelled, cutting me off and shaking her head. “My son! The man I love! My sister, cousins, my fucking family!”
“We don’t know if this is connected to that,” I said.
“We don’t know?” She reared back like I’d hit her before she started laughing. She looked at me, then turned to my Pop. “He doesn’t know shit! You kept him in the fucking dark too damn long, and now he’s asking for shit he isn’t ready for! I told you! Told you and Tulane that if something happened to mine, I was going to show out.”
