“Aight, you got that. I’ll handle it.”
Reese knew that Michelle was doing too much, but he didn’t have time to police her every move. He was making money most days. He also knew she did things like that because she knew no matter what, he would always be in Nyelle’s life, and she couldn’t stop him. The only reason he wasn’t now was that he’d fucked up and was giving her space. Michelle was insecure as hell, and for good reason. Hecaredabout her, but helovedNyelle.
“First and last warning, Reese. I mean that shit.”
“I said aight, man, damn. But can I get Nick or what?”
“Have at it, playboy. I would like to see how that works out for you.”
Brenda Reid was a woman who loved and protected those dear to her. That meant Nick and Nyelle. The fact that Reese crushed her daughter’s heart placed him on her shit list. If he showed up at her house, she would likely shoot him and not think twice.
“Tell her I’m coming. I want to see my son, Ny. You not gon’ keep him from me.”
“Is your ass serious right now?” This time, it was Nyelle who wore a look of anger and disbelief. “I have and never will keep your son from you. You want to see him, go see him. Come to the house where he lays his head, go pick him up from hisgrandmother’s house, see him whenever you want. Hell, I would prefer that he saw you every day, but I know it won’t happen because he’s not important to you right now. There is nothing stopping you from seeing Nicolas but a gotdamn choice to be a man.”
Reese clenched his teeth and walked up on Nyelle again. She didn’t flinch nor did she move. She would fight anyone or anything for her son, a lion, a bear, a shark, even her pussy ass ex.
“You really on some shit. Tell your mother I’ll be by there.”
“I’m not telling her a gotdamn thing. Just show up.”
Reese glared at Nyelle and wanted to say more, but he knew he was at a disadvantage.
“Aight, bet.” He turned to leave but stopped mid-stride with his back to her. “Oh, and if you’re mother of the year now, why you out drinking and shaking your ass when you should be at home with my son? I know everything, Ny. Don’t forget who I am and what I’m about. You make it because I let you make it.”
“Kiss my ass,” she yelled at him before heading back to her office.
She knew that tracking her movements was only his way of making sure she wasn’t doing to him what he had done to her. Nyelle hated to admit that Reese did indeed have eyes everywhere, but she was grown, single, and didn’t care about his feelings. The second he said fuck hers, she shut down her ability to be concerned about what he thought or felt, and she didn’t see that changing anytime soon.
5
“You look good, Ma.”
East sat across from his mother, studying her like a hawk. He had been doing that since he arrived at her home an hour prior. As instructed by Priscilla Joseph, he was there first thing in the morning. The morning after she arrived home from her three-month stay in the hospital, where she had spent countless hours with therapists, discussing her life. Therapists who helped regulate her mood before sending her back into the world.
Priscilla missed her family, her son Eastland and daughter Kelsey. They were her world. She lived for them but couldn’t always control the dark places her mind would go to because of her past. A past she attempted to escape from, but found its way back in from time to time. However, she was home and doing well. Priscilla was happy and ready to try life again.
“Thanks, baby. I missed you.” Priscilla extended her hand across the table and gripped her son’s forearm.
It happened to be the spot where her name was etched across it in thick, black letters, which ended with a butterfly. She smiled at the thought. East loved her. She could feel it. Priscillaphysically saw it in the way he looked after her and now his sister. Even as a child, she could see it in East. At thirteen years old, he was by her side when the doctors recommended she seek professional help. He stood next to Priscilla like a soldier ready for war, because he was.
East would undoubtedly go to war for the people he loved, and that was his mother, and now his sister. Back then, he had no idea what mental health was or why his mother would withdraw from him for long periods at a time. However, he understood that she needed help, so East was with Priscilla, listening to the doctors tell her that she wasn’t okay. The second they suggested that she check herself into a facility, East looked at his mother with soft, pleading eyes and encouraged her to do it. East was a child with the spirit of a man who was sent to protect her. A role that should have belonged to his father but didn’t.
East’s father lived with them but never fully accepted his role as head of the household because it was not how he envisioned his life. The day Priscilla checked herself in was the same day he left. That next morning, East woke up to five hundred dollars left on the kitchen table and an empty house. He never even flinched; he just held things down for the three weeks his mother was away and had been doing so ever since.
“I missed you too, Ma. I’m glad you’re home. How you feel?”
Priscilla smiled genuinely while East’s eyes never left hers. He was waiting to see through her lie or confirm her truth. “Baby, I’m good. Stop worrying.”
Comfortable with her answer, East flashed her a smile that charmed the panties off women but warmed his mother’s heart. Same smile, but two very different reactions.
“I can’t do that. You don’t have anyone else to worry about you, so that falls on me.”
Sucking her teeth, she shook her head, the thin ponytail positioned in the back bouncing with the motion. “I have Melton.”
“Nah, he cares, but it’s not the same. Don’t compare the two.” The authority in his voice pushed the argument Priscilla was going to present back into its place. She wouldn’t challenge East when he was in a mood.
“How did my baby do? That baby done run up in here, hugged my neck, then ran right to her room to play with toys like she didn’t even miss me.”
