He laughed, slapping his hands together. “Do it. You know how that girl feel about Christmas. She might spazz on yo’ ass. But the party is at the diner this year. I paid to have it all decked out.”
“Aight, cool. Hit me if you need me before then. Love.”
“Love.”
I hopped back in my car and made the hour and a half trip back home. I thought about calling Thyri to let her know that I was en route but decided against it. I didn’t want her to think that I was monitoring her. As I drove with Meek Mills’ latest EP playing low, my phone rang in the center console. Thinking it was Thyri calling, I reached for it. It wasn’t Thyri. The words Private Caller danced across the screen, and I let the call go to voicemail.
I thought for sure that the person on the other end had the wrong number, but the phone rang again a few minutes later. This time, I answered.
“Fuck is this?”My greeting was anything but pleasant.
“Hey, Enzo.”The voice on the other end came through, and I could feel the anger building up inside of me that I tried to suppress daily.“You there?”
“Why you callin’ me, Kennedy?”I asked EJ’s egg donor whose voice I hadn’t heard in two years but could make out in a room full of people.
“How you been?”She acted like we were old friends from high school who happened to bump into each other in the mall.
Crazy to me because the last I checked, we were parents of a child she abandoned.
“Kennedy, don’t make me disrespect you. State your business.”
There was an awkward silence before she responded.“I wa… Listen, I didn’t call to fight with you or tie your line up. I’m calling about EJ. How is he doing?”
“Did it hurt, Kennedy?”
“What? Did what hurt?”
“When you bumped your fuckin’ head before dialing my number. Or maybe somebody pushed you to do it. Cause you ain’t checked on my son in two years.”
Hearing her sigh heavily, I found myself getting even more pissed off.
“I’m calling because my husband thought it would be nice if EJ spent Christmas Eve with us. We’re doing a holiday photoshoot with our son and our parents. It’ll be a great time for him to meet his little brother and the rest of the family.”
I laughed, but the tone of my laughter was humorless.“It gotta be coke,”I let out.“Let me make sure I’mhearing you correctly. This was your husband’s idea to reach out to your son for the holidays? Cause fuck his birthday that was a few months ago, huh? My bad, the last two birthdays.”
“Enzo…”
“Nah,”I cut her off.“You and yo’ family not bout to use MY fuckin’ son as a photo op, so y’all can portray the perfect family. Your nigga clearly don’t know who the fuck I am, but it would do you well to educate him.”
“That’s not fair, Enzo,”she said weakly.“I’m his mother. I have just as much right to Enzo Jr. as you do.”
“You left your rights at the hospital on September 8th, 2023. Elephants, grizzly bears, cheetahs, wolf spiders, dolphins, and honey badgers are mothers. You, Kennedy, are an egg donor. You gotta know the difference.”
“I’m just try…”
“That’s the shit I’m talking’ bout! You don’t get to ‘try’ at your convenience. You don’t get to ‘try’ at EJ’s expense.”I couldn’t believe that I was on the phone that I paid for arguing with this silly ho. This shit wasn’t P at all.
“At my convenience? How about you can’t string a woman on for two years, making her think you were building something, and then decide we’re not at your convenience! You abandoned me, Enzo,”she cried out.
“And you abandoned my son. Only difference is, I’ll be around to wipe his tears when he realizes it. I could give a fuck about yours. Fuck off my phone.”Ending the call, I picked up my phone to block her number. She had me .38 hot.
I hoped that it was the last I heard from Kennedy. If she knew like I knew, she’d play in traffic before playing with me about EJ. After tonight, it seemed like I might have to remind her of that.
I pulled into my driveway,jaw tight, my mind replaying the conversation with Kennedy – if I could even call it that. The anger I felt wasn’t just because she abandoned EJ, but also because she felt that another child deserved her presence more than her first born, like my boy wasn’t good enough to stay. Some shit was just unforgiveable. This was one of those things.
Entering the house, I expected it to be quiet due to how late it was. What I didn’t expect was the peace that came over me once I came in. It was like my anger had dissipated, and my jawline relaxed immediately. The silence was different. Settled. Almost as if it had been awaiting my arrival to partake in the stillness.
Taking my boots and coat off at the door, I walked farther into the house and froze at the sight before me. Thyri sat upright, asleep with her read rested on the cushion. On her lap, EJ lay stretched out, fast asleep, with his mouth slightly open. Her hand rested on his back protectively, as if this were how they normally slept. It was a Kodak moment, only it would have been odd for me to snap a picture of my son asleep with his new nanny.
