“They’re grown! I don’t even know what they doing it like these days because I haven’t seen them! I’m here, stuck in the house with your stupid ass!” she shouted.“You got your mouth poked out every time I leave the house!”
“You talking real slick, defending your fucking ghetto-ass friends. You act like I’m talking about you or something,” he accused.“If you had sat your ass down and mothered Quan, maybe he would still be here right now! You were out, shaking ass with these same bitches!”
His words snatched the air from her lungs. He stood and stormed past her.“Let me get out of here before I slap the shit out you,” he mumbled. She couldn’t even muster up a response. The sting of the memories that rushed her threatened to unravel her. Their first son, Devin, had been gunned down when he was 14 years old while she was out celebrating her 30th birthday with her girls. It had been nine years, and nothinghad been the same since that fated day. Her life had gone to shit in the blink of an eye. James had always been a little controlling. She met him in high school when she was 14. He was ten years older than her, so the control had always been present, but after their son was killed, he had become downright mean, and she knew it was because he blamed her. She didn’t need his punishment. She blamed herself.
She was grateful when her son’s cries wailed through the house. The sound was like an alarm that snapped her out of a bad dream. Shaken and draped in sorrow, she went to her son’s crib. He was so little, such a gift. She had thought new life would make them happier, would make James less resentful, less angry, but it had done none of those things. It had just cemented her into the relationship further. Baby Christian had become the reason why she couldn’t leave James. She had contemplated not having him. She had been on the brink of leaving the relationship altogether when she found out she was pregnant. Now, she was here. Now, she was stuck. Courtney picked Christian up, and the guilt she felt was immeasurable. She regretted having this baby, but damn it, she still loved him so much.“Mommy’s so sorry,” she whispered as she nuzzled his ear.“You deserve so much better.”Christian’s first Christmas would be spent in a tense home with parents who were disconnected and full of antipathy. Perhaps, if she stayed home and focused on her family, things would get better.I just gave this nigga another baby. This has to get better.
Chapter 3
December 18th
Day 2
Assoon as the wheels of the plane hit the tarmac, Ellie felt the tension rise in her chest.“Lord, please let this week be good for me and my girls,” she whispered as she anxiously began to gather her things. The plane rolled to a stop at the gate, and as soon as the pilot clicked off the seatbelt sign, she stood. Thankfully, she had been upgraded to first class so she and her girlswould be among the first to get off the plane.
“Brooklyn, get your sister. I’llget our carry-ons,” Ellie instructed.
Wasn’t shit harder than juggling kids in the airport for a single mother. She carried Tessa’s backpack, Brooklyn’s tote, and her purse plus a wheeled carry-on. She was overheating before she even made it to thebaggage claim.
“Is Daddy picking us up?” Brooklyn asked.
“He should be here,” Ellie responded.
She pulled out her phone and turned off airplane mode, before sending her estranged husband a text.
We landed. Are you here?
Maneuvering her way through the airport was hell. Funky bathrooms, impatient passengers, and crowded gates made it feel like she was navigating a maze. When she found her way to the baggage claim, she was relieved to see that the carousel was already spinning.
“Do you see your dad?” Ellie asked. She was grateful that he had agreed to pick them up. They barely had cordial conversation, but she knew he would want to see his children while they were in town.
“No, maybe he’s waiting in the car. You want me to try his phone?” Brooklyn asked.
“Yeah, I see our bags. I’m going to grab them. Come with me, baby,” she said, grabbing Tessa’s hand. She lugged the heavy bags off the conveyor belt with one hand as she held on tightly to Tessa with the other. All it took was a split second for her adventurous daughter to get into mischief, so she always made sure she kept a watchful eye.“Okay, my girl. Up here,” Ellie said, blowing out an exasperated breath as she lifted Tessa on top of the largest suitcase so she could straddle it for a ride.
Her eyes searched the crowd for Cairo, and she frowned as she went to Brooklyn.“Did you reach him?” Ellie asked impatiently.
“He says he can’t come. He got caught up at work,” Brooklyn informed.
“At work?” Ellie repeated skeptically.“If he knew he was working, why wouldn’t he just say that?” she fussed. She wheeled the baggage over to a bench.“Here, you guys, sit here. Let me make some calls.”
Ellie didn’t want to call an Uber. It was an hour drive to her parents’ home and an Uber would charge her an arm and a leg. She could have made other arrangements if she had known Cairo was going to leave her stuck. She blamed herself for even leaning on him for support. As much as he had dropped the ball lately, she should have lowered her expectations. Hoping to receive the best of someone who had already revealed the worst to her was a trait she needed to rid herself of. She broke her own heart by believing in a man who was full of false promises. She was almost ashamed to make the phone call for help, but she didn’t have another choice. Ellie sighed as she scrolled through her call log and found the number. It was to someone who had always had her back, but she knew that with this call, she would also have to offer an explanation, and she had been avoiding explaining her situation to her family for years. She took a deep breath and placed the call.
“Yo, Loyal, I really appreciate ya support, man. You really came through for this Christmas giveaway,” Cassidy stated as he sat across from his new business partner.
“Not a lot of niggas come out the joint and land on their feet the way you have. This is commendable,bruh. Happy to be a part of it,” Loyal replied.
Cassidy nodded and lifted his cognac-filled tumbler in the air, and Loyal followed suit before they each swallowed it down.
“It’s crazy because I went in at 19. Had my whole life ahead of me. Hoop scholarship and all. One bad decision took me down the wrong path for 23 years.I come out and the whole city done changed. It died, man. The shit decayed while I was gone. I just want to bring a little life back to it,” Cassidy said.
“I feel that,” Loyal responded.“I guess that’swhy I haven’t moved on from investing in a city that they sayisn’t worth my time. The construction contracts are bigger in the bigger cities, of course. Detroit, Novi, and all that, but the shit here feels personal.”
“Rebuilding the block,” Cassidy stated.
“These blocks raised us, dawg. I made my first hundred grand on these streets and never looked back. I can’t abandon them now that I’m on,” Loyal stated.“It’s good to have you out here with me, doing the work. The cigar lounge is smooth. It’sa real grown vibe, and the giveaways you doing for Christmas for the community is commendable. I can respect that. Most niggas just think about profit. They don’t think about pouring back into the people that support them.”
“That’s how you stop the wolves from entering the den, my nigga,” Cassidy answered. Cassidy had known when he decided to open a business on the north side of the city that being robbed was a possibility, so he quickly aligned with the community. He made money, and he gave money back. It made niggas think twice about tearing his efforts down. He had only been open six months, but he had invested a lot in community outreach. He was apparently doing something right because Loyal now wanted to invest.
