“Got damn, I should have took a seat for this.”
“You? Now you see why I was hitting that bag so hard. I’m stuck, Pops.”
Lethal proceeded to tell his father everything that Khrome told him about her ex, Cam, and her situation.
“I feel stupid even having a soft spot for her. I actually went up to her job last night, an hour before she got off, to make sure the nigga didn’t bother her.”
“Yeah, you getting in kind of deep.” Tech tugged at his beard. “But regardless of how she got pregnant, if that’s your baby mama keeping her safe isn’t wrong. You just got to be real careful with that because shorty wasn’t raised on love. She was raised on survival. Just like you don’t trust her, she doesn’t trust you. And all she knows is how to be out for self. Trusting and depending on the wrong men has her fucked up in life.”
“I need to be on some Brazil type shit. Just get custody of the kid and say fuck her. I didn’t sign up for this.” Lethal regretfully shook his head at his misfortune.
“Just take it one day at a time. Don’t stress.” Tech’s tone was gentle and comforting. Lethal was a grown-ass man, but it felt good having his father in front of him being a voice of reason and letting him know things would be okay. It was better than a phone call and a visit in a loud prison visitation room.
“You think that nigga gon’ be a problem, though?”
Lethal saw the darkness in his father’s orbs. Just that quickly, he went from a parent attempting to put his child at ease to a lion ready to maul anybody that messed with his young. The last thing Lethal wanted was for his father to go back to prison or get in any trouble on his behalf.
“I’m not worried about that nigga,” Lethal assured Tech. “He’s a pussy. Block hit him one time, and he turned into a baby deer. Legs wobbling couldn’t even stand up straight. I would’ve punished him, and Block knew it. I’m not risking my career for him. I won’t put my hands on him unless it’s self-defense, but if it comes to that, he’s going to get done dirty.”
“You know you’re held to a higher legal standard than a regular person. We don’t even want it to come to self-defense. Just stay on top of things. One more run-in with dude, and I’m gon’ handle it.” Before Lethal could respond, Tech held his palms up in surrender. “You already know, I know how to move. Not me, directly, but it will get handled.”
With a subtle nod, Lethal finished off his water. He had never had a stint in the streets. Block made sure of it. His first job was a fast-food restaurant and from there, he delivered packages for UPS before becoming a professional boxer. Street cred or not, Lethal wasn’t to be messed with when it came to respect or protecting himself. He could fight, and he could shoot. He could also smell fear, and Cam was a pussy. Straight up and down. However, one thing Tech had always taught him was to never underestimate a scared nigga because he’d be the one to kill you.
Lethal hated the fact that as he sat on a barstool, watching Khrome move around behind the bar and serve customers, that he found himself aroused. She wasn’t trying to be sexy. Khrome wasn’t flirting with the patrons, in fact, she looked a bit uneasy like at any moment she was waiting for Cam to come in and ruin her night. Her fear was obvious, and it made her appear vulnerable. That night, Khrome was nothing like the sexy seductress that slipped something in his drink, fucked him, robbed him, then disappeared into the night like the thief that she was. No matter the circumstances, her sins should have been unforgivable in his eyes. But if that was his child she wascarrying, there would be no living in fear of Cam for her. He wouldn’t allow it.
So now, he was protecting a woman that stole from him. A woman that he unintentionally got pregnant. He didn’t know whether to be pissed or to laugh. Was all of this fate or fuck shit? The two men she’d been with had scarred her, and Lethal had no doubt that Tech was right. Khrome was in survival mode for sure. Two people that didn’t trust one another attempting to co-parent was going to be crazy work, indeed, and he wasn’t sure he was built for it.
CHAPTER 6
“Where you going?”Creed was walking past his mother’s bedroom door but backtracked when he caught a glimpse of her standing in front of her full-length mirror dressed like she was going out and placing earrings in her ear.
His question caused a subtle smile to dance on her lips. She wasn’t sure which of her sons tried to be her father the most. Creed or Chosen.
“I’m going to dinner.” Once the diamond stud was secured in her ear, Blossom took a step back to analyze her appearance.
She chose to wear a simple black dress that hugged her body and stopped past her knees. The dress hung off her shoulders and while it didn’t do too much, she still looked good. Blossom wore very light makeup and added accessories that complemented the dress. On her feet, she was going to wear red platform, peep-toe heels. It was time for her braids to come out, and she’d been too lazy to complete the task, so she wrapped them in a bun on top of her head and laid the edges. After placing a scarf on her head for an hour, her braids were good enough for the night.
“With Fancy?”
Turning around, Blossom grinned at her oldest child. “Creed, which one of us is the parent?”
The spitting image of his father hiked his brows. “I didn’t know I couldn’t be concerned because I’m your child. You don’t have a game tonight, so I was just curious.”
Telling him she was going on a date was on the tip of her tongue, but she refrained. Her sons were overprotective and nosey, but over the years, she’d done a good job of dating in private. Their father had moved on, so if she really decided to be with someone, she wouldn’t feel guilty about it. Blossom was a firm believer that her sons didn’t have to know about every man she encountered. Ty coming to her home even when her sons weren’t there wasn’t an option because she didn’t want them to see him on the Ring camera. If a man wasn’t going to be around for the long haul, her sons didn’t need to know about him.
“I’m going out to dinner with a friend that you don’t know. I shouldn’t be gone more than two and a half hours.”
Eyeing her skeptically, Creed didn’t answer right away. “I need you to share your location with me.”
The expression on his face made her aware that he was serious, but his comment still made her laugh. “I will share my location with you, Creed. You in for the night?”
Creed was on his way to college, and he was a good kid. At the beginning of his senior year, she smelled the odor of marijuana on him one night, but Blossom didn’t spazz out. Creed was a straight-A student, and he had inherited her love of basketball. He never got into trouble, and he was respectful. Blossom sat down with him and had a conversation about everything from people lacing weed with other drugs to the harmful effects that weed could have on him as an athlete. She educated him rather than judging and yelling at him.
Creed told her he didn’t do it on a regular basis, and all she could do was take his word for it. Basketball took up a lot of histime, but Creed worked part-time at a cell phone store. He was in a relationship and if he wasn’t playing ball, working, or out with his girlfriend, he was at home.
“Yeah. Jalissa doesn’t get off until midnight.”
“Okay. I’m about to head out. Your father is picking Chosen up from track practice and bringing him home. You know how he forgets his key, so if you do leave, text him before and see where he is and if he has his key.”
