Z and Yana’s eyes widened when their mother was right behind Navi. Zaria stood there, but it wasn’t happiness I saw in her eyes, rather confusion. “The fuck!” Zaria shouted.
I didn’t want Zoomas to be fucked up because shit had been going so good. I leaned forward and whispered in Zaria’s ear. “Just one day, baby. Let her meet the twins.”
Zaria sucked her teeth and turned toward me. “No!”
“Come on, Z, I don’t want to have to fuck shit up on Christmas.”
As commotion began to ensue, Bishop cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. “I want to thank all of you for opening your doors to the Cove,” he paused as he looked at his people then mine. “If you had asked me back then when that nigga,” he pointed at me, “bumped into me, if I had seen this day coming, I would have said fuck no. But we’re here. I’m happy I not only met you guys, but Chevy, nigga, you inspired me whether you know it or not. The blue and the orange are together for life, despite what anyone thinks,” he paused again as he turned toward Indigo. “Baby, this has been a long time coming. Since that day in London when I saw you, to now, my heart has never stopped beating for you. Even when you took time away to do what was best for you, that muhfucka still beat the same way.”
I looked at Navi, who rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth.Hating ass,I thought. I turned back to focus my attention on Bishop. He got down on one knee as he pulled the box from his pocket. “Indigo King,” he choked up.
I knew the feeling of nervousness, though you know the love you have for a person is stronger than nerves. I clapped. “Come on, nigga, make her your wife!” I shouted.
His lips trembled. “I love you the long way. My heart beats for you and only you. You know, xoxo and shit. Lulu wants her mommy back. Will you marry me?”
Indigo ugly cried as she nodded. Bishop slid a cold, blue diamond on her finger. They kissed as we all celebrated. I stood around, watching the orange and blue connect in ways I didn’t think would happen. Preach got up and rushed toward the door. When he came back, he was with Sage. She had wavedat everyone. Preach pushed up his glasses. “I want to formally introduce my girlfriend, Sage.”
Mrs. Richardson stopped bouncing baby Love as her head shot toward Navi. Navi threw her hands up in frustration. “What type of shit is this!” she spat.
“Navi, please don’t start!” Yana yelled.
Zaria rolled her neck. “I mean, what type of shit is this?” Zaria pointed at her mother. “You’re mad, and you brought her.”
Navi’s head snapped toward Zaria. “And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
I could see Zaria getting riled up. I rushed over toward her, grabbing her by her waist and pulling her toward the door. “The sick part of me would love to see you fight, but not today, please. We haven’t even eaten yet.”
Zaria let out a loud sigh. I turned to see that the door was left open, but what caught my attention was much more important. I looked at Zaria as she looked at me. We both stepped outside to see Samara talking to a lady. When she noticed we were standing there, Samara gave us a weak smile. “Mom and Dad,” she paused as she looked at the lady who was covered in bland draping. “This is my biological mother.”
The lady bowed her head at us. “Thank you for keeping my sweet child protected.”
We couldn’t respond as Streets and Dio came out of the house carrying the turkey that was on fire. Everyone began coughing as they came out of the house. Dio let go of the pan, leaving Streets no choice but to drop it into the snow. “Mars, who is this?”
She took a deep breath as she glanced at Dio. “It’s my mother.”
I don’t know what this meant, but if this lady thought for a second that we were accepting her as Samara’s parent, she had a nigga fucked up. Zoomas was far from perfect, but shit like this is what made us the Zoo.
BEANS
As things finally settled down and people were eating, I couldn’t keep my mind off Paige. The idea of her truly walking away from me stung. Everything I feared about love was coming to fruition. It was if the beast in me simmered down to allow Braylen to be able to feel and a nigga felt everything. I watched as she fell in so beautifully with the Zoo, like she was meant to be in this space.
Every time she pushed her braids out of her face or laughed, I broke a little more inside. To see all my niggas happy while I sat like a lost fucking puppy made me sick. The shit was bothering me so much that the longer I sat at this table, the more I cracked. I wanted to stand up and shout, “I want you to love me,” but I couldn’t because if I did, it would be me admitting that I had fallen so hard a nigga couldn’t get up.
Me staring at her must have been obvious because suddenly I felt a tap to my shoulder. When I pulled my eyes away from her, I turned toward Scooter. “Nigga, go talk to her,” he whispered.
“I tried. She keeps saying later. I fucked up. She knows about it all,” I told him.
Dio turned toward us. “She knows how you feel. Sometimes we can’t wait around because if we do, we might lose that chance. Shit, I chased Samara,” he paused. “No offense, twin, but I had to yap her from your brother. Shit just didn’t sit right with me knowing the girl I love was with another nigga. Now, I got to find a way to get her away from her Charles Mason cult ass momma.”
I gave a dry laugh, but I understood. I turned to look back at her. This time, her eyes landed on mine. I was trying my best to read them, but she pulled them away so fast that the shit pissed me off, and I got up from the table. “I’m out,” I said as I walked out of the house.“Fuck!”I shouted.
I didn’t ask for much, but this was the one thing I wanted the most, and a nigga couldn’t even get that. I headed toward my car when I heard a voice, and that made me melt inside. “Braylen!”
I turned to see that short stature and pretty ass face. She let out a short breath. “Let’s talk.”
I didn’t know what our conversation would lead to, but I prayed it ended with her forgiving me because if she canceled me like theXon a controller, I didn’t know what I would do.
FIONA
