I smoothed out my suit after I climbed out of my car in the court parking lot. Once I had myself together, I headed toward the courthouse. When my eyes landed on Simone near the steps, my annoyance rose. There was no reason for her to stand out here. It was clear that she waited for me to get here when her face lit up at the sight of me.Here we go with the bullshit.
“Hey, Robert, you look good.” She was nervous. That was the first compliment that she had given me since before Lanette’s sham of a wedding. That was some time ago now.
I stared at her for a moment. “How can I help you, Simone? We can skip past all the fake niceties.”
She huffed. “Look, Robert, I’m sorry. I was lonely, and you were always at work. I know I was wrong, but please don’t do this,” she begged.
My nose scrunched and forehead creased. “What exactly am I doing to you? I’m a little lost.”
“Robert, you know that you can make a compromise with the prenup payout. You know that I will never be able to live a sustainable life.” She couldn’t be serious right now. Accountability was non-existent in her life, which was unfortunate.
My head slanted. “Simone, did you compromise when you opened your legs, mouth, and ass to a man that was not me? I’m confused with what you expect of me here. You signed that prenup thinking you had me in the bag, but that zipper wasn’t as secure as you thought it was. What you get is what you agreed to, ma’am.”
“Robert!” A loud, obnoxious voice sounded off behind me. There was no urgency for me to turn around. Seconds later, a very upset Lanette faced me with a baby carrier cradled in the cuff of her arm. “You are a dirty muthafucka for treating my mother like this. All these years, she held you down when you were absent. You didn’t deserve her.”
I stared at Simone whose expression told me that this outburst from Lanette was not planned. She touched her daughter’s arm. “Lanette, let’s just go inside.”
“No, Mother! He is a fuck ass nigga. You were good to him!” The volume of her voice was bothersome.
I clasped my hands together in front of me. “Lanette, I really am not interested in talking grown folks’ business in front of a child, but since you insist on being disrespectful about things your mother has not made you privy to, let me ask you this. Was she holding you down when you all went on those trips and she was with her boo, Kevin?”
Her face fell. Oh, she was silent now. She was so much like her fucking mother until it was a shame. “Well, if you ask me,you deserved to get cheated on. You were never around, and your treatment of her was questionable.”
I laughed. “Simone, I’ve always admired that you taught our daughters to present themselves as these uppity females in your light, but your ass is from a little country ass town outside in Alabama” My eyes cut back over to Lanette. “My treatment of her was questionable. Get the fuck out of here.”
“Robert, just because you insist on keeping in touch with your country hood roots does not mean that I have to follow your lead. See, that was one of the problems within our marriage. You could lead everyone over there at your precious MediGenix, but you lacked that same leadership at home. What kind of president of a Fortune 5 company speaks in the vernacular that you do and think it’s alright?” Oh, Simone was mad now.
I tittered. “Simone, it’s called versatility and authenticity. I’m that nigga from Macon, Georgia, that got it out of the mud, working with my father on a fucking cotton field like a fucking slave to make sure my mama was taken care of. So, I guess I got it out the fuckin’ cotton. I busted my ass in school to get that free ride to go to college to make my mama and daddy proud. I will never forget where I come from. I’m proud that I can navigate between the boardroom and those country ass streets. Now, what needs to happen is you and Kevin’s daughter need to get the fuck out of my damn face.”
Simone’s eyes bucked. I guess she hadn’t let her precious daughter know that I wasn’t her father. This was what happened when people ran their mouths too damn much.
Lanette’s head snapped in her mother’s direction. “What? What is he talking about, Mother?”
When that single tear fell from Simone’s eye, I felt no sympathy. “I’ll let you two deal with that. Simone, I wishyou well on your future endeavors of which I hope include employment.”
She and Lanette could kiss my ass. Simone was lucky to get a settlement period with the proof of adultery. I could have left her with nothing, but I didn’t. She had a paid for home, car, and a trust that would pay the taxes on the home for five years. The trust could only be used for the taxes on the house and nothing else unless she sold the home, then she would get the payout from the trust.
Simone had a degree and a network. She could use both to find gainful employment. If that became too challenging, then I hoped she had Kevin to lean on. I was no longer a part of her network.
Present Day . . .
Why did I smell bacon and I lived alone? That could only mean that my lovely daughter was here to annoy my soul. I loved my baby girl, Simonette, God knew I did. I just wanted her to know that I didn’t need her to come over and cook breakfast for me. She had a husband to cook for.
I took my time to get ready for my day. Today was a big day for me and my companyMediGenix. I felt confident to call it my company since I was named the chief executive officer (CEO) almost a year ago. This was the opportunity that I waited for in that pipeline when I was amid my divorce from Simone. I wanted my divorce finalized before I went through the hiring process.
It took me another forty minutes to get dressed and downstairs. Simonette sat at my dining room table with a plateof pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. “Good morning, Daddy. I made you some breakfast.”
“Sim, where is Daylen? Shouldn’t you be at home making him breakfast? I have an assistant to get me breakfast and a chef to cook it at the office,” I told her. I said all of that, but I would still eat the food that she cooked.
She finished the mouthful of food before she responded. “I did cook for Daylen before he went to practice this morning. The baby wanted to hear his grandpap’s voice. Grandpap? I think I like that.”
My face tightened. She had been shopping names since she found out that she and Daylen were expecting, but she had yet to land on one. I didn’t care either way what he called me, as long as he called me. “Baby girl, you know that I don’t care about what my grandson calls me. What do you have planned for your day?”
“I’m going into the lab for a few hours, then Rissa and I are going shopping for the baby’s room. I’m so excited.” She did a cute little shimmy in her seat.
She was officially nesting based on what my son-in-law said. He said at this point, he just gave her the black card and let her have her way. “I thought the baby’s room was done already?”
“Oh, that one is, but this is for the other one downstairs. If there is a room downstairs, I won’t have to go all the way upstairs for things. I’ll have stuff downstairs too,” she said with a smile.
