Blah,blah,blah.I mocked Margret with my hands as I walked out the front door of the bakery. Thank God it was a beautiful day out. It was the perfect day to take a strolldowntown while I waited on aT-Ride,the biggest rideshare company in Beaumont. As I walked down the sidewalk, I snickered to myself thinking about how mad Margret was. I knew a call from Kojo was coming, but he could kiss my ass just like his mama could. If he wanted me to marry him, he needed to tread real light with me. I promise I was milliseconds from calling this entire wedding off. Truth be told, I probably shouldn’t even be getting married, but I figured it would be the best way to get over Faheem’s trifling ass. When it came to Faheem, nothing was able to get him out of my system. My heart still beat for him, and I hated that shit with a passion. It was like my heart refused to get the memo that we were done with that nigga. The love I had for Faheem felt like it never wanted to end. It seemed like it would be in my heart until the day I died, and I hated that for me. Getting over Troy wasn’t this hard, and I was with that nigga for years.
Faheem had me going in circles that all led back to him. At some point, I was going to have to deal with him solely because we shared a child. The nigga was going to lose his shit when he found out about Ryver. I’d prepared myself to deal with his rage. I half expected that to be the nail in the coffin for us. Or whatever was left of us. I wished I hadn’t allowed so much time to pass without Faheem or his family knowing about Ryver. Which is why I chickened out on my lunch date with Daelite and Frankee. As much as I missed Frankee, I knew she was going to be pissed at me for keeping Ryver away. It wasn’t intentional, I was dealing with a lot, and my heart was hurting. I never cared to think about how my actions would play out in the long run. My focus was on myself, and I should have felt more empathy over my actions but I didn’t. I shouldn’t have kept my pregnancy a secret, but at the same time, I was doing what was best for me, and sometimes that was more important than how other people felt. I wouldn’t apologize for making myself a priority when I hadfailed to do that too many times in the past. Even though my actions made sense to me, it didn’t mean others would accept them. At the end of the day, Frankee was Faheem’s sister, and no matter what, she’d be on his side. I’d rather keep my distance and only deal with Faheem’s anger, only because I had to.
”Juniper? Is that really you?” I looked back at the patio of the restaurant I stood in front of.
“Frankee.” I turned around smiling at Frankee who had stood up from her table.
With her arms outstretched, we both walked over to the metal frame that fenced the patio area of the restaurant. We embraced each other happily.
“Houdini in the flesh. Bitch disappeared on me like I’m the mutha fuckin’ plug she ran off on,” Frankee teased, pulling back from our hug.
“No, ma’am, I had to get away before I lost my mind dealing with your brother. ”
“Annnd what does that have to do with me?” Frankee sarcastically asked, placing her hand on her hip.
“Faheem would’ve run you crazy trying to get to me. After our blow up, I just needed space.”
“I still to this day haven’t seen Faheem as mad as he was that night. He didn’t talk to me for almost three months. His petty ass didn’t even tell me when my nephew was born.”
“Mmm…” My heart skipped a beat hearing that Faheem had a son with Mixie. It kind of made me sad. “See, it was best I stayed away. I caused enough chaos,” I put on a fake smile, ignoring the odd feeling in my gut.
”Unh-huh. Is that the reason you stood Daelite and me up last week?” Frankee questioned me, eyeing me up and down.
“I chickened out. I’m sorry.”
“For what though? I’m not that mad at you. A little salty ‘cause you broke up with me too, but I still fuck with you.”
I smiled at Frankee, because she was glowing and I could tell she we genuinely happy. In her fitted red skirt suit, with the gold buttons and cuff links made her look like walking money. She wore a black cami tucked into her skirt, with black six inch heels on her feet, Frankee looked amazing. Her hair hung in loose curls framing her face. I would have missed her small baby bump had she kept her blazer closed.
“I see you been busy.” I placed my hand on her round stomach.
“Have been,” she happily beamed, showing me her iced out ring finger. “My husband can’t keep his hands to himself. This is baby number two.” Frankee held her two fingers up. “My daughter, Majesty, is ten months, and I’m a little over twenty weeks.”
“Ya hubby ain’t lettin’ up, he keeps you knocked up,” I jokingly snickered.
”Yup,” she said with extra emphasis on the P. “Had you not disappeared, you would have known. Coulda been in my wedding and found you a new nigga and alll, but nooo… you wanna be the run away wife or whatever they call it.”
“Aww, I’m sorry, boo.” I pouted, truly feeling bad. I hated that I missed out on Frankee’s big moments in life. “Congratulations. I’m really happy for you though.”
“What’s this?” Frankee asked, holding up my left hand.
“I guess I’m getting married again.” I tried to sound happier than I actually was. The look on Frankee’s face said she saw right through my facade.
Frankee pressed her lips together giving me a side eye. “Mmm. It don’t sound like you happy, but I’ma mind my business. Oooh, I know my brother finna be in his feelings.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” I sighed in agreement. Faheem was gonna be livid once all my secrets came to light.“Frankee,” I said her name in a serious tone. “I gotta tell you something.”
I twiddled my finger nervously as I debated with myself if I should tell Frankee about Ryver. It didn’t feel right sitting in her face smiling, talking about her kids and not saying anything about Ryver. I would feel fake as fuck if I left her without telling Frankee the truth.
“What’s wrong?” she asked with concern on her face.
“I, uh, I should have to-” I stopped talking, hearing tires screeching to a halt behind me.
Turning around, I was surprised to see Kojo’s dark blueRange Roverpulled up to the curb on the side of the restaurant. His driver door opened quickly, and his stocky frame became visible as he made his way around to the sidewalk.
Stopping at the edge of the sidewalk, he looked at me with a displeasing frown. “Juniper, why is my mom calling me yelling in my ear because you walked out in the middle of picking out the cake for our wedding?”
“Is it our wedding, or is it hers because she makes all the decisions? Really isn’t a point in me being there when she rejects every one of my ideas,” I smartly answered him, folding my arms across my chest.
