Embarrassed, I covered my face with my hands and leaned into his chest. “Does the fact that he’s like my father bother you?”
“Nah. I don’t give a fuck about who likes what we are building. You’re mine now,” he avowed, leaning in to kiss my forehead.
“Well, if you know exactly how he is, just imagine how strict he was as a parent. On top of him being overbearing, everyone in the city knew who he was, and they would report back everything I did. At one point, I did love Quinten, but the start of our relationship was to spite everything I was supposed to standfor. My marriage was the golden ticket to get me from under my uncle’s rule. You have to remember that Amill is her own person. Yes, you created Amill, but her life is her own. I hope you hear and understand what I’m saying because I can see how much you love your daughter. I know you want what’s best for her, but I’d hate for your overbearing nature to run her away.”
By the time I was done with my spiel, the shirt was off, and I helped him out of his pants. Once Yaseer was down to his boxers, I went into the bathroom to start the shower for him. He was right behind me once he came out of his boxers and socks. Yaseer went over to the toilet and lifted the seat to pee while I scooted onto the counter. I was surprised at how comfortable we got with each other in such a short amount of time.
“Remember how I told you Amill’s mom got that modeling gig and never looked back?” He pried after flushing the toilet.
“Yeah.”
He started washing his hands before continuing. “I found out Janna didn’t look back because she got addicted to drugs. Her parents came to me for help when they found out. Amill was probably four or five, still young enough to where she wouldn’t remember the absence if her mom got her shit together. I paid for her to go to the best rehab in Florida because at the end of the day, that’s Amill’s mother. I also thought if she was clean, she would be there for Amill, but once she completed rehab, she went back to Cali without so much as a hello to Amill. Truth is I don’t know what the fuck happened with Janna, but I am terrified of what will happen when Amill goes to navigate this world without me.”
Yaseer stepped into the shower, and I stripped out of my pajamas to join him. He needed comfort and I was here to give it to him. I took his rag and gently cleaned his body, placing a kiss on his lips once he turned around to face me.
“Your fears are valid, but you still have to find balance. Sheltering her won’t do anything but leave your daughter naive as fuck when she actually enters the world. It was always the sheltered girls out of the clique that got out there and got buck wild.”
“So you was a wild ass teen?”
“No, not at all,” I laughed. “If I had the opportunity, I definitely would have been. Quinten was the first and only man I had sex with. The only boy who was brave enough to date me in high school refused to take my virginity because my uncle made him watch one of his men cut another man’s dick off. So, me offering my virginity up on a silver platter didn’t matter. He’d rather cheat on me and break my young heart instead of crossing my uncle.”
“Damn. I might need him to show me his ways,” Yaseer joked.
“Stop,” I nudged him.
“Did you always change up big plans at a drop of a dime? Amill just met Jameera and her focus has switched from moving to Cali for modeling, to talking about spending a year in Japan with Jameera.”
“I think that has more to do with you pushing the path you want Amill to take on her. You have to let go of the idea of who you think Amill is supposed to be and allow her space to find herself. I can resonate with that better than any other woman you may ever meet. I never had the space to discover who I really am. I slipped into a slight depression this last year and honestly, it had more to do with finding myself than my divorce. Amill doesn’t know who she is, and that’s okay. This is the time for her to explore and try new things. If she was talking about going to Tokyo with Jameera, I can assure you it’s not a bullshit trip. You have to sit and listen to her. Jameera has an aunt who lives in Tokyo and works for a large fashion brand. Her family is bigon exploiting nepotism to the furthest extent. Let Amill soak up some of that privilege too. I can promise none of them act like their uncle. I can introduce you to her father if you want.”
Yaseer placed his forehead against mine, and we stood there for a few silent moments before there was banging on the bedroom door.
“Ain’t nobody but Amill looking for somebody to pay the girl doing her makeup,” he grumbled.
I lifted my head and grabbed a towel to exit the shower since I was already clean. “I’m coming!” Throwing on a robe, I was still damp when I opened the bedroom door.
My eyes bucked when I came face to face with a beautiful couple that looked to be in their mid to late fifties. “I told you, Dad had his girlfriend in there,” Amill shouted from her bedroom.
“Hello, I’m Marissa,” I nervously greeted them, placing my arms over my breast since I didn’t have on a bra.
“I’m Freddy and this is Vicky, we are Yaseer’s parents. We’ll let you get decent. Tell Yaseer to come on. Amill’s date is here.”
“Okay, ummm. It’s nice to meet you guys,” I nodded.
They turned to leave, and I closed the door. I did a silent happy dance, twerking in the middle of the room. Thankful that Yaseer’s mother was drop dead gorgeous. I was so smitten by him that I let him slip through the ugly mama check right after I created my new rule.
“Yaseer, that was your parents!”
“Shit, I forgot they said they were coming up to see Amill get ready.”
The water in the bathroom turned off, and Yaseer came out of the bathroom a few moments later. I pulled a pair of pajama pants and a tank top out of the closet for him and placed them on the bed.
“Why wouldn’t you tell me they were coming? I thought it was just Amill, and I didn’t even put on a bra.”
“They are chill.”
“From your parenting style, I can’t tell.”
“Nah, they be on my top too. It was just they never got through to me. Hearing it from someone who has lived it hits different though. I’m going to work on it. I promise,” he explained, pulling on his pajama pants.
