I couldn’t stop the smile that lifted my cheeks if I wanted to. And it wasn’t because he invited me to dinner. It was because my comfort was a priority for him. “You don’t have to make it a group thing. I trust you a little bit.”
Hymn laughed. “Bet. I’ll text you later, aight? And my head is all over the place so forgive me but,” his eyes poured over my frame. “You look fucking amazing.”
“Thank you.” It felt as if someone had a lighter against my cheeks the way they were burning.
What in the world was happening?
Two days later, I was mentally exhausted from dealing with chaos and children. I had to go to London’s at six AM to do hermakeup. I was out of there in time to make it work by nine. Even though Alisa told me I could work from home if I wanted to and despite loving my parents, I wanted to be out of the house as much as possible, so I decided to go in. By noon, Sky’s teacher was calling and saying I had to come pick her up because she was being suspended for two days.
How in the hell did a child in kindergarten get suspended? According to the teacher, she’d been acting out for the past few days but this day, she took it too far. She grabbed one of her classmates by her ponytail and pulled her out of a chair. When I asked Sky why she did it, she said because the little girl was talking about having fun with her dad, so Sky said, “Who cares?”
The little girl then replied, “Are you mad because you don’t live with your dad?”
I didn’t expect children to deal with sudden change well. I knew there was going to be some fallout when I chose to leave Corey, but I was tired of dealing with it all on my own. Yes, it was my choice to leave, but it was his choice to cheat. No matter how well I tried to explain it to the girls, I still looked like the bad guy. I texted Corey and told him what was up. I also let him know that we were going to talk to her together. He was at home, so I was headed in that direction.
Seeing Corey’s face wasn’t something I was looking forward to, but since we had kids together, it wasn’t really something that I could avoid. Sky was in the back seat pouting, but I really didn’t care. I had been as gentle, understanding, patient, and loving as I could be. It was time to be a little stern and let her know that she could be sad or even mad, but she couldn’t put her hands on people or go around acting like a bully.
Pulling up behind Corey’s car made my gut twist. Over the years, I’d put so much time and thought into decorating the home and making it comfortable and stylish. It wasn’t just my safe space, but it was also a safe space for my daughters. I missedit too. I missed it a lot, but it just wasn’t home anymore, and it never would be again. After unclicking my seatbelt, I looked over my shoulder at Sky who wasn’t moving.
“Let’s go.” My tone was low, but she knew I meant business.
With the saddest look she could muster, Sky removed her seatbelt. She was about to be in front of daddy, so the attitude was gone, and the puppy dog eyes were in full effect. Just as we made it to the door, it opened, and I refused to even look Corey in his face. I brushed past him and went straight to the couch. Looking around, I frowned slightly at the lingering smell of something burnt. One thing I didn’t play about was the way my home smelled. Anytime I entered, there was some kind of scent dominating the air around me. Sometimes, vanilla, others it would be a clean floral scent, or maybe coconut. Candles, air purifiers, wax warmers, were all my thing. However, this wasn’t my home anymore, so it could smell how Corey wanted it to smell.
“What’s going on with you, Lil’ Mama?” he asked looking down at Sky.
Corey sat down beside me, and I had to resist the urge to cringe. I didn’t want to be immature in front of my child, but it was one of the hardest tasks I had to endure. In a sad voice, Sky told her father what happened, and he listened intently.
“Baby, I know you’re upset that you can’t be home right now, but you can’t be mean to people. You for sure can’t put your hands on them. I know it’s hard to be patient, but you have to give mommy and daddy time to figure out how to fix things. Okay?”
My blood began to boil. I was so pissed that I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from going off. Corey had me fucked up. He knew what he was doing, and it wasn’t fair. No longer able to ignore him, I whipped my head in his direction and shothim daggers with my eyes. Corey knew me, and he could see that I was overly pissed.
Closing my eyes and inhaling a deep breath through my nose, I listened while he attempted to chastise Sky.
“Can I stay with you this weekend?” Sky asked.
“Of course. I’m going to come pick you and your sisters up on Saturday.”
“Okay.”
Sky sounded satisfied, so I stood up to leave.
“So, we not gon’ have a conversation?”
Ignoring him I walked to the door and opened it. Corey could kiss my ass. With each passing day, I hated him more and more. He was playing games, and I didn’t appreciate it. Star and Serenity were about to get out of school, so I went right back to get them. I could have signed them out when I got Sky, but I chose not to.
I decided that I would take the girls out to dinner. Since I moved back home, we had dinner with my parents every night. I was going to have a dinner with just me and the girls. I wanted to talk to them and see how they were feeling. I knew how Sky felt, but I wanted to allow the others a chance to vent as well. I knew they missed home and their father, but I wasn’t going back to Corey, so we were going to have to figure something out.
After the game when I told Josie about Hymn inviting me to dinner at his house, her loud, dramatic ass almost burst my ear drum screaming. She volunteered to take the girls to the movies then bring them home and put them to bed. I wasn’t sure what she thought would happen at Hymn’s house, but I wasn’t giving him any booty. Yes, he was handsome, respectful, and rich, but it was too soon. I was open to having fun and getting to know him, but I was still very much heartbroken and not looking for a rebound. Having sex with another man might make me feel better in that moment, but it wouldn’t help me get over Corey.
Actually, Corey was helping me to get over Corey. I was so disgusted by his actions that I literally felt the love I had for him fading. However, that didn’t stop the mourning I was doing for the life that I thought I would have with him. Dinner with the girls was wonderful. Sky’s attitude had improved, and it was great to see them smiling and enjoying themselves. After I got them tucked in, I took a long hot shower, and got in bed myself. Even though I was pretty much exhausted, I knew sleep wouldn’t come right away. I was trying to decide between scrolling social media or reading when my phone vibrated in my hand.
Of course, I knew he had my number. We’d talked on the phone before, so I wasn’t sure why I was surprised that he was calling. Clearing my voice, I answered the call. “Hello?”
“Did I wake you?” Hymn sounded like he was on the verge of sleep himself.
“No, you didn’t. You sound tired. Why are you awake?”
Hymn chuckled. A sound that made goosebumps appear on my arms. Why? I had no clue. “I’m extremely tired and usually, I am asleep by now. Maybe I have too much shit on my mind.”
