“A lot has changed since we broke up, but me accepting gifts isn’t one of them. You sure the hell can send something for my baby, and I’ll spend every dime on him.”
The hearty laugh that sounded off through the phone made me chuckle. It felt good to be able to be cordial with people that had hurt me once upon a time. I looked at that as major growth.
“Aight, I’m about to send you something. I’m about to board a flight though. It was good talking to you.”
“You too, Chino.”
Seconds after the call ended, I got a notification via Zelle. My jaw slacked when I saw that Chino had sent me $2,500. I texted and told him thank you. I was going to remain true to my word and spend every last dime of it on my son. If Isaac caught wind of the fact that Chino gave me $2,500 for our son, he’d blow his shit. But we weren’t a couple, and it didn’t really matter to me what he did or didn’t like.
CHAPTER 2
JOSIE
I cutmy eyes into slits while staring at my sister. She slapped her hand over her mouth and giggled lowly. “Yeah,” I continued my phone conversation. “I have a fever, and I’m still in the contagious phase, so I wouldn’t want to give it to you. I’m sorry I had to cancel, but I’ll make it up to you,” I lied.
“Okay beautiful. Feel better. Get some rest.”
“I will. Thank you.” Before disconnecting the call, I pushed out a little cough.
“Girl!” Brion kissed her teeth. “Your lying ass is supposed to have strep throat! What are you coughing for?”
Frustrated, I took one of the throw pillows off the couch and threw it at her. “Shut up!”
That made her laugh harder and of course, her pussy whipped man had to intervene. “Don’t be throwing stuff at my baby’s face. If she gets a bruise, I’m gon’ be mad.”
“Nigga, shut up,” I frowned. “How is that soft pillow going to leave a bruise? You two are sickening.” They were annoying when they teamed up on me, but I was joking for sure when I called them sickening. Ever since my sister met Hymn, he’d been treating her the way she deserved to be treated. The best thing Corey’s hoe ass ever did for her was cheat on her because Idoubt, she would have ever left him otherwise. And leaving him was the best thing she ever did for herself. Corey’s absence made room for a real one in her life.
“Josie, why did you agree to go out with him if you didn’t want to?” Brion asked right before Hymn leaned over and whispered in her ear.
She blushed while giggling. “Okay. I’ll be up in a minute.” He pecked her lips, and I rolled my eyes, opened my mouth, and pretended to stick my finger down my throat.
Hymn stood up, and his laugh came out in a rumble. “We love you too, sis. Stop lying to these men. You’ll never find love like that.”
“But I don’t want to,” I whined kicking my feet like an overgrown toddler having a tantrum.
Hymn cut his eye at my sister. “I hope mental illness doesn’t run in the family.”
I snorted out a laugh as he walked out of the room. Once I was over my fit, I looked at my sister, so I could answer her question. “I was going to try. I promise I was. Joey looks good on paper. He’s a stockbroker, thirty, and never been married. He doesn’t have kids, and he’s not a bad guy at all. Men just have a real bad habit of giving me the ick lately. I just don’t want to be bothered.”
“Well, I’m not going to pretend like I don’t know that feeling. I wasn’t single long after I left Corey, but I know all about men giving a woman the ick. If you can’t see yourself going out with him, definitely don’t force it. There will be plenty of available men at the wedding,” she wiggled her eyebrows making me laugh.
Standing up, I stretched. “Uh uh. Just because you lucked up and got a good one doesn’t mean I’m pro dating athletes or anyone even remotely close to being famous. They are walkingick factors. Anyway, I’m going to get going, so you and your man can be nasty. Bye, I love you.”
“I love you more.” Brion stood, so she could walk me to the door.
Hymn usually lived in Atlanta during the off season but because Brion’s daughters were in school and because his condo wasn’t kid friendly, he rented a house for them while their dream home was being built. Brion didn’t mind staying at the house in Atlanta during the summer, but she wanted to stay in Diamond Cove as near her family as possible, and Hymn was fine with that. For seven years, my sister gave her all to a man that didn’t appreciate her or love her to his fullest potential.
The whirlwind love story that she got to experience with Hymn was nothing short of a fairytale. I wished that could be the reality for every woman that wanted it, but the truth of the matter was, I really believed that it was meant for some of us to be alone. I had never really had an issue with that. It was the people around me that acted as if being single was some cardinal sin or a curse. What I saw most people in relationships go through was enough to make me content with being single, but relationships like the one my parents had, and Brion and Hymn gave me hope. I wasn’t holding my breath, however.
I wasn’t against having fun at all, but it was even getting to a point where I couldn’t find a man worth giving my nookie to. I hadn’t had sex in five months and at the rate I was going, I wouldn’t be having it anytime soon. I had just got my dream car, which was a BMW X6. Life was good. Since I was so busy with my graphic design business and the graphic design classes I’d been teaching, I started baking to relax.
Baking relaxed me so well that I discovered I could make some bomb ass cookies and a pretty damn good apple cobbler. After making the mistake of posting the cookies on social media, I literally had people begging to be able to order them. ThinkingI would only get five or ten orders, I posted cookies for sale, and my orders went crazy. I took a fifteen-minute phone call after posting the link and when I checked it, I had seventy-five orders. I damn near broke my finger switching the cookies to out of stock, so no more orders would come through.
Yes, I made a nice little coin, but I didn’t want baking to become stressful. It was a hobby. I never intended on making it a business, but I had orders to fulfill, so the next day, I’d be up bright and early baking. Since I stepped out on faith and started my own business, financially, each year had been better than the previous year. Being pregnant was something that I wanted to experience at least once but if I never did, I had three beautiful nieces that were like my own kids. With every ounce of determination I had, I was going to build a great life for myself and if I ended up in a relationship, a man would be an added bonus and not something I had to have.
I knew my worth. Any man would be lucky to have me because I was a go getter, spontaneous, and adventurous. I was never going to sit still for too long. My ass might be ziplining in Jamaica today and hiking in Colorado next week. I refused to let life become mundane, boring, or miserable. One thing I got tired of was people asking the question what was wrong with a woman if she couldn’t keep a man. They should have been asking men why the hell they couldn’t keep a woman.
The last time a male played in my face was my freshman year of high school. I knew Brion didn’t regret her kids or the lessons she learned with Corey, but I would be damned if it took me seven years with a slime ball to realize what I deserved. I was grown and established. A man didn’t have one too many times to prove to me that he was worth my time. His ass was gon’ get right or get left.
