Her eyes narrowed. “Six months? Y’all been broken up for about…”
“Six months.” My father completed her sentence. “So, you just finding out?”
“Yeah. She found out a little bit after she was in Houston. I just found out today.”
My mother folded her arms. “I don’t know how I feel about that. And not that I’m questioning the paternity, I just don’t like that she kept it from you. Was there a reason why? And how do you feel about the news?”
“Here she go with the double questions again,” my father said under his breath, but we could both hear.
“Shut up, Princeton. You ain’t sayin’ nothin’,” she fussed at him to which he only smirked.
“I’m waiting on my turn.”
“I’m happy about my baby. I ain’t feeling that she kept it a secret from me for so long though. That shit bothering me a lot.”
“What was her why?”
“She said some bullshit about needing time after the breakup thatsheinitiated. Then some shit that basically made it seem like I make everything about me.”
“You do,” my father said, taking a strawberry and tossing it in his mouth.
“What?”
“You make everything about you,” he replied.
My mother’s lips formed a straight line as she nodded. “Ya daddy would know because he used to do the same shit until I put his ass on ice.”
“Aye.” He slapped her butt. “This ain’t about me, woman.”
“Pop, chill, man.” I shook my head.
“Anyway,” my mother started again. “Does she still trust you, Pryce?”
“Shit. Does it matter?”
“Yeah. It does.”
“It don’t seem like it after this.”
“Then you gotta do something about it, son,” my father added. “Women don’t make those kinds of decisions lightly.”
I rubbed the back of my neck to ease my frustration. “So, we gon’ ignore the fact that she hid a pregnancy and somehow make this my fault?”
“No,” my mother answered. “No, we’re not. She was dead ass wrong, but accountability goes both ways.”
“Ma, what happened during the course of our relationship shouldn’t have any bearings on how she handled this situation.”
“You’re not a woman, Pryce. The way we move won’t always make sense to you and vice versa. But if I don’t know nothing else, I know you love that girl.”
“Son,” my father followed up, “when two people love each other that hard and communication starts to falter, they start protecting themselves instead of the relationship. What yamama is saying is Adai hiding the pregnancy was a reaction to your actions.”
Exhaling, I ran my hand over my waves. I didn’t like how accurate their statements sounded, even though a part of me still wasn’t hearing that shit.
“Hey,” my mother called out, “you want me to whoop her ass?”
My father chuckled. “What happened to the whole ‘he not a woman and some things won’t make sense to him’ stuff, Jessica?”
“I still feel that way, but he’s still my son. I don’t like seeing him sad.”
