Her nostrils flared. “I hate how you put her on a fucking pedestal. Like she’s too good for me to mention—”
“It aint her fault that you want her nigga. You can never make that make sense, man.”
“No, you got it twisted,” she claimed. “I love you and all, but this aint about that. If you was the daddy that you’re supposed to be for JJ, then you’d have all the act-right out of me. I’m fighting for my baby, because I know what it feels like to be rejected by the ones that’s supposed to love you the most. And I don’t want my son to grow up, and be all fucked up, like me. So, yes, I’m on your ass, Jahrein. Because if I let up, then JJ would never see you. Hell, he barely knows you now.”
“Okay, and you honestly believe that showing up here is gonna change anything?”
“Yes, and no. This was just to remind you that I can easily pull up, and it could’ve easily been while you were with Raven. And honestly…the more I think about it, the more I think that I’d prefer that she knows. Y’all might go through something, but then you’d have no reason to exclude him. I’m cool with JJ going over to y’all house.”
I narrowed my gaze. “You know damn well that shit would never be that simple. As much as you muthafuckas try to paint her out to be weak-minded or gullible, she’s none of that shit. She wouldn’t just welcome JJ in with open arms. And I wouldn’t expect her to.”
“Okay.” Her lashes fluttered. “So, what happens if she finds out, regardless?”
“Ion know.” I shrugged.
She bit the corner of lip. “What if she doesn’t want you to deal with JJ?”
I shrugged again.
Her eyes lowered into slits. “The fuck does that mean? What would you do if she told you that she can’t accept JJ, Jahrein?”
“Shit, she just wouldn’t accept him, then.” I bucked my eyes.
“And that wouldn’t be a deal breaker for you?”
“A deal breaker?”
“Yeah. I mean, I know that he’s a secret, but you provide a roof over our heads. He sees you, and knows that he has a daddy. So, I wanna know if that would change, if she ever found out.”
“Ion know, Tyra.”
“You don’t know?” Her lips angrily curled. “So, you sitting there saying that you might walk away from your son, if she said so?”
I scratched the side of my face, keeping my thoughts to myself, because I knew that I was wrong as fuck. Little did she know, but her not telling Raven was probably the best thing for her. Because if Raven knew about him, then there would be nothing to hold over my head. And then I’d probably do nothing more than serve as a wallet. Because the threat of telling Raven was all the power she had on her side.
“Look, man, we’ll cross that bridge, if and when we get there.”
“So, you don’t have no real plans of letting JJ meet your other kids?”
“Not anytime soon.” I kept it real.
She sighed. “Is there a part of you that’s okay with walking away from JJ?”
I didn’t answer that.
She took a deep breath. “What if you had to choose?”
“What chu mean?” I furrowed a brow.
“I’m saying. What if Raven made you choose? Either her or JJ.”
“Ion know how you want me to answer that.”
She clenched her teeth. “I want the fucking truth.”
“Well, the truth is that it’s not just Raven and JJ. I have five kids—”
“Six!” She shouted, while loudly clapping her hands. “You havesixfucking kids! I’m tired of you fucking excluding my son!”
