I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around.
She yelled it loud enough that the people around were tuning in to see what the drama was.
For a split second, everything in me went still. Not because I was in shock, but because I could feel where this was headed if nobody checked her.
Jada stood there like she finally let something out that she had been holding in. Her chest rose up and down. Her eyes stayed locked on me like she wanted me to feel every word she said.
“Girl, you need to relax,” Deja said. Her voice was sharp enough that the music didn’t matter anymore.
Keith was still trying to get us back to the section, but we weren’t moving.
Jada wasn’t moving either.
“Listen,” she said, pointing at my girls. “I’m not talkin’ to y’all, I am talking to her.”
That made the space between us feel even tighter.
People around us were slowing down now, phones angled, attention locked in, waiting for whatever came next.
I took a breath.
Not to calm down, but to make sure my voice didn’t shake.
“I can understand that you can feel hurt, but I am not gonna take the disrespect. Let’s not get it twisted. Nobody stole anything from you. You cheated. Love moved on, and now he is happy with me.”
“Disrespect?” she repeated. “You think this is disrespect? You in here with a smile on your face, building a life that includes my son, and you don’t feel like you need to talk to me?”
Kenya started to respond, but I squeezed her hand slightly without looking at her.
I wasn’t backing down, but I wasn’t about to turn this into a shouting match either because this shit wasn’t about noise, it was about intention.
“I didn’t take anything from you,” I said again, slower this time. “And I don’t owe you anything. Whatever happenedbetween you and Love, that is between y’all. I didn’t get into it, but I did welcome your son with open arms. Don’t bring me into your problem.”
Jada’s eyes narrowed as I walked with Keith back to our section.
“Don’t pay that bitch no mind,” Renee said, looking over, feeling her eyes still locked on me.
“You bet not be,” Kenya added before I could respond. “Because unlike her, we are celebrating. Y’ALL GETTING A HOUSE!”
We all started cheering and clapping, making her madder by the second.
It looked like she was about to crack and wanted to come over and say something else, but the bitch couldn’t get past the bouncer.
Me and my girls stayed in our section, letting her mad ass have the floor while we vibed together, took pics, and talked about people in passing.
Suddenly, my eyes hit the door. The crowd near the entrance started moving, people parting like something was cutting through them.
I was confused as to why everybody was moving like that. Then I saw him.
Love.
Standing at the door, like he already knew exactly what was going on before he walked in.
I looked at Keith.
“I called him,” he said. “I didn’t know what was about to pop off with his BM.”
The music was loud, but it felt like it dropped lower in my ears for a second. I locked eyes with him.
