Page 190 of Own It

“Great. So I want you and Darron to meet up and make amends so that you will be comfortable by the time I decide to introduce him to Divine.”

My stomach dropped one hundred feet as those words spilled from her mouth.

“Nah. Fuck that. I already met him, and I don’t like his ass. So Divine won’t ever meet or be around that nigga.” I shook my head profusely as if she could see me.

“Josias, you didn’t meet him. You popped up talking shit and beat him up. He is willing to forgive and be cordial for the sake of me and Divine. Now, I don’t plan to introduce her any time soon, but I figured the earlier we start working on you guys’ relationship, the better it will be when that time comes. However, if you don’t want that, it is up to you, but it will not prevent me from introducing Divine to any man that I deem important and that is gonna be a part of my life.”

I was seething on the other end, not even knowing what the fuck I wanted to say because she was right. I could be combative and uncooperative all I wanted, but at the end of the day, Divine was her child too.

Not to mention, I worked way more than her, and now that she and I were only co-parenting, I was forced to stick to my week and a half with Divine per month. Before, I could drop by and sometimes be with my daughter all day, every day, for months straight, but that wasn’t possible now that Kasia and I weren’t fucking with one another.

“Baby, can we talk at the least? You got pissed then just shut a nigga out, and now you got a nigga in ya life that you think is worth introducing to Divine already? You ain’t even give me a chance to correct our shit!”

“I did. For years, I gave you several opportunities—most of them you didn’t even deserve. And I didn’t say she would be meeting him now. I explained you two needed to mend fences so when the time comes, there won’t be an issue. Letting this one-sided beef fester will only make things difficult in the long run.”

“The long run.” I scoffed. “So you plan on keeping that bitch ass nigga around for the long run, huh?” I chuckled mirthlessly, running my hand down my face in exasperation. “Ain’t shit I can do to sway you as far as us?”

“No. Think about what I said and let me know. I have to clock in. Bye.” She hung up quickly, causing me to squeeze the damn life out of this iPhone.

I sat there for a moment before the time on my phone caught my eyes. Standing to my feet, I trod to the bathroom to brush, floss, and rinse with mouthwash before getting dressed and dipping out.

Before I went to the Baking Co., I had to drop some money off to Zaire’s baby mama since Rakim explained she had yet to open a bank account. Bitch was probably in Chex systems or some shit with her fraud ass. I knew Rakim had gotten a DNA test, but for some reason, I just didn’t trust this random bitch. I knew it was my protectiveness, but I couldn’t eradicate the feeling no matter how hard I tried.

Parking at her new apartment complex, I shook my head as I climbed out. Checking my phone for her apartment number, I made my way up and then rang her doorbell.

“How you doing?” A woman sauntering down the hallway smirked at me flirtatiously.

“What’s good?” I threw out dryly, not even feeling like myself.

I was a friendly ass nigga, especially when new pussy was around, but lately, I wasn’t into that shit. Only thing I wanted to do as of late was make money and spend time with my kids.

“Oh. Wow.” Téa opened the door, taking me in. “You look exactly like him.”

“That’s the meaning of identical twins.” I fake smiled, pushing my locs out of my face as I reached the money out to her.

“Okay, smart ass.” She turned her lip up. “Y’all personalities surely ain’t identical.” She took the bank bag and peered inside.

“Fuck you don’t have a bank account like my brother asked? What you got going on?”

“I just haven’t made the time, but I will. You can stop with the accusatory look. Your brother already got confirmation that I wasn’t lying.”

“Man, we gon’ really see once that lil nigga drop.” I frowned, not making a lick of sense.

“You know, instead of trying to make this a bad thing, you should be embracing it.” She folded her arms. “Zaire would want you to be nice to me.”

She was right, but I wouldn’t admit the shit aloud.

“Don’t act like you know my brother better than I do. You spent one night with him. He and I shared a womb, lil mama.” I stared down into her face.

“Yep. You did. So keep playing with me, and I will take your ass to court for child support. Considering you share his exact DNA, you my baby daddy too. Ain’t that the meaning of identical twins?” She hiked a brow, and before I could respond, she slammed the door in my face.

Smart-mouthed ass bitch. I could hear Zaire laughing at me from above, causing me to fight the smirk threatening to appear.

Stalking off, I retrieved my iPhone and shot off a text.

Me: I don’t like this Taya bitch.

Rah: Its spelled Téa and she must’ve checked yo’ hating ass.