Page 209 of Own It

“Girl, please. Trying being the operative word. That man introduced her to us as the homie when Talid mistakenly called her his girl,” Shardaya informed, causing us to giggle while shaking our heads.

Morgin would never learn, but she was no longer my associate to attempt to steer or advise.

“Aye, Divine said she gotta use the bathroom.” Josias walked up, and I tried to suppress my laughter at the sight of Kasia rolling her eyes, because I kind of felt bad for him. The man was trying, but he deserved everything Kasia was doing to him.

“Okay? You’re her father. What do you do when she’s at your house and I’m not there, Josias?” Kasia’s lip curled as she turned to stare up at him.

“She said she want you.” He pushed his dreads back only for them to come right back swinging in his face again.

“Too bad. I’m eating.” Kasia turned around, and Josias stared down at the back of her head for a while.

“Keep popping shit and watch me punch ya ass in the back of that big ass head,” he said, swaggering off.

“Fu—” Kasia caught herself from yelling obscenities across a child’s party. “I cannot stand him.”

“Sure.” Shardaya lifted her brows.

“It’s like he cannot understand that I don’t want his stupid ass. He’s been following me and finding dumb ass reasons to speak with me since I got here. This man has Divine on his own for weeks on end but wants me to believe she only wants me to take her to the bathroom?” She scoffed as we laughed.

“It’s not funny, but it is at the same time,” I admitted. “So you really are done, or is this just to give him a hard time?”

“Both.” She ate some of her barbecue meatballs. “I was miserable in that circus with him, and it feels good to be out of it. Also, I like seeing him suffer. Now he knows how it feels to want someone who is paying attention to someone else.”

“I know that’s right.” Téa bobbed her head. “I know Shaun is a popular name, but I been hearing about a Shaun that’s planning to apparently pull the rug from under Rah. I didn’t wanna say anything myself because I just got cool with the Godfreys. Can’t have them suspicious of me again.”

“I get it, girl.” I giggled. “I hope that’s not my ex, and I also hope it’s a lie,” I said, all kinds of shit journeying through my mind.

If it was Shaun, he was a fool, but at the same time, punks, fools, and pussies had successfully killed some great people.

We continued talking about almost everything until we finished our meals. By that time, AJ was out of the jumper, so I was able to tell him happy birthday and that his uncle and I had bought him more than a few gifts.

For the next hour or so, we played games, sang happy birthday to AJ, and watched him open what seemed like hundreds of gifts.

I noticed Morgin was laden with jealousy watching LaMia, Ayan, AJ, and Ayanna laugh and enjoy the gift opening portion of the event, but what the fuck did she expect? She loved being a side chick but hated being in a side chick’s place. Sure, LaMia and Ayan were no longer a thing, but the nigga was calling her ass the homie, a far cry from girlfriend and especially wife.

“Téa told me there is a Shaun that’s supposedly about to like . . . take you out or trying to.”

Rakim snickered, severing some cake with the green plastic fork. “I know. One of my grocers Freddie told me. Been fun watching ya lil ex think he doing something.”

“Huh?”

“Just know I got that shit under control, so we can discuss something else.”

I was gonna probe more but decided against it. Rakim’s morbid smile and relaxed demeanor told me I didn’t need to worry or stick my nose in some shit I didn’t even know about before this afternoon.

“How do you feel about that?” I jutted my chin out toward Mylo and Téa clearly flirting over a game of dominoes.

“I’m straight.” Rakim ate a forkful of cake. “They grown, and Zaire never mentioned her to me nor were they in some long-term shit. Can’t really enforce some shit I ain’t know about.”

“Yeah.” I agreed before catching wind of him taking even more big ass bites of my cake. “I told you to get your own, Rah!” I stared down in mortification at my cake that had dropped several sizes after only two bites from him.

“I ain’t expect that lil shit to hit the way it did.” He ascended from the table that only we’d been seated at while everyone else sat elsewhere or mingled. “Reminds me of yo’ pussy.” He spoke against the shell of my ear before kissing it and swaggering off to fetch me another piece.

“Nigga, please. You knew it’d hit the way it did,” I called out to his back confidently, enjoying the way his fine, chocolate ass laughed.

I waited, somewhat impatiently, laughing at the sight of Kasia rolling her eyes nonstop as Josias stood near her, bumping his gums. Talid and Shardaya were slow dancing, and the kids were playing Twister and board games—Josias Jr., Talid’s son Khalid, and Ayan Jr. having a screaming match.

Morgin was looking miserable, seated by herself while Ayan monitored a miniature game of Operation between his daughter, Ayanna, and Josias’s youngest, Julianna.