SAINT BAPTISTE 2: the soul ties series

saint

“Wipe your face, slow down and tell me what happened.”

Semaj, my four-year-old son wiped his frowning face with his hands, took a deep breath and said, “Nami keeps taking my stuff and?—”

“And when we talked about Nami last week... what did I tell you?” I asked, referring to his one year old sister.

His face dropped and his eyes lowered to the floor. “Eyes on me, Semaj.”

Again, he sighed. But then, he lifted his head and put his eyes on me. “That Nami is only a baby. She don’t know any better yet.”

“Right. For now, share with her. When she’s old enough, she’ll learn how to share better, alright?” I said with a nod.

“Okay, Papa.”

Papa. That’s what he called me. That’s what they called me. All three of my children. And when the fourth one was born, I was sure they would call me Papa too.

Semaj ran off to play on the slide with his brother and cousins. I rested against the gate with my arms crossed over my chest, with a smirk. I could only imagine how much of a headache Nami was going to be for him once they grew older. They reminded me of Tasha and I. The way she used to take all of my shit and annoy me. She used to get on my nerves the same way Nami got on Semaj’s. Crazy how one second, I would be fussing at her about fucking with my shit, and later that night getting yelled at by Samuel for sleeping with her because she was afraid of the rain. Wondered if he would make pinky promises with Nami the way I did with Tasha.

Every now and then, I still had to make a pinky promise with her and were grown as hell with families of our own. Tasha was... she was good. Wiser. More of a grown ass woman now at, thirty-two than she thought she was at twenty-six. Age had nothing to do with it though. Maturity came from listening. It took a minute but eventually, she got it right.

I shifted my eyes away from Semaj to put them on Tasha and her two. She was standing behind moms, braiding her hair, while she sat and played with Saint Jr. She was good. Smiling more. The kids made her happy, so we made sure to keep one in her lap. Because she needed to be around people, she stayed with Jahad. They had relocated from Michigan and moved to Houston. However, everybody was here in Florida with us, for the baby shower. Naoki was thirty-two weeks pregnant.. due to deliver our little boy or girl July 30th. We’d decided to keep this one a secret since the last three weren’t.

“Still can’t believe this nigga got all these fuckin’ kids,” Emu said with a smirk. “Shit crazy.”

“Hell yeah it is. He on his daddy daycare shit tonight,” Blaise added, with a laugh

Niggas had been at me about the same shit for four years straight. I let ‘em have it. I loved it here. Hell yeah I was running daddy daycare. Had three with one on the way. I knew it was all love though. They were just in as much amazement as I was. Not about the life. About the kids. About the fact that the nigga they used to call Baby Saint had a Baby Saint and this bitch was flooded with Baby Baptiste’s as Emerald would say.

Business with her was the same.

Except we had expanded and collaborated a little bit too. The Honeycomb problem she wanted to kill me over? I handled it. Years ago, shortly after, The Black Effect event. After I dropped Dion off, I promised to leave a review. However, I didn’t do it through their website. I called the number on the invitation Emerald gave me and left a review there. The agency Jackie hired her through was linked directly to them. I picked that up when I checked Dion’s picture on the profile Jackie sent over. Not only were the names, ‘The Colony’ and ‘The Honeycomb’, similar as fuck, they used the same bee logo, and typography.

Easy. Didn’t have to put in much work. I paid attention to detail...remember?

Once I exposed the flaw in their system, I requested a meeting to discuss how we could make both companies better. That made Emerald happy. She forgave me for all of the bullshit I put her through.

“Hell yeah I am. I love this shit too nigga. Ain’t nothing like giving the wife a break. You wouldn’t know shit about giving ‘the wife’ a break though now would you nigga?” I joked.

Shifted my eyes to B to watch that vein in the middle of his forehead damn near pop. Niggas loved to fuck with me about having three kids back to back, and I liked to fuck with him about what he had going on. Same shit. Different type of situation. A little wilder but... it was the same shit. Blaise was Blaise and always would be Blaise. However, tonight, my comment might’ve hit a little different. Felt like it had. The vein in his forehead didn’t even bulge.

He was alright. As alright as he could’ve possibly been with a bruised ego. He met his match and shit, it had been a joy to watch. Things with him and

“Why you take it there, fré?” He asked, his face falling flat.

“Chin up, pussy. I’m fucking with you.”

Five years had passed, and we were still on the same shit. All of us. At the crib. The only difference about the time period was that I was in Florida now, and that most of us had wives and children. Mine were the only ones running around, wrecking shit because most of these niggas didn’t know what it meant to give their ladies a break. I was cool with it. The joke was more about me deciding to step down than anything though. I caught it. Still had my hand in it. Just not as much... not as often. Refused to deplete myself for an organization I was forced into. These days, I made decisions based on what I wanted to do. Mainly for the betterment of my family. The one I created. They hadn’t come out of that mindset just yet. Nothing had changed about the way I wore my heart on my sleeve. Couldn’t imagine it ever would.

Naoki deserved it. If the world was at my disposal, I would’ve given it to her. She gave me the one thing I didn’t think I’d ever get. A second chance when I didn’t deserve one. That night, when I looked down into her eyes, the answer to my question was no. There hadn’t been enough time. What we needed was another year and a half. At the time, I didn’t realize that the answer was only no for the moment. When I decided to really let go, she showed up at a time that I least expected her to. I wouldn’t say the timing was right when we reconnected. There’s never really a ‘right’ time. For us, the timing... it worked. When she left, I had no idea where she was going. Not too long after she left, I decided to expand on Vault. Miami was perfect. She showed up at the grand opening with that scent on her. Again, I asked if she wore it for me. When she said yes, I knew. I didn’t bother asking if I’d given us enough time. Everything about the moment was the only answer I needed.

Shortly after, Naoki, Sienna and the rest of the women emerged from the house. And... as always... I found myself stuck. Didn’t matter that I had been obsessed with her for ten years. I couldn’t imagine that going anywhere. Shit, that was the reason we had four kids, and probably would end up with four more. I couldn’t keep my hands off her. She didn’t seem to mind it.

Not one fuckin’ bit.

It didn’t take long for her eyes to find mine. In a crowded backyard full of Baptiste women, men, and children we found each other. We always did. And every time we found each other... and had the opportunity to connect like that, we lost time. Gravity too.

“How was the fall fré?” Jahad asked, hitting me with the same question he asked me five years ago, standing in his office.

Jahad was the only way Jahad could ever be. Good. Hands still clean, doing the family and businessman thing. Happy, with a couple extras of his own running around this bitch. They didn’t stop at Dream and Baby Jah.

“Tumultuous, my nigga,” I said with a laugh as I turned to slap hands with him.

He pulled me in for a brotherly embrace and then asked. “If given a chance to fall again, would you?”

I glanced across the backyard at her smile. Found them eyes again. Except, she didn’t find mine. I didn’t want her too. I loved her in her element. Loved to see her light up. Loved to see her shine without walls, barriers, and the ridiculous things that hid that from the world. The true beauty of her. Doubted if anybody could see her the way that I could, still. But at least they could get a glimmer of it. Didn’t really give too much of a fuck about anybody else seeing her anyway. All I’d ever wanted was for her to see her the way that I had. And she could.

“With her?” I asked with a condescending frown. “Of course. Over and over again, nigga.”

Jahad stood beside me, and we watched them. “Konprann.”

The end

Twin flame:

an intense, transformative soul connection, seen as two halves of one soul. This deep bond drives profound personal growth and spiritual awakening through mutual challenges, as both individuals confront their deepest fears, unresolved traumas, and hidden desires.