Chapter 8
“You have reached the voicemail of—”
I hung up when the voicemail picked up again. I swear this girl loved to run my blood pressure up.
“Sis still ain’t answering your calls?” Logic asked with humor laced in his tone. He thought the shit was hilarious while I was ready to pull out my guns and start murkin’ niggas from how angry I was.
“I’m trying my hardest to hold it together, but I’ma fuck around and choke her ass.
I don’t know what the hell has gotten into her, but she’d better get her mind right, and fast.” I huffed as I sent her another text message.
Lyric had been ignoring me for the past thirty-six hours, and I was ready to crash out.
“You want me to call her?”
“She ain’t gon’ answer because she knows you’re with me. Her little ass obviously wants to see another side of me, and I’m about to give her exactly what she’s asking for.”
Lyric had been gone for almost two days, and she thought she was slick.
She sent a message on Friday morning to tell me she was going on a trip with her girls and that Noodle would be staying with my granny.
We lived in the same fucking house, so there was no reason for her to sneak out unless she was doing some shit she had no business.
She checked in with my granny to make sure baby girl was straight, but she had been straight-up dodging my calls and messages.
“What’s the real issue here? I mean, I understand you feel like she’s movin’ funny, but how so? From where I’m sitting, she got a babysitter, made sure little mama had everything she needed to get through the weekend, and she’s been checking in on her. Why are you trippin’?”
I glanced in Logic’s direction, ready to go off when I knew I had no right to.
The truth was she hadn’t technically done anything wrong, but I didn’t like the way she was moving.
Lyric was grown and had every right to take trips and kick it, but I wasn’t stupid.
There was a reason she never mentioned it to me, and it would only be a matter of time before I found out what the reason was.
“I see the veins in your forehead pulsating. Lil’ sis got you fucked up out here.
” Logic chuckled, taking a sip of the liquor in his cup.
We were kicking it at his house as I tried to get my mind right.
My sleep had been fucked up since Lyric left, and it was worse because my baby girl wasn’t home either.
If this was the preview of what it would be like if they left, I would make sure they never moved out.
“Man, this shit has me stressed out. Bianca hit me up begging to suck my dick, but my head was so fucked up I told her no. I even got a proposition for a threesome, and I shot them down after I saw a video of Lyric twerking in a club. She got me blocked from her page, but her friends don’t.
I’ve been watching their shit from a backup page, waiting for them to slip up and show me something important.
” I sounded like a stalker, but I didn’t care.
This shit had my chest tight, and I was on the verge of losing my cool.
“Damn, nigga. You sound like you cheated on your bitch, and now she’s getting her lick back. You’ll be alright. The problem is you keep tryna act like you ain’t in love with that girl and now you’re realizing how serious this shit really is.”
“What you tryna say?”
“Come on, East. We’ve been boys since the sandbox, and nobody knows me like you and Nauri.
The same goes for the two of you. I’m not sure when your feelings shifted, but it’s clear as day that they’ve changed.
Lyric is like a sister to me, but you can’t look me in the eyes and tell me you see her the same way.
You look at her as if she’s a fragile piece of glass that you have to keep safe. ”
I dragged my hand over my beard as he broke it all down to me.
“When she first moved in with you, things might have been on the up and up, but I can see it in your eyes that you want her. The only thing I don’t understand is why you wouldn’t make your move if that’s the way you feel.
You’re torturing yourself for no reason when I know she feels the same way about you.
Hell, Lyric has been crushing on you for years, and you know it. ”
“It’s complicated, LJ. You and Keynauri are the only brothers I’ve ever known, and our brotherhood means everything to me.
You know how he feels about his little sister, and he’s trusting us to look out for her while he’s away.
I’m not tryna beef with my brother for crossing a line I know I don’t have any business crossing. ”
“Have you talked to him about your feelings? I mean, I can understand him feeling some type of way because she’s growing up and he isn’t here to protect her, but he knows the kind of nigga you are.
I’m sure he would rather her fuck with a nigga he can trust than one of these lames out here.
I mean, she already got a baby with a fuck nigga, whoever he is.
You’ve stepped up for not only Lyric, but her daughter too.
I can’t see him trippin’ too hard about it.
“I don’t know. I think you should talk to him about it.
At the end of the day, she’s grown, and you are too.
If y’all decide to take it there, you don’t need his permission.
All I’m saying is that I think it’s crazy for the two of you to be living in the same house, raising a baby together, and still denying y’all feelings for one another. Make it make sense.”
Logic sparked a blunt, then passed it over to me.
I sat there thinking about my feelings for Lyric.
It wasn’t something I ever acknowledged out loud, so I wasn’t sure what to do.
Like Logic said, my feelings for her shifted when she moved in with me.
At first, all I wanted to do was protect her and help her get through a difficult time in her life.
As her pregnancy progressed, I felt an attachment to her I couldn’t explain.
She became my priority, and in making sure she was taken care of, I started developing feelings for her.
When she gave birth to Symphonee, my feelings grew more as I watched her step into motherhood.
She was determined to do everything right, and it made me care for her more.
We bonded over our love for baby girl, and I started to see her as a woman and not a child.
“Lyric ain’t ready for a nigga like me. She’s young, and I don’t just mean in age, but mentally too.
She’s been through a lot of shit, and sometimes I think it plays a big role in the way she handles things.
I like bitches who know how to communicate.
I’m too fucking grown for temper tantrums and childish ass games.
Do I love her? Yes. Do I think she’s ready to be in a relationship?
I don’t know. She wants to be in the clubs every weekend, and you know I’m not into that shit.
We might only be three years apart, but that shit makes a difference when it comes to maturity levels. ”
The first time Lyric and I had sex, I wanted to lock her down and make her my woman, but she simply wasn’t ready.
She loved to party and be outside with her friends.
There was nothing wrong with it, but we were in two different stages in life.
We were complete opposites in our personalities.
She was loud, wild, and extroverted, while I was the complete opposite.
I didn’t like to be in the spotlight, and I hated drama.
Meanwhile, Lyric stayed beefing with bitches online.
There was always so much bullshit going on with her and her hoe-ass friends.
“You might be right, but I still think you should be honest about how you feel. It’s obvious she’s tryna get your attention while you’re still tryna act like you aren’t feeling her. She might change up how she carries herself if you keep it real with her,” Logic suggested.
“Naw, I’m cool for now. She needs to focus on school and on raising Noodle.
Plus, we’re about to open up these new businesses, and I don’t have time for any distractions.
Our money is about to triple in the next year, and I want to give it my full attention.
If we’re meant to be, the shit will work itself out.
In the meantime, she’d better get her mind right.
” It took everything in me not to hop on a flight and show my ass, but I was gonna let her make it.
“What’s got you so stressed out, Grandson? You done huffed three times since you’ve been here.” Granny Nessa probed as she fed my Noodle baby.
“Her momma is stressing me out.”
“What seems to be the problem?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily call it a problem.
We just aren’t on the same page. She has been going out partying with her friends almost every other weekend.
She came home at two in the morning a couple of weeks ago, then had to get up a few hours later to go to class.
Then when I try to talk to her about it, she gets defensive as if I’m calling her a bad mother, when I’m tryna get her to see there are more important things to do besides shaking her ass around a bunch of niggas,” I vented.
“Was she late for class?”
“No.”
“Did she leave you with the baby without asking?”
“No, I told her I would keep my baby,” I replied, trying to see where her line of questioning was going.
“Then tell me what the problem is. She went out on a weekend day, made sure her baby was straight, got up, and took her tail to class even though she was probably hungover. Am I missing something?”
Granny fed my baby girl some smothered chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. Her little butt was tearing it up as if she hadn’t eaten all day.