Chapter 3
I had to fight the urge not to look at her as she drove, humming along to some R focus on the fact that the first desire in your heart was to be here with your family. That counts for something, Perfect.”
Her reassurance was exactly what I needed to hear. “Thank you, El, for everything. You really didn’t have to do this.”
She gave me a toothless grin. “I know, but I wanted to.” She broke our tether when she lifted her hand. Suddenly, I felt a little cold, but I ignored it. “Now, get out of here. You have a birthday party to crash,” she joked.
After a smile, I nodded and opened the door to let myself out.
I shook all the nerves from my limbs before crossing the street and making the short walk to the front door.
I rang the doorbell and waited patiently until I realized no one was coming to the door.
I heard chatter from nearby and followed the sound until I got to the back gate.
I opened it, and I swear it was like I stepped into another universe.
Star hadn’t shorted Sterling on this experience even a little bit.
I was impressed as I walked deeper into the birthday party.
Kids and adults were all over the place either talking, eating, playing, or enjoying the photobooth set up in the back corner of the yard. My eyes searched the crowd for Starlet.
It took a while, but eventually, I spotted her by the bounce house. She was calling for Sterling with her back turned to me. I saw the perfect opportunity to sneak up on her. I couldn’t contain my smile as I eased up behind her and placed my hands over her eyes.
“Guess who?” I whispered in her ear.
When she spun around, it was like she saw a ghost. All the color literally drained from her cheeks, and her mouth popped open. “P-Perfect . . . what are you doing here?”
She was frozen in place from shock, making me chuckle. “I’m home, mama. I wanted to surprise you and baby boy for his birthday.” I expected her to rush into my arms, but she remained rigidly in place. “You not happy to see me or something?” I finally questioned when it started to feel awkward.
Before she could respond, Sterling ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. I’d seen pictures of him over the years and still couldn’t get over how much he looked like Starlet. He had her entire face, down to the chubby cheeks.
“Mommy, can I have another slice of cake?”
She was still staring at me, but his voice snapped her out of the trance she was in. “Um, yeah, baby. Go ahead.” He took off running without giving me a backward glance. A little piece of my heart chipped away, but I took a deep breath to settle myself. “You gotta go, Perfect.”
My head snapped back in her direction. I noticed her looking around the yard nervously.
I remained grounded in place. I stroked my beard and folded my arms over my chest. “Nah, you gon’ tell me why you acting so weird.
You just told me last night that you couldn’t wait for me to come home, but you ain’t acting like you’re happy at all. ”
She tucked her silky, jet-black hair behind her ear and shook her head. “It’s not that . . . it’s just—”
“What, Star? Spit it out.” My voice was sharper than intended, causing her to jump.
I relaxed my stance, only because I wasn’t trying to intimidate her, but I didn’t like this shit one bit, and I was starting to get this inky feeling in my gut that I couldn’t shake.
My mind was trying to whisper some vile things I was not ready to entertain. Not yet, at least.
Star finally closed the distance between us, but it was only to grab my hand to pull me away, like she didn’t want me to be seen or something. I wouldn’t allow her to, and she stopped when a familiar voice could be heard behind us. “Star, what is he doing here?” her mother, Tony, questioned.
I glanced over to see her standing there with her arms folded over her chest and a scowl on her face. Ms. Tony never liked me, so I expected nothing different.
“I’m here to surprise my girl and son for his birthday. What does it look like?”
Ms. Tony’s head jerked backward before her eyes trickled over to her daughter, who looked like a deer in headlights. She looked like she wanted to disappear. So, she was trying to get me out of here before anyone could see me.
The next voice to speak wasn’t one I was familiar with, but it was what he was saying that really got me. “Aight, baby. Here you go. These pregnancy cravings of yours are getting out of hand. I thought you were bad with Jr., but our baby girl might be taking you through it way worse.”
A short and stocky nigga wearing too much cologne came over with a cup of ice cream that had a pickle shoved in the side of it like a straw.
He was so focused on giving Star the ice cream that he didn’t notice me.
“Pregnancy cravings?” I questioned aloud.
“Yo, Star, you better start fucking talking before I lose my shit.”
The short nigga looked me up and down. “Who the fuck are you, and how you know my girl?”
I chuckled humorlessly. I spat on the ground and swiped my nose. “I was wondering the same fucking thing.” I spoke plainly, looking down at him. The nigga looked like a roach I’d stomped out in the corner of my childhood home.
“Um . . .” Star began to speak, then fell silent when I gritted my teeth. She wouldn’t look me in the eyes, and at that moment, I didn’t need the truth to be aired out. Her guilt was suffocating her.
But Ms. Tony was always messy as hell and stepped into the circle. “Apparently, Perfect here came home from prison to surprise his girl and his son.”
The short nigga laughed like Ms. Tony said a joke. “Something funny?” I questioned calmly.
He bent over, chuckling all by himself. “Hell yeah.” He turned to Star, who still hadn’t moved an inch or uttered a word.
She could feel me looking at her ass and was too afraid to even give me the decency of eye contact as she broke my fucking heart.
“Star, you had this nigga thinking my son was his? My fucking junior?”
The longer I stood there watching Star stare at the grass, the harder it became to breathe.
I shook my head and began to back away. “You got it, dawg. Guess I was the fool, but Star . . .” When I called her name, she finally found the courage to look at me.
I ignored the tears in her eyes—the same tears that used to bring me to my knees—and felt disgust. “You’re fucking dead to me. ”
Without another word, I turned and stomped out of the yard.
I couldn’t believe I’d been her fool for seven fucking years.
While I was locked down, thinking I had a family to come home to, she was starting one with another nigga.
She played her role so fucking well. I never saw this shit coming.
I wasn’t sure where I was going as I hit the street, but I just started walking.
My mind was going a mile a minute, so I don’t even know how many honks it took for me to realize El had pulled up on the side of me. She rolled the passenger window down. “What you still doing here?”
She shrugged. “I stayed to make sure you didn’t need a ride back to the city.”
I ran a hand down my face. “I don’t know what made you stay, but thank you.” She unlocked the doors to let me in. I sank into her seat, and the weight of what I’d found out started to press down on me.
“Where to?” she asked.
I shrugged. I didn’t even have anywhere to go, because I planned to move in with my woman.
I chuckled dryly in shock. “You can just drop me off at the first motel you see, and I’ll figure out my next move from there.
” I went into my pocket and pulled out two twenty-dollar bills from the stash I’d dug up when I was released. “For gas.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want your money, and I’m not dropping you off at a motel either.
” I could feel her studying me, but I was still reeling from the revelation that I not only wasn’t a father, but Star wasn’t who I thought she was.
“You hungry?” I shrugged because it was hard to even think right now.
El eased off the brake. “Alright, you can come home with me. I’ll feed you, and you can figure out your next step from there. Not some ratty motel.”