Apricot

Chapter 12 Uno

UNO

I glanced down at my watch while my left leg bounced anxiously. “The lawyer is going to call,” Apricot assured from beside me.

I looked over at her and chuckled. “I can’t check the time?”

“You’ve checked the time ten times in the past thrity minutes. I think it’s cute though,” she smiled. “I love that you’re so worried about my father. I would say you’re the son he never had, but it turns out that he has one.”

I placed a fist in front of my mouth and laughed. “That was shady as fuck shawty.”

Apricot shrugged passively. “I do have a brother. I spent all these years thinking my father didn’t have a son, but he does.”

I stared straight ahead and watched Kiwi and Ace play.

Apricot and I brought the kids to the park.

They didn’t know we were dating exclusively, but we weren’t going to wait to get them used to one another.

The judge had finally given Mr. Jennings a bond after he sat for two days, and Apricot’s mother put the house up as collateral for him.

His lawyer already told her that he was going to try to use Mr. Jennings’ health to shoot for very strict house arrest, but we weren’t holding our breath.

Mr. Jennings had been flooding the streets of North and South Carolina with coke for decades.

It wasn’t likely that a judge was gon’ give him a pass like that, but he had money, and pull, so we would see.

Once he was released on bond, his lawyer could push his trial date back for at least a year.

It was fucked up that after all the years I hustled, I got caught right before my exit from the game.

But I knew the consequences of my actions, and I had been prepared to do my time like a G.

I never would have dropped Mr. Jennings’ name or anybody else’s.

The fact that he went down to the police station and took the charge for me was some unexpected shit for sure.

I assumed he was trying in a sense to right some of his wrongs.

My father wasn’t around, but I had been looking up to Mr. Jennings for years.

I respected him as a businessman. I never crossed lines because he was my boss and that was what it was, but our relationship had definitely changed.

Apricot’s phone rang, and she wasted no time picking it up from her lap.

She was just as anxious as I was about her father’s release, but she was trying to play it cool.

I kept my eyes on the kids while she held a conversation with the lawyer.

When she ended the call, I could hear the smile in her tone.

“My dad is home. We can stop by there when we leave here. I told Kiwi he was in the hospital, and she is more than ready to see him.”

I bobbed my head. “I promised the kids ice cream. After we get that, I’m going to drop Ace off at home. You and Kiwi can have some alone time with your pops, and I’ll stop by after I leave Ace.”

Apricot smiled and placed a kiss on my lips. She stood up and called for the kids. We drove separate cars. In the car on the way to the ice cream spot, Ace became his usual inquisitive self. “Is Ms. Apricot your girlfriend?”

“My girlfriend? No, but we are dating. Why do you ask?”

“Because I like her, and I told you, you need a girlfriend.”

That got a laugh out of me. “You are too obsessed with me having a girlfriend. I have to take my time and make sure she’s the right one. But I do like Apricot. You like her, what about Kiwi?”

“She’s cool,” Ace shrugged. “I guess she’d make an okay stepsister.”

That made me laugh even louder than before. “Stepsister? Slow down, G. We just started dating.”

“I’m just throwing it out there,” he stated knowingly.

“You are funny, kid.” I shook my head.

I had never had Ace around anyone that I was dealing with, but I was pleased at how smooth the transition was.

He adapted well, and Kiwi was a cool kid.

Bri had hit me up a few times, and I was trying to think of a way to let her down easy.

Bri was a cool chick, but she wasn’t it for me.

I never wanted to be that guy. The kind that strung women along and gave them false hope.

Something was telling me that Bri’s sudden clinginess was about more than her being a nympho.

“Call me before you go to bed,” I glanced over at Ace before he got out of my car.

“I got you, dad.”

The way Ace made me smile was crazy. That kid was something else. I went straight to Mr. Jennings’ house, and Apricot let me in. “Hey. He’s in the living room eating dinner.”

When I walked in the living room, Mr. Jennings was sitting in his favorite recliner eating chicken, rice, green beans, candied yams, and cornbread. He had a fresh shave and haircut. He actually looked good, and I was shocked.

“What’s up, OG? You look good.”

He chuckled. “I decided to stop wallowing in pity and get back on track. Sitting in a jail cell gave me a lot of time to think.”

I sat down on the couch and peered at him. “What made you do that? I mean, the charge was mine. I was going to eat it.”

“I know you were. I’ve lived in the lap of luxury for the past twenty plus years.

Hell no, I don’t want to sit in a rank ass prison cell for years, but you gotta take the good with the bad.

I lived my life. Visited more than fifty countries.

I’ve eaten the finest foods, and had the pleasure of raising my daughter. I want the same for you.”

“Wow. I really didn’t expect that.”

“I didn’t expect to do it. When I went down there, and they told me you didn’t have a bond, the shit just fell off my lips.”

“I appreciate you. Real shit. If there’s ever anything I can do for you all you have to do is say the word.”

“There’s no pressure, but I sure would like for a nice young man to come along and give my daughter and granddaughter the world.”

With a chuckle, I shook my head lightly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Mr. Jennings and I chatted for another twenty minutes, then I said my goodbye’s and left.

I had enough money to be straight for a while, but I didn’t see the need of waiting to start getting my businesses off the ground.

I planned to get up early the next day and begin putting things in motion.

On the drive home, I found myself wishing there was a way that Mr. Jennings could get out of this shit without having to do prison time, but the only way I could think of was him turning informant. And he was too G for that.

The next day, I was at home playing around with my website, ordering business cards, and looking at office equipment.

Apricot was beside me on the couch with her laptop resting on her thighs.

She worked from home most days and from what she said, her job was pretty easy.

Apricot got a notification, and she picked her phone up off the couch and looked at the screen.

“DJ found me on Facebook and sent me a message,” she announced.

“What did he say?”

“He said he has something to tell me.”

I looked over at her. “Find out what the tea is,” I jested.

Apricot laughed. “I know right, there’s no telling what he has to say, but I’m going to hear him out and be nice.

It’s not his fault our father cheated on my mother with his mother.

He didn’t do anything to me. I’ve been thinking I was the only child for almost thirty years, and I actually have a brother. It’s insane.”

I bobbed my head. “That’s what’s up. Hopefully the two of you will hit it off and become close.”

I became lost in the documents that I was looking over when Apricot tossed her laptop onto the couch and leaned forward. Her phone was in her hand, and her brows were furrowed.

“What the hell? Yoooo, this little nigga has me fucked up.”

“What did he say?” I instantly went into protection mode.

Apricot didn’t respond right away. She continued to stare at the phone. I was about ready to take it from her to see what she was looking at myself, but she finally spoke.

“I was going to ask if we could link, but that’s not even necessary.

I can tell you this shit now. It’s not your fault, and I hate for you to have to find out this way, but it’s crazy how the man I was named after deserted me to raise someone that isn’t even his.

Your mother cheated on my father and had the paternity test results tampered with.

He found out the truth later and though he was pissed, he didn’t leave your mother or you.

Devin Jennings Senior is a bitch nigga. Once I turned eighteen, he cut my mother off financially, but you live like a princess. Make that shit make sense.”

I stood up and grabbed my keys. “I don’t know the first thing about that nigga, but I’m gon’ find out who he is, where he is, and beat his muhfuckin’ ass,” I promised.

“What’s the point?” she inquired with dipped brows. “Even if he did it in a messed up way, at least somebody thought enough of me to tell me the truth.”

“You believe him?”

“Yeah, I do. Having some kind of red hair gene or not, I don’t look shit like my father.

Nothing like him meanwhile DJ has his whole fucking face.

And I don’t really look that much like my mother either.

Hearing my grandparents talk about how my father used to deny me because of my hair…

” her voice trailed off as she shook her head. “My life is an entire shit show.”

Sitting back down, I gently took the phone from her hand and placed it on the couch. “That’s some bullshit if I ever heard it. You heard about your father treating you different, but you don’t remember that shit. He raised and loved you as if you were his own. That has to count for something.”

“Why can’t I just be happy?” tears spilled over her eyelids. “It’s always some bullshit. How could they do this to me?”

I didn’t have an answer for her. Gently, I pulled her into my arms and let her bury her face into my chest. “Don’t assume the worst, Apricot.

You know how you’ve never told Kiwi about her real father because he’s a piece of shit that didn’t deserve to ever have the privilege of knowing her.

Maybe they’re protecting you. That nigga just wanted to ruin your day.

Don’t give him the satisfaction. Dry your tears and go holla at your people. ”

Apricot sat up and lightly laughed through her tears. “I’ve been nothing but a drama filled mess since the day you met me. My family has the most drama and baggage, huh?”

“It’s nothing I can’t deal with. Go talk to your people. Who’s going to feel your wrath first?” I joked.

“Definitely my mother. She has a lot of explaining to do. Especially since she acted like she didn’t know about DJ. Like, she seemed genuinely shocked. I’m so confused.”

I almost offered to go with her but felt she needed privacy.

Whether he was her biological father or not, I could tell Mr. Jennings loved Apricot.

To me, that mattered more than if she came from his nut sack, but I couldn’t blame her for wanting to know the truth.

Apricot picked the laptop up and went back to pecking at the keys.

“I need to finish responding to these emails first because if I hear the wrong thing and it pisses me off, then nothing else is getting done.”

Maybe she was being responsible. Maybe she was stalling.

Whatever she was doing, all I could do was respect it.

Apricot left fifteen minutes later, and I told her to call me if she needed me.

I left right after her to meet Shiloh at a wing spot.

He was going to go in depth with teaching me about the trucking business.

When I pulled up, he was already parked and sitting in his car.

We exited our vehicles at the same time.

“I was just about to call you. You might want to go somewhere else my boy.”

“Why?”

“Bri just literally walked in there two minutes ago.”

I waved his comment off. “I’m not scared to see Bri. I’ve been ducking her phone calls, but it is what it is. I have to holla at her sooner or later anyway. It’s not like she can even be mad. I know Bri got niggas.”

“Obviously, you’re her favorite.”

“Well, she’s going to have to get over it.”

We entered the restaurant, and Bri was at the counter with her back to the door.

Instinctively, she turned and looked over her shoulder.

When she saw me, something flickered in her eyes.

Bri stared for a moment without moving. As Shiloh and I inched toward the counter, she turned all the way around to face me and folded her arms across her chest.

“I did something to you?” she asked with eyes full of attitude and her tone laced with venom. “I don’t even call niggas first let alone call them more than once. You got me fucked up, Uno.”

I used my thumb to scratch at my eyebrow. “Can I order my food? Then, we’ll step outside and have a conversation.”

Bri didn’t say anything. She stepped off to the side and still had a deep frown etched on her face.

By the time I ordered my food, the cashier was handing Bri hers.

She sauntered out of the restaurant swinging her hips extra hard.

Following her lead, I moved toward the door.

When we were outside, she looked me up and down waiting for me to speak.

“I apologize, Bri. The times you called me I was occupied, and it slipped my mind to hit you back. I’ve had a lot on my plate and my mind.”

“I’m sure you had a lot on your dick too,” Bri snaked her neck. “I was at the jail waiting for you to be released, gave you a ride home, and haven’t heard from you since. I know you’ve been fucking somebody.”

I wasn’t trying to argue with Bri, so I kept my tone even and polite. “I appreciate you being concerned and coming to check on a nigga, but I didn’t ask you to do that. You already know I would have gotten home regardless of if you came or not.”

“Who’ve you been fucking, Uno?”

With a chortle, I subtly shook my head. “Bri, I’ve never once in my life asked you who you were fucking. I appreciate you, and I have love for you. But we gotta end this. I swear I don’t want any hard feelings.”

“There aren’t any hard feelings. There aren’t any feelings at all. Fuck you.”

Bri strutted off, and I went back inside the restaurant. Shiloh was seated in a booth with our food on the table. His eyes darted across my face. “I don’t see any red marks or any blood. She didn’t slap the taste out of your mouth?”

“Yeah right,” I scowled sliding into the booth. “Bri isn’t crazy. Putting her hands on me probably never crossed her mind. She’s mad not stupid.”

“I hear you, homie. You ready to get down to business?”

“I was born ready.”