Ajaih #2
Nurse Carter left the room, and moments later, I heard his voice and another very familiar voice, Dro.
The curtain shifted, and there he was, the man who had never treated me like a burden but instead reminded me that I saved his life.
Dro was heavy in the streets before I was born, and once he was forced to become a single teen dad, he started making better decisions that wouldn’t land him in jail or us in a grave.
He was still in the streets because it was in his blood, but he moved smarter and left drug dealing alone, opting to clean his dirty money by opening profitable businesses.
By the time I could talk, Dro had opened multiple companies, including several barbershops, car washes, washeterias, and gas stations.
His latest venture was a full-scale grocery store that specialized in carrying fresh meat, produce, and products from local Black farmers and business owners.
Dro cared enough to change his life to be in mine, while Kimberly cared so little that she ran.
All six-foot-something of my dad was standing there dressed in a Ralph Lauren suit with a cashmere Burberry trench coat, jaw clenched, eyes scanning me like he could fix this with just a look.
My heart broke a little. I wasn’t a kid anymore, but something in me still needed him like I was.
“Damn, babygirl,” his voice cracked, “You scared the hell outta me.”
I gave a weak smile. “Scared myself too.”
He sat in the chair beside the bed and took my hand, calloused and warm. “What happened?”
I hesitated, chewing the inside of my cheek. The words felt heavy. Sticky. But they had to come out.
“She called me,” I whispered.
Dro tensed instantly, “Kim?”
I nodded.
His jaw locked and face turned to stone as if Medusa was looking through his soul. “What did she want?”
I looked away, hesitant to answer. “To connect,” I said bitterly, “But mostly to see if I was a match for her daughter, who needs a bone marrow donor. The one she kept.”
He let out a slow, low breath and sat back, rubbing his face, “That bitch has more nerve than the law should allow,” anger seeping from his pores, “She left out the hospital like a thief in the night, we were both kids but I was prepared to do whatever was necessary to provide a home filled with love and comfort for the three of us.”
“That’s not the kicker, though, Dro.” his eyes shot over to me, brow raised. “She hasn’t told her husband about me, or the kids. I’m her dirty little secret. A plan to save one daughter while not caring that she continues to ruin and hurt the other one.”
Dro was quiet. I think he was trying not to explode, but I’d been joined to his hip my whole life, so I knew nothing was scarier than when Dro got silent.
“Babygirl, I know you’re in pain, and I can only imagine how much, but that bitch can’t ruin what God has made so beautifully perfect. You are a light that shines so warm and brightly that I’m grateful to have raised you, fuck her,” he said, kissing my forehead.
“I told her I’d get tested,” I added, “But not for her, for my sister. Like I really have a brother and sister I can’t wait to meet, and that part confuses me the most,” I finished, my brow furrowed.
He nodded slowly, “That’s who you are, babygirl. You’ve always had more heart than she’ll ever deserve to witness, but whatever decisions you make regarding her, I’m behind you.”
I swallowed hard. “Why wasn’t I enough, Dro?”
The question came out so small, I almost didn’t recognize my own voice.
He looked at me then, eyes wet. “You were more than enough. You were everything. She just wasn’t built to be your mother.”
I closed my eyes, fighting off the tears threatening to spill. “She moved on like I never existed. Built this perfect little life while I was just… this closed chapter she hoped no one would read again.”
He reached out and gently touched my cheek. “Let me tell you something, Ja. Anybody can give birth. Not everybody can be a mother. I raised you. I held you down. I saw you through every scraped knee, every heartbreak, every goddamn milestone. She missed out. Not you.”
I blinked fast, but the tears came anyway. I hated crying, but I couldn’t stop.
“She didn’t even ask if I was okay. Just went straight into bullshit excuses about being young and not ready to be a mother. I felt like a donor form, not a daughter.”
Dro’s voice went soft. “That’s because she knows what she did. Guilt doesn’t make people honest, it just makes them desperate.”
“I hate that she still gets to hurt me,” I whispered.
“You don’t gotta carry that weight alone, Ja. You never did, and I can send some bitches over there to whoop her mothafuckin ass, just say the word.”
I laughed my first genuine laugh in days since she reached out to me, “Where’s Drea?” I asked. Dro had fallen deeply in love with Caleb’s mother, Andrea, and was planning on proposing to her now that her divorce was final. Typically, you wouldn’t see one without the other.
“She’s on her way up here with Lilian. Yanna called them when she found out you had been brought in,” he answered.
Lord, my woman didn’t play about me, so I know she was on her way down here. We sat there in silence for a moment. Just his hand in mine. Just the kind of presence that didn’t need words, just a reminder that Dro always showed up and always put me first.
Then he asked, “You sure you wanna test?”
“Yeah, I won’t let my sister suffer because her mama’s a coward.”
He smiled, pride in his smile, sadness in his eyes, “That’s my girl.”
Just as I was thinking about Yanna, she walked in with Mama Lilian and Mama Drea.
“Where’s that bitch of a mama of yours? I wanna have a chat with her,” Mama Drea said as she pulled me in her arms and kissed my forehead.
“Maaaaa,” I whined, feeling loved and doted on, “That lady will get her karma,” I added.
“Karma not working fast enough for me, so I wanna whoop her ass and then karma can follow up later,” Yanna added as she walked back through the curtain, this time with my patient chart in her hand as we all laughed.
My heart skipped a beat whenever she was around. I had it that bad for this fine ass, thick ass woman that ate my pussy like she was obsessed with it and loved me like she would never let me go.
Her eyes scanned over me, making sure I was good before she walked over and wrapped me in her arms.
“JaJa, you okay?” She asked lovingly as her hand circled my back.
“Better now, but the audacity of that fucking lady,” my bitterness unfurling.
Yanna mentioned giving therapy a fair chance and working through the issues surrounding my mom and my previous relationship with Colson, which was a whole other can of worms. As Yanna and I talked, our parents headed out, and we waited for fine ass Nurse Carter to come back with my discharge papers.
And after feeling like I was grasping for air for longer than I ever wanted to, I felt like I could breathe again.