Chapter 10
Nicholas
It felt crazy that even in the middle of a call with one of my oldest business associates, I couldn’t focus for thoughts of Jameela flooding my mind.
The days blurred into a routine of my juggling task after task, while still finding time for my two favorite girls.
No matter what, I always made time for Amira.
Now there were two new additions to my priorities.
Between listening to Jorge run down the numbers and watching the monitors, I texted Jameela to make sure we were still on for the night. It had been a few days since I’d seen her in person, and I missed the shit out of her.
Jameela hadn’t been able to get a sitter, and I’d been working late for the past few nights.
I had to settle for video calls from my two favorite girls instead of the in-person visits I preferred.
Over the course of a thirty-minute conference call, Cindy called me three times and sent five texts, requesting that I call her.
It would be different if there was some type of emergency situation going on.
Cindy didn’t want a damn thing. If she thought she was about to check me, she had another thing coming.
“Listo?” Jorge asked.
“Todo listo. Everything is ready,” I confirmed.
With everything squared away, we ended the call with a clear direction in mind. Once Jorge hung up, I finally returned Cindy’s call.
“What the hell is this my daughter is telling me about meeting your new bitch?” She fired off as soon as the call connected.
“Is that why you called me so many times when you know I’m working?”
“Don’t play with me, Nicky. Who is this bitch you had around my daughter?”
“Not that I owe you an explanation with some of the so-called friends you keep in your stable, but you already know I wouldn’t have any and everybody around our daughter.”
“Humph, you must be pretty serious about her. When did you start bringing your hos around Amira, Nicky?”
“You knew I would eventually find someone worth taking serious.”
She scoffed before responding to my statement. “Just not me, huh?”
“Amira is just as much my daughter as she is yours. She lives with me over half the time. I’m sure you have men that you entertain, but I’m not tracking your every movement.
As you know, I don’t give a damn who you fuck, as long as they don’t fuck with my daughter.
Let’s not get into that. Now if you want to meet her, I can arrange something, but you don’t run shit, Cindy. ”
“You think I want to meet a bitch you’ve only been fuckin’ for a few weeks? You and I both know she’s only temporary, Nicky. As soon as you get tired of her, you’ll be beating my pussy and leading me on again.”
I only chuckled at Cindy’s comment because of how ridiculous it was, not because she was so funny. It had been a year since I had laid a finger on her, and I planned to keep that same energy. It didn’t matter how good her pussy was. That chapter was closed for good.
Contrary to what she loved to scream, I had never led Cindy on.
I even tried to make things work for the first few years.
She and I weren’t equally yoked. I refused to force myself to be with a woman who I didn’t see a real future with.
Cindy didn’t give a damn about Amira meeting Jameela.
She felt like her bankroll was being threatened.
“If you would like to meet the woman who’s going to be around your daughter, I will set something up. Otherwise, don’t call me with that bullshit.”
“The only reason I want to meet her is because she gotta be a bad bitch to hold your attention for over five minutes.”
“Refrain from referring to her as a bitch, Cindy. I don’t use that word when I’m referring to you or any other woman, so give my lady the same respect.”
“Oh wow! Your lady? You only been fucking her for five minutes, and you already calling this bitch your lady?”
I ended the call because I could already see where it was going. Cindy wasn’t as concerned about who was around Amira as she was about who was around me. The hood rats and prostitutes she considered friends were half the reason I wanted full custody of my daughter.
I was gradually getting everything in order so I could get her. I didn’t want to remove her from her mother’s custody just to pawn her off on someone else. It was time for me to make a schedule that allotted time for me to raise my daughter.
My phone lit up with a notification, and I immediately knew it was Cindy.
Cindy: I need to meet her before either of you see my daughter again.
It was just after one in the afternoon. Amira wouldn’t be out of school for a couple more hours.
Cindy hadn’t worked since the moment she thought she had me locked down.
More than likely, she was at home. I would know in just a few minutes.
I’d told Jameela that I wanted to see her today.
I planned to leave Cashville around two and spend some time with her before coming back and making sure everything was running smoothly.
I shot Jameela a text, asking if we could switch things up. Hopefully, she didn’t want to cancel altogether, but there was a more pressing matter at hand. I didn’t wait for her to respond before I left the building, headed to my destination.
Cashville was on the outskirts of town, so it took me about thirty minutes to get to Cindy. When I pulled up to her house, I didn’t even turn my car off before hopping out and marching up to the door.
All I wanted to do was see my lady and lay up on those big pretty titties and listen to her talk about her daughter for a few hours. Now that had to wait because I knew the longer I let Cindy talk crazy, the worse she would get.
A few years ago, I had to shoot her cousin in the foot for thinking he was going to check me about not wanting to marry her. From that day forward, her family learned to stay the fuck out of my business.
Her message made me furious. I was tempted to go in and pack my daughter’s shit. I tried to do things the right way, the civil way. See what the fuck I got when I tried to be civil? I pounded on the door, deciding not to use my key.
If I barged in, I was going to put my hands around Cindy’s neck. As much as I wanted to choke the hell out of my daughter’s mom, I didn’t want to kill her. I didn’t even want to put my hands on her and would never do that.
The last time I hit a girl, I was seven years old, and my mama tore my ass up.
Not wanting to shake Cindy until her brain rattled around in her head was the reason that I needed to take a breath when I made it to the door.
As I stood there, I closed my eyes and inhaled.
I could hear her shuffling around inside on her way to answer the door.
“Nicholas, what are you doing here?” she asked after opening the door.
“Let me tell you something, bi—Cindy.”
I took another deep breath to compose myself before continuing.
There wasn’t a plane of existence where I would think it was OK to blatantly disrespect the mother of my child.
Cindy had given me my most prized possession in the world.
She was a piece of work, but I wasn’t going to handle her like she didn’t mean anything to me.
Just because I didn’t love her didn’t mean that I didn’t care about her.
She propped her hands on her hips, and I swore a hint of a smile played on her lips. She loved this shit. Cindy lived for the drama, but I wasn’t with it. You couldn’t tell her that she wasn’t a star in a reality show. This wasn’t TV. This was my life. Amira was my daughter.
“Are you going to come inside, or are you going to stand out there looking crazy?”
“Look, I don’t know who the fuck you think you’re playing with, but don’t ever threaten me with taking my daughter away from me again. I will burn this fucking house to the ground and leave you with the ashes. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”
So much for keeping my composure. If it was cold, there would be steam coming from my head. Amira barely spent any time at her mom’s house because even when she wasn’t with me, she was with her grandparents. I knew the importance of her having her mother in her life, but was she really in her life?
“You know I was just fucking with you, Nicholas, damn.”
“Don’t play with me like that. I keep telling you don’t fucking play with me like that.”
“OK, damn.” She rolled her eyes.
“Come with me.”
“What the hell you mean come with you? I’m watching my show.”
“Fuck that show, Lucinda. You want to be in my business so fucking bad, so let’s go.”
“Where are we going, Nicky? I hope it’s somewhere to eat ’cause I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry.”
“Take me by Rock Lobster. I want some lobster cakes and a Caesar salad.”
“Order delivery to my house,” I told her.
I wasn’t making any stops. Cindy wasn’t bothered as she followed me with her heels clacking on the concrete driveway. Once she joined me in the car, I took off for my house.
“This is nice, Nicholas. It’s time for me to upgrade my ride. Don’t you think?”
“That’s not the type of shit I think about.”
“What do you mean? I’ve had that car for three years.”
“OK. Is it running? Are you having any issues with it?”
She frowned but answered anyway. “No.”
“OK.” I shrugged.
I picked up my phone from the console and finally responded to Jameela’s message.
Me: How’s seafood sound?
Habibti: I love it.
Me: So you don’t feel blindsided, I want you to know that we will have company.
That was only half true. I was definitely about to blindside her.
I knew that if I told Jameela that the company was Amira’s mom, she wouldn’t have come.
It was the same reason that I picked Cindy up.
She had a thing about yelling and screaming how she felt then storming off.
I wanted to have a civil conversation. First, I had to get everyone together.
Habibti: The more the merrier.
If only that were true.