Chapter 15
After breakfast I went home and laid down for a little while to rest my body. Between beating Mallory, and my session with Kaseem this morning, I was tired as hell. I knew that soon I’d be getting myself together for lunch with my girls. I was trying to mentally prepare for that too.
Zuri called shortly after I laid down, her voice had me all suspicious right off the top, asking if I was alone before she’d even say what she really wanted. Then she got straight to it, asking what those ancestry papers and that letter said, telling me she needed them in her hand by tomorrow.
I laughed a little after I hung up that phone with her, shaking my head at how out of control that woman was acting while still trying to control every thing around her at the same time.
Zuri really didn’t understand that the ball wasn’t in her court and that I had something huge on her.
Maybe she was trying to use reverse psychology.
She wanted me to think that she was still in control, so that I wouldn’t even think about using what I had against her.
I thought that she knew that I was highly educated and I’m not someone she can fool, I sometimes think she forgets.
I made a mental note right then to make copies of those papers before I handed anything over to her. She could have the originals, since technically they belonged to her. But I wasn’t about to hand over the only leverage I had without keeping something for myself first.
I understood her, as a woman, more than I probably wanted to.
I knew exactly what it felt like to be sitting on a secret that could burn your whole life down if it got loose at the wrong time.
But something about her still wouldn’t let me trust her all the way, no matter how much we’d shared with one another the last twenty four hours.
After the call, I pulled myself together. Yesterday was still weighing on me and it had me exhausted. Still, I started getting dressed then I did my hair and my makeup. I kept it simple but cute.
While I was getting ready, Kaseem came back home after his meeting with his dad and surprisingly, he looked more relieved than he had this morning.
“Hey babe. How’d it go?” I asked as he wrapped his arms around me from behind while I stood in the mirror doing my hair. He planted kisses on my neck.
“It went good. He helped me see shit more clear. I know exactly what I gotta do. And if I made you feel like I wasn’t handling shit right with Mallory last night, I apologize.
You don’t have to worry about her being a problem again, or her having that baby.
” Kaseem said as if he was sure of that.
I wanted to ask questions, but I didn’t want to upset myself with the answer.
Hopefully he’d kill the bitch like I requested.
Last night, I purposely didn’t ask him any questions about that baby, or what he planned to do with the delusional bitch who was supposedly carrying it.
The thought of it hurt me too much to want to sit around and talk about it.
“I appreciate you for making that clear.” I said and he smacked my ass before heading out the room and letting me get ready. He didn’t even know, he almost got some head just now. I didn’t want to make myself late though. I smiled to myself at the effort my husband was putting in.
Close to and hour and a half later, I went into the office where Kaseem was going over numbers and I told my man I’d be back later.
He grabbed my phone and started pressing buttons before I could get to the door to leave.
I looked at my phone when he gave it back, and saw that he’d shared our locations.
This made me instantly frown my face up.
He just would never change. This man wanted to be in complete control of my life.
I couldn’t breathe without asking this nigga for permission first, and I wasn’t with all of that.
“Don’t start, you know last time you left by yourself, I damn near had to kill muthafuckas behind playing with you.
If I wouldn’t have followed you, that situation could have turned out bad.
So yeah, we gone share locations. Indefinitely.
You are sneaky Tattiana and I need to know where you are at all times. ” He said, seriously.
“Really? I thought we were past that. You the one who needs a tracker on yo ass, but okay, I gotta go.” I was so annoyed with this man wanting to be my father.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me into him. He hugged me tight while kissing my ear, then my neck, and just like that, I forgot what the hell I was just mad about.
When he finally let me go, I had my driver take me to the restaurant.
The whole ride there, my stomach was in knots while I went over what I would say in my head.
All this time I’d wanted to come clean to my girls.
All this time I wanted to be able to lean on somebody, somebody who’d known me since before I ever lost my innocence.
But I knew I couldn’t risk exposing it, not with my freedom hanging over that secret.
My aunt would have done anything to keep my daughter, so I never doubted that she would have sent me to prison for the rest of my life, on a lie.
She had evidence that would look like otherwise.
Now that it was already out on the table with Kaseem and Zuri both, I felt like I owed it to River and Nyla to hear it from me before it got out some other way.
If I knew my husband like I thought I did, he was about to shake shit up and I was gonna bring my daughter home with us soon.
So I needed them to know before things went any further.
We all pulled up to Xoxo restaurant around the same time.
It was a lavish little spot downtown, pink everything, inside out, from the walls to the booths to the light fixtures, everything soft and luxury and expensive looking.
This was the place that we would always have brunch, or dinner nights.
This was one of our favorite spots. So it felt good to be here with them again.
All three of us walked in looking good as hell.
When it came to stepping out, we always looked our best, even if the fit was simple.
We all were so happy to see one another, we hugged at the entrance for what seemed like forever.
This was the first time in life that we didn’t hang out damn near everyday, so it was definitely an adjustment.
We got greeted by the host and waited to be seated.
“You got me nervous as hell and shaking like a damn stripper,” Nyla said while we stood there waiting. “What’s going on?”
“That’s what the hell I’m saying,” River added. “The suspense is killing me. I didn’t even get any sleep last night. I kept thinking about what it was that you needed to tell us.”
We got seated, and I ordered a drink as soon as the waitress walked up. Hell, I was needing something to loosen myself up before I said a word. Both my girls were sitting there watching me, waiting with nervous energy bouncing between the three of us at that table.
“What’s going on in that house, Tattiana?
” River said first, leaning forward. “You know if it’s all bad, you ain’t gotta stay with that nigga.
As powerful as they may be, can’t nobody force you to be there.
Fuck them if that’s not what you want. I know you act like you love him and all, but you don’t gotta fake for us, especially not after what happened last night.
We can beat his ass and get you the fuck up out of there if that’s what this is.
I knew you were moving too fast with him from the jump.
And I knew that nigga was crazy the way he knocked Savion’s teeth out and he ain’t even know you like that yet.
” River spat. Her ass was going in and not even waiting for me to tell her my secret.
She wanted me to leave my nigga. Was the bitch crazy?
“Wait, not too much on my husband,” I snapped, cutting her off.
“I’m not coming up off him for NOTHING. That ain’t what this is about.
You looking for a reason to have a problem with my man, and you are so wrong.
He’s actually a good guy. He just has a different way of doing things.
Like I’ve said before, any nigga that allows another man to knock their teeth out is a damn fool and deserved that shit. Fuck Savion, and his weak ass teeth,”
“Wait, what happened last night? Damn, I’m just in the blind and y’all keeping secrets.” Nyla asked, eyes wide. “And like Tatti said, not too much on my brother-in-law either. Hell, I need they marriage to work. It’s giving me hope for me and my man Namier.”
Both me and River looked at her like she’d lost her damn mind.
“Okay, it’s too much going on here,” River said, throwing her hands up.
“Now Nyla calling this nigga her man after he was just… you know what, never mind. Whatever them niggas doing to y’all, I don’t want no parts of it.
They are making y’all green as hell, and I don’t like that.
Is it a spell or what? Cause I know damn well, bitches ain’t willingly letting niggas bump their heads.
That made me think about Zaire for a second, how River would probably fall clean out her chair if she ever laid eyes on him, how laid back and fine he was, exactly her type if I was being honest. But I didn’t have room in my head to be making love connections right now.
I just knew that if and when they met, River’s ass would be singing a whole other tune.
I knew her better than anybody.
“Okay,” I said, taking a breath, wrapping both hands around my glass. “I’ve been keeping a secret from you both for almost eight years and now, I know that I need to come clean and lay it all out for y’all.”
The table went quiet. I took a sip of my drink for some courage before I continued.