25
“Can I hold her, Grammy?” Kardi asked as she smiled at her new baby cousin.
“You sure can, beautiful. Sanitize your hands and come sit down.” Diva got up so that Kardi could sit in the chair.
She was overjoyed to have witnessed the birth of her second grandchild. Amina’s mother cried the entire time, but she understood. She was overly emotional when Kardi was born too. She couldn’t wait until Alexus got bigger so that she could spoil her just as much.
“Aww, that’s so sweet. Smile, Kardi,” Amina’s mother said and she pulled out her costly professional camera.
Her parents must have taken over one hundred pictures since the baby was born the night before. It was almost midnight when Amina gave birth so she was fast asleep as soon as she got to her room. They were all up there with gifts bright and early the next morning.
Fonzo’s eye lit up every time he saw his baby girl but he seemed to be preoccupied.
Something was up, but Diva didn’t know what.
She was happy that Amina was preoccupied because Fonzo was in another world.
He and his brothers were huddled up in the corner talking amongst themselves.
She made her way over to Clover to see what she knew.
“What the hell is going on?” Diva whispered while taking a seat next to Clover.
“Nothing much.” Clover shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Bitch, did you forget who raised you and them three niggas? I know y’all and something is up.”
Clover sighed, knowing that Diva wasn’t gonna rest until she told her what was up. “Long story short, the ex that Amina told us about is Trent.”
“I know you muthafucking lying to me!” Not much surprised Diva anymore but she was in complete shock. Amina never uttered his name but she talked about him like he was the big bad wolf.
“I wish I was.”
Clover took a few minutes and ran the entire story down to her.
She was just as shocked as Diva but she was also grateful.
Amina was actually in a relationship with Trent’s nutty ass and she seemed to have been scarred by all the changes he took her through.
Clover wasn’t even gonna tell anybody until after Amina and the baby got home.
She didn’t want to ruin her happiness, but Iva had a big ass mouth.
She told Monty and the rest was history.
“Send me that video,” Diva demanded.
“For what?”
Clover didn’t know why she asked because she already knew. Diva didn’t want her to give Trudy a pass in the first place. Now that she felt like she didn’t hold up her end of the deal, she was going down right with her son.
“Because I asked for it. That nigga gotta go. He must be out of his mind if he thinks he’s gonna have some kind of control over my family. And honestly, Clo, I don’t trust the nigga and I don’t want you and my grandbaby in that big ass house by yourselves.”
“Trent don’t even know where I live. And if he does, he still has to get past the guards to get in.”
“Stop underestimating that lunatic. Me and Hank are gonna come home with you to pack some clothes for you and Kardi. Y’all are gonna come by us for a little while.”
“Ain’t nobody running me out of my house. Fuck Trent!”
“Okay, well, Dash is coming back home.”
“No, he’s not. Hell, he’s the reason why I don’t wanna come to your house.” Clover rolled her eyes angrily.
“Bitch, I’m not asking. And I said what I said, so the choice is up to you. If I tell Hank what’s going on, he’s gonna make the decision for you.”
“This is some straight up bullshit!” Clover folded her arms defiantly, but Diva didn’t give a damn.
Her and Kardi’s safety meant more to her than Clover’s tantrum.
She got up and looked over at her husband.
She motioned for him to step out of the room when they made eye contact.
She noticed how quiet her sons got when she was walking towards them.
“What y’all over here talking about?” Diva asked. She knew that none of them were gonna answer but she inquired anyway.
“Fatherhood,” Dash replied with a smirk. Diva gave them a skeptical look before she and her husband walked out of the room.
“Just relax, bro, your wife and daughter are good. I just can’t believe this nigga is the ex that Amina used to be talking about. He don’t even look like he’s built like that.”
Monty was in disbelief when Iva told him what happened leading up to Amina going into labor.
She was already overdue, so there were no issues or complications.
“Fuck that nigga. He ain’t the only unstable muthafucka outchea. I don’t wanna fight no more. I want his bitch ass to be maggot food.”
“I’m right there with you, lil bro,” Fonzo replied as he and Dash fist bumped.
“Nigga, what? Since when did you start condoning violence? You’re the peace maker.” Monty was surprised to hear Fonzo talk like that. He was obviously pissed.
“I want that nigga resting in peace.” Fonzo was all about giving passes but Trent had already run out of his.
“Come here, Clover. And you too, Junior.” Hank stuck his head in the door and interrupted their conversation. Both Clover and Dash got up and walked out of the room and into the hall where Diva and Hank were standing.
“What’s up?” Dash looked at both of his parents, awaiting an answer.
“When you leave here, go get your shit from our house. You need to go back home and make sure your family is straight.”
Clover looked over at Diva with a murderous look on her face. She didn’t even give her a chance to make up her mind before she told Hank. Diva looked right back at her with a look that basically said that she didn’t give a fuck how she felt.
“Bet, I’m going do that now.”
Dash wanted to tell Clover the exact same thing but he knew that she wasn’t going for it.
Since it came from Hank, she basically had no choice.
She respected him and Diva too much to disobey their orders or wishes.
She looked pissed, but he was happy as hell.
Although he wanted Trent six feet under, he appreciated his crazy ass for helping him get back home to his family.
“Don’t get too excited, nigga. Pick a room and make it your own because you damn sure ain’t sleeping with me,” Clover spat before she went back into the room.
Hank and Diva followed her, leaving Dash standing in the hallway alone.
“Daddy’s home. Thank you, Jesus. You be looking out for your boy.” Dash bowed his head and said a silent prayers of thanks before walking down the hall to the elevators.
His brothers were probably looking for him but he would send them a text later. Right now, he was going pack his shit and go back home with his family where he belonged.
“I called the bank and restricted his access. I don’t know what else I can do. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll replace the money myself,” Trudy snapped irritably.
She had been so stressed out lately that she barely slept.
Trent had taken off again and it had been almost three weeks since they saw or heard from him.
Trudy was afraid of something happening to him, especially after his last hospital stay.
Now, more than ever, she was on board with her husband’s plan to get him some help.
She couldn’t go on like that. She would end up losing her mind if she did.
For the first time in a while, she woke up happy. She’d decided to go back to work and her superiors were happy that she was returning. She had barely made it to the corner of their subdivision before her husband called her going off.
“Why would you do something like that without telling me? He’s withdrawn almost ten thousand dollars in a matter of weeks!”
Melvin was enraged when he pulled up their online bank statement.
There were charges for hotel rooms, restaurants and rental cars that neither he nor his wife had made.
Not to mention the huge cash withdrawals.
He called Trudy to inquire about it, and her reply pissed him off.
She had given their son access to their account without his approval.
He was tired of her making decisions for both of them because she never made the right ones.
As much as he loved his wife before, he was beginning to despise her.
Melvin found himself thinking if staying married to Trudy was even worth it.
She never wanted to follow and she was a horrible leader.
He fell out of love with her a long time ago, and she just kept pushing him further away.
She was an enabler, and he blamed her for Trent not getting the help that he needed.
She cared too much about what people said, and he was over it.
She wanted people to believe that her life was a fairytale when it was really a nightmare.
“I’m sorry, Melvin. I made a stupid mistake and I apologize.”
“Apologize with changed behavior, Trudy. What is it gonna take before you really see shit for what it really is? Not only did he put a dent in our bank account but he cost us more money by damaging the cameras.”
They thought the signal went out of some of their cameras before they went outside to investigate.
Trent had sprayed the lenses with black paint, and they were ruined.
Melvin tried cleaning them with a solution, but that only made it worse.
The lenses were cloudy and the picture quality was horrible.
“I’ll replace the cameras too.”
“Is that your solution to everything? You can’t fix all of Trent’s problems. We’re not medical professionals.”
“I know that. I’m just trying to keep the peace between us.”
“Yeah, well, you’re a little too late for that,” Melvin replied before he hung up the phone.
Trudy sighed. She was mentally exhausted and she didn’t know what to do anymore.
It was at those times that she really missed Carmelo.
But what he’d done to her was unforgivable.
She was hoping that going back to work would temporarily take her mind off of her problems.
Staying busy usually did the trick. She just hated that she would have to look in the faces of some of her colleagues.
They were jealous of her and always had been.
As soon as Trudy pulled up to her designated parking spot, she smiled in contentment.
She grabbed her Prada briefcase before getting out of the car.
Her hair was freshly sewn-in and she had on a new, form-fitting skirt and blazer set.
She took her time and applied her makeup and she felt confident as she walked up the steps that led into the building.