Chapter 10
Oden
I couldn’t get the expression or the face of the man I had seen in the restaurant out of my mind.
I didn’t know him, and as far as I knew, he didn’t know me either.
But something was familiar about him besides the fact that he looked like an older version of Sora.
Then, as if I wasn’t feeling crazy enough, when he saw me, he seemed like he had seen a ghost. Why?
By the end of the night, I knew who he was, because of course the old man paid on a card before he left.
Not only that, but he’d also pulled Kie to the side, asking her who I was.
Why did Wiley Ortega need to know who I was?
I had no street dealings, but my brother did.
Well, not so much these days that I know of.
Either way made me uneasy. I feared no nigga, but the look in his eyes was one I couldn’t place.
Like he knew me, but I didn’t know anything about him.
Not only that, but you didn’t need to be in the streets to know the name Ortega rang bells.
After I dropped Aja off to school and Jade off to her shop, I went by the restaurant for a while.
There was pretty much nothing to do there but look through some of the endorsements Kie had signed me up for.
I didn’t deal with any of that and purposely left it all to be dealt with by Kie or Lois.
I hated social media and anything that had my face tied to it.
“Fancy seeing you here on a day you don’t have to cook.
Is there something we need to talk about or discuss?
Are you leaving us again?” Lois’s eyes were on me, trying to gauge my mental state.
The last time I showed up here on a day I wasn’t scheduled, it was early in the morning and I was telling her I needed to take some time away from the restaurant I had literally just brought her and her wife on to help me run.
“Nah, nothing like that. I’m good, Lo.”
Her expressive eyes lingered on me for a moment before she nodded. “Then I won’t badger you. What are you doing here today?”
“Shit, killing some time. I dropped Aja off at school and Jade at work. We’re going out to the house this weekend for a few days.”
She nodded. “Things with Jade are good.” It was a question in the form of a statement she wanted me to agree or disagree with.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“You deserve to be happy. Just because things with you and Ashley didn’t work out doesn’t mean you get to become some old dusty ass man walking around here half dead.”
“Damn, half dead, Lo?”
“Yes, half dead. You know the old niggas who know they’re getting old but don’t act like it. Out here messing with all the YHs, complaining because they don’t cook or clean. They just fuck.”
“What is a YH?” I was confused as hell.
“A young hoe. You know, how they have YNs.”
I waved her off, laughing at her terms.
“Well. Even though you have only allowed us to meet Jade one time, from what I see she is your speed. And she likes your caveman ass. Have you gone missing on her yet?”
I looked at Lois like she was crazy, but she didn’t budge. She stared at me, waiting for an answer with her arms folded across her chest.
“Once, when we first started talking.” I thought back on when Jade told me I ghosted her.
It immediately brought a smile to my face because even though it wasn’t that long ago it felt like ages.
I was so obsessed with this woman that I couldn’t imagine not talking to her for any period.
Somehow the sun rose and fell with her smile in my life.
Her happiness and contentment had become something I held close to my heart.
“And what was her reaction?”
“Course she didn’t appreciate it. She said we should come up with a code word that I’d say or send to her when I felt the need to step away.” More laughter escaped my lips at the thought because I wouldn’t dream of it.
Lois chuckled. “A code word, huh?”
I nodded.
“That’s cute. And she’s good with Aja?”
“Of course she is.”
“Then don’t fuck this up, jarhead. And please snag my wife an invite to the opening of her new shop. Because if I have to hear her talk about those damn shoes Jade wore one more time…” Lois grilled me momentarily before she turned on her feet to leave.
I chuckled. “I got you. I’m about to head out in a few. You don’t need my signature on anything, do you?”
She laughed. “Nigga, I been forging your signature for the last two years. I probably sign that shit better than you.”
I laughed at her seriousness and finished going through the various items in the box before heading out a little while later.
I didn’t have that much time, so I headed in the direction of Jade’s shop. On the drive there, the conversation with Lois replayed in my head, sending my mind to a past I had tried a million times to convince myself wasn’t viable.
“That’s not what I want, Oden. I had your child and I’ve been good. What about what I want?” Ashley whined while I stuffed my duffle bag for my flight.
“What do you mean about what you want? This big ass house and the thousands of dollars you spend weekly isn’t what you want?”
She sucked her teeth. “That isn’t fair and you know it isn’t.”
“Then tell me what fair is? I travel to work and you are only expected to care for our child. What? You want me to take her with me so you can do what?”
She sucked her teeth again. Another meaningless argument that would end with me bringing her something expensive home. A gift for doing absolutely nothing all day because our daughter was like a chore to her.
There were certain parts of Ashley that I was glad my baby would never remember.
The parts I overlooked because I didn’t want my daughter growing up in the same broken home I had.
Maybe not the same, because my mother was dead and my father wasn’t shit.
Then again, now that I thought about it, had I already subjected her to my childhood?
I shook my head at the thought, focusing on the road.
Ashley and I weren’t all bad, but we weren’t compatible.
She didn’t want to work nor did she want anything other than to be kept.
That was my fault though. I had come into our relationship one way and had this grand fucking reevaluation toward the end.
I parked in the lot across from the entrance to the mall Jade was in. When I entered, my first stop was to the fresh flower shop on the first floor. There I grabbed the lilac-lavender assortment given that I knew she loved lavender and lilac, not only the colors but also the damn scents.
I paid a couple dollars and moved toward the escalator, feeling my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw it was my brother calling. I answered immediately, mashing the phone against my ear in the loud and crowded mall.
“Yeah.”
“Where are you at? Cityside or out there in them sticks?” Kinga asked.
“Cityside. Remember, Aja had to go to school today.”
He laughed. “Right. I would’ve let her ass stay home. You know they don’t do shit on Fridays but those boring ass seminars and workshops. Talking about life skills; fuck outta here.”
I laughed. The fact that he had enrolled her into the school but hated it so much was baffling to me. “You’re a mess, you know that?”
“Probably. Anyways, next week I’m throwing Harlem a lil get together since Junior made his grand entrance the week of her birthday.
Something lowkey and at the house and I’ma need you to handle the food.
You know she doesn't really eat nobody’s food and I damn sure don’t want her cooking on her own birthday. ”
I laughed. “I got you, next Friday?”
“Yeah. It’s going to be small and just us. Shit, I’m leaving that shit on Caya, and nine times out of ten, she’s about to call your girl if she hasn’t already.”
“Aight, that’s cool. Send me the menu and I’ll handle it.”
“Good look. I’ma hit yo?—”
“Ay, tell me something. I saw Wiley Ortega a few days ago at the restaurant. When I saw him and he saw me, he looked like he had seen a ghost. Shit creeped me out because I didn’t know who he was, and at first glance, his old ass looked like Sora. An older version.”
“Okay?” Kinga’s impatient ass asked, like he was edging me along with what I was saying.
“I mean I’m from Chicago, so I know who the old nigga is, never seen him before but I knew of him. Then, that night he questioned my staff, asking them who I was and what side of the city I was from, like he knew me or something.”
Kinga sighed into the phone, leading me to believe he knew something that he wasn’t saying. “When you get some time, we’ll talk. Don’t sweat that shit though. It’s small and nothing to be alarmed or worried about.”
Yeah, he knew something, but of course he wouldn’t say anything on a line. “Yeah, aight.”
“I’d tell you if it was some bullshit. It’s not. It’s nothing to carry.”
“Aight,” I agreed reluctantly. We hung up a few minutes later, me agreeing to come meet my nephew some time before next week.
A little later I stepped off the escalator, moving in the direction of Jade’s shop.
A few steps later, I turned the corner toward her dimly lit space.
Though she wasn’t open, she had the entrance gates raised since she still had workers in and out.
Upon entry, my eyes found her staring blankly at a nigga and shaking her head.
I could tell he wasn’t anyone who worked for her because he was wearing a button up and slacks.
“As I told you before, I wasn’t going to think about anything because I don’t make it a habit of revisiting a past that didn’t suit me.”
He just glared at her.
Whatever conversation being had didn’t stop me from approaching and kissing the side of her face. “Hey, baby.”
She was surprised by my presence but melted into my embrace and accepted the flowers I extended to her.
“Hey. These are gorgeous. Thank you, baby.” I immediately had all of her attention as I moved to the stool near the cash wrap.