6. Citrell #3
My eyes cut over to Chuck, whose eyes were already on us. I signaled that I needed him. “What’s up, Boss?”
“Please escort this bitch out. She is not allowed on this property any longer. If she gives you an issue, lock her ass up on trespass,” I told Chuck.
Iesha laughed. “Nigga, you got me fucked up. I don’t care how big and burly this nigga is. He can’t lock me up. Only the cops can do that, not your janky, want to be hard security.”
Chuck snickered. “I guess I can do something then.” Chuck unzipped the front of his security jacket to show his shield. “I’ll detain you until uniforms come to lock your ass up.” He stepped into Iesha’s space. In a low, but audible tone, he said, “Is that hard enough for you?”
Iesha’s head snapped in my direction. “So, this is what we’re doing? Fuck you and that bitch.”
Her anger was illogical. I could see if me and her were ever in a relationship or something.
Actually, no I couldn’t, because once a relationship was over, it was over.
Before Sundae, I hadn’t been in a serious relationship since before Callira was born.
I was a young nigga who wasn’t ready for it and played all over it.
Thank God the female wasn’t of the bitter variety because she had every right to be.
Hell, Iesha announced her pregnancy when my girl was with me.
I stepped closer to Iesha. “Get the fuck out of my business before you have more problems than solutions. I’ve played it real cool with you for eight years, but this right here will get you fucked up.”
She stared at me for a moment, then the corners of her lips turned up. “Fuck you, Citrell. You think you’re big shit, but you ain’t. You’re a damn busted ass plumber who owns a lame ass bar. My nigga got way more motion than your bitch ass.”
“Must be in his dreams. From the sounds of it, he might still be on your floor sleeping.” Wynsdae’s words caused chuckles from us all.
“I’m just saying, you can’t be out here talking about your man has motion when he was literally knocked to sleep.
The only motion he got is getting to dreamland without the sandman. ”
Before Iesha could respond, Chuck grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the door. She fussed and cussed the whole way like a lunatic. I would never wish death on a person, but at this point, I wasn’t wishing life on her ass either.
Time To Tell Baby . . .
When Sundae and I discussed how we would tell Callira about our relationship, we decided that I would tell her myself over dinner. It depended on how she reacted to the news as to whether I would text Sundae to tell her to come to my house. We didn’t want to overwhelm her by them both being there.
“Thank you, Daddy! I love it when we come here,” Callira praised.
My baby loved Italian food. Once a month, I took her to this family operated, authentic Italian restaurant.
It had a five-star rating and could be expensive but worth it because of the portion sizes.
It wasn’t the kind of place with a kid’s menu.
After a few months of coming, the staff started to get to know Callira. Eventually the owner made a special menu just for her that provided smaller portions. I appreciated that because they didn’t have to.
“You’re welcome, baby girl. Did you like your food?” I asked her with a smile. I knew the answer before she said anything.
Her head nodded and her gorgeous smile dressed her face.
One of her favorite things at the restaurant was the intermezzo as it was called in Italy and France.
It was a sorbet palate cleanser that was served between courses.
After she confirmed that she liked the food, I settled in to go into the conversation that I needed to have with her.
“Baby girl, I wanted to talk to you about something.” I paused to make sure I had her full attention. “I wanted to let you know that Daddy has a girlfriend.”
Her eyes bucked before she leaned forward on the table. “Daddy! You have a girlfriend? Princess says her daddy has a girlfriend.”
I tilted my head because that shit couldn’t be right. “Oh, you mean his wife, Princess’s mother? A wife and a girlfriend are not the same, baby.”
She glared at me with tight eyes. “Daddy, I know that. Princess said her daddy has a wife and a girlfriend. She heard her mama on the phone talking about it. Her mama said she’s going to bop him and the girlfriend on the head.”
Yeah, that was none of my damn business and I wasn’t about to let it be. “Well, that’s their business, Callira. Let’s make sure we let them mind it. Yes, I have a girlfriend, and you know her.”
Her little finger went to her chin and her eyes turned up to the ceiling. “Oh, I know. Is it Miss Sundae?”
What the fuck? That guess was too on the damn nose. “Why do you think it’s her?
“Because when you come pick me up, me and Princess see how she looks at you and you look at her. It’s like those people on the TV in those love movies Grandme watches.” Callira smiled. “Is that who it is?”
Kids were observant as hell. I thought Sundae and I were being careful not to show affection in front of my baby. Her and Princess together was a damn problem. “Um, yes, that’s who it is. Is that okay?”
“I knew it! Princess owes me a pack of Skittles.” Damn, these little children made a bet. When I asked her if she was alright with Sundae being my girlfriend, she sat back in her seat. “Can I think about it?”
That wasn’t the response that I expected, but I would take it. It was better than a no. “Sure, baby. You can think about it for as long as you need to.”
It was time to move on to the dessert. We ordered her favorite Zeppole di San Giuseppe which was a cream puff dessert with lemon pastry cream.
We ate our dessert in silence for a few minutes before she put her fork down.
“Daddy, I thought about it. I really like Miss Sundae, and I like that she’s your girlfriend. Are you going to marry her?”
I swallowed my food too fast which caused me to cough. I grabbed my water and sipped it slowly to get myself together. Once I was alright, I smiled. “I don’t know yet. We are still pretty new in our relationship.”
Callira didn’t say anything right away. Her eyes didn’t connect with mine when she finally spoke. “Well, I hope you do. If you do, then I’ll have a good mommy.”
See that was the kind of shit that made me want to go over to Iesha’s house and set it on fire with her in it. What could I say to something like that? Nothing. “How about we see what happens? Do you mind if Sundae comes over tonight to spend some time with us?”
She nodded. “Yes, I would like that.” So far, so good.
It felt like I released a breath that I didn’t know I was holding. I pulled my phone out to send the text that I hoped I would be able to send all night.
Me: The code to the front door is 284955. Be there in an hour.
Mine: She was ok with us being together!
Me: Lol . . . Come over and find out.
A Very Short Time Later . . .
It had been a few weeks since I told Callira about Sundae and I being in a relationship.
I was proud to say that it’s been pretty smooth since then.
We had to have a little conversation with Callira about favoritism.
A week after she was told about the relationship, my baby concluded that because Miss Sundae was her daddy’s girlfriend that meant she could do whatever she wanted without reprimand.
That was an interesting conversation to say the least. It took a few days for it to click for her and two sit downs from karaoke. Anything that stopped Callira from participating in karaoke wasn’t a good thing.
“You made the hell out of that potato salad, baby,” I said after I wrapped my arms around Sundae from behind. She giggled when I kissed her neck. Her ass was unbelievably ticklish.
The time had finally come to have the family cookout, so our parents could meet.
It was a great thing to report that they got along better than any of us thought they would.
My mother and Sundae’s both loved music, but from different angles.
One loved to sing while the other loved to play.
Our fathers bonded because of their love of sports, cigars, fishing, poker, and just overall life.
When I heard them plan a fishing trip, I made sure I was busy that weekend. I hate fishing.
Sundae turned in my arms. “Thank you so much. Callira told me that it was good too.”
I smiled because I knew she didn’t need my daughter’s validation, but when she got it, it meant something to her. “I would hope she did like it. She had two servings.” I glanced over at where Callira and Princess sat to play with their dolls. “Look, she has a bowl next to her.”
Sundae suggested that we invite Princess and her parents to the cookout since the girls were so close.
Initially, they said that they couldn’t make it.
Yesterday, Princess’s mother called Sundae to ask if she could spend the night to come to the cookout because an emergency came up.
My baby was hesitant since the request came from left field, but she agreed.
After Princess got here last night, her mother told Sundae what the emergency was.
Princess’s father did have a girlfriend. Gina, Princess’s mother, was taking a trip to surprise her husband and his girlfriend on their baecation. She had the divorce papers to give him at said surprise pop-up. Something told me that we could expect more of these spend the night type of requests.
“We should do karaoke with our parents,” Wynsdae suggested from her seat on Marco’s lap. They decided last week that they wanted to explore a relationship. I was happy for my boy.
Sundae’s head snapped toward her sister. “Oh, that would be so fun. I can get the karaoke stuff out of the den.”
Her ass pulled from my arms to walk around me. “Hold on. Let me get it, Mighty Mouse.” This woman thinks she can do everything by herself. She was independent and I loved that; however, it had its fallbacks. She didn’t like to access the resources she had for help.
I felt her on my heels like I knew I would. There was no way she would let me do it alone. When we got into the den, my doorbell rang. “Babe, go get that for me.”
She put down the speaker that was in her hand. I was confused why she chose to pick up the heavy ass speaker rather than the actual machine. “Baby, it’s someone at the door for you.”
I put down the thing I had in my hand and moved toward the front door. My face scrunched at the sight of a delivery dude. He could have given the package to her. “What’s up, man? You could have given it to my woman.”
“Are you Arzeniq Wick?” he asked with a straight face. After I confirmed that I was, he handed me a manila envelope. “You’ve been served.”
Sundae’s face now matched mine. What the fuck? He walked off. I didn’t bother to close the door before I ripped open the envelope and pulled out the paper. It took less than thirty seconds to realize what it was.
With a titter, my chin moved side to side. “Yeah, this bitch has lost the last bit of intellectual capital that she possesses and that wasn’t much to begin with.” I handed the paper to Sundae who scanned it.
“Wait, is she serious?” Her eyes were on me for a second before they went back to the paper. “Did this bitch really file a contempt of court for hinderance of visitation?”