Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
Reminisce
A few weeks later
My eyes lived on the child. My child. The little girl who had somehow come into my world and claimed it to be her own without even knowing it.
She was sitting back on the sofa watching some lil Caucasian lady in jean overalls and a pink shirt with a high-pitched voice dance around and talk.
Somehow that held her attention while she held mine.
For the first few days my siblings hovered about, being as helpful as they knew how.
By Friday, I told them I had it, but she and I had yet to leave the house.
That earned a chuckle out of me. Usually, I felt like I couldn’t stay still, but now home was the best place.
That was until I realized kids ate actual food and not just the snacks I kept in here when I was in town.
Per Jade, I couldn’t keep ordering food and microwaving dino nuggets for her to eat.
I had to figure it out. Not only that, but she needed clothes.
Jade had dropped off some quick things she picked up, but I wasn’t feeling any of it.
“Daddy.” That little deep tone broke my thoughts.
Yeah, that shit was new too. She’d asked what my name was and I told her Reminisce.
Then Jade told her I was her father. Her little eyes lit up, and ever since then, she had been calling me daddy.
That was back at Rennix’s house a few weeks ago.
It made me wonder who Pynk had her around, but then again, nothing in the past could be changed.
“Yeah?”
“Pad dead, can we charge?” She pointed to the tablet that she’d come with.
It was on the end table next to the sofa.
That motherfucker had been dead since the first day she’d handed it to me.
I refused to charge it. Shit was so cracked it looked like a fucking fire hazard.
I had been meaning to get her an updated one.
I guess that was what we’d do today since we had some running around to do anyway.
“No, we ’boutta get you a new one. That one is broken, shorty.”
“Oh.” The O she made with her lips had me moving toward her.
“You wanna go to a few stores, lil mama?” I stood a few feet away from the sofa drinking from a mug of black coffee. I had become accustomed to it after I realized it somehow helped with these shitty ass migraines I kept getting.
“And then we eat?”
I chuckled. “Yeah, we can eat again. Let me find you something to put on.”
She nodded excitedly and I turned on my feet to do just that. She didn’t have much, besides what Jade brought her, but I still had to put fits together and I hated it. There were too many bright patterns and not enough solids.
It didn’t take me long to throw together a pair of gray cargos and one of those fluffy ass sweaters I hated.
I just knew shorty would be hot by the time we got to the car.
I groaned at the thought, but I dressed my daughter.
Then, like Beyah attempted to teach me, I tried my hand at putting a bun at the top of her head.
Yeah, this girl dad shit wasn’t me, but I was trying.
That was all I could do for now until I got the hang of it.
Once she was dressed and still watching ol’ girl with the overalls on the sofa, I started getting myself together.
Where I used to blast the radio, taking my time because everything was at my leisure, I didn’t dare do that now.
I moved stealthily and silently around my room, getting dressed and listening for her.
Romance was self-sufficient for her age, but I didn’t have the hang of this parenting shit. So everything had me jumping and moving toward my child.
I had just pulled a shirt over my head when I felt my phone vibrating in the pocket of my sweats.
When I pulled it out, I saw it was my brother calling.
G had been serious about checking in. Shit, a few times he had Beyah calling asking if I needed a break.
My family had really stepped up without me asking, but I knew I had to get used to this on my own as Romance was my child and ultimately my responsibility.
I hadn’t even taken any jobs because right now it was all too fresh.
I couldn’t be too far away from her. Not right now.
I needed her to get used to me and me to her.
I needed her little mind to equate me with presence and nothing like her nothing ass mama.
I let the call roll over and decided I’d answer it when we got to the car. I was ’boutta have to struggle with this dumb ass car seat I hated.
“Romance, you ready?”
“I ready, Daddy.” She met me at the door, throwing on that pink ass jacket Jade insisted she have. It had only been a day when Jade waltzed in the door with a whole bunch of shit I didn’t know she needed.
“You went to pee?” I asked, hating that I had to be all in her fucking business.
“Yes.”
“You wiped and washed your hands?” I gave her the most serious expression I could muster.
She nodded, then showed me her hands. I didn’t know what the hell that was supposed to do, but I leaned down and picked her up so we could leave.
“Daddy, why is it writing on your face?” she asked as soon as we stepped onto the elevator.
“Because I like writing on my face, baby. Don’t write on yours though.”
She cackled, tracing the tattoos on my face with her fingers. “I won’t. I like your face writing, Daddy. Did it hurt?”
“Yeah, really bad.”
She shook her head like she was judging me. “Then why do it?”
I shrugged. “Because I like them.”
She nodded. “Okay.” The rest of the ride down was quiet mostly, except the babbling she now did to herself. I didn’t know if she was humming as well but either way she wasn’t asking me random ass questions.
While moving toward the car, I hit the locks to the door. Here was the moment of truth, wondering if I’d retained anything shown to me about this. It wasn’t until I sat her down that I realized she knew how to strap herself. She hit me with a “I got it, Daddy.”
Astonished, I sat here and watched her strap herself in.
When she was finished, I checked to make sure she was secure, then closed the door and moved around the car.
I hopped in on my side, pushing the button to start then looked at her in the back.
She was already looking out of the window.
I hated the hot pink hat with ears Caya had bought her.
It was so damn girly and who the fuck walked around wearing a hat with ears.
I gave her one last look before shifting into reverse.
My first stop was to grab her this damn tablet because she was about to either ask me for my phone or to turn the radio to those irritating ass nursery rhyme songs.
I hated them because one, they had too many voices, and two, the shit was high pitched and overly fucking annoying.
They were a huge contrast from my normal Jeezy.
“Daddy.”
“Yeah, lil mama?”
“Can we get ish cream?”
“Maybe. It’s cold as fuck though, Ro.”
“Okay.” She clapped her hands together looking out of the window.
I decided it was the perfect time to call my brother back. G answered on the first ring.
“Yo, where you at?” he asked immediately. Unlike Renny and Jade, G lived in the city and was much closer to me. It was less than a ten-minute drive for me.
“’Boutta run by the mall and grab some things for Romance. You know I’ve been meaning to replace that tablet.”
“Yeah. Don’t go in there and go overboard.”
I shook my head, smiling. “I’on know what you talking about, bro.”
“Yeah, okay. Grab me a charger for Bey’s computer. I’ll pay you for it. That lil mutt bit hers up last night. I think he thought it was mine.”
“You gonna leave her dog alone, man.”
“I don’t even be messing with the lil motherfucker. Where is my niece anyway?”
“In the back seat. She hears you.” I glanced in the mirror and she was still staring out of the window, not paying attention to anything in the car. That was good for now because I got to keep my phone.
“Why yeen tell me? Got me on this phone cur—”
“She done heard cursing before and she’ll keep hearing it. Ask my sister if she’s still up for doing her hair? I ain’t ’bout to keep stressing ’bout putting ponytails in her fucking head and I don’t feel like driving all the way out to Caya.”
He snorted. “Yeah, she’s in there.”
We talked for the remainder of the ride. When I pulled up to the mall and shorty asked for my phone, I let him know I’d hit him when we were on our way to his house.
“We at a mall, Daddy.” She clapped her hands when I opened her door to get her.
“What you know about a mall?” I asked, eyes on her while I pulled her sweater down to cover her belly.
“We shop, Daddy, we shop.”
“Yeah alright. You got a job I don’t know about, lil mama? ’Cause who money are we spending?”
She giggled like I was sadly misspoken. “No, Daddy, we spend your money.”
Now that earned a laugh from me. I didn’t even respond because she was right.
The Apple store was on the first floor when we walked in, which made maneuvering a little easier. I didn’t much care for those carts because what was the point when they were so big and bogus?
I was moving in the direction of the store entrance with Romance in my arms when my eyes landed on a familiar backside.
She leaned against the table closest to the exit while the store worker in an orange shirt, khakis, and some thick ass goggles on his face was all in her shit.
He must’ve been trying to mack. Without much more thought, but a bit of a quicker step, I walked in the door and implanted myself behind her, making him look me up and down while I sat my child down on the table.
I wasn’t shocked to see her here. Rim was techy the type to keep all her devices up to date no matter how recently she’d just purchased what she was updating.