Chapter 19
“A sense of belonging and unconditional love is necessity to every street nigga, regardless of if he is aware of it or not.”
- Savior
TAURUS
In a year’s time life transcended itself…
Life was finally full fucking circle for a young street nigga.
Savior and I had run the streets for a while, and never had either of us dealt with what we did last year.
They said some things were placed in our lives for us to learn from, but I damn sure didn’t know what I was supposed to learn from that shit.
What I could say was being shot wasn’t no fucking fun.
I didn’t care what the lil’ niggas glamorized that shit as.
Being shot was too much for the toughest nigga.
Anyways, right now life was full circle, and I had everything I could’ve asked for.
During what should’ve been one of the darkest points of a nigga’s life, I had found my light.
When I saw Lane for the first time, I didn’t see us here.
I mean, sure, I was fiending for her back then.
I knew what I wanted, but I damn sure didn’t know what I was getting, if that made any sense.
“Taurus, where is the bottle? If Noel wakes Naomi up, then you’re taking both of them. I have to prepare for this appeal tomorrow.”
“You’re going to wake her ass up with all that fucking fussing.
” I walked into the living room, where Lane sat on the sofa holding our daughter who acted like her the most. All Noel did was cry and whine.
I told her that she got that shit from her mother, whereas Naomi was just laidback and calm.
That came from me. I couldn’t help but be grateful for my girls, but I knew the big homie was getting back at me for all the shit I had done back in the day.
I mean, why else did he give a nigga not one but two daughters?
When they were born, he made it clear that I’d be doing time behind them.
At least their mama was a lawyer because a nigga would definitely need it.
I handed her the bottle and sat at the other end of the sofa right in front of Naomi’s carrier. She was knocked the fuck out and milk drunk. Her chubby ass would be out for at least a few hours.
“My mom and dad are dropping by to see them in a little while.”
I looked from my baby to Lane and nodded my head. “Cool. Just make sure yo’ mama don’t put her lips on my kids.”
“Taurus, really?” She threw the couch pillow at me.
“Hell yeah. You were thinking the shit.” I caught the pillow and tossed it on the other side of the sofa.
“I cannot stand you.” She shook her head.
“But you’re about to stand at that altar and marry me next month. Yeah, okay. I love yo’ ass too.” I winked at her.
LANE
I didn’t even have enough fingers to count all the blessings that God had given me within the last year.
All I could do was spend every moment thanking Him.
It all started when he sent this unhinged man into my life who showed me what true love was.
Before him, I planned to just deal with Sabastian and stay madly in love with my career.
All of that was switched up. Not only was my career still flourishing, but I was now a mother of two beautiful baby girls.
Noel and Naomi showed me every day that there was more out there.
There was no better feeling than being their mother and watching them grow every day.
Right now, both of them were the spitting image of their father, but I had faith that would change.
It was messed up because I had carried both of them to full term, and this was how it happened. They looked nothing like me.
Anyway, I’d like to say everybody else in my life was doing better, but then I’d be lying.
My mother and father were still divorcing, but neither of them would sign the papers.
Instead, they bickered everywhere and exposed one another’s dirty laundry.
I guess that was how they loved. To me, it was pure dysfunction, but that was them, and it wasn’t my situation.
As for Joseph and Sabastian, they were happy-ish I guess.
Sabastian had finally found a woman to marry him, only for her to refuse to divorce him when she saw how much money he came into.
Joseph, on the other hand, had left his wife and kids.
I heard he was living out of some hotel in Oakbrook.
That was a mess that I was glad I avoided.
“I know you just heard me,” Taurus called out to me.
“No, I didn’t. What did you say?” I asked.
He screwed his face up like I annoyed him. “I said I love you.”
I smiled warmly at him. “I love you too, baby.”
REGANCY
I stood in the washroom, pacing back and forth in front of the counter in anticipation of what the test I’d just urinated on would say. I had gotten married and went on my honeymoon all of two months ago, and here I was once again.
“Mama, SJ took his pamper off again.” Kale knocked on the door.
I shook my head and rolled my eyes to the ceiling. This child was way too smart for his own good. “Go tell your father.”
“I did, but he told me to tell you.”
“Well, go tell him again.” When it came to these kids and my husband, I never had any time to myself.
My son was a certified mama’s boy, so his little pamper removal stunt was a way to get me to come to him.
Savior hated it because SJ made sure to be in bed with us in the middle.
It was funny to me because he acted just like his territorial ass father.
Finally, the timer on my phone alerted me to it being finished.
For some reason, I had anxiety at the thought of just looking at this test. I forced myself to count to five, and then I snatched the test from the sink, and it read exactly what I thought. I was convinced yesterday when all I wanted to do was eat and sleep the entire day.
“Muhh.” SJ banged on the door as if he owned me.
I stuffed the test in my back pocket and opened the door. His naked, bowlegged frame ran straight into my legs.
“Muhh.”
“SJ, come here, man. You can’t be out here like that.” Savior walked down the hall with a pamper in his hand.
I grabbed the pamper from his hand and replaced it with the test in my hand. “How about you focus on that while I handle this.” I picked up my naked, whining baby and walked in the opposite direction.
Once I had him laid out on my bed, I cooed at him. “Now why do you have to take your pamper off, baby boy?” I put the fresh pamper on him
He just giggled up at me like I was making a joke.
He looked so much like his father that it amazed me sometimes.
Once I was finished, I fetched a T-shirt and put it on him before snuggling him in my arms. I could tell he was sleepy by the way each time he closed his eyes, it was a slight delay in them opening back up.
Plus, he kept rubbing them. Kale used to do the same thing as a baby.
The best thing I could’ve done was come back to Chicago and face what I ran away from.
In doing so, I met my soul mate, mended my relationship with my mother, and grew all around from everything I had gone through.
I had even given my baby girl a father, a man who was so sincere and loving that I couldn’t have asked for anything else.
Savior was the missing piece to my puzzle and the yin to my yang.
Had I not come back here, I would have never met him or experienced this love that he and I shared.
“Re, you have to stop holding him like that. Let that lil’ nigga fall asleep on his own.”
I looked up, and Savior stood in the doorway looking at me. After standing there for a while, he walked into the room and set the test I handed him on the dresser.
“Leave my baby alone.”
“He ain’t no baby, Regancy. The lil’ nigga is grown enough to take his pamper off and flash Kale’s friends, then he’s grown enough to take his ass to sleep without being in your arms.”
I giggled and pressed my lips against SJ’s forehead. “Well, he’s my baby.”
Savior smirked and then walked back to the door. “Aye, Kale, I’ll give you twenty-five dollars if you take your brother for one hour.”
She was at our bedroom door so fast that I would’ve thought he promised her a damn shopping spree. “And we can go on the boat this weekend?” She looked up at him.
“That’s up to your mother. Now take your brother.”
She nodded her head and walked over with her arms out, grabbing Savior from my arms. Within seconds, she was carrying him out of our bedroom, and Savior closed the door.
I stood and walked into the washroom, knowing he’d follow me. I didn’t even get to the counter before he pulled me in to him.
“I told you that I was getting my second son before the year was out.” He picked me up and placed me on the counter.
“You did this on purpose, knowing I wanted to work on expanding my businesses thi—”
“And you still will… just while you’re hitting me off with my other son.” He winked. “I support any and everything you do, baby.”
A small smile rushed my face. He was very supportive.
In the last year, I was able to open up another location for my restaurant, which was great.
It was his support and ability to still be present, even though he was busy as well.
Long story short, we made it work. Not to mention, my mother was also a big help.
Besides Amil’s passing, everything with her was good.
She practically lived here with us, but she refused to formally move.
We were fine with it because she was a big help and a great presence when it came to the kids.
My father had even come to Chicago a few times, even though he hated the city.
He claimed that he wanted to be as involved in his grandchildren’s lives as possible.
That was even better because when they were old enough, I’d be shipping them off to him.
Either way, life was treating me great, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I had a wonderful husband and two and a half beautiful children. Life couldn’t get any better.
SAVIOR
Before Regancy, I didn’t think I’d ever slow down.
I was out here in these streets heavy and doing whatever the fuck I felt.
I should’ve known that day on the elevator would change me.
If that wasn’t a sign, the day I walked in her bar and she said she wasn’t paying me shit was one.
Regancy had come into my life and exposed me to some shit that I wasn’t used to, and then after that first taste, I was borderline fucking obsessed.
She hooked me on her, and even now, I had an addiction to this woman.
She had shown me what pure, unfiltered love was like, and that was just that.
I planned to spend the rest of my life making her and my kids happy.
It was just something about seeing them smile that lit my entire world up.
I had become one of those niggas that I used to judge.
I had turned in my street-running days for the corporate chair, and now I legitimately invested in businesses that were in trouble to keep them afloat, along with my psycho ass partner in crime.
We still did a little something on the side, but it wasn’t enough to get us in any shit.
I had to show my kids that there was way more to life than what I was into.
The thing about having kids was that everything was put into perspective.
A real street nigga didn’t raise his son to run the same streets.
Instead, he created passages beyond the streets for his seeds.
Then with my daughter, I gave Kale the world because I never wanted her to encounter a me before I had her and her mama.
Some niggas didn’t understand the assignment, but I did.
I could never play with my creations. I was too busy out here trying to give the world to them and their fine ass mama.
“Thank you,” she uttered, breaking my thoughts up.
“For what?”
“Everything.”
I laughed. “I don’t know what you’re thanking me for. You still owe me that lil’ money from opening up in my territory.”
She giggled. “Yeah, okay. You didn’t get it then, and you damn sure won’t get it now.”
“That’s cool. I got something better than that anyway.”
The End…
-TGE