Chapter 7 #3
Heavy locked the door and followed behind her. Ashtyn’s little body ran to him as fast as she could and was swooped into the air.
“Uncle Heavy!” she squealed, squeezing her arms around his neck.
Smiling, Heavy hugged her tightly, kissing her chocolate cheek. “What’s up, baby. How was school?”
“It was good. Why didn’t you come and get me?” she asked so sweetly, looking just like Mesha as a kid, that it melted his heart.
“Today wasn’t my day. I’ll be there tomorrow, though. Okay?” he said, putting her down.
Ashtyn squinted. “Mmm. I guess, so. Can we get ice cream? Mommy, can I have ice cream after school tomorrow? Pleeeease.”
Heavy didn’t wait for Mesha to answer before agreeing. “Yep. Chocolate ice cream with sprinkles for the princess,” Heavy said, knowing her order.
Mesha shook her head and ignored them. There wasn’t anything she could tell her brother about his niece or nephew. She might as well have been invisible.
“Yay!” Ashtyn cheered. “And with Oreos and caramel drizzle. What about my brother? Can he have ice cream, too?”
“KJ is still a baby. He can’t have that right now,” Heavy informed her.
“Okay.” She was about to skip off to her room when Heavy stopped her.
Crouching down, he patted one of her puff balls, making her giggle. “Hey, I’m glad you called me earlier. You can always call me, okay?”
Ashtyn abused the FaceTime app on any given day, but Heavy wanted to make it clear what he meant. She’d never heard her mama yell like that before, and she was scared. Rightfully, so.
Her cloud-like ponytails bounced as she nodded. “Okay. Mommy, are you done yelling?”
Heavy choked on a laugh, while Mesha shook her head. Ashtyn was too smart for her own good.
“Yes, baby. I’m done, and I’m sorry for scaring you. Give me some hugs and kisses.”
Ashtyn hopped onto the sectional and squeezed her tight just as Heavy had done her. Mesha held her a little tighter and a little longer. Her emotions were all over the place, and she felt bad for putting her in a position to see her spazzing out.
“Okay, Mommy,” Ashtyn groaned, wiggling out of her embrace.
“Okay, okay. Go do your homework. When your uncle leaves, it’ll be bedtime,” Mesha informed.
Once she was out of the living room, Heavy walked over to the bassinet KJ was asleep in. He was swaddled with a pacifier in his mouth, looking as precious as he wanted to be. Reaching inside, Heavy rubbed his back.
“Please do not wake him up,” Mesha pleaded.
“Man, be quiet. All that hollering you were over here doing? Then, got the nerve to be talking about you tired of some shit,” Heavy said, incredulously. “You put yourself in this position.”
Mesha tossed her head back against the couch, knowing he wasn’t about to let up.
Yes, she had put herself in this position, but not intentionally.
Having two kids, by two different men, by the age of twenty-six, wasn’t planned, but she wasn’t ashamed either.
She loved her kids with everything in her; she just hated how the situation between her and Khysen turned out.
“Technically, you put me in this fucked-up position,” Mesha grumbled. “Since we’re being honest.”
“Nah. You want some mothafuckin’ honesty?
” Heavy asked but wasn’t waiting for an answer.
“The only reason your baby daddy is still alive is because of my nephew. I don’t give a fuck about him.
I’ll kill a nigga behind y’all, but I let him make it off the strength of what it’d do to you.
You know me, Mesh. I been trying to do right, and you always have me about to act out of character. ”
“No one told you to do what you did!” Mesha hissed, with tears in her eyes. She was so sensitive, and forcing Heavy to put her in her place, without even raising his voice, made her feel like shit.
It hadn’t been proven that Heavy was the one who killed Los, but people weren’t dumb.
A full month hadn’t passed after Dre was killed when Los went missing.
If Heavy wanted his get back on anybody, he made sure to get it as quickly as possible, leaving no traces behind.
To this day, some of Los’ family members wanted answers, but deep down they knew what the fuck it was.
Khysen would’ve been in the number, too, had Mesha and KJ not been a liability.
“Fuck him.” Heavy shrugged, truly not caring. “You were the one being sneaky and had a baby with the nigga. That’s on you.”
She rolled her eyes so hard. “Whatever. I wasn’t being sneaky. I can’t change what’s already done. But that’s fine. That’s exactly why my son won’t be going back over there.” Mesha sniffled, wiping her eyes.
Heavy shook his head. “Man, I know you better not cry. What happened anyway?”
“I guess Khysen’s mama got all the grandkids or something over the weekend and took them shopping and to the arcades and stuff.
Mind you, no one reached out to me to get KJ.
Cool. Whatever. I was gon’ brush it off because he is the youngest and needs a bit more attention, but then I get on Facebook and Khysen’s smut face ass cousins, sister, and her friends are talking about how they wished baby KJ could come over, but his mama is an opp,” she mocked.
“The same hoes who to this day be smiling in my face and who secretly want to fuck you.”
“Man, gon’ with all that.” Heavy wasn’t trying to hear that, but it was the truth, and he knew it.
These hoes had no loyalty, and he wouldn’t dare touch any of them. Knowing his sister wanted some words of advice and for him to let her know everything was going to be fine, Heavy sat down beside her. He hated to see her cry, no matter the circumstances.
Yes, neither she nor Khysen knew about the beef between Dre and Los, but that didn’t mean there had to be drama between them.
At least not when it came to KJ. Heavy wasn’t a parent, but he understood on both ends.
And like she said, he had technically put her in this fucked-up position.
It would’ve been a bad look no matter how the coin flipped.
“Look, man”—He sighed, more stressed than he’d been— “those girls are young. They gon’ talk and be messy. You know how that shit goes. As long as they’re not mistreating KJ, don’t hold that against the daddy.”
“And what about his annoying-ass mama? ‘Cause she sure hasn’t texted me back.”
Heavy grinned. “You cussed her out?”
“Like a dog. I don’t play about my kids. These hoes can do and say anything on them socials but come for mine, ‘cause I’m addressing every single person, directly.”
And that’s why he loved his sister. She didn’t play any games.
Heavy shook his head. “I’m already knowing.
Address the shit like an adult and don’t hold your tongue.
Get all the details first, a’ight. It’s gon’ always be some type of static on GP, but it doesn’t need to be.
Especially with his mama. That lady is probably stressed out. She ain’t worried about you, man.”
“Nah. She needs to be ‘cause I promise you that being weird with my kids’ shit will never fly. Khysen is a good daddy. I’ll never take that from him, but that family of his.
.. yeah, no. They really never have to worry about me if it’s gon’ always be an issue.
They know how this street shit goes. Unfortunately, we got caught up in the mix. ”
And unfortunate it was, because nothing was changing.
At least not any time soon. Khysen may have checked his people about the slick comments, but Mesha wasn’t feeling them.
It hadn’t even been a year since Dre or Los had been gone, and Heavy knew there’d be more drama.
When his grandma used to say, “If it ain’t one thing, it’s another,” Heavy was sure this was the other thing she was talking about.