13. Asher
Asher
J ust when I thought that I might have a clear passage to heaven this shit happened. I didn’t know who woke up and thought that it was smart to play with me and my family. First, Penny fucked with my lil one, now that bitch at the day care talking about we don’t take care of our child. After I read the email and looked at the pictures, I jumped up and moved toward the door.
“Asher, wha wrong wit you?” My mama asked after I pulled the door open hard. “Pullin my doe open like you fool. You break em, you ga pay for em.”
I paced back and forth. I heard my mama ask again what was wrong. I couldn’t respond because I was too busy formulating how this bitch would die. Katniss stepped in front of me to stop my pacing. Tears drenched her face. I cupped her face in the palms of my hand, then put my forehead against hers. “I promise I ga take care of dis, Fat-Fat.”
“Why are they doing this?” The hurt in her voice was overwhelming. “This is why I didn’t want you to know. No one would have messed with me if they didn’t know.”
My jaw clenched from her words. I refused to address it, because I knew she spoke out of distress. I kissed her lips softly. “Baby, I promise I ga handle dis.”
“Nah, you ain’t ga handle dis. We ga handle dis,” my mama bellowed from the front door. This time, I planned to let my mama act a fool on these day care folks. These people had to see me and mine.
I grabbed my baby’s hand and followed my parents and Katniss’s father out the door. Of course, our circle was behind us. Mama Raylen stayed behind to watch the children. We were about to go into the day care and fuck something up. After I handled them, I planned to take Katniss to file a joint order of protection against Penny. Her ass thought she was slick by making fake pages and numbers to harass me and my girl.
It didn’t take us long to get to the day care at all. Katniss was the first to get out and walk into the center. A part of me prayed that bitch was not at the front desk. From the sound of a slap, I knew miss bitch was in fact at the desk.
“You thought no one would find out that you want to lie to the blogs, ho? Well, let me give you some of this truth!” Katniss found the strength of a goddess when she jumped across the receptionist desk and was on that girl’s ass.
I can’t say that I moved with urgency to stop her because that ho needed her ass beat. The one thing I loved about my lil one was that she wasn’t a girl that pulled hair when she fought. It was straight shots to the face and sides. I wouldn’t be surprised if she took boxing classes. “All right, Fat-fat. Let her go!”
“What is going on? Oh my God! Get off of her!” The day care director Juliet had finally entered the chat.
It took a moment for everything to calm down. The director yelled that she was calling the police. I stepped forward to give her a few plans of my own. “Well, why you do that, I ga call my lawyer for slander, defamation of character, or whatever charge we ca get on this day care. Oh, let me call the news station too. This gonna be an ESPN story rightcha.”
The receptionist, Charia, still sat on the floor crying. A couple of the other workers tended to her. The director’s face warped into the ugliest expression. She should never do that again because she was already facially challenged. “Wh-what do you mean? Why would you sue us?”
“Give dat lady ya phone and show ha what dis warthog lookin bitch been up to,” my mother instructed. “Y’all got me and mine fuck up talkin bout my son and daughta-law don’t take care my gran! You think my daughta-law did some damage! Wait till I jump on dat ass.”
I gave my phone to Juliet. I knew the exact moment it sunk in for her what happened and why we were here. Her hand went over her mouth and her head snapped over to Charia. That tear trickled from Juliet’s eye because she knew she was fucked. “Charia, how could you do this? Do you know what this could do? I could get shut down!”
When the door opened and a few parents walked in, Juliet panicked. It was the end of a workday, therefore, parents started to arrive to pick up their children. “Can we take this into my office please?”
My father, the peacemaker, stepped forward. “You may want to use an empty classroom or breakroom. I doubt your office will fit the parents and grandparents of Ashtan and Ashan.”
Juliet displayed that ugly face again. “Wait, I thought this was only about Ashtan. Why is Ashan being included?”
“You crazy if you think I won’t be involved. If dat bitch ca put dirty clothes and shit on my nephew ta take pictures just ta sen to da blogs den there ain’t no tellin’ what she coulda done ta my son.” Tiara turned around to the few parents who stood in the lobby. “Y’all betta check y’all churn because dis bitch takin pictures of people babies and sayin dey neglectin dem.”
The oh my Gods and gasps that erupted in the lobby said a lot. Juliet wasted no time escorting the selected people into an empty classroom. She told the other two workers to bring Charia to the room. There were only two big seats in the classroom. Juliet had more chairs brought in from the breakroom.
She glared at Charia like she was the scum of the Earth or the end of her business. She was both. “First, Charia, did you do this? Oh, and don’t think about lying because this is your work email address on this email thread.”
This girl sat there still crying. She must have been experiencing phantom hits or some shit. Katniss gave Charia some serious face and body shots before I pulled my baby off her. Charia jumped in her seat when Juliet yelled for her to speak. “I was just trying to make some money.”
“By lying and risking the welfare of a child? Are you stupid?” Juliet pointed her finger at Charia. Through gritted teeth, she said, “I didn’t fucking raise you this way.”
Katniss stood up. When she burst out laughing, we all rose a brow. “Wait, this is your fucking daughter or something? Oh, now I know we’re about to blow this shit up and sue the fuck out of you!”
With a huff, Juliet admitted, “Yes, this stupid ass girl is my daughter. Look, I am so sorry about this. How can we rectify this? Based on the email, the young lady has no plan to release this false information, so it’s really no harm, no foul.”
The rage that came over me caused my jaw to tremble. The corners of my eyes tightened before I leaned forward. “Did you just fuckin say no harm, no muthafuckin foul? That can’t be what you said when your daughta inappropriately touched my fuckin son.”
Charia jumped out of her seat. “I did not touch your son inappropriately! I am not a pedophile! You got me fucked up,” she proclaimed.
Slap! Damn, Katniss was fast as fuck! No one saw the slap coming until Charia was slapped the fuck up. “Bitch, you sent pictures of my son’s penis via email covered in feces. You drew a fucking arrow on the picture with a note that we sent him here like that. That’s distribution of child pornography. Matter of fact, Mama Lina, call the police.”
“I been waitin for somebody ta tell me ta call dem boys. I was ca call em either way. I just wanted to make y’all think e been your choice.” Mama Lina took her phone out after she stood to her feet. “I ga be right out here.”
Juliet jumped to her feet. “No, please! We can work this out.”
“Girl, fuck you! Dem boys about to be on da way. Son, I bout to call ya lawyer,” my father let me know before he also pulled his phone out and left the room.
Juliet and her nasty ass daughter were both in tears now. Charia’s ass was about to go to jail, and more than likely, Juliet’s day care would be shut down.
My mother must have mentioned my damn name because the police got here in record time. They came into the room with us, assessed the situation, and got all of the information. My lawyer arrived shortly after for the legal assistance that was needed. The police decided to arrest both Juliet and Charia. When we got to the front of the building, there were news crews all over the place.
“I called them,” Daisy informed us. “Oh, this place is getting shut the hell down. We don’t know what she’s been doing. I’m not giving them a chance to do it to anyone else.”
For the next hour, we spoke to the media about what happened. We didn’t release the name of the blogger, but we thanked her for her integrity. Our support system stood behind us. I couldn’t wish for a better system. One thing I did know was when we got back to my mama’s house, I intended to love on my son and nephew.
A Little Time Later…
It had been busy as hell since everything happened with Katniss’s car getting vandalized, the catastrophe at the day care, the cases that Penny had pending against my sister, Daisy, and Katniss, as well as my practices.
Penny decided to drop all of the assault cases with the thought that Katniss would drop the vandalism case. Yeah, her dumb ass thought wrong. Not only was the vandalism case not dropped, but my baby also doubled down and got an order of protection. Daisy felt it was only right to inform Penny’s place of employment about the case and the order of protection. I wasn’t a nigga to gossip, but word was she was suspended without pay until the case was sorted out.
As far as the day care, once those licensing folks got word of what happened, they shut the center down immediately. Charia was still in jail because they were able to further prove that she did in fact send those pictures and email to Malessa. The dumb bitch didn’t realize that her phone backed up all the pictures she took on her Google drive. They searched on her work computer, phone, and personal computer. Not only were their pictures of my son, but there were also pictures of three others of my teammate’s children. She must have planned to do the same to them as well.
She was hit with distribution of child pornography, child neglect, and extortion. That million-dollar cash bond was a fool that none of her people could pay. We were also in the process of filing a lawsuit.
“She’s gonna like this. This thing is nice, boy. Shit, I might have to buy myself one,” Zane complimented.
We were at my mama’s house waiting for Daisy and Katniss to get here. It was funny, because now it was like my mama’s house was the meeting spot at the end of all of our days. My mother refused to allow me or Tiara to enroll her grandbabies in any day care center. Between her and Mama Raylen, our children were now in their care when we were busy.
“Yeah, my baby’s ga love it, but dat ain’t important. When you ga apologize ta dat damn girl? Y’all look stupid outcha ackin like y’all don’t wanna be wit each other knowin y’all do.” Zane and Daisy were getting on my damn nerves. This man had been moping around since the morning that she left his ass in his condo butt hurt. The way he looked at her when she was around said it all. She looked at him the same way.
Zane kissed his teeth. “Why should I apologize to her ass for telling the truth? Her ass is bogus as fuck.”
“Bogus fa what, my boy? Fa her not trustin’ you wit her heart when you a ho? You can’t be mad at her fa dat shit.” I knew he was shocked to hear me say that shit with a serious undertone. We joke all the time about his whorish ways. This was different though.
Zane rubbed his hand down his face. “Man, don’t do that shit. You act like you wasn’t out here fucking bitches before Kat. Plus, I haven’t been fucking these bitches since I started fucking Daisy. It’s like my dick committed before my mind, shit heart did.”
“Yeah, you right. I was outcha lettin my dick be great. The difference is I was more discrete. While you were fuckin bitches irresponsibly, I had des hos signin NDAs. You just recently started to care bout your image,” I pointed out. “Why should Daisy trust you?”
Zane gave me a blank stare. “What do you mean? Didn’t you hear me say that I haven’t fucked another pussy since I started fucking Suga Melon? Just because I was out there doesn’t mean that I can’t stop for the right female.” It was evident that he was in his feelings because of his tone.
My hands went up. “I’m not about to get into that Suga Melon shit. My boy, I get you. If you still want her, you ga have to start wit an apology.” There was nothing else to say about the situation. He knew that I was right.
“Baby, whose car is that out there? Is someone else here?” Katniss asked when she came through the sliding back door onto the deck.
Daisy wasn’t too far behind her. I expected her to be nosy with her best friend, but surprisingly she didn’t. She went to the couch that was furthest from everyone and sat down and back in the seat. She didn’t speak to either of us. Zane and I stared at her for a second before we glanced at each other. When my eyes locked with Katniss, she shook her head as if to tell me to leave it alone. I would for now.
“What car? There’s a car out there?” I got up from my seat to walk inside the house to get to the driveway.
My parents sat on the couch together with this goofy ass smile on their faces. Tiara wasn’t here because her day was locked with braid appointments. I stopped to ask my parents a question. “Mama, Daddy, you know what car out there?”
When they told me no, I turned on my heel to face Fat-fat. Zane stood behind her with a smile. Daisy stood a ways behind him, but she was there. Yeah, something was up because I’d never seen her not happy. Well, I’ve seen her annoyed, mad, but this sad, depressed look was something foreign. I shook the feeling to get back to the matter at hand.
I pulled Fat-fat into my arm, then gave her a kiss. The suspicious eye she gave me when I pulled away was humorous. I had to stay in character. “That out there belong to you.”
“Wh-what are you talking about?” she inquired with expanded lids. When I pulled the key fob from my pocket and held it up, she stared at it. “You bought me a Jag?” She wrongfully answered her own question. “No, you didn’t buy me a Jag.”
Daisy giggled before she walked forward. “Clearly he did, best friend. Come on! Let’s go look.” She grabbed her hand, the key fob out of my hand, and pulled her out the front door.
Before I got out the door, I heard my baby’s loud ass voice. “Oh my God! Oh my God!”
I was barely in the driveway when she jumped on me. Thank God Zane was behind me because me and my baby would have been on the ground. “You like it, baby?” I asked while I chuckled at her kissing me all over my face.
“I love it! How did you know I’ve always wanted an F-Pace?” She let me put her feet on the ground, but her ass was still in my hands.
My eyes diverted to her best friend. “I had a little help.” Daisy was the one who told me what her dream car was. I thought it would be something more expensive, but no. “Thanks, Daisy, for the assist.”
She saluted me, stepped forward, and hugged her best friend from behind. “Best friend, I’m going to head out. I love you.”
Katniss spun around. In a low voice, she asked, “You’re going to my house, right?” When Daisy mentioned something about stopping at her place to get a few things, Katniss shook her head. “Nope, your parents are out of town. You have more than enough stuff at my place. Wait until Pop Innis is home.”
My ears perked because there was a panic in her voice that I didn’t like. My head slowly swiveled to peek at Zane. Yeah, he noticed to. After a few more words in their exchange, Daisy gave us her leaving salutations before she left. The corners of my eyes were tight when Fat-Fat turned back to me.
She shifted uncomfortably under me and Zane’s stares. “What? Why are y’all looking at me like that?” She tried to walk around me, but I stopped her. This conversation was not over.
“Katniss, you need ta tell us sumthin. Daisy been off for a lil while now. Why all a sudden, she seem like she scared of sumthin?” My eyes were focused on her. Daisy’s demeanor change was blatant. My mama asked if she was alright a few days ago.
Katniss’s head fell with a deep breath. When she held it up, I wanted to wreck something because of the tears that rimmed her eyes. “Look, this is her business to tell. The only reason I’m saying anything is because I’m worried about her. That guy Mason has been threatening her because of the thing that happened at the last dinner they went to. Apparently one of the people there took a video of him knocked out and is extorting him. He blames her.”
Zane stepped forward. “That nigga is stupid. He could have made up any story to explain his ass passed out.”
“I know that, but I think his ego is hurt. I don’t know, it’s weird. Um, he keeps calling her a ho because she’s fucking you and not him when he cashed out on her,” she confirmed.
Yeah, this wasn’t going to end well for Mason. Zane could pretend all day, but he was about to crash out on this man. “Yeah, I’ll holla at Mason,” Zane blurted. Yep, this shit isn’t going to end well at all.