Chapter 6 #3
“Even when I stopped doing for her financially, we were still cool. We communicated about my son, and that was it. Now that I’m home she feels some kind of way because I haven’t stopped by to see her.
Mario is fourteen. I can communicate directly with him.
I’m not sleeping with her or blurring any lines.
I don’t want to be with her, and I’m not going to think with my dick and complicate the situation. ”
The server came over to take their food orders, but Blossom was damn near in a trance. She wasn’t even aware of how intensely she was staring at Tech until the server stared at her when Tech told him to take her order first.
“Oh, um.” Blossom cleared her throat and looked down at the menu. “I’ll start with the lobster bisque soup.”
The entire time the server took their orders, Blossom’s mind was racing.
Tech was a smooth talker for sure. He said all the right things while making eye contact and sounding sincere.
If he was lying to her then he was a good-ass actor, and that was what she was afraid of.
Blossom dated guys that had book sense and common sense but no street sense.
Tech was a reformed dope boy; maybe lying and manipulating women was his specialty.
Or maybe he really had grown and matured while he was in prison.
The man was fifty for goodness’ sake. When he told her his age, Blossom was very surprised.
He was in great shape for his age and damn sure didn’t look it.
She knew she was doing too much when she found herself wondering if he could keep up in the bedroom.
She was a birthday away from forty, but she was still younger than him and had never dated a man that much older than her.
“Did I scare you away?” Tech’s gaze focused on her as the server walked away.
“Scared me away? No,” she replied, slowly.
“It doesn’t matter what the situation is.
When you meet a person, you have to take everything they say with a grain of salt.
We can say whatever sounds good but as you pointed out, actions speak louder than words.
I don’t have a lot of experience with relationships.
I had one boyfriend for a year before I met my ex.
I do know how to spot red flags and bullshit, however, so I should be okay. ”
Tech gave a subtle nod.
“You were locked up for a long time. Some men come home and try to make up for lost time. All the sex they missed out on when they were locked up, they seem to think they can really make up for it when they get home. You want to be tied down? Or are you interested in having your way out here?”
With a chuckle, Tech lifted his glass and finished off his drink.
“I don’t think there’s enough energy in the world to make up for eleven years of no sex.
I will never lie like I don’t want it. I want it bad, but I waited eleven years.
I can wait a little while longer. I could easily go out and find a quick fuck.
I’ve been focused on reuniting with my kids and getting my business in order.
And when I do start having sex, one woman can do the same thing that five women can do. ”
Tech was smooth indeed. Blossom made a mental note that she was going to have to be careful with that one.
Lethal walked into the lab, and the first person he spotted was Khrome.
She was sitting with that same anxious expression on her face that he had become accustomed to.
It was as if she was in permanent fight or flight mode.
Khrome always appeared on edge like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and he didn’t like it.
What Lethal also didn’t like was that each time he saw her looking timid and nervous, his disdain for her lessened a little more.
It was difficult to be angry with a person who was out here just trying to make it, even if he was one of her victims. Lethal didn’t think she was nervous that he might not be the father.
She hadn’t sought him out for a test, he asked her.
“What’s up?” he asked as he sat beside her. She had made the appointment, so as long as she had signed in, he didn’t have to do anything.
“Hi.” She gave him a nervous smile.
Before he was drugged and overly inebriated, Lethal vividly remembered every detail about their encounter.
He approached her. He didn’t do thirsty women.
She was slightly bashful but still confident.
Her head was held high, and she knew she was sexy.
Maybe it was the alcohol in her system. Maybe she really was feeling herself that night.
Minus the scheming part, that Khrome was sexy.
Lethal hated that she was walking around like a scared puppy waiting for pussy-ass Cam to jump out of the shadows.
“I can’t come to the bar tonight, but I can send my brother up there to make sure you’re good.”
Khrome shifted nervously in her seat. “You don’t have to do that. I can just ask security to walk me out to the Uber.”
“Nah,” he replied with finality. “My brother gon’ come get you and take you back to the hotel. You said it was paid for a week. You gon’ renew that shit?”
“I don’t really have a choice. I’ve been thinking about buying a CPN. I don’t have credit, and I have a criminal record. I can’t get a decent place in my name, and I don’t have anyone to sign the lease for me.”
“And if you get caught with that CPN you’re going to lose the apartment and have even more charges on your record.”
“I know that,” she mumbled. “I don’t exactly have a lot of choices.
I’m not bougie, but I don’t want to stay in a run-down hotel.
If I have to pay weekly to have a roof over my head, the little money that I have is going to go fast. I’ve been applying for jobs that I can work when I’m too big to bartend, but I haven’t heard anything back. ”
Flexing his jaw muscles, Lethal interlocked his fingers and stared at the floor for a moment. He couldn’t believe the thoughts he was having. He had changed from wanting to put hands on Khrome to being Captain Save-A-Hoe.
“You can work for me. I’ll get you a place in my name. You can be responsible for the rent.”
With a slack jaw, she shifted her entire body in her seat, so she was facing Lethal. “Why would you do that for me after what I did? I mean, I know this is your baby, but you don’t know for sure. Yet, you’re helping me.”
“Because I’m not a fuck nigga. I don’t have kids, but I’ve always heard there are instances where a man can have symptoms of pregnancy when he has a child on the way.
I’d think that it only occurred if he was around the mother but whatever the case is, I could barely stand the aroma of raw meat for months.
If that isn’t my baby, then I need to go get my shit checked out.
And even if it’s not, my offer still stands. ”
Even if Khrome could find words, they would have been interrupted because the lab tech called her name.
Simultaneously, her and Lethal stood at the same time.
He allowed her to take the lead as they ambled toward the waiting technician.
Lethal didn’t have a real job for Khrome.
He wasn’t big on social media, but he knew having a social media presence on various platforms was beneficial.
He would pay her to post on his pages, teach her how to edit his YouTube videos, small things that he didn’t have the time to do some days.
If the child Khrome was carrying belonged to him, then she would be taken care of her with no hesitation.
He wouldn’t take care of Khrome financially, but he would make sure that she had a life good enough for his daughter to live.
If she lived in a bad area, then his child lived in a bad area, and he wasn’t having that.
Brazil was able to tackle parenthood because he had a good support system.
If Khrome ended up in jail or simply just not capable of raising their child, he would step in, but with his career, he would certainly need help just as his brother did.
Lethal was barely able to list five things about Khrome.
He didn’t know her last name, birthday, or any of her favorites.
There was no way for him to decipher if she’d be a good mother.
Only time would tell. The way his parents raised him to be, Khrome struggling and him being a dead beat were two things that wouldn’t happen.
He’d give her a couple of tasks a day to do, let her respond to emails, enough for him to justify paying her enough money to cover her rent and utilities.
He was also contemplating letting her drive his Benz until she was able to get a car.
Lethal had a Benz, Land Rover, and a Genesis.
They both got their blood drawn, and when they were done, the pair walked outside. When Khrome unlocked her phone and went to the rideshare app, Lethal sucked his teeth. “When have you ever been in my presence and I not taken you to the hotel?”
“And I keep trying to tell you that you don’t have to do all that.
No offense but I’ve been in two situations where men swooped in like saviors that were going to change my life and protect me, and they ended up being my worst enemies.
It’s time for me to start learning how to save myself.
I’m about to be somebody’s mother. I have to be independent. ”
“Don’t mistake me trying to save my child with me trying to save you.
I sympathize with what you’ve gon’ through but this is about that baby in your belly and nothing more.
Regardless of the circumstances that she was conceived under, it’s not her fault.
My child will never suffer behind the next person’s choices. Let’s go.”