Chapter 10
“Eyes on the ball, Ford. Focus!” Blossom yelled from her position on the sidelines. The game was in the last quarter with one minute remaining on the clock.
“There you go!” She clapped loudly as Ford stole the ball and shot a three-pointer, making the crowd go crazy.
Women’s basketball rarely got as intense as the men, but there were definitely times when emotions ran high.
Just as the buzzer sounded, Ford shot another three-pointer that sent the stadium into pandemonium.
Forgetting she had on heels, Blossom jumped up and down as she cheered for her girls.
Blossom was her girls’ biggest cheerleader.
Even when it seemed like she was being hard on them it was because she wanted the best for them.
Until the day she died, she would voice how wrong it was for women athletes not to get paid as much as men, but she went above and beyond to teach her girls the game of life and not just ball.
After her wrap-up in the locker room, Blossom walked out to a familiar face. She smiled because Tech had to have special access to get to the back. Her eyes roamed his frame and per usual, he was looking dapper in jeans, a Gucci jacket, plain white tee, and a pair of Js. So rugged yet so handsome.
“This is a nice surprise.”
“Any time I can make it to support you, I will. Good game.”
“Thank you.”
Tech hugged her, and her eyes closed as his scent engulfed her. “You got plans?” He pulled back and peered into her face. “I promise I won’t keep you out late. Just a celebratory drink.”
“I’m going in late tomorrow to give my girls a small break, and my sons are at their father’s house. You can keep me out late if it’s in your heart to do so,” she flirted, making him simper.
“Say less.”
They turned to leave, and Blossom’s intestines violently twisted as she came face to face with Cedric.
He had never shown up to one of her games.
Knowing him like the back of her hand, she concluded that Creed had run his mouth about her dating, and Cedric was there like the shit was any of his business.
The look of disdain on his face proved her right.
“Can I help you?” she asked him, genuinely confused. The man was engaged. They had no business if it wasn’t about her sons.
“I came to have a conversation with you.”
“About?”
“Creed and Chosen told me you’ve been staying out late quite a bit.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she asked in a low tone.
Blossom’s chest heaved as she felt herself becoming angry.
“I’m a grown-ass woman. One of my sons is eighteen, and the other one is almost fourteen.
When they are at home, they hide out in their rooms like they’re being held captive.
All they want to do is scroll social media and play video games.
So, if I do want to step out for a few hours, what’s the fucking issue? ”
“Why are you cursing?” Cedric drew back with a frown.
“Because why the fuck are you here?!” she hissed. “Aren’t you engaged? You controlled enough of my life when we were married. I’m not doing this with you. I walked away from you. Don’t worry about what I do. You have an issue with my parenting, call CPS.”
“I controlled your life when we were married?” Cedric asked, appalled.
“You definitely tried to. If I wasn’t dimming my light to try and make you shine brighter, you weren’t happy. I lived in misery because your ego needed to be stroked.”
“You lived in misery?” Cedric chuckled, angrily. “Wow.”
“Let’s go.” Blossom turned to Tech while ignoring him. She was so upset, her nostrils flared, and her heart was raced.
She couldn’t believe Creed. Or Cedric. The fact that men could walk away from a relationship and move on with no questions asked while everything a woman did was scrutinized was some bullshit.
“I’m sure we parked in different areas. You good?” Tech asked as they approached the exit.
“Yes. I’m sorry about that. I don’t do drama, and I don’t expect the men I’m dating to deal with it on my end either.”
“Men?” He smirked, making her smile. “You don’t have to apologize to me. If I fumbled you, I’d be pissed, too.” He winked at her. “Want to meet me at the lounge on Second, or do you want to head home?”
“I’m heading home after we leave the lounge, and you’re coming with me.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” Tech smiled before walking away.
As Blossom turned to walk to her car, the smile disappeared from her face, and she felt her body growing warm.
Cedric’s actions had her in complete shock.
Maybe once the divorce was final, she was expected to spend the rest of her life alone and miserable.
Blossom knew that her sons loved her and wanted the best for her, but it was hard not to be offended at the way they ran their mouths to Cedric.
He was coming at her like she was an unfit mother all because she’d started dating.
As soon as she buckled the seatbelt across her body, Creed called her phone. “Hello?”
“Ma, Dad came to the game?”
“Yeah, he did.”
There was a brief silence. “I didn’t know he was going to do that. He was asking us general questions about different things, and Chosen mentioned that sometimes, you go out with friends, and then he asked us if you were dating, and I told him yes.”
“I’m not sure how that was any of his business.
In the future, I’d appreciate it if conversations with your father didn’t include me.
You are an adult, and as far as Chosen, he doesn’t need to be asking him anything about me just like I don’t ask you all about him.
” Her tone was friendly because she was talking to her child, but she was still boiling on the inside.
Yes, she had mentioned to Cedric that she was on a date and maybe she shouldn’t have, but why did it matter?
The man was engaged. Instead of accepting it for what it was, he really questioned their sons.
“Okay.”
She could tell her son felt bad about the drama that had unfolded, and she was glad she didn’t yell at him. She had spoken her piece, however, and next time, everybody was getting cursed out. Even after Blossom and Tech were seated at the lounge, her body was still tense.
“I’m gon’ need you to relax your face,” Tech teased her. “Your girls showed out on that court tonight. There isn’t one reason that you shouldn’t be smiling.”
“I know. I just can’t believe the nerve of that man.
He’s engaged. He wants to drop one of our sons off his insurance, so he can add his fiancée and her child.
I couldn’t give a rat’s ass what that man does, and he shows up at the game to try and check me?
” Her voice rose an octave as she shook her head.
Blossom was trying to calm down, but it was hard.
“That nigga is mad, plain and simple, and he wants you to be mad, too. We gon’ laugh, drink, and celebrate, while he drives home with steam coming out of his ears.”
Right on time, the server placed their drinks in front of them. Blossom lifted her glass with a smile and sipped the strawberry Hennessy through a straw.
“I thought once you started school, your late nights were going to be few and far between.”
Swallowing the vodka he’d just sipped, Tech placed his glass on the table.
“That still stands, but this was special. It won’t be that late when I get home.
” He looked at his watch. You sure about me coming to your crib?
You can come to mine. Don’t let your ex switch up how you move if you’re not comfortable. ”
“I’ll come to your home only because you have to get up earlier than I do. We don’t live exactly close to one another. I don’t mind taking that drive home.”
“Your sons aren’t home, so you can take that drive in the morning. You don’t have to leave as soon as I cum. Making me feel like you’re only using me for my body and shit.”
“Whatever.” She giggled. Blossom was only on her third sip of liquor, so she doubted that was the reason for her change in mood.
All was well again, and Cedric was an afterthought. If her moving on and being happy was going to make him mad, he could prepare to be pissed and to stay that way.
Khrome sat in a recliner in front of her daughter’s incubator.
Between the tiny knit toboggan on her head, the tubes in her nose, and the tape over her eyes, Khrome could barely see her child’s face.
Salty tears ran into her mouth as she thought about the fact that she was being released the next day, and she hadn’t even held her child.
It wasn’t fair. The poor choices she made in life were affecting her child, which made Khrome feel like shit.
Going to Cam’s house and hiding out until he came home then blowing his brains out had crossed her mind more than once.
Lethal was training for a fight, so he hadn’t been there all day, and she was kind of glad.
Khrome wanted to be able to cry, sulk, and feel like shit without anyone trying to make her feel better. She didn’t deserve to feel better.
The nurse had brought her a breast pump and though she’d warned Khrome that she might not pump much in the beginning, it was still disheartening when she couldn’t even pump a full ounce.
Khrome was beginning to wonder if there was anything that she could do right.
She made sure to stay hydrated and despite not having an appetite, she forced herself to eat because she wanted her milk to come in.
Breast milk was best for her baby, especially since she was a preemie.