Chapter 12 #2
Every month, he planned to double up on his mortgage payments, and he wanted to have the home paid off in less than four years.
His cars were all paid for, and he had a nice little nest egg.
Lethal had been working his ass off, and after the fight, it was going to be all about his daughter until he knew for sure she was good.
And if the doctor did give them bad news, Lyric was going to have the best of everything.
It didn’t matter if she needed physical therapists or in-home care. If she needed it, she would get it.
“What’s up with her mother?” Block probed as he and Lethal walked toward the exit.
“What you mean?”
“Y’all good? Shorty did take your chain.
She’s also got you acting out of character.
I’m all for making sure she’s good because that means your child is good, but if she is a grimy-ass broad, don’t let her come-up be easy.
Don’t get into trouble for her, and don’t give her ass an undeserved payday because she ended up pregnant. ”
Running a hand over his waves, Lethal expelled a breath.
His situation with Khrome was a fragile one indeed.
The last thing he needed was her embarrassing him and making him look like a fool.
He wasn’t the one that took Cam’s life but still.
Catching bodies and shit wasn’t Lethal’s thing. He’d never been a part of that life.
“I got it, man. Khrome hasn’t gotten anything out of me but basic shit.
She’s staying in a hotel. I gave her a job, and I’m letting her drive my car.
I’ll take care of Lyric but if Khrome gets any money out of me, she’s going to earn it.
My judgment might not be the best, but I don’t think she’s a bad person. She’s just been dealt a shitty hand.”
“And I sympathize with that, bro, I really do. But at the end of the day, when a person’s environment and other outside forces make them act a certain way, you’re not going to just come along with a few nice gestures and make them change their ways.
Shorty has been dealing with some real foul people.
She’s not going to simply let her guard down and turn into a different person for you. ”
“She doesn’t have to do anything for me, but I’d hope she wants to do it for her child.”
“Me too, bro, but her mother wasn’t shit. Her father wasn’t around. You said yourself she doesn’t have any friends or family. Sometimes, people turn out better than their circumstances, but sometimes, they don’t.”
Lethal knew his brother meant well, but he didn’t even want to talk about the possibility of Khrome failing Lyric.
If Brazil could be a single parent, so could he.
Lethal would for sure take Lyric before he ever let Khrome traumatize his daughter because of bullshit from her past. He didn’t blame her for Cam’s actions, but his daughter had already been born premature because of a fuck nigga.
It was Lethal’s job to protect Lyric, and he would do anyone that didn’t do right by her, dirty. Khrome was no exception.
If she couldn’t look at his character and his actions and decipher that he was nothing like the fuck niggas from her past, then there wasn’t anything he could do.
She had to put all of the past trauma to the side and be open to trusting him like he was open to trusting her.
He looked at her with Lyric and tell she loved her daughter.
Stressed wasn’t the word and the fact that he couldn’t fuck, drink, or smoke was frustrating.
For all he knew, Khrome could take his car and skip town. If she did, it would save him the trouble of dealing with the courts and taking Lyric from her if she got on some deadbeat type shit. The brothers had parked beside one another. When they reached their cars, Block turned to face his brother.
“If you really think she’s good people, I can see if Symphony will link with her. She might be a loner and shit, but everybody needs somebody. Maybe genuine people in her corner will make a difference in her life. Symphony is a girl’s girl. She loves all that women’s empowerment shit.”
Lethal chuckled. Block was always going to have his best interest at heart, but if he saw something really made his brother happy, he’d be with it. Him being willing to let Khrome in meant a lot. She wasn’t Lethal’s lady, but she was his child’s mother. If she was happy, their child would be happy.
“If she’s open to it, I think that would definitely be good for her. Cam kept her isolated to the point that she doesn’t even have one friend. If she’s down to meet new people, I think Averi and Symphony will be good starts for her.”
“Definitely. I appreciate you, bro.”
The men parted ways. Lethal was tired as hell, but he was going to take a shower and spend at least three hours at the hospital with Lyric.
He almost asked Khrome to help him decorate her nursery at his home, but he held off for some reason.
He stepped in and accepted that he got her pregnant with no hesitation.
She didn’t even have to ask for his help when she was in trouble; he offered.
Lethal was about to stop giving in so easily.
It was time for Khrome to prove herself to him.
Blossom stood at the stove, stirring the pasta sauce that was simmering.
She’d be leaving the next morning because The Majors had a game in Chicago.
She would only be gone for the day, but she still wanted to have food prepared, laundry done, and the house clean before she left.
Creed would be home, so Chosen was staying at home versus going to his father’s house.
“Mom.” Creed entered the kitchen, and the tone that his voice held made her aware that he felt a way about something.
“What’s up?” She turned to face her son.
“The man you’re dating.” Creed inched closer to her. “He was in prison for being a drug dealer.” The accusatory tone that her son had coupled with the look of disbelief in his honey-colored eyes threw Blossom for a loop. Her lips parted, but she couldn’t find her voice.
She had never uttered Tech’s name to either one of her kids, so they couldn’t have told Cedric. How Creed knew about Tech’s past was something she wanted to ask him, but how could she admit to her son that she was in fact dating a man that had just been released from prison?
“I would love to know what everyone’s issue with me dating is,” she deflected. “Who in the world told you that man sold drugs?”
“It really doesn’t matter who told me. Is he a drug dealer? Was he in prison? Does he even have a job? How did you hook up with someone like that?” The disappointment in her son’s eyes made Blossom’s heart sink.
There was no way she could tell the truth and not sound pathetic and desperate.
Someway, somehow, it had to be Cedric. There was no other way around it.
“As I have asked you before,” Blossom spoke, slowly, “I want my name and my business to not be a topic of discussion outside of this house. Trust that I am not stupid. I am an adult, and I am capable of taking care of myself. I am not getting married. I have gone on a few dates with a man. Two of his sons are professional athletes. He has a job. A condo and a car. He treats me well, and he’s a nice guy. That’s all you need to worry about.”
“Is this what a mid-life crisis looks like? A divorced woman with a great career and two kids starts dating thugs and ex-cons?”
“Who the hell are you talking to?!” She raised her voice.
“Is everyone losing their damn minds? No one is perfect, and no one will ever be perfect. But please tell me if I’ve always been a good mother?
Have you and your brother always been well taken care of?
Have you ever suffered because I was negligent or just plain stupid?
When did I all of a sudden need supervision to live my life?
Your father is a selfish, egotistical control freak, and I want you to stop letting him put crazy things in your head. ”
“Got it.” Creed pivoted and walked out of the kitchen.
Blossom was so pissed when she reached to turn the burner off, she was trembling.
It took every ounce of self-restraint that she had not to grab her keys and drive to Cedric’s house.
The cursing out that she wanted to put on him wasn’t the kind she wanted to do over the phone.
She wanted to look him in the eyes while she read him for filth, but that wasn’t a good idea.
Blossom was ninety-eight percent certain that the info Creed had, came from Cedric.
But in the event that it didn’t, she couldn’t curse him out and tell on herself if it was something that he didn’t know.
She wouldn’t even be able to slowly insert Tech in her life in a subtle way before dropping the prison bomb on everyone.
She’d been blindsided, and she was sick of it.
Every time Blossom started living her life for her, Cedric found a way to mess things up.
It was getting to a point where she literally despised him.
It was as if his life’s mission was to make hers miserable.
Snatching her cell phone up, Blossom walked to the bar area in her home to pour herself a drink.
She was going to sit out on the back deck and calm herself down.
After looking at her watch, she hoped that it wasn’t a day Fancy had to work late.
She needed to vent, and Fancy was the only one that knew about Tech and his past. She joked and called him Felon Bae, but Fancy didn’t judge her for dating Tech.
After pouring tequila and a chaser, Blossom took a large sip and sauntered over to the sliding glass patio door.
The moment Creed passed the information that he knew down to Chosen, he was sure to interrogate her next. Blossom was pissed.