Chapter 19
Giavanna was pleasantly surprised when Brazil brought Unique along on their date. She was sitting in a highchair like a big girl, and no one could pass her without smiling and talking about what a cutie pie she was.
“I’m officially that parent that brings their kid everywhere,” Brazil joked.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. She makes it easy because she’s so well behaved. Let’s hope that doesn’t change.”
“The longer she’s around my brothers and my parents, I’m sure she’ll turn into Angelica Pickles.”
Giavanna laughed before addressing the elephant in the room.
“I really didn’t need a date with you to test the vibes.
Brazil if you weren’t Kera’s baby daddy I would jump on you with no hesitation.
On one hand, life is short. On the other, the guilt would be a lot to process. I don’t really know what to do.”
“I get it. I’d never want you to be uncomfortable. I just couldn’t not tell you how I felt but if it’s completely off the table, I can only respect it.”
“I didn’t say it’s completely off the table. The situation with Kera aside, this cancer thing has a hold over almost every aspect of my life. I feel gross most days. I’m tired. I just,” Giavanna shook her head. “If we do this, can we take it extremely slow?”
She was still conflicted. Giavanna had only told her mother about Brazil’s confession and surprisingly, her mother encouraged her to go for it.
Maybe she was scared Giavanna would die and wanted her to have a few last hoorah’s before that time came.
Whatever it was, she couldn’t rush to make a decision.
The chemistry was there for sure, but she had to be careful with the process.
If Brazil was the one for her, he’d wait for her to figure it out.
“I can do that,” Brazil agreed.
“We know I’m not doing anything, but if you want to date other women while we figure things out, you don’t have to hide it. I get it.”
“If there was another woman that I was interested in, I wouldn’t be on you so hard. I’m good, Giavanna. I know there are a lot of changes going on with you and your body mentally and physically. I’m not a creep or a pussy hound. We can take this slow without me sleeping with anything with a hole.”
Giavanna smiled. It felt good having Brazil in her corner.
She didn’t intentionally go after him, but she still felt guilty.
Still, she didn’t know how their story would end.
Giavanna was open to taking the time to figure it out.
Hopefully, whatever decision was made would be one that everyone could peacefully live with.
“Oh, excuse me,” Khrome stepped out of the way of the janitorial cart moving through the hospital hallway. She looked up with a smile that faded when she locked eyes with her mother.
Khrome hadn’t seen her mother in four years.
The last time she saw her, her mother was acting like she’d done Khrome a favor by letting her go live with Vick.
All Khrome’s complaints fell on deaf ears.
As long as she was a kept woman, Liz refused to acknowledge the bad in the situation and from that day forward, Khrome had no desire to keep in touch with a woman that she despised.
Seeing her mother in a housekeeping uniform was shocking to say the least.
Liz looked like the last few years had been hard. Her short hair was pulled back into a low bun. Her brows were bushy and unkempt, and the area underneath her eyes looked sunken in and hollow. Liz with a job wasn’t something that Khrome thought she’d ever see.
“Khrome. Wow,” Liz couldn’t get over how good her daughter looked. “You look good. What are you doing at the hospital?”
Clearing her throat, Khrome continued to take in her mother’s appearance. She couldn’t believe that her mother was just talking and asking questions like they didn’t have an estranged relationship.
“I’m visiting my daughter in the NICU. She was born three months early. She’s almost two months old now.”
“Damn you had a baby? She the only one you got?”
“Yeah.”
“I’d love to see her.”
“I don’t know about that,” Khrome wasted no time speaking up. “She’s very young and for right now, only me and her father really handle her aside from the nurses.”
“What about when she comes home?”
“I honestly don’t know. You were barely a mother. I can’t see you being some great grandmother, and I don’t want toxic people in and out of my daughter’s life.”
“Toxic?” Liz drew back. “Because I wanted the best for you, I was toxic?”
“Do you hear yourself?” Khrome frowned. “You wanted the best for me, so at sixteen you encouraged me to have a baby by a man that beat me? The fact that you’re old as hell and still don’t see what you did wrong tells me everything I need to know. You have a nice life.”
Khrome walked off fuming. Her mother would never grow up and take accountability.
It hurt her to her heart that she would never have a relationship with her mother, but some shit was best left alone.
Everything couldn’t be fixed, and that was all the closure she needed.
Khrome was focused on her child, her man, and her business.
Tech hired her to be a brand manager for his food truck, and she was elated.
Making her rob Lethal was the best thing Cam’s bitch ass had ever done for her.
Khrome had a family, and she had friends. Her mother and everyone from her past could kiss her ass.