9. Hades
SOME TIME LATER…
“Get your mama, Dorian. Her ass over here doing the most,” I joked with Dorian.
Jin’jer, Dorian, and I were on a video call.
This was an everyday thing for us now. If it wasn’t all three of us together, then it was her and him or me and him.
He didn’t have a concrete male figure in his life, and I didn’t mind stepping in.
Dedra was more like a figure head in his life, but she didn’t put in the work to really be a mother.
He craved a mother-son relationship. That was evident from how clingy he was with Jin’jer after such a short time.
Dorian had his head down on the screen laughing while his mother pouted from her place on our bed.
Oh, yeah, she moved in a few weeks ago. Hestia and Hera made the argument to her that they all worked at the same hospital, so they could carpool.
Jin’jer was worried about breaking the lease. That became a nonissue when I paid it.
“I don’t think I’m doing enough. All I said was I wanted to come up there to meet the little girl that he’s taking to prom,” Jin’jer whined. “I need to make sure she’s good enough to go with you.”
Dorian was a senior, preparing to graduate.
A lot happened since our little discussion with Mr. and Mrs. Copeland.
It only took a few minutes for the video that I had Techke post on his campaign page to go viral in the worst way.
All of the blogs as well as major news outlets picked up the story.
The research journalist had a fucking field day exposing the previous administrator of the program that Jin’jer was in.
The situation also put a light on Dedra’s trifling ass, who was ready for her payday.
I was over her ass when I saw her on a syndicated daytime talk show.
The funny thing about that was, when you wanted attention, you couldn’t control whether it was good or bad.
Somehow, a journalist was able to get her record as a foster mother.
Let’s just say that it was less than stellar with many issues with some of her children.
The sad part was that the state was so overwhelmed with foster kids that neglect of a kid was overlooked as long as they weren’t sexually assaulted or physically abused.
Dorian received interview requests, but since he was a minor, they had to come through Dedra.
She was cool with the interview as long as she got a cut, but Dorian declined all interviews.
Jin’jer did one interview that centered around her parents’ treatment of her and the initial incident of them telling her that Dorian died.
She refused any questions about Dorian directly.
“Jin, I didn’t say the girl was my girlfriend. She’s just this cool girl at my school that I asked to go to prom. She’s not that popular, and I heard no one asked her,” Dorian said.
My baby thought that he would have resentment toward her because of what happened.
He told her that there was none because of how it went down.
It wasn’t like she knew about him to look for him.
I appreciated his maturity around the situation.
With a guardian like Dedra, he had to grow up faster than he should have. I hated that shit.
Jin’jer rolled her eyes. “Ok, well, I still want to meet her. Is she a senior too?” When he told her that she wasn’t, but she was more than likely still going to be at graduation, Jin’jer’s eye lit up. “Oh, good! I’ll meet her at graduation.”
His graduation was approaching quickly. When we asked him what his future plans were, you could tell he never thought about having a real future. That shit bothered me. I introduced him to my people via video call. Dorian couldn’t believe my family lineage.
“Baby, how do you know he’s still going to be talking to that girl?
He just said she’s just a prom date.” All I could do was laugh at her ass.
When Jin’jer talked to Dorian, she was in full mommy mode.
I wasn’t sure if she knew that. I hated that she didn’t get this opportunity when he was much younger.
She didn’t have to worry. I planned to put plenty of babies in her.
Her head snapped in my direction so damn fast. I was leaning against the dresser. “First, I don’t care if he’s not talking to her. I still want to meet her.” She waved me off.
My head fell back. There was no need to fight her, and honestly, I didn’t want to. I enjoyed this side of her. It was pure, intentional, and organic. “Dorian, don’t even argue with her. There’s no need.”
“I’m already knowing. I got to get to work. I’ll talk to y’all later. Bye, Jin and Hades,” he said with a wave.
She smiled brightly. “Bye, baby.” She climbed out of the bed, came over to where I was, then leaned against my body. “Did you see the announcement from David and Evelyn?”
“You know I saw that bullshit. For a minute, I thought they were going to double down on that shit they were poppin’. I guess the court of the public was too much,” I told her.
With everything that was exposed, Mr. Copeland withdrew from the senate race. Him and his wife claimed that they wanted to work toward their daughter’s forgiveness and get to know their grandson. I called complete bullshit on that.
“From my call logs, Evelyn called me yesterday. She’s blocked, so she didn’t get through, but I still was able to see that she called,” Jin’jer said with her nose turned up.
When her face softened, I knew she either wanted something or was about to say some outlandish shit.
“Baby, I think I’m going to buy Dorian a car.
I don’t like him riding the bus.” There it goes.
My arms circled her waist. “Baby, I don’t think you should do that right now. At least not with him still under Dedra’s roof. Plus, he doesn’t have his license yet. Let’s wait until he graduates and tells us what he wants to do. He doesn’t ride the bus all the time. Dedra does take him sometimes.”
“It just doesn’t feel right, baby. I mean, I can get him like a cash car. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy,” she urged.
I dropped my lips on hers. “Jin’jer Elle, I’m going to let you in on a secret.
You don’t have to make up for any time missed with Dorian.
It’s alright to just get to know him and be his mother now.
There is no need to cram sixteen years of stuff into a few months.
You have the rest of your life to be his mother. ”
She was overcompensating for something that wasn’t her fault, and I didn’t like that shit.
A couple of weeks ago, Dorian mentioned a pair of sneakers that had just dropped and that he was working to get a pair.
I copped a pair when they dropped through my sneaker connect.
I come home a few days later, and my fucking sneakers were gone.
This damn girl sent that boy my sneakers since we wore the same size, then handed me money to get another pair.
I wanted to bop her ass in the head. She was lucky I had already purchased a second pair for him, so I just kept that pair.
Jin’jer huffed. “I know, I know, but I just want to make sure he has what he needs. I mean, Dedra doesn’t abuse him or anything, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say she loved him either. She loved the financial gain that came with him. If I could, I’d bring him down here with me.”
And I knew her ass would. At this point, Dedra probably would have let her. Let me change the subject before she really starts to entertain the thought. “You ready to have fun in New York with the family?”
My Tou pappoú (grandfather’s) birthday was around the corner.
All of the Mount Olympus Riders chapters were going to descend on New York for an elaborate celebration.
The weeklong celebration included a gala, community service, a birthday bike procession, and just partying.
A lot of my family was also coming over from Volos, Greece. It was about to be a time to remember.
“You know I am. I can’t wait to meet your grandfather and the rest of your family. I wish we could take our bikes to ride in the procession,” she said.
I tittered then said, “No worries about that. We all have bikes up there in a storage unit that is on my grandfather’s land.
The club members up there ride them every once in a while to give them some time and make sure they’re good.
” I smacked her ass when she mumbled about not having her own bike up there.
“If I have a bike, why would you think that I wouldn’t make sure you had one too? ”
Her eyes widened. “You bought me a new bike? I want to see it. Do you have a picture?” Her ass jumped up and down like a kid on her birthday.
“Yes, I have a picture.” I grabbed my phone off the dresser.
It took me a few seconds to get to the pictures.
I handed her the phone. “The first picture is our bikes together. The next one is just yours, and the one after it is mine.” I had to get myself a new bike to match my baby’s.
I needed everyone to know that we were together.
When her eyes watered, I knew I got it right.
Her bike was almost a replica of the bike she currently had.
My new bike was more of an added piece to the portrait.
The front of her bike was covered with the same roses that ignited in flames.
Petals flew toward the back of her bike and continued on mine.
My bike had more flames than anything else.
The rose petals on my bike didn’t make it too feminine the way the shop did it.
“It’s so perfect,” she said lowly. She glanced up at me. “You’re perfect. I love you so much.”
I pulled her into me. “I love you too, soft ass girl. I can’t wait to show your thick ass off.”
A LITTLE TIME LATER, NEW YORK…