Chapter 10 #2
She scoffed. “Me too, but she didn’t find out she was pregnant until after that, but at that point, he’d already ghosted her.
So, she had to get creative and make a fake account just so she could follow him and see what he was up to.
Imagine her surprise when she found out he was out here celebrating his fuckin’ wedding. I swear the ghetto is too much!”
“You always talk this much to strangers?”
She smirked. “Only when they’re as fine as you.”
I couldn’t help but lightly chuckle. She was spilling all her homegirl’s tea with a complete stranger and thought nothing of it. To her, it was just a conversation. But to me, it felt like the universe had dealt me a winning hand. But I had to be sure.
“You said he’s here?” I probed casually.
“Mm-hmm. Over there in VIP, living his best life, celebrating and shit with some cornball niggas. Imagine getting married and having a baby on the way with another woman! I don’t know whether or not I should feel bad for the dumb-ass girl he’s about to marry.
All I know is, this is one hot ass mess.
But he can’t run from his responsibility anymore. ”
“Why you not over there with yo’ girl for moral support?”
“Being at this bar is my version of moral support, so I’m right where I need to be. Besides, she can’t drink anyway, so I’m downing shots of liquid courage for the both of us.”
From the slight slur in her voice, it wasn’t hard to tell that she was a bit tipsy. It was no wonder that she was such a Chatty Patty.
“Where you say he was at?”
“Right up there,” she answered, aiming her long, stiletto-shaped nail toward another VIP section on the other side of the club.
I followed her pointer finger through the crowd before my eyes zeroed in on Lex’s fiancé, Pat, arguing off to the side with a visibly pregnant woman.
I recognized him immediately as the same nigga from dinner with my sister and Lex.
Something in my spirit didn’t sit right with me about that mothafucka from the beginning, and I’d never even met him.
At first, I chalked it up to being a lil jealous, but now I had proof.
My nostrils instantly flared with anger as my fists crumpled tight.
I was ready to give that nigga the ass whupping he deserved for playing in Lex’s face and having a baby on her.
“Yo’ girl ain’t got no brother or daddy that can beat that nigga ass?”
“Nah. She’s an only child.”
“You want me to do it?” I offered.
Her brows heightened toward the dramatically laid baby hairs on her forehead. “Oh shit, would you? It would make my fucking night.”
“Say less.”
The protector in me wouldn’t allow me to stay and wait for the drink I’d paid for, nor be quiet.
I instinctively marched over to the section where Pat was, ready to confront him and whoever tried to get in my way.
Besides, we were in the club. No one was going to throw lead, but I sure was about to throw hands.
The VIP band around my wrist easily granted me access to his section.
I kept my icy glare stationed on his furrowed brow and flaring nostrils as he exchanged heated words that were inaudible against the thumping bass from the speakers.
The pregnant girl he was arguing with stationed herself beside a black leather sofa with her arms folded across her chest. Her skin was golden beige with a yellow undertone, and her jet-black hair was styled into a bone-straight bob, parted down the middle.
The closer I got, the clearer their conversation became.
My eyes narrowed onto his as my face hardened to stone.
I didn’t know what was about to fly out of my mouth or what I’d do, but I was about to put that nigga on notice for fuckin’ with Lex’s heart.
“So you don’t wanna be a part of your daughter’s life at all, Patrick? You’re seriously gonna make me raise this baby alone?” she lashed out.
“Nobody told you to fuckin’ keep it, Shay! You made that decision, not me!”
Before she could get another word out, I interjected. “We got a fuckin’ problem here?”
Pat’s eyes untangled from hers long enough to take inventory of my presence behind her. “Nigga, who the fuck are you?”
I ignored his question and asked another of my own. “So this is what you do, nigga? Hide from your responsibilities as a real man while trying to have your cake and eat it too?”
He sucked his teeth. It was evident from the way his mouth had arranged into a stern line that he hadn’t expected to be confronted by his baby mama or the nigga who would’ve burned the world down for his bride-to-be.
“Get the fuck out of my section, mothafucka. Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?”
“You think I give a fuck about whatever lies are comin’ outta your mouth to this woman? The only fuckin’ thing I care about is Lex and the fact that you’re fuckin’ around on her with this chick and God knows who else.”
“Lex? How the fuck do you know my wife?”
“She ain’t your wife yet, nigga. I’m here to make sure of that.”
“Is that a threat, mothafucka?”
“It’s whatever you fuckin’ want it to be,” I barked, feeling my mind become overwhelmed as rage spread through my body like cancer. “To play in her face and think I’ma let that shit slide is insane.”
“Whatever my fiancée and I have going on is none of your concern. I don’t even know who the fuck you are!”
“I’m the nigga that’s gon’ make sure you don’t get another chance to break her fuckin’ heart.”
“I’ma say this one more time: Get the fuck out of my section before I make you,” Pat warned.
I chuckled. “Ain’t shit about me soft, nigga. If you touch me, I will violate you.”
Pat turned and waved to his so-called friends. “Ay, somebody tell this nigga who I am.”
I shoved the nigga back a few steps, acting without factoring in all the consequences.
But I didn’t give a fuck. I was done talking.
My entire world had gone red, and my heart was pounding in my ears louder than the bass vibrating the speakers.
The pregnant female quickly moved to the side, giving us space to rumble.
He thrust for my waist, a move I’d anticipated.
I barreled straight into him, moving with more anger than sense, as my elbow connected with his nose.
Fresh blood splattered from the broken cartilage, sending him stumbling back a few steps and holding his nose.
But I wasn’t finished. Once I had him in my grasp, I continued to pound several more punches into his face and abdomen, injuring him further.
I heard yelling and felt someone grab me from behind—maybe someone from his entourage or security.
It didn’t matter. The only mothafucka I was focused on was Pat.
He’d fucked with someone I loved, and I had no regrets about letting him feel the results of his careless actions.
I broke away from the hand on my shoulder, shoving another faceless nigga as a frantic swing from his crumpled fist rushed after me, but I dodged it.
The positioning of his arms was too loose, allowing every one of my body blows to get through.
It was easy to tell his ass had never been in a street fight before.
I kept gunning for Pat. Knowing that he’d hurt Alexis had triggered something animalistic in me.
One blow hit his lip, splitting it down the middle.
He staggered backward, losing his balance.
The wide-eyed expression on his face told me panic was surging through him at an all-time high.
That nigga walked around like his shit didn’t stink and didn’t have the stamina to beat a real man in a one-on-one fight.
My heart rate increased, chest heaving in and out as sweat dripped off my forehead.
Our conflict was the climax of something greater than his bullshit relationship with Lex that had clearly been built on lies, and my clenched fists and bloody knuckles were there to prove a point that I’d always known.
He didn’t fuckin’ deserve her. A quick chop to that nigga’s throat sent him crumbling to his knees.
Before I knew it, I was surrounded by security, but not before sending a knee to Pat’s face and slugging his bitch ass out cold.
Even after being hauled out of the club with Herculean effort by four security guards and being shoved into the back of a police car, nothing could wipe the smirk of confidence off my face.
Flashing red and blue lights and doing a perp walk into the 42nd precinct wasn’t how I intended on ending my night, but there wasn’t an ounce of remorse in me.
I’d beat that nigga’s ass again in a heartbeat behind Lex.
I knew my feelings for her were more serious than I chose to acknowledge.
Hell, I must’ve been head over heels in love with her to risk my freedom on the same day I closed on my house.
Whatever it was, that shit couldn’t be tamed anymore.
I couldn’t run from it. I didn’t want to.
Lex was at the epicenter of my heart. I would always be inclined to safeguard her.
After being fingerprinted and tossed into a holding cell for a couple of hours, they finally let me make a phone call.
Of course, the first person I called was my sister.
She was the only person who had the sit-down-and-shut-up card in my life.
Plus, I knew she wouldn’t snitch to our parents, especially after she knew all the details.
“H-hello?” she answered groggily on the third ring.
“Shit. I didn’t even consider what time it was. Yo, Liv. It’s me. I’m in jail, and I need you to come get me.”
“Jail? What the hell are you doing in jail? At . . . two in the morning?”
I huffed into the dusty receiver. “It’s a long story.
“You ain’t going nowhere, nigga. You got time to tell me what the hell is going on!”
“I crashed out at the club, aight? Now, come bail me out.”
“On what or who?”
“I swear I’ll tell you every single detail when you get here. You coming, right?”
She loudly smacked her lips into my ear before yawning loudly. “Mm-hmm. You lucky I love you enough to bail your Black ass out of the slammer in the middle of the night.”
“Love you too, sis.”