Chapter 8 #3
“It’s a lot to do around here, Sloan. I really need to get my house together, and it’s too cold to have Christian outside like this, plus it’s James’ first day off in months.
We kind of need the time together,” Courtney stated.
Sloan knew her friend. Courtney was giving her every excuse in the book, and they were viable reasons, but Sloan just didn’t feel right leaving her behind.
She searched for signs of distress, but there was no evidence of the conflict that lived in this home.
The slap had hurt, but it hadn’t left a bruise, and there was nothing to show for the emptiness Courtney felt inside.
A knock at the door announced Ellie’s presence.
“Hey, Court,” Ellie stated as she steered Tessa inside. “Hey, James. Can we use your bathroom?”
Tessa squirmed uncomfortably. Courtney reached out one hand. “Come on. I’ll take you.”
Ellie noticed the messy house instantly as she followed behind her friend and daughter.
“I might as well go too before we hit the road,” Sloan insisted. “I’ll be right back.”
James sighed and motioned for Cassidy to follow him to the kitchen.
“You want a beer or something, man?” he asked.
“Yeah, he’ll take one! We might be a minute!” Sloan shouted.
Courtney led them to the guest bedroom, and Ellie waited until Tessa was in the bathroom to turn to her friends.
“What the fuck is going on, Court?” Ellie grilled.
“Nothing, y’all. It’s just not a good time. I’m going through something,” Courtney’s eyes watered. Sloan could read the signs of postpartum depression. She saw it every day in her line of work.
“Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do,” Sloan said. “We’re going to reschedule the Christmas tree thing and stay here and help you out. We’ll get this house together, get all this laundry caught up, and cook some meals for you to freeze, so you’ll have a jump-start on your week.”
“Y’all don’t have to do that. I’ve got it under control,” Courtney said.
“No, you don’t, babe,” Ellie whispered. “And we’re not leaving you off Bad and Boujee.”
Courtney laughed to keep from crying as her friends hugged her, forming a small circle.
“Okay, good thing is, we got enough liquor in the sprinter for a whole party,” Ellie said.
“Let me go tell Shy to send her motherfucking content team home. Can you help your niece wash her hands?”
Courtney nodded. “Yeah, I got her.”
“Make sure she sends that thirsty-ass assistant home too,” Sloan added.
“Girl, nah, that’s who we sending to the store for the shit we need!” Ellie protested. “We need her!”
Sloan walked back out to the living room and over to the kitchen table where Cassidy sat, chopping it up with James. The two seemed to have broken the ice, and Sloan was appreciative because she knew Cassidy wasn’t friendly.
“So, slight change of plans. We’re going to need y’all to go do some man stuff for a while,” Sloan said.
James scratched his head skeptically. “I know y’all don’t know each other, but it’s Friendsmas, and we can’t leave our girl out.
So ‘tis the season to make new fucking friends, mmkay?” Sloan proposed.
She saw their resistance, but before either of them could answer, she settled the matter.
“Okay. Now, me and my girls are going to get this house together, cook some food, and prepare some bomb drinks. While the fellas are going to take the sprinter and take the kids to find a Christmas tree for this house. doesn’t have to be real.
We need a nine-foot tree and all the accessories. Can y’all handle that?”
“Doesn’t sound like we have a choice,” James grumbled.
“Don’t be the Grinch that stole Christmas, James. Go get your coat,” Sloan snickered, patting his shoulder as he walked away.
Cassidy scratched his temple and met her eyes. She closed the space between them.
“Please do this,” she whispered. “I need to know what’s fully going on with my friend, and I don’t feel safe leaving her here with him.”
He sighed.
“Yeah, okay,” he submitted. “I’ma have to learn how to tell you no.”
“Now, why would you do that?” she teased.
“Spoiled ass,” he whispered, biting his bottom lip.
Her breath hitched, he was so close, and an anxiety filled her that she couldn’t explain.
She was so conflicted when it came to him.
Cassidy was a felon. He had a history of extreme violence, and she didn’t believe in rehabilitation, but he presented something so different than what she expected a man fresh out of prison to be.
He saw her sudden apprehension, and he took a step back.
“We’ll be back.”
When Ellie walked back inside, she looked like she had seen a ghost.
“What’s wrong?” Sloan asked.
“Brooklyn wants to go with her dad since the plans have changed,” Ellie said.
“He says he’ll pick us up,” Brooklyn stated.
Cassidy stopped at the door.
“Do I need to stick around for that?” he asked.
“No, I can handle Cairo,” Ellie said. James emerged from the back of the house, and the men headed out.
SWV set the soundtrack for the cleaning session as Ellie, Sloan, Courtney, Shy, and Lola went to work. They sang in four-part harmony like they used to when they were in middle school.
You’re the One was their shit back in the day, and they swore they were going to be the next big girl group. It didn’t matter that Shy could barely hold a tune, she had a big ol’ booty and a cute little waist, and she could dance her ass off.
“Girl, this song wild as hell. We were singing about being side chicks back in the day and ain’t even know it,” Courtney joked.
“No, for real!” Shy laughed. “I been a side chick a time or two. It’s a little lit. All the dick and none of the drama,” She shrugged, and Ellie tossed a sponge at her.
“Girl!” Ellie shouted, nodding to her daughters who were posted on the couch. They were hypnotized by their devices, thankfully. Brooklyn never took her headphones off her head, so she hadn’t heard the banter, and Tessa was in heaven playing her Nintendo Switch.
Sloan hollered.
“Girl, they not worried about us.”
“How long have you guys been friends?” Lola asked as she loaded the dishwasher.
“Since these bitches tried to beat me up in middle school,” Ellie snapped.
“You love bringing up old shit,” Sloan dismissed, shaking her head.
Courtney smiled as she looked around her house.
“I really appreciate this, y’all. You have no idea. Shit has just been hard. I just don’t feel like myself, and things have just been bad between James and me,” Courtney admitted.
“How bad?” Sloan asked. “Cass felt like the nigga was kind of aggressive when he came to the door last night.”
Courtney’s lip quivered as she remembered the slap. She was lucky he hadn’t left a bruise behind, but the side of her face was still sore. “Usually, we just argue, but last night was the worst it’s gotten. Losing a kid changed him. It changed us both,” Courtney admitted.
“Do you need a safe place to go? You don’t have to stay here,” Shy interjected. Courtney shook her head.
“I just feel like we can get back on track. I just can’t pull myself together enough to try.
I’m tired all the time. I’m disinterested in everything, and he thinks it’s because of another nigga, so it makes him jealous and crazy, but I don’t know what it is.
I just don’t feel like myself,” Courtney cried.
“That sounds like depression, Courtney. Probably postpartum, and you both sound like you have some PTSD from Dev’s death.
You need help and so does he, but if he’s flying off the handle and being possessive and insecure and jealous, then you need to get help separately until you’re both well enough to come together,” Sloan said softly, using a tone she typically reserved for her patients.
“It’s okay to reach for your own oxygen mask first, friend.
All you got to do is say the word. Nod your head, and we’ll pack a bag and get you up out of here. ”
Courtney felt herself breaking down, and she stifled her sobs because her nieces and Lola were in the room. She simply wiped the tears from her face and nodded her head.
Sloan looked to Shy, and Shy knew what to do without instruction.
“I’ma get your shit,” Shy stated.
Suddenly, Brooklyn jumped up.
“Daddy’s here,” she announced. Ellie’s heart sank as she stood from the table.
“I’ve got her,” Sloan said. “Go handle your business.”
Ellie felt her chest constrict. She could no longer avoid the inevitable.
“Give me a second, Brook. I need to speak with your dad,” Ellie stated.
“You got this?” Shy asked. “Cuz we can jump his ass like we jumped you back in the day.”
Ellie appreciated her girl, lightening the mood. Everyone laughed, even Courtney. Shy really was the friend who you couldn’t live without.
Ellie pushed out a deep breath.
“Listen out for the hootie hoo, bitch. If you hear that, come running, because this man be testing my patience.”
She walked out onto the porch and folded her arms to try to keep out the bitter wind as Cairo approached.
“Have you come to your senses or you still acting crazy?” Ellie asked.
“She’s not my daughter, Ellie,” Cairo sighed.
“If you break my little girl’s heart like this, I’ma make your life hell, Cairo.
This easy, little, quiet separation that I’ve given you is going to become a messy and complicated divorce.
I don’t want conflict, but I won’t let you get away with mistreating my child.
I can’t stop you from taking Brooklyn, but if you do this, I promise you I’m coming for everything you owe me plus tax.
Including child support. Including spousal support.
Including that nice little house you got that trifling-ass girlfriend living in.
Half of your savings, half of your investments, half of your retirement.
Or you can do the right thing, and I’ll walk away from it all empty-handed. ”
“That’s tough talk, but I know you better than that. You’re not tough,” Cairo said.
“When it came to protecting myself, maybe not. When it comes to protecting my kids, I’m not the same bitch,” Ellie warned.
“You could have avoided this a long time ago if you had told that little girl she was adopted. You’re pretending to be her mother.”
“I am her mother!”
Brooklyn opened the screen door, and Tessa ran out onto the porch in excitement.
“Daddy!” she screamed.
Cairo didn’t even bend down to hug Tessa. Ellie didn’t know how she had ever been attracted to this man. Everything about him disgusted her.
“You’re going to stay with your mom, sweetheart,” he told Tessa. “Brooklyn, let’s go.”
“Why can’t Tess come?” Brooklyn asked.
“It’s complicated, baby girl, but it’s between me and your mom. Let’s go,” Cairo said, summoning her off the porch.
“That’s not fair! I want to come with you, too!” Tessa pleaded. Ellie couldn’t stop her tears as she made her way down the stairs to pick Tessa up.
“It’s okay, big girl. You can stay here with Mommy. Daddy has some big girl things planned for Brooklyn.”
“Stop lying to her, Ellie! Damn it! Stop telling her I’m her dad! I’m not her fucking father!” Cairo snapped.
The sound of Tessa’s cries cracked Ellie’s heart in two.
“Daddy!” Brooklyn shouted in shock.
“Get in the car, Brooklyn!” Cairo shouted.
Ellie could see the conflict in her oldest child. She wanted to check on her sister, but she also hadn’t seen her father in such a long time. Ellie pressed Tessa’s face into her shoulder and consoled her as Brooklyn stood there, distraught.
“It’s okay, baby, go with your father. It’s okay,” Ellie said, reassuring Brooklyn.
“But Mom…” Brooklyn’s voice was so broken that she reminded Ellie of the little girl she used to be before the lying and the smoking and the teenage growing pains.
“It’s okay, baby. I’ll see you when you get back to Papa’s in a few days. It’s okay,” Ellie soothed. “I’ve got Tess.”
Brooklyn reluctantly went to her father’s car, and Cairo stood there staring at Ellie.
“Leave,” Ellie said in disgust.
Cairo looked remorseful, and even that pissed her off because his guilt didn’t erase the hurt he had just inflicted. He got in his car and drove away, leaving wounds that Ellie knew Tessa would be nursing for the rest of her life.