Chapter 9
NINE
When she woke up that morning, Tuesday was sure Biggie would still be laid out on the couch and in pain.
She took her time getting Wallis out of bed and washing them both up and getting them dressed for the day.
She had to work later, but she knew she wasn’t going to leave their son with Biggie today.
Not only did he need to rest and heal, but it was clear to her he obviously needed to stay his ass out of the streets.
Biggie seemed to have other ideas. When she walked down the stairs of his home, she got the surprise of her life when she saw him up, shirtless, and with a towel wrapped around his waist. Her eyes traveled down to his large dick print, but she focused as her brows scrunched in.
“What are you doing? I don’t think you should’ve showered with fresh stitches, and why are you up, anyway? Where is Demo?”
She placed the clothes she had grabbed for him, on the couch. She assumed he wouldn’t be able to navigate the stairs, but apparently she had underestimated Biggie and his tolerance for pain.
“Good lookin’,” he said as he grabbed the clothes before reaching over and rubbing the top of Wallis’s head.
“‘Sup, kid?”
“Daddy, owie?” Wallis asked, pointing at the purple-ish red bruise and crooked stitches in his side. The area was swollen and looked tender.
Biggie threw his black T-shirt over his head, and Tuesday didn’t miss the wince on his face as he did.
“Yeah, son. Daddy got an owie. How’d you sleep, man?” Biggie asked as he walked around the corner and out of sight so he could put his pants on without his son seeing him exposed.
“Nice,” Wallis chirped.
“You mean you slept good, baby,” Tuesday corrected before she called out to Biggie. “Do you need help?” She heard him grunting, which worried her.
“Nah, I’m good.”
Tuesday knew he wasn’t, but she let him rock as she sat down with Wallis on the couch.
“Where is Demo? I thought he was staying the night.”
“He did,” Biggie answered, followed by a few more grunts.
It took everything in Tuesday not to go to him and help, but she felt he needed to feel that pain in order to never get himself in a situation like that again. She had been serious about everything she said the night before.
“He left to change. He’s comin’ back to pick me up.”
Her face frowned. “Pick you up?”
Finally, Biggie rounded the corner, out of breath, sweating slightly, but fully clothed.
“You ain’t think I was gonna to let the nigga that did this get away with it, did you?”
Tuesday stared at him, completely dumbstruck, before she got off the couch, grabbing Wallis by the hand. She didn’t say anything to him as she marched toward the door, quickly putting their shoes on.
“Where you goin’?”
“I’m not about to sit around and condone this shit. I’m taking our son to my mother’s and then I’m going home to take a nap before going to work.” She reached for the doorknob with tears in her eyes.
She didn’t know what the hell was wrong with her or why she felt the sudden need to cry.
She wanted to convince herself that it was out of fear for Wallis and him growing up without a father now that he found him.
Deep down, she knew better though. She was worried she wouldn’t get the chance to explore what this was between she and Biggie.
It had been a long time since she felt anything for a man, so Biggie really scared her.
She didn’t know what to expect with him, nor did she know what to do with her feelings for him.
“Man, stop. Tuesday, stop,” Biggie said, finally catching up to her, cuffing his side in pain.
Her eyes softened slightly as she let out a long sigh.
“I can’t do this with you, Biggie. Our son deserves better. I…deserve better from you.”
Biggie’s jaw clenched as Wallis walked over to him and hugged his leg.
When Biggie looked down at him, it was as if his entire heart exploded into a mass of love.
He didn’t understand how his love had grown so big for this tiny human, his twin, in such a short amount of time.
When his eyes fell on Tuesday, he realized he also didn’t understand how his feelings for her had seemed to come out of nowhere.
He wasn’t used to people dictating his moves, but Wallis and Tuesday held that power, and they didn’t even know it.
Still, he couldn’t give in. Not this time.
He promised himself that once he deaded this Antonio situation for good, he would take a look at how he could invest his money to make it grow so he could sit back and play the family man.
He never thought he would see the day where he would commit to getting out of the streets for good, but here he was silently making that promise to himself for the two most important people to him that seemed to come out of nowhere.
“Look, get Wallis to your mom, go to work, and by the time you get off, I’ll be home, I promise. We can talk more when I get back. I just need to handle this.”
Tuesday shook her head in disappointment.
She didn’t respond because she had already told him how she felt, and he obviously didn’t care, so there was nothing left to say.
Mute, she got Wallis’s little shoes on and then her own.
When she reached for the doorknob and her designer purse, Biggie stopped her.
“Don’t leave like this. We had such a good night the other night—”
“Just go do what you have to do. I’ll talk to you later.” Hastily, she opened the door and grabbed Wallis by the hand, not giving him the chance to respond.
The day had been grueling for Tuesday. Everything that could have gone wrong did, and she had been working the truck all alone. When it was time to close, she was too happy to park her food truck and slid into her own car.
As soon as she did, her phone rang. It was Winter. Tiredly, she hit the button on her steering wheel to answer the call.
“Hello?”
“Ohh, you sound tired,” Winter volunteered instead of a greeting.
“I am,” Tuesday agreed. “What’s up?”
“Girl, nothin’. Just haven’t heard from you much since your baby daddy popped back up. Spill the tea.”
Tuesday chuckled. She really didn’t have it in her to try to play coy, so she ended up spilling all the tea, just like Winter wanted.
“We got a paternity test, I found out he’s heavily in the streets, we fucked, he came home with a stab wound, and it doesn’t seem like he’s gonna leave the streets any time soon. Oh, and Wallis loves that man so much, already. I don’t know what to do.”
Silence stretched out so long Tuesday wondered if the connection was bad, but then Winter’s voice filled the car once again. “Well shit! I wasn’t expecting all that. What do you mean he got stabbed? Is he okay?”
Tuesday sighed while rubbing her tired eyes at a red light.
“Hell if I know. He seems to be since he found it in him to go run the streets not even twelve hours later.”
“Well…Do you like him?”
That question threw Tuesday for a loop, but again, she was too tired to play pretend.
“I think so. I haven’t felt a connection like this in a long time, but I’m too scared to act on it for real knowing that he could be taken from me and Wallis at any moment.
I’m not built for the kind of lifestyle he lives. ”
“I hear you, friend. Plus, you want to make sure Wallis is good. No point in them getting close just for some shit to pop off, or even worse, something happening to y’all.”
A chill ran up Tuesday’s spine at the thought. “My sentiments exactly.”
“I say you set some boundaries, sis. Tell him how you feel. At the end of the day, being honest can’t hurt, right?”
“You sound like Mama. And I hear you. You aren’t wrong. I’m still just shaken up after seeing him hurt last night—”
“Wait, that just happened last night?”
“Yeah! It’s so fresh. I was really scared, and I don’t like that feeling. Even now, I’m worried because I haven’t heard from him since I left his house, but I’m so mad I don’t want to reach out.”
“I hear you, but eventually, you two will have to come to an understanding. If not for you two then definitely for my godson.”
“I know. You’re right. And speaking of your godson, I’m only a few minutes from my mom’s house to get him, so I’ll call you back later, okay?”
“Okay, but make sure you do. You know I’m thoroughly invested in your life.”
The women giggled.
“Likewise, babe. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
Silence filled the car after they hung up for a few seconds before her phone rang again. This time, it was Biggie. Relief filled her as she quickly answered the call.
“Hey—”
“You need to get to the hospital,” Demo’s voice wafted through the car, causing Tuesday to press the breaks and pull over on the side of the rode in a panic. “Biggie’s been shot.”
Ice filled her veins as Demo’s words echoed in her ears before she finally responded. “Which hospital? I’m on my way!”