Layanna
I had a relatively light day at the hospital, with no surgeries scheduled, just following up with patients and making my rounds.
I even spent some time helping out in the ER as they were short-staffed today.
Throughout my entire shift, I thought about Caleb.
We hadn’t done more than FaceTime and talk on the phone since the last time we were together, due to our schedules.
Ahmir and I were coming back from New York, while Cal and Dana were heading to Napa Valley to get away.
I was finishing up my rounds and heading to Cal’s to start dinner and get pretty for him.
I missed my baby and couldn’t wait to be all in his space, I’d hop in his skin if I could.
He had also mentioned talking to his parents, so I was anxious to know how that had gone.
As I was packing up my work bag to head out, a FaceTime came through, thinking it might be Cal, I grabbed it, but I smiled harder when I saw it was my baby girl calling.
“If it isn’t the most beautiful songbird I know,” I said upon answering.
“Mommyyyyy,” my baby girl gushed.
“How are you, Lili?” calling her by her childhood nickname.
“I’m really good, I’ve been working on new music and think I’m ready to put out a single and see what buzz it can generate.
Rio wants to take a vacation before the season starts, and so we’re getting ready for that, but he’s a bit upset that I’m not ready to go public with our relationship.
But Ma, everywhere he goes and everything he does, the paparazzi are always there with a camera in his damn face. ”
I knew my baby girl had to be frustrated because she didn’t curse much, especially around me, and it’s not that she couldn’t, it’s that she just didn’t. Liah was very mild-mannered and gentle in spirit, so it took a lot to get her wound up and fussing.
“That’s a valid concern, but if you’re talking about releasing music and going after a career in R the media just shines a light on it. As long as you and Rio are open, honest, and transparent with each other, nothing and no one can come between what y’all are building,” her face softened and cheeks flushed, letting me know the thoughts of Mario had crossed her mind in that moment.
It made my heart smile to see my kids happy; they endured a lot, losing their dad and even Maria. They deserved joy.
“OH! Speaking of the media, mom some sleezy tea blog is reporting that Uncle Cal was cheating on Aunt Maria while she was sick, and I know that shit is a lie, I’ll text you the link so you can show Uncle Cal and he can see if it’s anything he needs to get his team on,” my phone dinging letting me know Liah had sent the link, not thinking much of it.
“Thank you, pretty girl, we’ll look into it. What are you doing for the rest of the day? I’m leaving the hospital and running to the store to grab some things for dinner.”
“Callie and I are about to go do some shopping, grab dinner, and do some clubbing all on Uncle Cal and Rio’s dime.
It’s still so funny that you and Uncle Cal are a thing, it’s super cute though, I love seeing you happy, Mom.
” My eyes watered because I was so scared the kids would be mad at me for moving on after their dad.
“I love you, songbird, send me pics of you and Callie tonight and be safe.”
“Love you too, Mom, and I will! Talk to you tomorrow.”
I made it home from the store to shower and change into a peach colored maxi dress, seeing as it was Caleb’s favorite color on me.
I let my curly hair loose from its usual bun and started dinner, preparing fontina and spinach-stuffed pork chops, brown sugar-glazed pecan mashed sweet potatoes, and roasted asparagus.
“Damn it smells good in here,” his deep voice sounded, making me feel giddy, “Baby, where you at?”
“In the kitchen!” How fast had he been walking? Because before I could finish saying kitchen, Caleb was towering over me as he wrapped me up in his arms, leaning down to kiss my neck softly.
“Yanna, just give me 10 minutes,” his erection poking me as he started trying to pull my dress over my hips and ass.
Giggling, I turned to face him, “Cal, you haven’t been in the door 10 whole ass minutes and you trying to fuck me next to pork chops.”
“Shittt I can go from dessert straight to dinner with no issues,” causing me to laugh as he leaned in to kiss me.
“Where’s Dana? I thought she’d be joining us tonight,” the disappointment in my voice evident because I’d missed her as well.
“She headed home. She has a big presentation tomorrow for the hospital board meeting, so she wanted to finish preparing. She said she’d call you when she got settled in, but if she was in the same house as you, she wouldn’t give a damn about that presentation,” causing us both to chuckle.
“Fair enough, I’ll take her some left overs tomorrow,” just as I said that, Cal’s doorbell sounded leaving us both curious because Dana was home, Ahmir was in the thick of his 12 hour shift at the hospital, Ajaih’s plane had landed in Dubai hours ago, and the kids were nowhere near Winston Hills.
“I’ll get it,” I mumbled as I kissed his lips, heading to the door. Opening the door, my body froze as I stared into the face of Caleb’s mother.
“Mrs. Black, hi?”
“Hello Layanna, it’s good to see you. Is Caleb home?” Her voice is pleasant and genuine.
“Who is it, babe?” Caleb inquired as I heard his footsteps near.
Stepping to the side so he could see, I responded, “Your mother,” as he stopped in his tracks.
I didn’t have to see his face to register the shock on it; I knew this was the last person he expected to see.
“Mother, is everything ok?”
“I—not really, can I come in so we can talk?” worry etched across her face.
“We were just about to eat dinner. If you’d like to join us, I’ll fix you a plate,” I offered.
“Yes, dear, if you don’t mind, I’d love to.”
“Mom, what brings you by?” Caleb was anxious to know what brought his mother to his home unannounced, considering she hadn’t even bothered to come here when Maria or Angel passed.
I’d only seen his parents 1-2 times since knowing Cal, the first being when he was drafted to the NBA.
I assume that was to put on a front for the cameras, and the second was at Maria’s funeral; however, I can’t recall a time before or since that they checked on Caleb or the kids.
Angel shared with me the strain between Caleb and his parents, and it only got worse when he and Maria became teen parents and refused to abort or give CJ up for adoption.
The strain only grew when Maria got pregnant with Mario before they graduated from college, and Cal headed to the pros.
“Caleb, your father has completely lost his mind. After the fight you two had at Sunday dinner, he vowed to make good on his threat to ruin you and anyone you loved.”
Caleb hadn’t made any mention of a fight and only told me that we’d discuss it face to face.
“Wait, what fight Caleb?!”
Sighing as he put his fork down, “I didn’t want to ruin your trip by having you worry from hundreds of miles away, but Sunday dinner was a disaster.”
Caleb went on to recall the details of the disastrous dinner that ended in a physical altercation between the two men.
I wish I could say I was shocked, but I didn’t put anything past a man who went out of his way to mistreat his wife and put his kids in the middle of it.
Guilt began to slowly cover me like a cloak, remembering the argument Caleb and I had when I pushed him to tell his parents about us, and now our lives were headed for chaos because of it.
As if Caleb could read my mind, “Yanna, baby, don’t do that.”
“Cal, I shouldn’t have pushed so hard for you to tell him, I should’ve minded my business.”
Mrs. Black stepped in before her son could, “Oh, honey, this was bound to happen because Sr. resents Cal for being the man he wasn’t.
Cal had always been a standup person, even as a child when his father took him to frolic with his mistress at the time.
Cal told me as soon as they walked through the door where his father had taken him and what he had seen.
It was the first time I’d learned of Sr’s infidelities,” my heart breaking for Caleb and his mother as she told me their story.
“I know my children think I’m weak, but I stayed for the longest time so they could have a comfortable life.
Whenever I threatened to leave, Sr. threatened to take away our comfort and stability, and I would die before I let that happen.
” Tears streamed down her face as Cal rounded the table to hug his mother.
“Caleb, I’m leaving your father; that’s what pushed him over the edge. He was served with divorce papers and told me that if I followed through with the divorce, he would ruin the things I loved most, my kids.”
Caleb’s body stiffened at the news his mother dropped in his lap, nothing but silence between us.
“It’s about damn time!” Caleb yelled as he hugged his mother tight, “This is the best news I’ve heard today, Mama. I’ve only ever wanted you to be happy and respected, and Sr. never gave you that. Whatever you need, I’ve got you.”
“Cal, I’m good, your father was so busy running through any bitch that would open her legs that I was managing the finances.
The money you would send, I was putting in an account your father never knew anything about, so I’ll be using that money to start a new life for myself,” causing me to clap as I rounded the table to hug her as well.
My mind then went to the conversation I had earlier with Liah as I hopped up.
“Cal! When I talked to Liah earlier, she mentioned some cheesy gossip blog reporting on you cheating on your wife while she was fighting for her life,” I handed him my phone with the story pulled up.
“This has Sr. written all over it,” they both said in unison as my anger grew.
I sat quietly because even with this wave of bullshit, I didn’t want to disrespect Caleb and his mother by calling Sr. a sack of old bitch ass niggas. Caleb was about to pick up his phone to call Jay, his PR manager, but before he could do so, a FaceTime call came through.
“Boy, your ears must’ve been burning because I was just about to hit your line,” garnering a chuckle from Jay.
“I wish I were calling on better terms, but I received two calls from different bloggers stating that your father and Jackson James have been shopping a salacious story about you and Layanna having an affair while Maria was battling cancer and Angel taking his own life when he found out.”
My anger had finally bubbled to the surface and exploded, “I WILL CUT BOTH THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS HEARTS OUT OF THEIR CHESTS!”
You could hear a pin drop as Jay whispered, “Shit,” causing us all to burst out laughing, easing some of the angst in the room.
“Yanna, before you go all mafia princess and start harvesting their organs, just know I have the police and the lawyers involved. They are being served as we speak with cease and desists, restraining orders, and gearing up to file a lawsuit against both idiots for slander, libel, and defamation.”
“That’s a start, Jay, but we all know the court of public opinion is brutal, and this has the potential to impact Caleb, Mario, and Liah’s careers and aspiring careers if we don’t get in front of this, so what can we do?” My voice filled with a mix of anger and concern.
Angel and I had talked in depth about the abuse he endured growing up.
I convinced him to give therapy a try when we first got together, and over the years, therapy had opened the door for Angel to forgive his parents, but he wanted nothing to do with them and told them as much when they tried to reach out with their hands out ten years ago.
They hadn’t reached out to apologize, atone, or even attempt to meet their grandchildren, proving they were the same self-serving egomaniacs that they had always been.
I wish I could say Angel is rolling over in his grave at this latest stunt, but this is precisely the type of shit Angel would expect from his sperm loser ass father.
“I think the best way to get in front of this is to do an exclusive sit-down with Malaya Abrams, she’s at the top of her game in the sports world, known for her journalistic integrity, and she’s been trying to have a sit-down with Caleb since Maria passed.
We could debut you two as a couple, have the kids there, and address it all, including your upbringing and the latest stunts your father and Angel’s father have attempted to pull,” Jay laid out the plan to Caleb.
“Let’s do it,” I replied before Caleb could even open his mouth.
“You heard my lady, let’s set it up and get this show on the road.”
Caleb ended the call with Jay, and we talked with his mom a bit more before she headed out, though we both told her she was welcome to stay as long as she needed.
We learned she had recently purchased a condo and wanted to get used to her new home, especially after she moved everything she wanted out of the house while her soon-to-be ex-husband was out doing God knows what.
After locking up the house and putting away dinner, Cal and I headed to our room to relax while we called the kids, then Dana, Ahmir, Ajaih, and finally my parents to let them know what was going on.
Needless to say, everyone was pissed, even after we told them the plan of attack, and my father was planning to pay Angel’s parents a visit because he’d never liked them, just based on the stories he’d been told of how they treated their late son.
Knowing I couldn’t talk my father down when he had whooping ass on his mind, I made him promise to leave him alive, and even then, he told me he wasn’t making any promises.
I had every intention of sexing my man to bed, but after the taxing day we ended up having, I ended up falling asleep on his chest, drooling, I’m sure.