Chapter 32 #2
“Shit, thank God. I’m gonna walk around the corner and pick up the U-Haul.”
Before he walked out the door, he kissed both me and Oriana on the forehead. Once the door closed behind him, I sighed. Finally, my life was getting some normalcy.
We pulled up in Kassidy’s car with the two movers and the U-Haul behind us. Ms. Flora was standing on the porch like she was waiting for us. I took Oriana out of the car and put her on her feet right on the walkway to the house. It took her no time to run over to Ms. Flora.
“We're going inside. Y’all handle that.”
She picked Oriana up and then went into the house.
The side door that led to the downstairs apartment — our new home — was wide open and ready for the men to move the stuff in.
I went inside and showed the men where to put things.
I walked into Ori’s new room and smiled at the soft pink that covered the walls.
Kassidy had done his thing for sure. Life-size little stickers of Doc McStuffins covered some of the walls.
We made the executive decision to get rid of the sofa I had at my old place.
Within three hours, everything was off the truck and moved into the space around us.
Both Kassidy and I plopped down onto his futon and sighed at the same time.
I ended up texting Zy and telling her we didn’t need her.
Between the movers, Kassidy, and me, we had gotten the job done.
Ms. Flora said she would keep Oriana upstairs while we unpacked and got settled in.
I didn’t want to get comfortable for too long, so I went straight to the kitchen and started unpacking things.
“Papa, I was thinking of getting a new pot set…” I said once I pulled my old one from one of the boxes.
“Send me the link, and I’ll get it.”
He was still sitting and flipping through the channels as he took a very well-deserved break.
Once I was done unpacking the kitchen, I sat down beside him.
On my phone, I scrolled through various furniture websites, trying to find a living room set and a new bedroom set.
The frame he had in the room now didn’t go with the dresser, and that was bothering me.
I felt like the set from my house was too girly, but we brought it anyway.
There was no rush with furnishing our area, so I wanted to take my time with choosing pieces.
Knock, Knock
I leaned back over the futon and then looked at the door down the hall that led to the house upstairs.
“Come in.”
All I heard was Ori’s little feet.
“Maaaaa…” she yelled, and her voice echoed a bit because the place was half empty.
“She started calling for y’all, so I figured I would bring her down for a bit,” Ms. Nora said as she limped over.
I stood from my seat to allow her a space to sit, but she declined. Still, I stood anyway. Oriana took off running right to her room to explore the space.
“Oooo,” I heard her excitedly say once she made it into her room.
I stood in the doorway and watched her walk over to the wall with the stickers and look up at it. The room was very spacious, and I knew I would have to get her a lot more furniture than that toddler bed Kassidy had bought to fill the space.
“Oriiiii,” Ms. Flora sang, “Come with Nana so I can give you some nuggets.”
Ms. Flora said the magic word. Oriana took off full speed back into the living room.
I followed her. When I entered the room, Ms. Flora and Kassidy were whispering about something, but then they stopped when they saw me.
It didn’t make me uncomfortable, but I did notice.
Trying not to put too much thought into it, I brushed the moment off.
“Ms. Flora, Ori is having a Family Friday event at her daycare next Friday, and I would love for you to come.”
She picked up Oriana and smiled. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
She limped her way out of the basement, singing some song to Ori on the way out.
When Kassidy stood from the futon, he did a light stretch, then started putting the boxes in the rooms they belonged in.
The moving process was stressful, but the worst part was over.
My old keys were returned to my old property management, and all my stuff was moved into this space.
I knew it would take us all weekend to have everything unpacked and where we wanted it.
Orion
I stood on the other side of the door, waiting for it to open. Shenell pulled it open with Ocean in her arms.
“Hi, fat man.”
He leaned so far out of her arms that he damn near jumped on me. She didn’t even say anything to me; she just walked into the apartment, leaving the door ajar. I walked past OJ’s room and saw him playing his Xbox.
“What’s up, boy?”
“Hey, Dad.”
He didn’t even turn to look. Roblox had my boy in a chokehold right now. I took some time for myself to think about the current state of my love life. I had to really come to terms with the fact that Cayla had moved on.
“Can you watch them tonight?”
I scrunched up my face as I sat down on the couch. I placed Ocean on his feet and watched as he took off. I was sure he was about to raise havoc.
“It’s Wednesday.”
“I didn’t know a day of the week mattered when you were grown.
It was obvious that Shenell had an attitude, and I was debating on poking at what was wrong with her.
Ever since she had Ocean, she had been short-tempered with me.
Considering that I had Brandi’s ass paraded like she was my happily ever after, I could understand the anger.
I sat there quietly, trying to read her.
She folded her arms across her breasts and then shifted her weight to one leg.
“Can you watch them or not?” she asked after sucking her teeth.
“Yeah, I guess.”
She stared at me, and I opened my eyes wide because I had already given her my answer.
“You were just gonna let me take my ass outside?”
I scratched my head because I was so damn confused. The girl basically asked for a free night, and I was about to give it to her.
“Uh, yeah… if you wanted to go do something. I know how to be a dad.”
She stomped her foot and then threw her arms down.
“What happened to the nigga who used to tell me that I wasn’t gonna see him swing, all because I didn’t see his text?”
I bunched my eyebrows and then sucked my teeth. See, Shenell loved the drama. She loved that toxic shit, and I honestly didn’t have it in me anymore.
“Shenell, I don’t be on that shit anymore. Life humbled a nigga for real. If you wanna go out and hang with ya girls, do your thing. Shit, even if you wanna go out on a date, do that too. Do what makes you happy.”
She sighed before walking over to the couch and taking a seat beside me.
“I remember when you used to make me happy.”
That was a long ass time ago, and we both knew it. The person I was today couldn’t deal with Shenell, though. She craved drama. That toxic ass old me is what she desired, and I couldn’t give her that shit.
“That was a while ago.”
She was quiet as she stared at me. I could tell she wasn’t mad, but she was processing the comment.
“Well, I think I will actually go out tonight.”
“Okay. Do you want me to take them back to my house, or would you prefer they stay here?”
I played with one of the locs that fell down in my face while I waited for her response. I needed a retwist bad, and I knew I had to get it done before Oriana’s thing at her daycare on Friday.
“You can take them back with you.”
“Okay.”
She turned to walk back to her room, but I stopped her before she could go inside and close the door.
“On Friday, their sister is having something at her daycare. I’m gonna pick them both up and take them if it’s cool.”
She just nodded to show that she acknowledged me, although she didn’t even bother giving me a verbal response.
“Fat man, where are you? We gotta go.”
Ocean came running from OJ’s room. I gathered the boys and their things and headed back to my place.
It felt good getting a grip on my life. Brandi deceiving me was one thing, but not being able to get Cayla back was another.
The club was going well, as well as the hookah lounge that I had opened.
I was finally getting a grip on my life, and making my kids the focal point meant everything to me.