Chapter 13 #2
We hyped each other up as we danced when somebody bumped into me, making me bump into Deja.
We all stopped and looked at the woman who bumped into me.
She didn’t even move out of the way. She just stood there like she wanted us to acknowledge her.
“I know you know me,” she said, trying to be louder than the music.
I squinted my eyes at her. “I’m sorry, am I supposed to know you?”
She had her hair pulled back into a low ponytail, her outfit fitted just enough to say she wasn’t there by accident. But her eyes, her eyes stayed on me.
Deja shifted beside me.
Kenya’s whole expression changed slightly, like something clicked in her head before she even said a word. Then she leaned closer to me.
“That’s Jada,” she said low enough for only me to hear.
My brows barely moved, but I clocked it.
All I could do was look her up and down. I didn’t have an issue with her, but she clearly wanted one with me.
I stepped up to say something to her, but before I could open my mouth, Keith had stepped in between us.
She looked Keith up and down and laughed.
“I know you know who I am,” she shouted.
Keith didn’t entertain it.
“This ain’t what you want, Jada. Is you cool?”
She laughed instead of answering Keith, and he turned to us.
“Come on, let’s go back to the section.”
We all agreed with him to get away from her. As we were walking away, she yelled out.
“I just wanted to talk to the bitch that stole my whole life, and my son!”
I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around.
She yelled it loud enough that the people around were tuning in to see what the drama was.
For a split second, everything in me went still. Not because I was in shock, but because I could feel where this was headed if nobody checked her.
Jada stood there like she finally let something out that she had been holding in. Her chest rose up and down. Her eyes stayed locked on me like she wanted me to feel every word she said.
“Girl, you need to relax,” Deja said. Her voice was sharp enough that the music didn’t matter anymore.
Keith was still trying to get us back to the section, but we weren’t moving.
Jada wasn’t moving either.
“Listen,” she said, pointing at my girls. “I’m not talkin’ to y’all, I am talking to her.”
That made the space between us feel even tighter.
People around us were slowing down now, phones angled, attention locked in, waiting for whatever came next.
I took a breath.
Not to calm down, but to make sure my voice didn’t shake.
“I can understand that you can feel hurt, but I am not gonna take the disrespect. Let’s not get it twisted. Nobody stole anything from you. You cheated. Love moved on, and now he is happy with me.”
“Disrespect?” she repeated. “You think this is disrespect? You in here with a smile on your face, building a life that includes my son, and you don’t feel like you need to talk to me?”
Kenya started to respond, but I squeezed her hand slightly without looking at her.
I wasn’t backing down, but I wasn’t about to turn this into a shouting match either because this shit wasn’t about noise, it was about intention.
“I didn’t take anything from you,” I said again, slower this time. “And I don’t owe you anything. Whatever happened between you and Love, that is between y’all. I didn’t get into it, but I did welcome your son with open arms. Don’t bring me into your problem.”
Jada’s eyes narrowed as I walked with Keith back to our section.
“Don’t pay that bitch no mind,” Renee said, looking over, feeling her eyes still locked on me.
“You bet not be,” Kenya added before I could respond. “Because unlike her, we are celebrating. Y’ALL GETTING A HOUSE!”
We all started cheering and clapping, making her madder by the second.
It looked like she was about to crack and wanted to come over and say something else, but the bitch couldn’t get past the bouncer.
Me and my girls stayed in our section, letting her mad ass have the floor while we vibed together, took pics, and talked about people in passing.
Suddenly, my eyes hit the door. The crowd near the entrance started moving, people parting like something was cutting through them.
I was confused as to why everybody was moving like that. Then I saw him.
Love.
Standing at the door, like he already knew exactly what was going on before he walked in.
I looked at Keith.
“I called him,” he said. “I didn’t know what was about to pop off with his BM.”
The music was loud, but it felt like it dropped lower in my ears for a second. I locked eyes with him.
He didn’t look around the club.
He didn’t scan the room.
He locked straight in on us, then on her.
My chest tightened a lil’ because I could already feel what shit was about to turn into—I saw how he did Gio.
Nobody moved toward Love. They moved outta his way on instinct.
Jada didn’t even feel his presence. She was still half facing us, still in whatever she was tryin’ to prove minutes ago.
Finally, she got over herself and turned the other way, and as soon as she did, everything in her face paused. I almost laughed.
Love started walking.
Slow.
Not rushed.
Not angry loud.
Not performative…he was just direct.
He moved through the crowd like the floor belonged to him, whether anybody liked it or not.
The closer he got to her, the more she tried to back away, but she couldn’t.
Love stopped right in front of her and just stood there for a second. Looking at her like she wasn’t even worth his breath.
Jada lifted her chin a lil’, trying to hold her ground, but it wasn’t steady.
She stared at him as if she had just seen a ghost, but his eyes shifted past her and to me.
He reached and yanked her arm, pulling her across the floor and through the door.
Me and Keith looked at each other at the same time and rushed down the few steps, across the floor, and out the door with my girls and Love’s niggas behind us. At first, we didn’t see them, but I heard my man’s voice coming from the side of the building. We all walked around to hear Love yelling.