Chapter 29 #3
My siblings' existence made it impossible for me to completely ghost her. They were the reason I kept it cool and cordial whenever I was forced to be around her longer than I wanted. The last time I had to do that was for Milan’s birthday and it went relatively well.
Lourdes said the energy was awkward between me and Rahesha, but I didn’t feel it.
I simply focused on my sister for the hour and a half we were there.
“It wouldn’t have been appropriate at any other time.”
“Yea, you might be right about that. So you said you came here for another reason?”
“....Yea. I think it’s something you should know.”
I eyed her skeptically. “Are you sure I need to know? This exchange has been positive so far, so if it’s anything negative you might want to rethink telling me.”
“Armias, I’ve been sitting on this since Friday evening. I told myself to sleep on it for a few days because I didn’t want to regret rushing to tell you. But I feel like you wouldn’t be okay with not knowing this. I even called my therapist and ask he-”
“Your therapist? Since when do you see a therapist?”
“Since the beginning of this year. I didn’t tell her exactly what I have to tell you, but I told her that I know something and that it would eat me alive if I kept it to myself.”
“Alright, man. If you feel like it’s that serious then I’ll hear it,” I sighed, before stepping to the side. “Come on in and let’s sit down.”
I led her to the formal living room that was right next to the foyer.
“This is really a beautiful home,” she glanced around while sitting down. “Y’all did good.”
“For real? You don’t think it’s a waste of money anymore?” I smirked, taking a subtle jab that she immediately caught because she laughed.
“Chile, I was hating…but I never said this house was ugly. I wouldn’t have gone that far.”
“Yea, okay,” I chuckled. “So what’s up? What do you just have to tell me?”
“Alright, before I tell you. I have a birthday gift for you.”
“A birthday gift? You’re full of surprises today,” I uttered dryly. “I can’t think of the last time you bought me something.”
“Well I didn’t really buy this…but I think you’ll appreciate it anyway,” she said, while digging into her Chanel tote bag and pulling out a black, velvet box that obviously held some type of jewelry.
“You know my birthday was last month, right?” I asked as she handed me the box.
My 27th birthday was chill just how I wanted it.
Lourdes and I got a hotel in the city, we got massages at a spa, and then we went to dinner at Bon Ton Prime where she surprised me with a Las Vegas trip.
Gambling was a guilty pleasure of mine, so I was amped for a weekend in Sin City.
My doll baby had everything laid out from the pent house suite at Aguillard Hotel, a private car and driver, a personal chef, and she had a bunch of fun shit planned for us.
My birthday really just used to be another day to me, but she made it special again.
“I know I gave birth seven times, but I remember them all in great detail down to the dates and times. I meant to give this to you at Milan’s sleepover because I knew I wouldn’t see you on your birthday the next day, but I forgot it at home. I was overwhelmed and doing a lot.”
“Shit, welcome to my world,” I muttered.
“Go ahead and open it,” she urged, ignoring my jab.
I popped the box open and my chest tightened. I stared down at a very familiar iced out Cartier watch with money green numerals.
“Is this…”
“Yup, that’s your dad’s watch. That was the first super expensive piece of jewelry he bought when he started making money.”
I glanced up at her. “You giving this to me?”
“Yes. I think your dad would want you to have it.”
“I’m surprised Phoenix’s dad didn’t steal it…or that you didn’t pawn it.”
She took a deep breath. “Well, that watch was put up in a hidden spot. I honestly forgot about its existence until I was cleaning out the closet back in March. Selling it never crossed my mind, but Phillip would’ve definitely stolen it if he came across it, so I’m glad he didn’t.”
“Yea, me too,” I closed the box and sat it on the table.
Looking at that watch brought back nothing but fond memories of my dad.
He was superman in my eyes and could do no wrong.
Obviously, he wasn’t perfect, but he taught me how to be a man before he left the world.
Having that watch in my possession gave me a feeling I couldn’t describe.
I wasn’t going to verbally express it, but I was happy that Rahesha was giving it to me.
“Alright, so what’s the real reason you came over here?” I questioned, ready to skip over all the sappy shit. I had a feeling she buttered me up with that watch because she had bad news.
“Okay…so Aneesah told me about how Lourdes was forced into labor a few weeks early.”
I frowned because I didn’t like where this was about to go. “I don’t think it’s appropriate if you tell me anything about Lourd-”
“Just please listen, Armias.”
“No, because you about to come at me with some bullshit about my gir-”
She cut me off again. “I understand why you would think that, but I’m not about to tell you anything negative about Lourdes. I promise.”
“Alright…go ‘head.” I tried to take her word for it and relax, but my guard was still up.
“Did the police ever follow up with y’all or get any leads on who broke into her house?”
“NOPD doing their job and following up? Yea, right. The only reason we filed a police report was so Lourdes could break her lease. Why are you asking about this, though? Do you have information about what happened?”
She was trying to ease her way into revealing whatever she knew.
But this situation was way too personal and sensitive for me to allow her to beat around the bush.
I could have lost Lourdes and my daughter on that day, and it killed me that I couldn’t fuck up whoever was responsible.
My gut was telling me that it wasn’t a random home invasion, but there was no concrete proof to support otherwise.
“I do,” she sighed, before unlocking her phone and going to her photos. “Now, I wasn’t sure at first. But isn’t this the same exact customized Hello Kitty Chanel bag you gave to Lourdes for her birthday last year?”
Time stood still as I looked at the bag I brought Lourdes on the shoulder of a random blonde haired, light skin, scrub wearing bitch.
Her face was partially visible in the photo, but I could see the bag clear as day.
The lady I purchased the bag from made all her shit by hand, so none of her designs were the exact same.
The replacement I brought Lourdes was similar to the original, but not identical.
The bag in this picture was identical to the original, which meant it had to be the same exact one.
“Yea, that’s the bag. Who is this in the picture?”
“This is someone I just met at LPN orientation on Friday. Her name is Kerrilyn. She said her girlfriend brought the purse for her from a personal shopper named Nazaria Stylez.”
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Lourdes
My phone died while Armias and Rahesha were talking on the porch, but I had managed to hear a portion of their conversation through the cameras before it did.
I wasn’t the least bit surprised about it going well because although Rahesha’s track record was terrible, I could see that she was making a conscious effort to change her life around.
She’d gotten her GED, she got accepted into Nunez’s nursing program, and she hadn’t asked Armias for anything all year.
He always claimed he needed to see his mother’s actions to believe that she was a different person.
In my eyes, those were actions worth clapping for.
I could understand if it was too premature for him to begin celebrating, though.
“Come on, mama,” I lifted Alouri out of her swing in the kitchen.
After my phone died, I brought all the food in the house and put everything up while Alouri watched Disney Jr. in her swing.
She was always cool, calm, and collected when it was just us two.
She only had to be held when her daddy was present, and he loved the fact that she was a spoiled daddy’s girl.