Chapter 34 Jahlil
Morning training, lunch with his lady, an afternoon quickie on a secluded part of the beach, practice and now he was watching his baby girl hug a little boy behind the thick glass of the preschool room.
Part of him wanted to beat down the door, snatch the little boy up and knock his head off of his shoulders for wrapping his arms around his daughter, the other part was happy that she at least made a friend regardless if the little bowling ball headed boy was swinging her in circles.
Jahlil snapped a picture and sent it to Emani and Aunt Violet.
Jah: I’ll knock this little nigga out
E: no you won’t!
Auntie: aww she found a little boyfriend
Jah: he finna get a return to sender stamp touching my baby like that
E: boy! Relax
Jah: if she skips out here I’m sending him back
Auntie: Emani get your man
E: nope your nephew. I just got free of one felony charge. You want me to catch another?
Auntie: won’t be no charge if no one lives to tell the story. That’s your problem. You be leaving people around to tell the story. Don’t worry though when I see that gap-toothed, wide-backed, botched BBL Janet, I’ll get her
E: you know this is text. And it can be used in court
Auntie: won’t be no court baby. Won’t be no court
“It seems my children can’t stay away from yours,” a familiar voice pierced Jahlil’s balance of attention from his phone and his daughter getting squeezed and swung around, and grinned at.
Jah: might be some court
Jahlil looked up and over at the man standing next to him and clenched his jaw. “Seems like it. You gon’ have her arrested too?”
John Barette pulled in a deep breath and swayed his head. “I might have my son arrested for accosting your little girl like that.”
Jahlil remained stoic.
“Listen…” John pulled in a deep breath and shudder of disgust like what he was going to say next would taste like shit coming out of his mouth. “I was wrong. My daughter has given me a speech in length about how I handled that.”
“How you handled that?” Jahlil asked with the emphasis on that.
“That. That thug is what you called him. Every black kid in the neighborhood over five foot eight isn’t a thug or looking to cause trouble.
Andrew is his name but you know it. And he’s a good kid.
Unfortunately for you and your pride or self-hate, whatever the fuck it is, nigga, put a stain on that. ”
“I took this job to hel-”
“To help your people? Putting a kid in cuffs because he used an American Express with his name on it ain’t helping.
You want to help, I dare you to really step foot in this city and help.
But you not about that life. Asshole puckered up thinking about it.
You want to apologize, tell my kid that can’t figure out what he did wrong.
Until then, tell your little boy to keep his hands off my daughter,” Jahlil stated, not in the space to continue this conversation here. “We’ll see you around.”
On cue, Sanaa walked out the classroom hand in hand with John’s son. Jahlil shuttered and gritted his teeth. The pre-k teachers assistant roamed out behind her with a giant smile on her face.
“Sanaa had a wonderful first day. She’s very much the leader this one,” the TA shared. “And we can’t seem to separate these two. Lunchtime, naptime, centers – they’re stuck at the hip. I see play dates in your future, maybe wedding bells who knows.”
“Hi daddy,” Sanaa buzzed.
“Hey babyg-”
“Aryn, walk me to the car,” Sanaa bossed.
“Okay!” Aryn responded with no regard to his father or NBA superstar Jahlil Savage. Still hand in hand with Sanaa, he walked her out the building.
Jahlil cut a look at John and followed the pair of pint-sized humans into the small parking lot. He unlocked the truck, picked Sanaa up and placed her inside.
“Daddy, at least let me say bye!” Sanaa huffed as he shut the door, mean mugged the little boy, and rounded the trunk to the driver’s side. “Are you going to be a hating ass nigga all your life?”
“You’ve been holding that in all day haven’t you?” Jahlil asked amusedly but adding. “I’m telling Mani you cussed me out.”
“Uh uh she’s not going to give me cookies,” Sanaa protested.
“Not talking to me like that. And for your information I’m not a hating ass nigga. I’m your damn daddy and you ain’t old enough to have no little booger assed boy hugging all up on you like that.”
“Why not? You do it to Mani!”
“We’re grown, Sanaa,” Jahlil huffed, firing up the engine and pulling off. “I don’t like it.”
Sanaa rolled her eyes. “Because you’re nosey. All up in my business.”
“Girl,” Jahlil snipped. “You are literally my business.”
“Sooo Andrew can make kissy faces in his room. I hug a nigga and I’m in trouble,” Sanaa scoffed rolling her eyes.
“Andrew doesn’t have a door. Do you want to be like Andrew and not have a door too? Markers? Dolls?” Jahlil asked, rambling off a list of things she would go without.
“My dolls?” Sanaa gasped, as if punishment had never visited her before.
“Every last doll. Matter of fact, I’ll tell Drew and have him pop the heads off.”
“No! I’ll be nice. I want to be nice!”
“Then be nice, watch your mouth and stop hugging up on that little boy,” Jahlil stated, looking at her roll her eyes. “Girl!”
“What? I didn’t do nothing,” Sanaa huffed, folding her arms and rolling her eyes again.
“Uh huh yeah.”
When they got home, Sanaa unsnapped herself and opened the door.
“What the hell are you-?” Jahlil’s question came to a pause as Sanaa hopped out and ran to the open gates.
Aryn was running across the street from his father’s illegally parked car like he hadn’t just finish accosting Jahlil’s daughter.
“I know you fuckin’ lying. I’m going to have to turn this little nigga’s head around. ”
On her trail, he stomped into the street, picked her up by the arm and carried her into the house.
“Hey, put me down, Daddy! You didn’t let me say byyeee,” Sanaa whined loudly, making Emani move from the couch and meet them at the door. “Mani daddy is a hating-”
“Watch it,” Emani softly corrected, taking her from Jahlil. “Don’t be holding my girl like that.”
“Your girl is letting little boys hug up on her. Got her skipping into the middle of the street and shit,” Jahlil fussed as Emani adjusted Sanaa around her body.
“I mean look at her, Jah. She so cute. Tell me about your first day.”
“Did you get cookies?” Sanaa asked Emani in response.
“I did you one better, I made your daddy buy the red velvet ones from your favorite bakery by the beach,” Emani shared, carrying her into the kitchen. “Did everyone like your dress?”
“Everyone loved my dress and my hair. Especially Aryn,” Sanaa excitedly shared with Emani who sat her atop the kitchen counter.
“Ohhh, Aryn. Give meee the teaaa, girl. Is he cute?” Emani questioned.
“Is who cute?” Andrew quizzed, walking in from outside.
“My boyfriend,” Sanaa said waving him off.
“You got a boyfriend, ugly?” Andrew mused. “He wear glasses or something?”
“Drewy, please, you don’t even have a girlfriend or a door,” Sanaa shot back, making Emani scrunch her eyes in laughter.
“Find another one. I’ll have a door before you ever have a boyfriend,” Andrew shot back.
Sanaa scoffed. “Lies, nigga. I got a boyfriend right now.”
“Not for long. I’m going to beat that little nigga down with his stuffed teddy bear,” Andrew shot back, making Jahlil whoop in the hall.
“I know that’s right. Let’s go jump his ass right damn now!” Jahlil stated.
“Alright y’all, that’s enough,” Emani said, laughing. “Let’s reset. We got dinner reservations in an hour and a half, go clean up.”
Andrew started toward the stairs while Jahlil ear hustled to hear what his girls were going to mutter about behind his back.
“So little Aryn really likes you?”
Sanaa took a chomp into her cookie and nodded. “Mhmm.”
“You want to know a secret?” Emani asked, smoothing down a swoop of baby hair she’d laid in the morning.
“Mmhmm.”
“Make them work. If he likes you, make him work. Snack times and lunchtimes, and playtime and naptimes, okay? Not too much too fast, alright?”
“Okay,” Sanaa buzzed. “I trust you. And I didn’t say any bad words today at school.”
“How many did you say in the car?”
“A lot! Your man was stressing me out, girl, and I didn’t have any markers.”
Emani laughed. “My girl, we got to work on this habit. Finish your cookie and go get ready to go.”
Emani left Sanaa swinging her legs and eating her cookie to find an eavesdropping Jahlil in the hall. “Jump a toddler for real?”
“I’m not above it,” Jahlil muttered. “Him and his daddy. I’ll knock both of them out.”
Emani popped at brow. “Whose his daddy?”
“The nigga who had Andrew in cuffs,” Jahlil grumbled, getting upset all over again.
Emani pulled in a deep breath. “It would seem that we might have to beat up the whole family.”
Jahlil laughed. “I’m supposed to be mad.”
“Nope, family dinner, first regular season game tomorrow, we’re going to have good vibes. So straighten up your eyebrows, go shower, and come back down with a smile.”
Jahlil leaned down. “I know what will put a smile on my face.”
Emani evaded his snatch up, giggling. “If you mess up this blow out, Derrick is going to kill me.”
“After the game?” he asked with a boyish grin. “I think you got me addicted.”
“Don’t think about it. You are. I want you climbing the walls when you’re away. It’ll keep you coming home.”
Jahlil stroked the hairs of his beard and offered she a lopsided grin. “Oh, I was coming back anyway, Rose.”
“Yeah, but I want you crawling back,” she shot back.
“Oh you starting this right now? With our daughter in the kitchen?”
Emani softly laughed and shook her head. “I’m not starting a damn thing.”
“You over there talking your shit because you know what you doing.”
Emani pinned her brows together and nipped her lip. “Do I?”
“You know what you doing. That same shit that had me getting sand out of -”
“Sand? Where’d you have sand, Daddy?” Sanaa asked, walking out the kitchen.
Emani shot him a silly look.
“See what you doing?” Jahlil grumbled, flashing Emani that look. He straightened up. “Mani and I went on a walk on the beach after lunch.”
“Yep, he had sand all between his toes,” Emani said with a chuckle as she walked off.
“I hate when sand stays between my toes,” Sanaa added. “The worst.”
She traipsed past the two up the stairs.
“Mhmm, it’s the worst,” Emani teased.
“You play too much, E.”
Emani flipped her hair and pranced away, purposely making her ass jiggle more than it already did.
“You said you want me to crawl?” Jahlil asked, getting on his knees.
Emani yelped in laughter. “Uh uh, we got kids.”
“You keep playing with me, we’re going to have some more.”
Emani rolled her eyes and beamed down at him crawling to her. “I was playing.”
“No you weren’t. You think I won’t fuckin’ crawl to you. Girl, I’ll be in the desert in leather pleading my love. Minus the coke though.”
She snorted in laughter. “Please get up.”
“Wash my back?”
“Promise not to mess up my hair?”
Jahlil stood up and crossed his heart. “Not ‘til tomorrow night.”