CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Come on, Tink. Shhh,” I said while trying to get her to go to sleep.
My life was fucked. There was no way I could manage school, the line, and my daughter. A nigga was breaking by the second. I texted my coach to let him know we needed to talk. The door to the room opened, and all I could do was drop my head.
“The fuck! Nigga, you got a kid in here?” Xavier shouted.
“Tell the entire hall. Screaming and shit.”
He shrugged. “Shit, I should. Who is that, yo sister?” He nodded my way before turning to his bed.
“My daughter.”
His head slowly turned. “Oh shit. You got a kid?” he said as he turned to the door.
“Aye, Percy got a baby!” he joked. “I’m fucking with you.
Look, I know that’s your baby and all, but we can’t have her in here, so what are you going to do because I barely like you.
I’m sure as hell not going to be the on-campus nigga sitter. ”
He was right, and that shit was eating me.
Honestly, I just wanted to get through the night and think about what happened next in the morning.
However, the way my daughter was cutting up, I knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Xavier sat on the bed and watched me struggle trying to put my daughter to sleep.
He crossed his arms over his chest like he was watching a movie.
“Nigga, you need popcorn?” I gritted.
“Shit, maybe. Her handling your big ass is kind of funny if you ask me. I can tell she doesn’t see you often because if she did, that shit would go way smoother.”
I cut my eyes at him. “What? You the baby whisperer or some shit? Dawg, we already threw hands. It’s clear we got to go another round ‘cause yo mouth is getting reckless.”
He picked up some items as if he were about to leave. “Don’t ask for another beating you can’t handle. I’m just saying. Try lying her on her stomach and patting her to sleep. They say that’s good for babies. Bonding, nigga. It’s called bonding.”
I snarled at him, but at the same time tried what he said. Tink fussed a little but suddenly stopped crying.
“Told you!” Xavier laughed.
Not only did it agitate me that he knew what he was talking about, but it also made me curious about his major. “What’s your major?” I mumbled.
He eyed me weirdly. “Why?”
“It’s called killing the monotony, nigga.”
He chuckled as he shook his head. “I haven’t figured it out yet.”
My body shifted on the bed. “Wait. Nigga, you’re a junior, and you still don’t know? Sounds to me like you know something. I could see you being a doctor or some shit.”
The way he stared at me, I knew his wheels were turning. “Nah, I don’t have it in me,” he said.
Before I could respond, there was a knock at the door. I started to panic until I heard a familiar voice.
“Xavier, it’s me!” Phoebe yelled.
He limped to the door before opening it and letting her in. “Sup, Einstein?” he said to her.
Einstein? When she came further into the room and saw me, she froze. The fuck is this? I mouthed. The way she looked at me was filled with ‘I know I fucked up’.
Shut up, she mouthed back.
She glanced down at my daughter. “You have a baby?” she mumbled, confused.
Xavier came back toward us. “Let me get my shit, and we can bounce. Don’t worry about him. He’s cool, I guess,” Xavier rambled.
She put on a fake smile and turned to him, but it was too late; he caught it, and I knew it.
Looking at her, he nodded toward me. “What? You know this nigga?” he asked her.
She looked at me, then he looked at me. He dropped his head. “You do know him. You were fucking on this nigga, Phoebe?”
She tried grabbing his hand. “Xavier, please don’t do this.”
“Xavier, nothing. I told you to be honest with me.” He pointed at me. “How long, nigga?”
Phoebe looked at me, her eyes begging me not to say anything, but he snapped his fingers. “Me, Phoebe. Look at me. How long?”
I could tell she liked him, but she had done me so dirty, I didn’t care. “Since her freshman year,” I blurted out.
Xavier laughed loudly. “Oh, so you were on some love type shit. Then, you had another nigga in the club. Who else?”
“I-I chose you, though,” she tried whispering.
“Did you? Or did I choose you? Because last I checked, I asked you out and approached you. It’s cool, though, because at least I know, and now I can move accordingly,” he said as he limped out of the room, leaving her and me alone.
PRESS PLAY
She couldn’t even look at me. Phoebe didn’t care about anybody but herself. She had all these niggas on leashes; the only one who wasn’t hooked was that nigga, Xavier.
“Ayo, you hoeing on campus? It’s like you’re fucking anything walking.
Phoebe, when you and I had what we had, shit was cool because I thought it was ‘us’.
Then I saw you in the club with that nigga, and I knew right then you were on some bullshit.
‘You know the rules,’ but what are the rules?
Don’t play telephone so your pussy can get wet.
You played me, and I liked you. Now you like that nigga, and he’s about to play you. ”
Her face softened. “Why do you care? You wanted me to be with you so I could play step momma to your daughter? Is that what you thought? You need to worry less about me and more about her.”
I thought she would tell me how she felt about us, but instead, she left.
I wasn’t even worth an explanation, and that fucked me up.
If I never knew before, I knew now that this on-campus shit was nothing but a soap opera for the world to see.
It wasn’t just Black men being the bad guys anymore, but Black women as well.
We were at a school with a mission statement about Black excellence, yet none of us exhibited it.
With everything going on, how could I be excellent?
I took another glance at my daughter and shook my head. “Shit!”
Now it was time to call my big brothers and let them know I was dropping from the line. There was no need to continue because with Breann, it wasn’t possible.