~~~Chapter 11~~~
“Bae, are you headed home, cause I’m hungry?” Paisley pouted on the other end of the phone.
I had my phone pressed to my ear, as I was traveling through the mall, heading to the exit, where I’d valet parked. “Yeah, I’m heading out now. I just left them niggas back at the food court. You dressed already?”
“No, I’m still getting ready,” she claimed.
“Aww, shit. I know what that means. I need to take my time getting there, because it’s gonna be another hour or two.”
She snickered. “Something like that. Did you buy me something?”
“Mannn,” I drawled. “There you go. I got his and hers McQueen sneakers.”
“Okay, okay. Now, we’ll just have to find something to get into to break them in.”
“Girl, bring your ass on!” Somebody fussed, as they strolled past me.
Instinctively, I looked up, and peeped the woman pushing a stroller.
She was fine as shit, with a exotic hue of brown skin that I couldn’t quite categorize.
Her outer appearance screamed paid, as the diamonds were dancing on her.
The Palms Angels fit hugged her curves, as she walked like she owned the world.
“I’m coming,” another voice sputtered.
Frowning, I whipped my head around, and saw…Big Baby hastily walking to catch up with the lady and the stroller. Rocking ice-white biker shorts, a matching cropped top, with silver Louie sneakers, and cross-body, her body was the exact same. Out of fucking sight.
Licking my lips, I spoke into the phone. “Paisley, let me call you right back.”
Not waiting for a response, I ended the call.
“Jaylah,” I called her name, and she paused mid-stride.
She whipped her head around, and her long, curly hair swung with it. “Huh?”
Smiling, I approached her, genuinely happy to see her. “What’s up, stranger?”
She hooded her eyes, while the woman with the stroller was now waiting with a impatient hand on her hip. “How do you know my name?”
“Damn. You say that like you didn’t want me to know.”
She rolled her eyes. “Maybe I didn’t.”
“Jaylah,” the woman with the stroller cleared her throat. “Now, you know that we’re supposed to just be in and out of here. We got a whole lot of shit to do, girl. So, call and flirt with him another time.”
“Mama, really?” Jaylah cut her eyes at the woman.
“Mama?” My jaw dropped. “She’s your mama?”
“Duh,” she sassed like that was something I was supposed to know.
“I’m saying.” I opened my arms. “She looks young as hell. Plus, she’s pushing a stroller. So, I’m assuming that’s her baby.”
“No, uh, baby,” Jaylah’s mama spoke up. “Don’t go around putting that charge on me. I’m done with having kids. This is my grandbaby, right here.”
“Oh.” My eyes traveled back to Jaylah. “Is that your baby?”
Tucking her lips into her mouth, she nodded.
I smirked. “See, and that’s why I bowed out gracefully. You and that nigga wasn’t done.”
She rolled her eyes again. “Nah. He was hardly the issue. Let’s be for real. If anything, I’m sure that you wanted to work it out with Paisley .”
Hearing that, I paused. “Huh?”
“Nigga, if you can huh, you can hear,” she spat.
“So, you been knew her or some shit?”
“Ewe. Hell, no. I definitely don’t get down like that. I met her, after I met you. I didn’t even know that y’all knew each other, until I saw her IG story.”
“Oh, yeah?” I stroked my goatee, while trying to process the information.
“Yep.” She yawned and stretched.
I nodded. “So, you and that nigga must be still off and on?”
“Jay-lah,” her mama fussed.
“Mama, I’m coming,” Jaylah responded evenly. “I’m just trying to tell Malice about—”
“Malice?” Her mama regurgitated with a frown. “This is Malice?” She pointed at me, throwing me completely off.
Why the hell would she tell her mama about me?
Jaylah nodded. “Yep. And I know you said…that if I saw him…then I just needed to be honest.”
“Right,” her mama agreed.
“Right,” Jaylah sighed, as she gazed at me. “Would you like to meet your daughter, Malice?”
A flash of heat instantly covered my face. “Say what?”
She sighed, while shaking her head.
“You playing with me, right?”
“No. I’d never play like that.”
“Okay…so, so, so,” I stuttered. “Why didn’t you say nothing—” I cut myself off, as I stepped over to the stroller, and peered down.
The baby girl in the stroller was red, chunky, with silky hair.
I couldn’t fully make out her facial features, because her she was sound asleep with her head tilted.
There was a gold bracelet around her chubby wrist, and she was dressed in baby Dior, which I wasn’t a bit surprised by.
Big Baby aka Jaylah was unquestionably a material girl.
“This is crazy.” I shook my head, before glaring at Jaylah. “If she’s mine, then why didn’t you let me know?”
“Nigga, aint no if about it.” She sassily twisted her neck.
Attempting to manage my temper, I nodded and licked my lips. “You so sure, yet I gotta find out in the middle of the fucking mall?”
Not seeming moved, she folded her arms across her breasts.
“Look, it was now or never. Because clearly, I’ve been handling shit on my own.
So, the only reason I’m saying something…
is because my family keeps stressing that Khari should at least know who she’s biologically related to.
Even if a relationship is never established. ”
I narrowed my gaze. “What about me told you that I would go for some shit like this?”
Her lashes fluttered. “Come again?”
I exhaled, trying to remain calm. “Did you see some type of hoe in me? Because I’m struggling to make sense of this. I’ve been nothing but respectful to you. Never got out of line. So, why would you think that giving birth to my baby and not contacting me was the thing to do?”
She inhaled. “Look, don’t take it personally, because it wasn’t about you, as a man.
She was obviously unplanned, and that was a thing within itself.
Fucked up anything I thought I had going on with the next man.
And then I realized that the girl who’d been calling me regularly for relationship advice was your girl.
Paisley is cool. I like her. I also know that she loves you.
So, once I realized that y’all were together, I knew that regardless of my choices, I wasn’t including you.
Because I could never see myself as the entity standing between you and your girl.
With a baby on my hip. That’s too much, and I got way too much pride to ever force my way into anybody’s life. ”
“I hear you, but that still don’t make it right. As crazy as the timing was, I deserved to know,” I argued.
She nodded. “You did. My bad.”
I couldn’t determine it there was any sincerity in that apology, but I couldn’t even dwell on that, because there so much other shit swirling around in my mind. “You said her name was Khari, right?”
“Yeah.”
I tilted my head. “Did you figure out my government na—”
“I know your name, Khamere.”
I gave her a confused look, and she continued.
“Paisley. She never used Malice. That’s why I didn’t know that she was talking about you, at first. And then once I realized that you were the dude that she was always venting about, I put two and two together.”
“Damn.” I stroked my goatee, while in deep thought. “That’s wild.”
“I know, right?” She lightly smirked.
I couldn’t help looking her up and down, as I had to admit that I wasn’t mad about this revelation. I just didn’t care for her keeping it from me. But shit, it could’ve been a lot worse.
“Okay. Well, look, I don’t mean no disrespect, but I’d like to get a DNA test.”
I saw anger flash across her eyes. “For what? I’m not asking for anything. I already told you that the baby is handled.”
“What that gotta do with anything?” I scowled. “If she’s mine, then I intend to be there. Fully.”
She hesitated. “I guess you wasn’t listening to me. I’m not trying to go through the motions, because my baby is an outside child—”
“Outside?” I snarled, not liking the sound of that.
“Don’t even say no shit like that. I was very much single man, at the time.
So, there’s nothing outside about her. And you let me worry about Paisley and the relationship.
That aint got nothing to do with me being a father. So, again, can we do the test?”
She exhaled. “Yeah. We can do that.”
“Okay.” I studied her closely. “Is your number still the same?”
She nodded.
“Alright. Well, hopefully we can go do that tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? You do realize that it’s Friday, right?
Plus, I’m not even gone front like I’m not about to go to my cousin’s party tonight, and act a damn fool.
So, the last thing I’m trying to do is get up and handle something like that the next day.
Besides, those labs probably aren’t even open on the weekends. ”
“There’s some labs that are available twenty-four seven,” her mama interjected, as she was tapping away on her phone.
Jaylah bucked her eyes. “Mama, really?”
“What?” Her mama opened her arms. “I just checked, cause it sounds like you stalling, and this needs to be handled, ASAP. The man says that he wants to be involved, and I wanna see what he’s made of.”
“I guess.” Jaylah rolled her eyes. “Tomorrow it is, then.”
I nodded. “That’ll work. But I’m not done with this conversation. So, when I call you…pick up.”
“Alright,” she agreed.
“Okay…can I hold her, right quick?” I found myself asking, before I could think about it.
“Uh…yeah.”
Needing to hear nothing else, I reached down into the stroller, and lifted the fat baby. Instantly, her eyes opened, and she stared at me.
No lie, my heart skipped a beat, as she gave me the cutest toothless grin.
“Aww,” Jaylah’s mama cooed. “Fat Mama is working that little spell of hers. She skins and grins with every damn body.”
I smiled. “She’s gorgeous.”
“She got your eyes,” Jaylah’s mama mentioned. “Because those damn sho aint ours.”
I examined the baby’s light brown eyes, and then her nose, and lips. She looked just like my niece, and that acknowledgment caused something to rumble in my stomach. This shit was real.
I guess that I was taking too long with the baby, because Jaylah eventually cleared her throat. “Okay. We gotta hit up these stores. So, hand her here.” She extended her arms out.
I cradled the baby. “I doubt that she wanna sit in that stroller. I can carry her.”
Jaylah grimaced. “Hold her? But I’m trying to shop—”
“I’ll walk with y’all.”
She briefly paused, before sighing. “Look, whatever.”
I could tell that she was a bit irritated, but I didn’t give a damn. I wasn’t quite ready to walk away, right then. So, I didn’t.