~~~Chapter 20~~~ #2
Listening, all I could do was titter, because she was unquestionably one of them ones that kept up with anything we had on social media.
Personally, I never fully embraced that type of notoriety, but I was still highly visible, due to so many of my family members using social media for monetization or to platform whatever business endeavor.
And we’d learned early on that posting and interacting with the followers is what kept us appearing relatable, along with boosting the different brands we had.
“Ummm,” Malice groaned, not sounding too excited to hear that.
Funnily, he was relatively a young dude, but wasn’t too much into social media.
So, he hadn’t heard of me beforehand, which means that he didn’t view me as a public figure.
“Well, over here, she’s just gonna be Jaylah. None of that extra shit.”
“Yeah, okay.” Kita once again waved him off, before focusing on me. “You really had a baby with his mean ass?”
I snickered. “Mean? I haven’t really met that side.”
“Oh, well, then you’re real special,” she assumed.
I cut my eyes at Malice…and I could’ve sworn that he was blushing. “She…she alright.”
“Nawl, you definitely think that she’s a lot more than alright ,” Ms. Dee spoke up, as she sat down, patting Khari’s back.
I arched a brow, wondering what she meant by that.
“So, are y’all like together?” Kita shamelessly probed, as she sat down.
I sat down, not too far from her, with Malice dropping down, right next to me.
“Kita, I’m sure mama already told you everything,” Malice presumed.
“No, she didn’t. She just mentioned that you recently found out that you had a baby. That was it.”
“Oh, okay.” He nodded.
“So, are y’all together?” She nosily pressed.
He smirked. “Yeah, Kita. We together.”
“Ooh, I know that Paisley is losing her mind,” she mentioned candidly.
“Kita.” Ms. Dee cut her eyes at her daughter.
“What?” Kita opened her arms. “I’m just saying, mama. I mean…unless you didn’t know about Paisley.” She locked eyes with me. “In that case, then my bad.”
I deeply inhaled. “I know about Paisley. In fact, I met her at my sister’s salon. We were talking about our men troubles and ended up exchanging information.”
Immediately, confused expressions graced both Kita and Ms. Dee’s faces.
“You’re joking, right?” Kita guessed.
“Nope.” I shook my head. “By then, I’d already met Khamere, but only knew him as Malice. So, I had no idea that her Khamere was the Malice…that I liked. He swears that he met me when they were broken up. I met her, after they’d gotten back together. So…yeah, I know Paisley.”
“Oh, wow. That’s crazy,” Kita admitted. “So…were you pregnant with my niece when you met Paisley?”
“Yeah, I was,” I freely admitted, feeling comfortable. “That’s why when I put two and two together, I decided that it was too messy for me. So, I honestly didn’t know if Khamere would ever meet Khari.”
“Then what changed?” Kita quizzed.
“We randomly ran into each other at the mall,” Malice spoke up.
“And she told you then?”
“Something like that,” Malice responded.
“I…I approached her, because Sev had just shown me her social media, ironically. He was talking about the Braxton girls, and I didn’t know who they were.
You know that thirsty nigga started showing me their pages, and that’s when I peeped Jaylah in the picture.
Then I went to her page, and saw that she’d just had a baby.
So, when I saw her in the mall…I had to say something, because I really wanted to ask her…
if the baby was mine. Because…because the timing was too close, not to consider that. ”
I was listening intently, because this was news to me. I had no idea that he’d approached me, because he suspected that Khari was his.
Kita smirked. “So, y’all was dipping, and ended up with a baby?”
I shrugged. “Something like that.”
“I wouldn’t quite say that,” Malice offered. “I feel like…we was hot and heavy, but had but just broken up with people. And that’s what got in the way.”
I nodded. “Right. That’s pretty much it.”
“Okay,” Kita giggled. “I see you, bro.”
Malice shook his head. “With your fake ass.”
“Who, me?” Kita pointed at her chest.
“Yeah, you.” He nodded. “I thought that Paisley was your girl, and now you just cool with the switch up?”
“Yeah, I am.” She nodded. “Personally, I always said that you and Paisley got together when y’all was young as fuck.
So…I never really knew if she was the one.
If you know what I mean. Now, outside of that, she’s cool, in general.
So, two things can be true at once. I’m cool with Paisley, and wanna see you happy. Even if it aint with her.”
“And I second that,” Ms. Dee chimed in.
Quietly, I nodded, thinking that Malice’s family was pretty cool, and we’d get along just fine.
Malice
No, cap. I expected my family to be cordial, at the most. However, them immediately warming up to Jaylah was not on my bingo card.
I also didn’t think that Jaylah would be so open about our situation.
I know some girls probably would’ve feared judgement, but she kept her head held high, as she spoke about what happened between us. I respected that.
The conversation between my sister, my mama, and Jaylah naturally flowed, as they all asked and answered questions. I liked how nobody was shying away from the obvious. It would’ve been fake of us not to address that I’d recently broken up with Paisley, and there might be some blowback from it.
To me, what also stood out, was Jaylah’s approach to the situation. She kept reiterating that Paisley wasn’t her enemy, and that she empathized with her. That showed me that she had character, and didn’t just step on people, without remorse.
“Khamere, have you met her family, yet?” Kita eventually asked me.
“I met a couple of them in passing, but no real formal introductions,” I revealed.
“Oh, well, when you do meet them, I’m coming too.”
I cut my eyes at her. “For real, Kita? You too fanned out, girl.”
“So? She got some of the finest brothers I done ever seen. So, I’m trying to get in where I fit in.” She shrugged, causing Big Baby to snicker.
“Girl, there aint a brother of mine who’s not overly preoccupied,” Big Baby acknowledged.
“Are they all married?” Kita questioned, refusing to give up.
“No,” Big Baby tittered. “Not all of them. Unlike my sisters. I’m the only single one. They’re legally bound.”
“Single?” I furrowed a brow.
She playfully rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. I’m not married.”
“Do you wanna get married?” My mama interrogated.
Big Baby shrugged. “I guess, one day. But if I don’t, then I’m cool with that too. Being married isn’t all there is to life.”
“So true,” Kita agreed. “Cause these niggas aint shit.”
“Damn. So, just talk like I’m not sitting right here, huh?” I scoffed.
My sister giggled. “You’re my brother, so you don’t count. But if I could meet somebody like you…then that would be great. Cause it aint too many of ‘em like you, walking around.”
“Oh, for real?” Big Baby smiled, as she was seemingly shocked. “It’s rare that I hear a sister say that she’d like somebody like her brother. That says a lot.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, it’s probably just because whenever she calls, wanting something, I never say no.”
“Maybe…but no, for real. Your generosity is just one aspect. It’s a whole bunch of other stuff that’s good, but we won’t get into that, because we don’t need that ego blown out of proportion around here,” Kita teased.
“Anyway,” I licked my lips. “Where is Kareme?” I glanced around, like my baby brother would magically appear.
“He’s down the street at his little friend’s house—” My mama responded, before we heard the chiming, indicating that somebody was coming through the front doors.
“That’s probably him, right there,” Kita speculated.
“Malice, you came over just in time,” Kareme celebrated, as he rounded the corner. “Ya girl just pulled up—"
I was smiling, until I realized that my brother hadn’t come in alone.
“Hey, y’all,” Paisley cheerfully greeted, as she sauntered into the living room area.
“Hey,” everybody else apprehensively spoke, while I said nothing.
“Wait.” Paisley paused. “Jaylah, girl, what are you doing here?”
“I um,” Jaylah uncomfortably cleared her throat. “I came with Khamere—”
“Nah. Hell, nawl.” Paisley angrily shook her head. “Tell me that you aint here with my muthafuckin’ man!”
Without thinking twice, I sprung to my feet, and stood in front of her. “Look, I know that this gotta look crazy—”
“No, fuck that!” She lashed. “What the fuck is she doing here?” Her eyes traveled to my mama, who was holding Khari. “Is…is this your baby?” She pointed.
Gradually, I nodded.
“Okay,” she anxiously licked her lips. “So, again, what the fuck is Jaylah doing here?”
“She’s the baby’s mama, Paisley.”
After a brief, uncomfortable pause, she cynically laughed. “You gotta be fucking playing.”
I shook my head. “I’m not.”
She stepped around me, and glared at Jaylah. “So, you really played in my fucking face?”
Jaylah shook her head. “It’s not like that. I met him, before I met you. Then the whole time you were calling me, I didn’t know that you were talking about the same guy I’d had dealings with. It wasn’t until you posted him in your story. That’s when I cut off contact, not wanting to be weird.”
“Girl, bye.” Paisley waved off. “Even if that’s true, you still allowed him into your bed, once you knew that he was with me.”
“I never dealt with him, while he was with you,” Jaylah argued.
“So, you didn’t fuck him, after he left our house?”
“I did, but—”
Jaylah didn’t finish her statement, before Paisley lunged at her. Thankfully, my reflexes were on point, and I caught her, before they could clash.
“Chill!” I barked, while lifting her off her feet.
“Let me go!” She screamed, while wildly kicking her feet. “I can’t fucking believe you! I trusted that bitch! Confided in her! And that’s how y’all do me?!”
“How it looks aint what it is,” I spoke into her ear, as I carried her to the door.
“You a muthafuckin’ lie! How could you do this to meeeee!” She sobbed, while I placed her back on her feet.
Feeling bad for the way I was making her feel, I hugged her. “I apologize,” I spoke in her ear. “It was never my intentions to hurt you.”
She sniveled. “And what am I supposed to do with that?” She gripped my shirt. “And you think that she’s gonna love you the way that I fucking do?”
“Go home, Paisley.”
“No,” she whimpered. “Unless you can come with me.”
I shook my head. “I can’t do that.”
“And why not?”
“I told you already.”
“And I’m supposed to just let go? After all this time, how can I do that, Khamere? I...I can’t. And this hurts so fucking bad,” she bawled.
“Come on, man.” I hugged her tighter. “You fucking me up, right now.”
“And, and, you broke my heart.” She clutched her chest.
“I know,” I whispered. “I know that, and I’m sorry. But you’ll be good. You always are. Now, just…walk away. This is my mama’s house, and she don’t deserve the disrespect.”
“Get off me!” She shoved me back. “You wanna talk about disrespect, like I didn’t fucking handpick this house!
Like the lights aint still in my name! I got all the codes to this muthafucka, and you so pussy drunk that you didn’t consider none of that!
Just brought her here! Like shit is sweet, just because you’re getting your dick wet with some new pussy! ”
“Okay.” I calmly nodded. “I get your point, but that’s some shit that can be changed, Paisley.”
“Then it should’ve been done! That’s the fucking problem!
” She loudly clapped her hands. “You didn’t properly handle shit, while you trying to play family man with the next muthafucka!
Had you stopped to think, then a lot of shit might click.
Like all the shit that’s in my name. The accounts I have access to.
You haven’t handled none of that. Just leaning into the notion that I love you so much that I won’t fuck over you. ”
“So, what would’ve been better? Be insensitive and force you to sign a bunch of paperwork, while we were breaking up? Or trust that you aint shiesty, and circle back when everything done calmed down?”
“Nah. Maybe you should’ve brought your ass home, thought things through, before jumping in the next bitch’s bed.”
“But I didn’t, Paisley. Now, what?” I opened my arms.
“Come home.” Her eyes pleaded with me. “I can get past this…this thing you got with Jaylah. It’ll take some time, but I can forgive that. Now, what I can’t forgive…is you walking out of my life, Khamere.”
“Paisley—”
“I feel like this is infatuation and lust. Not love. She’s a Braxton girl, so I get it.
A lot of niggas wanna fuck. She’s a rich, pretty girl, with a nice body.
So, of course, it’s probably exciting…but when the smoke clears…
you’ll see that y’all don’t have nothing, for real.
I know that, because you’re the love of my life, Khamere, and I’m yours. ”
I wearily exhaled. “Just go, Paisley. I’ll come to the house and we can talk. Alright?”
She finally nodded. “Okay. But I need you to come to the house. Regardless of what you think, we still have a whole lot of talking to do.”
“I got you,” I promised, as she pulled the doors open, and finally stepped out of the house.