Epilogue
“This is a easy win, baby. You got this!”
I stood back watching my daddy deliver a pep talk. He was really living out a side quest as Sin J’s manager, and had arranged a fight.
Having a front row seat to all the time Sin had invested in working out and sparring, I knew that he was more than prepared for this. Then after witnessing him knock out Jules, all my brothers had a vested interest in his boxing career, and had all shown up in support.
Naturally, Trinity and Big Sincere were there, the kids…and they’d brought along Tangy and her kids. Including that hoe Yatti. I was irritated with her mere presence, but chose to push my feelings aside, and focus on the task at hand. My baby was about to have his first fight.
It was a whole gang of us standing outside of the ring to support him. Naturally, his parents, the trainer, and my daddy were standing right near him, as they offered words of encouragement.
“Yeah, son, work that nigga. BX style, baby.” Big Sincere loudly clapped.
Sin J nodded, seeming focused, before his eyes swept over the crowd. “Yo, where’s Riah?”
Everybody glanced back at me. I lifted a hand and did a tiny wave. “I’m right here.”
“Yo, y’all let my shorty through,” Sin J commanded.
“Oh, excuse me. Let me get out your way,” Jhyrah teased, as she stepped aside.
Everybody simultaneously stepped back, allowing me to saunter through the crowd, until I was standing before him.
Without hesitation, he took me into his arms, squeezing me tightly.
“Whup that nigga’s ass, baby,” I whispered in his ear.
Smiling, he nodded, before gripping my chin, and brazenly dipping his tongue into my mouth.
“Uh-uh, mama, y’all be letting Riah do the most,” Jhyrah messily blurted out. “I don’t even kiss Jeremy like that in front of y’all.”
Sincere was still swirling his tongue in my mouth, as everybody chattered around us.
“Jah, you see this?” My cousin Terio questioned.
“Raven, you need to take her down to the doctor for some birth control, ASAP,” my Auntie Raquel chimed in.
“Yesss.”
“Exactly.”
“Expeditiously.”
Different voices were co-signing my auntie’s sentiments.
“Okay, that’s enough,” my daddy eventually spoke up. “You lucky that I likes you, lil’ nigga, cause y’all are pushing it.”
Finally, we broke our kiss, and I stepped out of his embrace. “Go, baby,” I urged.
“I will. Just for you.” He winked, before turning around, and climbing into the ring.
Sin’s opponent, Steel, seemed confident as he danced in place. He was a cut, chocolate toned guy who wasn’t the most appealing facially. Just looking at him, he looked like he’d eat Sin J’s pretty ass alive.
So, when the bells dinged, my stomach twisted in knots. Steel’s shoulders were slightly hunched over, probably due to poor posture, but also sort of fit his ascetic. He just seemed dangerous as he approached Sin.
Just as expected, Steel took a swing. He missed, as Sin swiftly dodged the blow. Then, of course, he countered with his own uppercut, which landed on Steel’s chin. I watched in amazement, as his knees buckled, before his body dropped.
The crowd around me exploded with excitement, as I was locked in on Sin. Instead of focusing on the ref checking on Steel, he was keyed into me.
“I told you, Riah, baby,” he smiled, as everybody else looked on. “That was for you.”
I felt several hands grabbing my shoulders, shaking and hyping me up, while I was still locked in with him. Damn, what they were talking about. My age be damned. I was literally staring at my husband.
And nobody could tell me differently.
***
“No, we’re still at the doctor’s office, waiting on them to call us back,” Raven spoke into her cell.
Sitting right next to my mama, I rolled my eyes. Parents were so damn embarrassing. She was discussing my doctor visit like my business was just open to the world. She was just talking to Trinity, but still.
“Oh, okay,” I could hear Trinity say on the other end. “I just cleaned out the rooms Tangy and the girls were sleeping in.”
“Oh, yeah? So, their house is finally done, huh?”
“Girl, yes. It was done a few weeks ahead of schedule, and Tangy was gonna have to wait until she gets her next check to pay the closing costs, but after the other night…I went ahead and gave her the money. Told her that she just could pay me half of it back. Consider the rest a gift. Cause they’re asses had to go. ”
My mama softly giggled. “What happened? Was the kids working your nerves?”
I bit the corner of my lip, and tapped my foot on the floor, while eavesdropping.
“No. I just had to break up the second fight within the last couple of weeks. The shit was too much,” Trinity complained.
“Fighting? Tangy girls were fighting each other?” Raven nosily questioned.
“Nope. It was your damn daughter,” Trinity snitched.
“My daughter?” Raven cut her eyes at me.
“Yep. Yatti got a crush on Sin J and apparently can’t accept rejection. Then she kept talking shit, and Riah is obviously quick tempered. So, she keeps putting hands and feet on the girl.”
Raven curled her lips, while glaring at me. “Why the hell are you going around there, fighting in people’s house?”
I opened my arms. “She should’ve stayed out of his face.”
Shaking her head, my mama leaned forward, gazing at him. “You hear her? She’s talking like her behavior is acceptable.”
Sin J lifted his hands in surrender, as he sat on the opposite side of me. “Yo, she said that Yatti was violating. So, she did what she felt was necessary.”
Raven shook her head again. “Trinity, you heard Sin J defending the bullshit?”
“As always, girl. He defends her like he’s her fucking lawyer. Even when she goes to his room, and slams him into the walls.”
“Wait, what?” My mama laughed.
“Girl, I still don’t know what that was about, but she was in there whupping his ass, and his whipped ass was letting her.”
Once again, Raven shook her head. “Just doing too much—”
“Braxton,” a black nurse stepped into the lobby to call my name.
All three of us stood. I still didn’t understand why my mama felt like she had to come back, but whatever.
We allowed the nurse to guide us to a room. I was sure that the visit wouldn’t be long, because I was just there for birth control, and had already left a urine sample right after signing in.
Raven and Sin J sat back quietly, while the nurse took my vitals, before she left out, and returned within minutes.
“Hey, Ms. Braxton…unfortunately we’re not going to be able to prescribe the birth control you guys were seeking.”
Raven scooted to the edge of her seat. “And exactly why is that?”
“Well,” the nurse sighed. “According to the urinalysis…she’s pregnant.”
My heart dropped down to my stomach, as my mama gasped.
“I know you fucking lying.”