Chapter 17
For the past few days, the baby or babies I was carrying had been treating me right. The list of things I could eat was slowly expanding, and the nausea had subsided for the most part.
Kilo still doted on me, sent me lunch every day, checked on me constantly, and tried to live in my skin when we weren’t at work.
I loved all the attention he showered me with, but ever since he’d received the phone call from his brother while we were at dinner, I could tell something heavy had been on his mind.
It was Friday, and Kilo had insisted on driving me to work because he’d planned a date night that would begin immediately following. Although he spent most nights with me, he always went home to get dressed. While waiting for him, I called my mother.
“Hey, Sweet Pea,” she said when she answered.
“Hey, Ma. What are you up to?”
“Thinking about what to make for Sunday dinner. I’m glad you called. Do you have a taste for anything now that your stomach has settled?”
“Can we do a taco bar? I know it’s not the usual Sunday dinner, but I have a taste for tacos.”
“Sunday dinner is what we make it, Sweet Pea. A taco bar sounds fun. Make sure you let Kilo know he’s expected to be here, and I haven’t seen Skye in a month of Sundays, so tell her the same.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Now that we got that out of the way, how are things? We only talked here and there lately, and you haven’t been over as much.”
“I know, Ma, and I’m sorry. Skye said the same thing, but Kilo has been taking up all my free time.”
“That’s good, right. I mean, you are carrying the man’s child, so you should enjoy spending time with him.”
“I love it here, Ma. Kilo is so . . . I don’t know. He has this tough guy exterior, but he says and does the sweetest things.”
“Aww, that’s wonderful. I’ve only seen you together once, but I could tell he was into you.”
“Honestly, at first, he was a lot more into me than I was him.”
“No, he wasn’t. You, my dear, were in denial and afraid to let your guard down.”
“How do you know me so well?”
“I gave birth to you, so there’s nothing I don’t know about my baby girl.”
“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve decided to let my guard down and lean into this.”
“My instincts tell me he’s one of the good ones, and you deciding to let your guard down is a telltale sign. I didn’t have the same feeling when I met Daniel, or any other man you had short-lived relationships with.”
“Ma, you make it sound like I’ve been around the block.”
“You’re an adult, so who cares how many times you’ve circled the block, but you’ve introduced us to a few men over the years. They weren’t horrible humans, but they weren’t for you, so I was glad those relationships didn’t work.”
“Dang! You were over there praying for my downfall.”
“No, Sweet Pea. I was praying for your discernment. Kilo is different from every one of those men, and I can tell by the tone of your voice when you talk about him, that you’ve fallen for him.”
I sighed because she was right. I fell more and more, with each passing day, with every moment we spent together, and every conversation we had.
“You might be right, Ma.”
“I am. I’ll talk to you later. I need to get to the grocery store before it gets crowded. I love you.”
“I love you too, Ma.”
Kilo’s timing was perfect because he rang my doorbell just as the call with my mother ended. I grabbed my work bag and purse to head out.
“I’m sorry I took longer than expected. I got caught up in a conversation with my pops, and the time got away from me,” he explained as I stepped out and locked the door.
“It’s fine. I was actually talking to my mother about Sunday dinner. She told me to tell you she expects to see you there.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, but do you think y’all can make room for my parents and brother? My parents had to move their trip up because my father was asked to speak at an event the league is having later this month.”
“The more the merrier. I guarantee you my parents won’t mind, but I’ll let them know.”
He helped me into his car, and once he was behind the wheel, I began grilling him about the plans he’d made for tonight.
“That’s none of your business right now, baby.”
I smacked my lips. “You don’t know this about me, but I’m a Taurus, and I’m not a big fan of surprises.”
“A Taurus? I guess that means I missed your birthday.”
“You did. It’s May third. When is yours?”
“March fifth.”
“A Pisces? I feel like birthdays are something we should already know about each other, but I guess this is something else to add to our ass backwardness.”
We laughed because that list got longer by the day. Each of us had poked fun at how quickly our relationship had progressed at least a handful of times.
“We might be doing shit wrong in society’s eyes, but everything about this feels right,” he said, glancing over at me for a moment before focusing on the road again.
We were already holding hands, and he lifted mine to his mouth and left a soft kiss on the back of it.
“It feels amazing, but back to our plans for the night. Where did you say we were going?”
“You’re mighty persistent, but I’m not telling you shit.”
“Fine. I guess I’ll stress myself out all day, racking my brain trying to figure it out.”
“Good luck.”
I rolled my eyes as he parked the car, got out, and came to the passenger side. He helped me get out, and we held hands as we approached the building. When we arrived at my office, we exchanged a long kiss before he wished me a good day and left.
A few minutes later, I was seated behind my desk, preparing to start my day. I’d placed my bag with my laptop inside on the floor next to my desk. I bent over to retrieve my laptop, and when I sat up again, my heart almost jumped out of my chest.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked angrily.
“Are you with him to taunt me?” Ambrose asked.
“Excuse me. Do I know you?”
“Cut the shit, Nyomi. You know who the fuck I am.”
“Nah, nigga, I don’t. Get the fuck out of my office before I call security.”
“Oh, I see. You finally found a daddy for that bastard you birthed and lucked up finding one with a little money. No, wait. That’s not it. You’re fucking him to make sure that talentless lil nigga has a spot on the team.”
“These accusations are insane, especially coming from a nigga I’ve only met once.”
He charged toward my desk, swiped his arm across the top, knocking almost everything to the floor. He looked at me as if I were next, and I grabbed the first thing I saw, which was a letter opener, before moving behind my chair. He charged toward me and shouted, “Bitch! I will end your ass!”
“Nigga, have you lost your mind?”
It was Kilo’s voice, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Ambrose turned around, undoubtedly surprised, and Kilo immediately punched him in the face. Ambrose stumbled, but didn’t fall, and a fight ensued.
I knew not to try to stop them, and since Kilo was giving Ambrose the ass beating he deserved, I waited a few minutes before I called security. By the time security arrived, Ambrose had lost what little fight he had.
“Get this nigga out of my sight!” Kilo spat.
“Do you want me to call the police, sir?” one of the security officers asked.
Kilo looked at me, and I nodded. While the security officers did their jobs, Kilo came to me, took the letter opener from my hand, and moved the chair to the side.
“Are you okay?” he asked, pulling me into his arms.
“I’m fine. He didn’t touch me.”
He stepped back, moved his hand to my waist, and looked into my eyes.
“How long was he here? What did he say?”
“A few minutes after I arrived, I looked up, and he was there. He accused me of being with you to taunt him or to get Nyeem on the team.”
“And the nigga threatened you. I hate this happened, but he just gave us a reason to end his contract.”
“Good. I hope he takes his ass back to wherever he came from and never comes back to Black Elm. What are you doing back here?”
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out my phone.
“You left this in the car, and I’m glad you did.”
Ambrose was arrested, but his bail was posted shortly after. He was immediately let go from all coaching duties and prohibited from coming back to campus after he’d cleaned out his office.
I wanted to put the situation behind me and forget he existed, but I refused to let him off that easily.
He’d probably only get fined, but the public humiliation he’d receive would be worth my trouble.
There had already been some rumblings about it on social media, but nothing from the bigger sports bloggers.
It was Sunday, and Nyeem and I were getting ready to head to my parents’ house for dinner. Kilo’s parents had arrived this morning, and he and his brother picked them up at the airport and took them to breakfast. They would be meeting us at my parents’ house for dinner.
“You ready, Ma?” Nyeem asked when he entered my bedroom and found me sitting on the bench in front of my bed.
“Yeah.”
“You okay? The baby got you feeling sick?”
“No. I’ve been feeling pretty good this week. Thank you for being concerned, Son.”
“You know you’re my heart, Ma. That don’t change just because you got a man.”
He teased me often about having a man, but he liked Kilo and supported our relationship.
“It’ll change when you find a woman worthy enough to be your wife, as it should.”
“I’ll just have to make room because you’ll always have my heart. Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
“Why do you think Ambrose hates us?”
“You think he hates us?”
“You don’t?”
“He has no reason to hate us because we’ve done nothing but live our lives.
I think he hates himself for missing out on what could’ve been his greatest blessing.
I think he hates that I didn’t fall apart when he chose not to be in either of our lives.
I think he hates that you became who you are despite his decision. I don’t think he hates us, though.”
“I guess that makes sense because he doesn’t know us to hate us.”
“Exactly. Enough about that deadbeat. Let’s go.”