14. Lennox
Lennox
Reiana stared at me like she couldn’t decide whether to slam the door in my face or hit me in it. I expected the attitude after the way our conversation ended earlier, but I wasn’t leaving without getting a clear understanding of why she would think that I wouldn’t have cared about my son.
“The fuck are you doing at my house?” she demanded. “I told you to stay the fuck away from me and my son.”
“I heard what you said,” I replied as I kept my voice low since I didn’t know where Rhyse was. “But you dropped some shit on me and drove off before I could understand any of it. I’m not here to argue with you, Ree. I just need some answers,” I damn near pleaded.
“You need some answers?” She scoffed. “Look, my son is upstairs, so you got a few minutes, and then I want you gone.” She warned as she stepped back enough to let me inside.
“That’s all I need,” I told her as I walked in and waited for her to close the door. I followed her into the living room, but she stayed standing instead of getting comfortable.
“You wanted to talk… so talk,” she snapped as she folded her arms across her chest.
“I want to know exactly what happened,” I replied as I stayed where I was. “Earlier you said you texted me and told me you were pregnant. I’m telling you I never got that message, so tell me what happened after you sent it.”
Her face immediately changed. She looked away from me for a second before turning back with eight years of anger housed with her pretty brown eyes.
“I sent the text because regardless of how you ended things with me, I felt like you deserved to know,” she explained.
“I told you I was pregnant, and I told you the baby was yours. I wasn’t asking you to take me back or begging you for shit.
I was just letting you know because that was your child too. ”
“And I’m telling you, Ree… I never saw that shit,” I repeated as I shook my head. “What happened after you sent it?”
“You responded,” Reiana snapped as her voice rose before she caught herself and glanced toward the stairs.
When she looked back at me, she lowered it again.
“You told me, ‘Fuck you and that baby.’ That’s what happened, Lennox.
So imagine how stupid I felt for thinking the man I loved would at least give a damn about his own child.
” I saw the pain in her eyes, and that fucked me up more than not being here for them.
I heard what she said, but I would never say no fuck shit like that. I could’ve been pissed at Reiana… done with our relationship, or never wanted to see her again, and I still wouldn’t have said some shit like that about my own child.
“I never sent no shit like that. Does that even sound like some shit I would say?” I frowned. “I know you’on believe shit I’m saying right now, but I would never say fuck my child. I damn sure wouldn’t have said it to you.”
“So now somebody magically got your phone and decided to answer me for you?” She laughed sarcastically. “Lennox please go to the nearest part of hell and take that bullshit ass excuse with you,” she spat.
“I’on know what happened yet,” I replied as I ran a hand over my face. “But I know what I didn’t do, and I didn’t send that fucking message.”
“Well, it came from your number,” she shot back as she pointed toward me. “The same number I had been texting and calling the whole time we were together. Nobody had to guess where the message came from.”
I didn’t answer immediately because my mind went back further than the text.
Back before Reiana left. Back to the shit that had me looking at her differently in the first place.
Kree had been the one who told me Reiana was fucking around.
She said the nigga Reiana kept claiming she was studying with from one of her classes was more than that.
At the time, I believed her because she was Reiana’s friend.
I didn’t have a reason to think she would lie to me about some shit like that, especially when she acted like she was only telling me because she felt like I deserved to know.
Now I was sitting in Reiana’s house putting the pieces together and they all pointed back to the one person who would’ve had a motive to keep Reiana away from me.
“Kree,” I said as I looked at her.
“What about Kree?” She questioned with a frown.
“She’s the reason I thought you were cheating on me,” I admitted as I kept my eyes on her. “She told me that nigga from your class you kept saying you were studying with was more than somebody you were doing schoolwork with.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Reiana asked.
“Yeah,” I replied. “She told me y’all had something going on behind my back.”
“And you believed her?” Reiana snapped as she stepped closer. “You believed Kree over me without even asking me if the shit was true?”
“I was already seeing shit that looked off to me,” I explained as irritation crept into my voice. “You were spending more time with the nigga, telling me y’all were studying, and then Kree came to me saying it was more than that. She was your friend, Ree. Why the fuck would I think she was lying?”
“Because I was your woman!” Reiana shot back before lowering her voice. “You should’ve asked me. Instead, you let that bitch put something in your head and broke up with me over a lie.”
“I didn’t know it was a lie,” I countered as I watched her. “From where I was standing, your own friend was confirming the shit I already thought I was seeing.”
“That bitch was playing both sides.” She shook her head. “She knew exactly who that man was because I talked to her about school all the fucking time. She knew I was studying with him, and she knew there was nothing going on between us.”
I had spent years believing Reiana cheated on me and chose somebody else, while she had apparently spent those same years believing I knew she was pregnant and rejected her.
“And after you left, eventually, me and Kree started fucking around,” I admitted as I kept my eyes on hers. “It wasn’t right after you left, but it happened.”
“Oh, that bitch was slick. She lied and told you I was cheating… helped break us up, then ended up being the pussy you fell into. And your dumb ass never once thought that shit was convenient?” She laughed, but we both knew wasn’t shit funny.
“Not back then,” I admitted as my jaw tightened. “I thought you cheated on me. As far as I knew, whatever we had was already done.”
“Because Kree told you it was,” Reiana shot back as she pointed toward me. “That bitch knew exactly what she was doing. She wanted you and played me to get you.”
“I’m starting to see that,” I replied as I rubbed the back of my neck. “But don’t act like I knew she was setting shit up. The fuck was I supposed to think, Ree?”
“You were supposed to ask me!” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “That bitch fed you some bullshit about me cheating, you never came to me and asked me shit, then she slid right into the opening she created.”
I couldn’t even argue with that part because looking back now, that was exactly how the shit happened.
“So what happened with y’all after that? You fucked around for a while and then what?” She asked.
“We had a daughter,” I told her as I watched her face. “Her name is Lennyn and she’s five.”
“You have a daughter with Kree?” She asked I heard the crack in her voice.
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Lenny wasn’t planned, but she’s my baby. Me and Kree never been together in a real relationship, though.”
Reiana laughed again, but there wasn’t shit funny about it.
“So this bitch lied and told you I was cheating, got you to leave me, ended up fucking you, then had your baby while I was over here raising the son you swear you never knew existed. Excuse me if I’m not overjoyed right now,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m know this shit is fucked up and I’ll take that. It’s been eight years and I feel fucked up knowing I had a son that needed me,” I replied sincerely.
“You should feel fucked up,” Reiana countered with her voice laced with pure venom. “Kree didn’t just play me… she played your ass dumb ass too. You deserved to feel every bit of fucked up right now. Maybe you’d get a glimpse of what I felt over the years.”
Before either one of us could say anything else, footsteps sounded upstairs. Reiana looked toward the staircase just as Rhyse came down in a T-shirt and basketball shorts, and a face mirroring mine.
“Mama… the food done yet?” he asked as he reached the bottom step, but his attention shifted away from her before she could answer. His eyes landed on me, and he stopped where he was, staring like he was trying to figure out who the fuck I was.
I didn’t say anything as I looked back at him. Seeing him up close was different from watching him through a camera lens or studying pictures on a laptop. There wasn’t any question in my mind anymore because the resemblance was too fucking strong to ignore.
Rhyse looked me over for another few seconds before turning his head toward Reiana. “Ma, who is this nigga?” he asked, trying to put some bass in his voice.
I couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped through my lips because he was definitely my son talking like that.
Reiana’s head snapped toward him immediately.
“Boosie, what did I tell you about your mouth,” she warned as she pointed toward the stairs.
“And take your little ass back upstairs until I call for you.”
“But Ma… ” he started as he looked between us.
“I said upstairs, Boosie… now,” Reiana repeated as she gave him a look that ended whatever argument he thought he was about to have. “I’ll answer whatever questions you have later. Right now, do what I told you to do.”
He looked at her for a second before turning his attention back to me. He gave me one more look, then turned and headed upstairs without another word.
I waited until he disappeared before chuckling again and shaking my head. “I see he has a fly ass mouth on him.”
“Unfortunately, he acts like you more than I like to admit,” she countered.
“You call him Boosie,” I said as I glanced toward the stairs.
“Yeah,” Reiana answered as her expression softened some.
“Because of the rapper?” I asked even though I already had a feeling that was exactly where it came from.
“That was our favorite rapper,” she said lowly. “Now it’s his. He knows damn near every clean version I’ll let him listen to,” she simpered.
I glanced toward the stairs before turning my attention back to her.
There were still a hundred things we needed to talk about, and the Kree shit did only added more to it, but I wasn’t trying to force everything into one night.
I had some shit of my own I needed to figure out before I came back asking more questions.
“I’m not trying to come in here and turn his life upside down,” I told her as I kept my voice low.
“But I need you to understand where I’m at with this.
That’s my son, Ree. I missed almost eight years because I didn’t know he existed, and now that I do, I’m not walking away from him.
” Reiana watched me without saying anything, so I continued before she had a chance to assume I meant I was about to start making demands.
“I’m not saying I’m showing up tomorrow telling him I’m his daddy before we figure out how to handle this shit.
You raised him, and it looks like you did a damn good job.
You know him better than anybody, so I’m not about to disrespect that.
But I want to know my son, and I want him to know me. ”
Her eyes stayed on mine for a few seconds before she finally nodded. “This isn’t something you get to rush, Lennox. Boosie has questions about everything, and once we tell him, he’s going to have a million more. I need to know what I’m telling my child before I bring him into any of this mess.”
“I agree,” I replied. “That’s why I’m going to find out what happened eight years ago. I need answers just like you do. But while I’m figuring that shit out, I’m staying in Arbor Point.”
“For how long?” Reina frowned.
“As long as I need to,” I answered as I kept my eyes on her. “I got business here anyway, but finding out I got a son changes shit, so I’ll be here until I figure it out,” I responded.
She didn’t argue with me, but I could tell she was still trying to process everything. Less than a day ago, I was a memory and what she thought was a deadbeat ass nigga to me standing in her living room telling her the complete opposite.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I told her as I stepped closer. “Not to argue. We can figure out what happens next and how we’re going to handle things with him.”
“Fine… but don’t just keep popping up at my house, Lennox,” she asserted.
“I hear you,” I replied as I moved toward the door with her following behind me.
When we reached it, she opened the door and stepped aside.
I should’ve walked straight out, but I stopped in front of her instead.
For the first time since I found her again, neither one of us was arguing, and looking at her that close brought back more shit than I wanted to deal with right then.
I leaned down and pressed a kiss against her forehead before she could move away.
Reiana stiffened immediately, and when I pulled back, the look she gave me told me I probably should’ve kept that shit to myself.
“Lennox,” she started as she frowned at me, but I was already on my way out.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, Ree,” I repeated as I looked at her one last time.
I came here with one job to do. Pierce was supposed to be another name, another contract, and another nigga that somebody paid me to erase.
I never gave a fuck about his relationship with Reiana because until a few days ago, I didn’t even know she was the woman he was dealing with.
Now everything was different. That nigga had been around my son.
He had spent the last two years occupying space in a family I should’ve known existed.
I didn’t know how much of Pierce’s bullshit had reached Reiana, but I knew enough about Pierce to know he had no business anywhere near either one of them.
Cyrus might’ve hired me to kill Dorian Pierce, but this shit wasn’t just business anymore. I had a son upstairs in that house while Reiana was in the middle of some shit she didn’t even know existed, and Pierce was connected to all of it.
That’s when this shit just got personal.