Chapter 5
“You look good, Ma.”
East sat across from his mother, studying her like a hawk.
He had been doing that since he arrived at her home an hour prior.
As instructed by Priscilla Joseph, he was there first thing in the morning.
The morning after she arrived home from her three-month stay in the hospital, where she had spent countless hours with therapists, discussing her life.
Therapists who helped regulate her mood before sending her back into the world.
Priscilla missed her family, her son Eastland and daughter Kelsey.
They were her world. She lived for them but couldn’t always control the dark places her mind would go to because of her past. A past she attempted to escape from, but found its way back in from time to time.
However, she was home and doing well. Priscilla was happy and ready to try life again.
“Thanks, baby. I missed you.” Priscilla extended her hand across the table and gripped her son’s forearm.
It happened to be the spot where her name was etched across it in thick, black letters, which ended with a butterfly.
She smiled at the thought. East loved her.
She could feel it. Priscilla physically saw it in the way he looked after her and now his sister.
Even as a child, she could see it in East. At thirteen years old, he was by her side when the doctors recommended she seek professional help.
He stood next to Priscilla like a soldier ready for war, because he was.
East would undoubtedly go to war for the people he loved, and that was his mother, and now his sister.
Back then, he had no idea what mental health was or why his mother would withdraw from him for long periods at a time.
However, he understood that she needed help, so East was with Priscilla, listening to the doctors tell her that she wasn’t okay.
The second they suggested that she check herself into a facility, East looked at his mother with soft, pleading eyes and encouraged her to do it.
East was a child with the spirit of a man who was sent to protect her.
A role that should have belonged to his father but didn’t.
East’s father lived with them but never fully accepted his role as head of the household because it was not how he envisioned his life.
The day Priscilla checked herself in was the same day he left.
That next morning, East woke up to five hundred dollars left on the kitchen table and an empty house.
He never even flinched; he just held things down for the three weeks his mother was away and had been doing so ever since.
“I missed you too, Ma. I’m glad you’re home. How you feel?”
Priscilla smiled genuinely while East’s eyes never left hers. He was waiting to see through her lie or confirm her truth. “Baby, I’m good. Stop worrying.”
Comfortable with her answer, East flashed her a smile that charmed the panties off women but warmed his mother’s heart. Same smile, but two very different reactions.
“I can’t do that. You don’t have anyone else to worry about you, so that falls on me.”
Sucking her teeth, she shook her head, the thin ponytail positioned in the back bouncing with the motion. “I have Melton.”
“Nah, he cares, but it’s not the same. Don’t compare the two.” The authority in his voice pushed the argument Priscilla was going to present back into its place. She wouldn’t challenge East when he was in a mood.
“How did my baby do? That baby done run up in here, hugged my neck, then ran right to her room to play with toys like she didn’t even miss me.”
East smirked at the fact that his mother was pouting.
“She missed you, trust me. You being home and her falling right back into her normal routine is a clear sign. It’s like you never left. If she was stuck up under you, it would be a different story. Let her do her thing”
“Mmhmm.” She shook her head but smiled at his answer.
“But, Ma…”
“No, I’m fine. Don’t baby me, East. When I’m not, I’ll let you know. I’m home, so my baby is gonna be home with me. Besides, I know you’re ready to have your life back.”
He read right into the look she gave and smiled again. “I had my life when she was there. I don’t know what you think I be doing. I handle my business and take my ass home. That’s it.”
“Now you know I know better. How many times have I caught those little fast tail girls naked up in your room? So many, I can’t even remember their names or faces.”
East chuckled and raked his hand over his curly hair. “You can’t remember their names because I never told you. I wasn’t with them like that, so I can barely remember their names.”
“Oh, I know why you were with them.” Priscilla glared at her son. “You didn’t have a revolving door while my baby was there?”
This time, East released a full-blown laugh.
“Ma, hell no. I don’t have a revolving door, and if I did, I damn sure wouldn’t allow it while Kelsey was with me. She’s not about to grow up thinking that’s okay.”
This time, Priscilla was the one smiling.
The thought struck a nerve with her son, and she was amused.
He had handled other men’s daughters that way but wasn’t going to stand by and allow another man’s son to handle his sister that way.
It was a double standard, but Priscilla knew there was no argument to be had.
“How long are you staying? I think I want to cook something.”
East’s stomach growled at the thought. His mother could shut a kitchen completely down with her skills, but he had to get to the shop. With him filling in last week and cutting, he had dropped the ball on paperwork. It had to be handled today.
“I’m heading out now. I’ma be there until late tonight because I’m a little behind on things and we have a card game after the shop closes.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll put a plate up for—”
“Why you sorry, Ma? Me being behind is not about you.”
“You had Kelsey and I just assumed…” She offered him a soft smile that had his chest tight.
East would work a million hours straight to make her life easier and never once complain.
“Nah, it’s not about that. I had a barber out and filled in for him.
That’s all.” He stood and made his way over to Priscilla.
Kissing her cheek, he leaned into a hug by dropping his strong arm around her shoulders.
Priscilla pressed her face against the side of his and remained in the moment until she pulled away.
Connections were hard for his mother. Knowing why sent fire through his veins, but he made peace with it.
“I love you, beautiful. I’ll check on you later. Kiss Kels for me.”
“You’re not gonna tell her bye?”
“Nah, she’s playing. I’m not trying to get stuck getting cheated at Goldfish.”
East didn’t want to risk Kelsey wanting to leave with him. She loved both her mother and brother, but over the past three months, she had gotten comfortable in his home and in his space. His mother couldn’t take that blow, so he elected to ease out unnoticed.
“Okay, baby. I’ll see you soon.”
With a nod, East left the kitchen and traveled through his mother’s home.
The one his father purchased years ago but East ended up paying for years later.
It was nice, but small, holding memories that he wasn’t sure why his mother wanted to keep.
East could afford to move her into something three times as big, but Priscilla refused.
It fit her and she was too old to move. East left it alone.
She was happy, which was all that mattered to him.
If and when that changed, he would do whatever necessary to make sure she was happy again.
“Things feel off, Ny. Like, really off.”
Joi was still going through Reg’s story, looking for anything that didn’t seem right.
It had been a few days since the night at Presidential, and in her opinion, the days after, he was trying too hard.
The next morning, he showed up at her lash and brow loft with breakfast. That same night, he took her to dinner and stayed at her apartment.
They sexed until early morning, and the two slept cuddled up until she had to be up the next morning to open her shop.
By midday, he had showed up with lunch, and that night, he begged her to stay at his apartment with him, promising to get up early to make sure she made it across town to her shop.
What should have been viewed as normal behavior of a caring boyfriend, Joi viewed as suspect behavior of a boyfriend with a guilty conscience.
“Off, how?”
“Just off. He’s up my ass too much lately. It’s like he’s making up for something I don’t know he did.”
“He’s cheating, Joi. Trust what you feel.”
“Dudes really ain’t shit. I’m too old for this and he damn sure is too old for this. I’m breaking up with him. I can do bad all by myself.”
“True, but it doesn’t change the fact that some people will never be shit.
I made peace with that a long time ago. Right now, I’m just focused on my career, my son, and occasionally getting a side of dick here and there that’s worth the effort.
Anything else is not getting any play from me.
I also don’t believe you’re going to break up with him.
I think you should, but I don’t think you will.
” Nyelle peered at her girl, wishing she would move on.
She deserved better, but she knew Joi was sticking with Reg because, like most women, something was better than nothing.