Chapter 11 Never Too Much #2
“I’mma sip Moscato, and you gon’ lose them pants, then I’ma throw this money while you…” Crew rapped.
“Do it with no hands!” Lou and Maisie popped and locked all over the place to their own beat.
“Y’all are crazy! That was one time! And I was fifteen years old!” Giselle giggled and buried her head in Crew’s chest while they teased her.
“And drunk as hell!” Maisie fell over laughing.
“Wait, what I miss?” Viggo asked.
“Nothing. Just Giselle in rare form! One of our best summers, too, I might add!” Maisie voiced.
“Girl, we wore that damn song out after that night!” Giselle recalled.
“And did! ’Til this day, when that shit comes on, Crew already know what it is.” Maisie stuck her tongue out, threw her leg up, and twerked in a circle.
Crew reached out and slapped her on her ass, and she pouted her lips at him sexily in return.
“Well, shit, let’s do this!” Viggo lowered Pierre to the ground. “I got a few corners to cut, but I’m down to link up.”
“I’m sure Petal can watch Pierre,” Henna chimed in, facing Prischa.
“Yeah,” she agreed with a nod. “Why don’t you take him to the car? I need to talk to Heavy.”
“Okay. Come on, Lil’ P.” Henna held her hand out and pulled him along with Viggo not far behind them.
“We heading out, too. I got some shit I need to take care of. We’ll see y’all at the club, though.” Crew dapped up Heavy, and Lou, Gem, and Solo tagged along behind him and Maisie.
“G, we’ll be at the house around seven-thirty!” Lou told her with a wave.
“Can I talk to you?” Prischa stood, cut her eyes at Giselle, then focused them on Heavy.
“I’ll get the kids to the car.” Giselle cleared her throat.
Heavy handed her the reins to the stroller, and she pushed the twins toward the exit.
“So, you just going to ignore me all day?”
“Pri, it ain’t even like that. This was a group thing, the kids was here. I ain’t trying to start no shit.”
“Do you know how it makes me feel to see you with her, Heavy? Walking around like this little family and shit is sweet. How can you even forgive her for what she did?”
“What am I supposed to do? Go to war with her and cause problems for my kids?”
“It’s more than that, and you know it. So, is it just fuck everything we were trying to do together?”
“Look, Pri, we tried, right? Shit was good, but I don’t think it’s working.”
“It was working before she came back,” she rebutted.
“Was it? That night at the hospital, you had valid fears, and I listened to them. You switched up when you knew Giselle was here.” He aimed a finger at her.
“So, now what? You just gon’ be with her? Become this little happy family with her, but you couldn’t do that with me?” Prischa accused.
“I don’t know.” Heavy swiped his beard in frustration. “What I do know is I’m showing up for my kids first. They deserve that, and that’s who I’m most concerned about.”
“What about Pierre?” she whimpered.
“What about him? That’s still my godson, and I’ll still be there for him if you allow it.”
“So, we’re reduced to an obligation for you?” she surmised with a nod.
“Don’t do that. You know I love him, and I’ll do anything for him or you. That hasn’t changed.”
“It has, and you either can’t or don’t want to see it, Heavy! It’s either them or it’s us! You can’t have both,” Prischa presented.
“Then, I choose them. My kids. I’ve already missed time with them, and I’m not about to let you or anybody else make me miss more.”
“Fine. I guess it is what it is then.”
Hurt flickered behind her stare, and her jaw tightened. For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke, and crickets fill the space between them. Finally, she shook her head, eyes still glistening with tears.
“Don’t come to me when she burns you… again.” She turned and stomped off.
All Heavy could do was stare after her. The last person on earth he wanted to hurt was Prischa, but he knew he was doing what was best. Although they got together and tried to make it work, there was always a disconnect.
Now he had something far more significant to focus on.
He’d never discount Pierre, and he hoped Prischa would eventually come around.
“Well, it looks like they enjoyed themselves.” Remi cackled, holding the screen open to Giselle’s home as she and Heavy started up the steps, each carrying a sleeping twin.
All she smelled was good food and laundry softener as they stepped inside.
New curtains hung from the windows, and a new area rug to match.
Remi had moved some things around and bought new throw pillows for the couch.
Giselle took it all in. She was the designer, and these were all things she’d added to her cart.
“Give him here. I’ll put them in their beds,” Heavy urged, reaching for Heir in her arms.
She caught her breath and watched him move down the hall with each twin against his chest.
“How did you know I wanted these things?”
“I was on your laptop, about to order some stuff, and saw your wish list, so I clicked on it. It ain’t everything, but it’s what I thought might make this place a little cozier.
How did things go today?” Remi strolled to the kitchen, and Giselle removed her jacket and tossed it on a bench in the hall.
“It was cool. The kids had a ball.”
“And the twins?” Remi chuckled. “Because the kids are Crew, Maisie, and Lou.”
“We decided to link at the club tonight. Do you mind keeping them later?”
“Oh, not at all. They can help me in this kitchen, so we can bake some things for church tomorrow.” Remi went to the stove and pulled the oven open.
“I baked chicken, and we got some cheesy au gratin potatoes, with some green beans, and honey cornbread. I need to run by the house and grab the stuff I need for the cookies and cupcakes, but I’ll be back before you leave. ”
“I really don’t know how to thank you for everything.” Giselle leaned against the counter.
She noticed that her plates, cups, and bowls had been moved on the open shelves, and her appliances on the counter had been rearranged. She didn’t even mind because the system seemed to make some kind of sense.
“I see those kids have changed you,” Remi acknowledged.
“Made you a little less defensive, more vulnerable. You know that’s okay, right?
You don’t have to be hard, carrying the weight of the world all the time.
We’re your family. We’re supposed to be there for each other, through the good and the bad. ”
“There were a lot of times I wanted to call you when I was pregnant. So many.” Giselle’s eyes fell on the ceiling. “I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t want to give you one more reason to be disappointed in me.”
“I love you, Giselle Knox. Nothing could ever change that.” Remi grabbed her face and kissed her cheek before bringing her in for a warm hug.
Giselle held on a little tighter, savoring it before they pulled apart.
“I think I’m gonna have something to eat and try to take a nap. The club scene hasn’t seen me in quite some time.”
“I’ll call you when I’m on the way.” Remi went to the table to grab her jacket and purse off the back of the chair at the kitchen table.
Giselle made herself a plate and wandered into the living room to eat on the couch. She kicked off her shoes and dropped into the cushions. The chicken was so tender it practically melted in her mouth.
“Those two are going to be out for a minute.” Heavy appeared in the doorway.
“I hope so. I don’t need the third degree from Heir when I get dressed tonight. He swears he somebody’s daddy.” She scooped some mac and cheese into her mouth. “You coming out?”
“I’m thinking about it. Got some shit I been putting off that I need to handle.” He joined her on the couch, and Giselle set her plate on the table half eaten.
“It’s not any of my business whatever is going on with you and Prischa.”
“Ain’t nothing going on,” Heavy replied, leaning back into the couch and draping an arm across the back.
“We tried to make it work, and it didn’t.
The thing with Pri is complicated. Pierre’s pops used to be my right hand when I was in the streets.
I got out to help take over the family business, but he only got deeper in the shit.
I warned him time and again to be careful, but he didn’t listen.
He liked to flex and be the center of attention.
Pri loved him to death, though, and when he died, she kind of clung to me. ”
“Naturally,” Giselle muttered, pulling her legs under her on the couch and facing him.
“Being with her always feels like a betrayal to him. When it happened the first time, I nipped that shit in the bud, but I couldn’t not be there for her and Lil P.”
“What changed?” Giselle wondered, watching his attention swing toward her.
His eyes pierced her, drinking in every feature of her face.
“If I can ask.”
“I don’t know. Let Petal tell it, I was lonely and looking for something.” His gaze shifted ahead. “I got love for Pri, but not the way she deserves, and not how she feels about me,” he confessed.
“I know that feeling.” Giselle also looked away and thought about Alonzo.
Although they got married, she was never happy or herself with him. He set certain guidelines, and she went with it. She was the good little stay at home wife, raising their children and flourishing her business.
“I could never cut Prischa or Pierre out of my life. She’s rightfully upset about it, but right now, between business and those two back there.” He pointed to the back of the house, “my priorities have shifted.”
“Yeah, kids do that,” Giselle whispered, suddenly growing sad as her eyes fell on something she just noticed.
On the table were a bunch of new framed photos, courtesy of Remi, no doubt. One caught her eye in the center. It was a throwback of her parents back in the day. Picking it up, she studied it, and tears pricked her eyes unexpectedly.
“Sometimes I wonder if they sent them to me because those two damn sure saved me.”