Chapter 5 #2
“Bitch! First of all, I can’t believe Brianna Bronx Kincade said she loves Brooklyn.
” PJ beamed. “I’m here for that, for real, boo.
Just know that you are exactly where you are supposed to be.
Shit happens for a reason. Now we don’t know what Teddy’s cracked-out reason was, but we are dealing with this shit one day at a time.
All of us were affected by him in some kind of way.
I know what Brooklyn said, hurt, but I promise you he’s over there fighting the air right now because he wishes he could take those words back.
Even if he meant what he said, he could have worded that shit better and not made this about you.
You don’t have control over Teddy, and Brooklyn knows that.
He’s just overly emotional because he knows that bullet was meant for him and my dumb-ass man wanted to be Captain Smith Save-A-Nigga and got hit. ”
“You are stupid for that.” I chuckled and finished wiping the dried-up tears off my face. “I just want us to be back to us. Even after this shit is over, how do you come back from saying something hurtful like that?”
“That’s just something you guys have to get over together. If you truly want it to work, then you’ll hear him out and those meaningless words won’t hurt anymore.
“Bri-Bri, your phone is ringing.”
Tossing my tissue in the trash, I went back into the bedroom where we were making the vision boards. “Who is it, Mimi?”
“I don’t know, boo. No name popped up, just the number. They hung up and now calling back.” She passed me the phone when it started flashing again.
“Hello?”
“Hey, my daughter-in-law.”
When I recognized the little voice on the other end, I smiled. I was far from her daughter-in-law but that was cute.
“Hey, Mrs. Smith, is everything ok?”
“No, Baby, have you seen Brooklyn?” The panic in her voice had me on edge.
“Not since yesterday, Mrs. Smith.”
“That’s just it, I’ve been calling him since yesterday but he hasn’t answered or called back yet. That’s not like Brooklyn to just not call back if he sees that I’ve been blowing him up. Something is wrong with my baby, I just know it is.” Her sniffling on the other end broke my heart.
“Have you called Zoo and Sin? Maybe they know where he is. They all left my house together.”
“Lord, where is my baby?” My heart sank into my stomach once those words left her lips. Just to think the last conversation we had was an argument and I stuck my middle finger up at him.
“Is there anything I can do? Go to the police, or something?”
“Oh no, no, no police! The Smith men are the police, Baby. We handle everything in-house but I don’t want them knowing that he’s going through something and now he’s missing. You know men are never allowed to be weak so I just want to find him now.”
“So, what can I do?” I asked again.
“Can you please come over here and help me go find my baby? Please, Bri.” The tremble in her voice kept me from saying, Girl fuck, Brooklyn. ‘Cause he talked shit about me real bad.
“Yes ma’am. I’ll be right over.”
“Ok good, stop at the sto’ and bring yo’ mama-in-law a Pepsi,” she requested before hanging up.
My face scrunched up when her once trembling voice had cleared.
“Everything ok?” Mimi questioned while stuffing some chips in her mouth.
“Something with Brooklyn but I think she really just played me to bring her something to drink over there. One minute she was crying and when I said I was on the way, those tears dried up and she was requesting something to drink.”
“Just go see. It could be both. Something with Brooklyn and she’s thirsty. Text me and let me know what’s going on. I’m about to put PJ out so I can take me a nap.”
Grabbing my things, I hugged both of them then left out the house. I wasn’t sure what was going on but I hoped everything was good.
It didn’t take long before I was pulling up and parking in front of their home. Taking a deep breath, I exhaled then got out. I knocked a few times before I was greeted and hugged by Brooklyn’s little sister, Austyn.
“Hey, Bri.”
“Hey, boo.” I stepped inside and became even more confused. She didn’t look worried and neither did Jersey, who was in the living room with some other girls doing TikTok dances. “Which room is your mom in?”
“She’s upstairs. First door on the right. You may want to grab her a cup of ice for that Pepsi or she gone send you back down the stairs for a cup.” Nodding, I fixed her a cup of ice then headed up the stairs.
“Come in, Sweet Pea.” Pushing the door opened, she was tucked tightly under her covers with some Popeyes beside her on the table. That’s probably why she asked for a pop because I know she damn near took herself out with that dry-ass biscuit.
“You ready to go find Brooklyn, Mrs. Smith?” I walked all the way in and put her drink and ice down beside her.
“No, Baby, I think I know where he is. Sit right here so we can talk.” Oh shit. She pat the little piece of her bed that was clear right beside her. “How’s everything going with you and Brooklyn?”
“I don’t know right now, but Mrs. Smith, you said you needed help finding him and seemed distraught but now you seem ok. What’s going on?”
“Baby, I just want to know how things are with you and my baby. I also said I think I know where he is, so since I’m calm now, I can talk about you two.”
“There’s nothing much to say, really. Brooklyn made things clear a few days ago.
I’ve been through a lot already, and I just don’t want to go through the same cycle of feeling like I'm the reason things went left when they were going so right. I like Brooklyn a lot. Let me correct that, I love Brooklyn. Probably too much, Mrs. Smith, but for him to blame me for all of this stuff is crazy. When he knows that’s far from the truth.
If he’s hurt because his cousin got shot instead him, then I get that but this misplaced aggression isn’t working for me. ”
“I’m going to let him do what’s best for him. I’ll step back and let someone else deal with that before I allow him to hurt my feelings like that again. He never said I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, or nothing Mrs. Smith. He just let me go. Didn’t put up a fight then, so I'm over it now.”
“No, you aren’t, Baby. If you were you wouldn’t have come when I said I couldn't find him. You would have wished his ass well and went on ‘bout yo’ business. You can love someone from a distance so something still has you here and holding on. The fact that you came to help me find him shows that you still care about my baby. He still cares about you, too, and knows that he made a mistake. A mistake that if you leave him for good, he will spend forever trying to get you back and not trying to forget you. I haven’t seen my son this happy prior to you and now, I haven’t seen him this sad in a long time.
When he talked to me this morning to confirm the plan I had to get you here, I could hear it in his voice how nervous he was. ”
My head dipped to the side while I stared at her, allowing her words to register to me. “So, all of this—”
“Was all my idea,” she finished. “And I’m not ashamed to say that I lied to get you here but I'll do anything for him.” Mrs. Smith pointed behind me, making me briskly turn around to see Brooklyn sitting in a chair in the corner.
When my eyes landed on him, tears immediately clouded my visions.
I wasn’t trying to let him think this was all he had to do to win me back over, so I stood to my feet and picked my purse up.
“It was good seeing you again, Mrs. Smith. I’m glad you found your baby, meanwhile I lost mine.
” I glanced back at him. “I’ll make sure I come by one day soon to check on you.
” I didn’t give her a chance to reply before I was rushing out of the room and down the stairs before my tears had a chance to fall in front of him.
“brONX, WAIT!” I didn’t think about stopping after Brooklyn called out for me. Getting away from him was what I needed to do, so I tried my best to get to my truck.
To my surprise, I couldn’t even get inside of it if I tried. “Are you serious!” I threw my hands in the air and shouted. Hearing giggles come from the other side of my truck, I walked around to see Jersey, Austyn, and their friends all with empty saran wrap containers in their hands.
“Mama said whatever we do, don’t let you leave before talking to our brother, sooo, yea. Go talk.” Jersey pointed towards Brooklyn, who stood there trying to seem unamused by my Range Rover being wrapped tighter than a too little waist trainer.
“You know what, I don’t even care. Fuck that truck. I can go buy another one.” I started walking down the street while calling my sister to pick me up and didn’t care how loud Brooklyn shouted my name. That only fueled me to start power walking harder than Richard Simmons.
brOOKLYN
“You know I’m crazy, I don’t know why you keep walking away from me.”
“I don’t want to talk to you, Brooklyn. I told you this already and yo’ mama.” Her hands dropped to her sides to form clenched fists of tension. She was upset but damn, now she wanted to knock my head between the sidewalk and the curb.
“Bronx, I’m sorry for real. I ain’t even mean that shit. I was just talking, trying to figure out the shit that’s going on in my head. My mama got me signed up for counseling and everything.”
“Boy, bye! Every nigga in the world that fucks up wanna scream, ‘I’m going to counseling.’ Well, I hope they help you enough for the next woman.” She wagged her finger at me. I stopped walking ‘cause the fuck she was talking about.
I started to speak but huffed out a breath, first. “Baby, I ain’t doing this for nobody else but you. You are the right now woman, the next woman, and my afterlife woman. You’re all I want. Fuck, Bronx stop walking, shit. Got a nigga tired.”