14. Darius
With Dymand in my arms, I scooted to the edge of my couch and stood up. Since we were downstairs, I put her in the guest room rather than taking her upstairs to leave her for her nap. When I walked back into the living room, Azarius was standing.
“Let’s go outside and burn one. I’m sick of you sitting around pouting like your puppy died.”
“Fuck outta here, nigga.”
I had been quiet since the night before when we saw Vani at the sports bar, and she walked off on me.
I was lost in my thoughts, but if Azarius wanted to call that pouting, I wouldn’t correct him.
I had gone out and tried to enjoy myself, and it was a bust. For the next three nights, I was going to be in daddy mode.
I loved Dymand more than I loved myself.
It was hard as hell to accept the fact that something I loved so much was the reason someone else that I loved was done with me.
I knew Vani was mad about me not visiting her but at the end of the day, she was madder about Dymand.
Had I gotten anyone else pregnant she might not care so much but the fact that it was Bree.
Yeah, she hated my black ass. While Azarius rolled the blunt, I stared off into the distance.
By the time he sparked the wheel to light the weed filled cigar, I was still looking at nothing.
“Got damn, G. You want me to call one of my best eaters over here? I’ll take Dymand with me, and you can get some pussy because you’re depressing the shit out of me.”
Turning my head to the left, I frowned. “Best eater? Stop the cap. Hailey got you over there on a short leash. If it’s not her, you not doing no eating or getting dick ate.”
“First of all,” Azarius sucked smoke into his lungs and held it for a beat. “Never did no eating on these hoes. Second, I didn’t say they were currently eating dick up. You worried about the wrong thing.” He exhaled, hit the blunt again, and passed it to me.
“That makes two of us worried about the wrong then because I never needed help getting pussy or hand me down eaters. I’m good.
Seeing Vani and knowing we’re not on good terms bothers me.
It bothers me a lot, but what can I do about it?
I can be persistent, but I don’t want to crowd her.
Or make her feel like I did the things I did for her, so she would owe me something. ”
“She’ll come around. I know she’s hurt about Dymand, but she still loves you. You just better hope someone doesn’t come along and snatch her up ‘cus Vani looking right. No disrespect but got damn. I didn’t know they grew them like that in the Feds.”
With the blunt dangling from my lips, I stood and pulled my slightly sagging jeans up. “Stand up.”
Azarius doubled over in laughter, but I didn’t see anything funny.
He sat there for at least a full minute having a laugh attack while I stared at him and contemplated knocking his ass out.
“Bro, you want to fight?” he wheezed out once his fit had come to an end.
“I was joking. Got damn,” he laughed again.
I narrowed my eyes and pulled from the blunt. “Watch your mouth,” I warned him.
Azarius held his hands up in surrender. “I don’t want no smoke my boy.”
I sat back down, hit the blunt twice back-to-back, and passed it back to him.
Azarius hadn’t told one lie, and that was the reason it pissed me off.
I saw how the men were on her in the sports bar.
Some openly stared and some approached her.
They were on her like dogs on meat, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
I didn’t know how else to prove to Vani that I wanted her.
If I wanted Bree, I could have had her years ago.
Everything with Vani happened so fast. From the fight to her moving out, and then being arrested.
We never got resolve and to add insult to injury, while she was in prison, she had to hear that Bree was carrying my child.
So, I could get it. But I had never chosen a woman the way I chose Vani.
I had never loved a woman like I loved Vani.
And the fact that she doubted how I felt or thought another woman carried more weight than her was frustrating as fuck.
It was all good though. One way or another, Vani was gon’ get her mind right. She had to.
Four days later, I was walking into the soul food restaurant that Vani’s grandmother owned.
It had been five days since I’d seen her.
I was trying to give her space and not crowd her, but if she was at work, I was going to get a glimpse of her ass today.
And if she wasn’t, I was going to get some good food, so a win was a win.
Inside the restaurant, I was greeted by the hostess.
She was a cute, dark skinned chick with high cheekbones that made her look regal.
Shorty could have been a model for sure.
“Hi,” she smiled. “Are you placing an order, picking up, or do you want to dine in?”
My eyes darted around the restaurant. It wasn’t too crowded, but there was a decent number of people sitting down eating. “Um,” I continued to scan the vicinity. I spotted the person I was looking for standing at a table refilling drinks.
“I’m dining in.” I made eye contact with the hostess again. “Can you sit me in Vani’s section?”
“The only other server we have right now is on break, so all the tables are hers,” the hostess smiled grabbing a menu. “Right this way.”
I followed her to a booth near the back. As I was sliding in Vani lifted her head, and when she saw me, she rolled her eyes. That made me smile for some reason. Her pretty ass was exceptionally pretty when she was mad.
Vani’s hair was slicked back into a low bun.
Two diamond studs adorned each ear making the total of diamonds four.
The black pants she wore looked painted on and the fitted black tee that she wore accentuated her frame even more.
Shorty was thick as hell, and my dick was brick.
I stared at her wondering if anyone had slid in between her thighs since she’d been home, and that was the wrong thought to have.
I gritted my back teeth together, and my body grew warm at the thought of Vani letting another nigga have her.
My mood had suddenly shifted, and I didn’t like that.
Aside from hitting Vani over the head, tossing her over my shoulder, and kidnapping her, I couldn’t force her to deal with me.
I was trying to give her grace, space, all that bullshit, but the only thing it was accomplishing was pissing me off.
“Do I have a stalker?” Vani smirked as she approached the table.
I didn’t want to come off like a creep, but I couldn’t help the way my gaze dragged down her frame. Fuck, she was bad. “Stalk? Nah. I’m a big guy. I like to eat. Is that a crime?”
“Of course not,” she angled her head to the left and gave me a phony smile making me chuckle.
“You know I’m a good tipper. Talk to me nice,” I winked at her.
“Anyway,” she sighed. “What would you like to drink?”
“Strawberry-lemonade. To eat, I want fried chicken, dark meat, dirty rice, green beans, hush puppies, and strawberry shortcake.”
“Coming right up,” Vani gave me a small smile that appeared more genuine and sauntered off.
I flicked the tip of my nose, locked my fingers together, and placed my hands on the table.
Letting her go wasn’t an option for me. Taking a step back might have been doable.
I would just have to constantly remind myself to let her get her shit off and not trip about it.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, so I sat back against the booth and pulled it out. My business phone was in the car.
Swiping, I answered the phone for Bree. “What’s up?”
“The daycare called and told me I had to come get Dymand because she has a fever. We’re on our way to the doctor. Just wanted to let you know.”
My brows dipped as Vani approached the table with a glass of lemonade in one hand. “She good? How she acting?” Vani set the glass in front of me and walked off.
“She’s cranky and whiny. I don’t think it’s anything too major, but we’ll see.”
“I just stopped to grab some food. I’ll call you when I’m done and see what’s up.”
“Okay.”
I was a first-time parent, but I had never been one to panic at the slightest sign that something was off.
That was more of a trait that women possessed.
For the most part, I could stay cool in situations until I had all the facts.
Dymand was almost two, and she’d only had a cold once.
Kids got sick. That was normal. And so were fevers.
My mom always said fevers were good because that meant your body was fighting the infection.
I might not have been panicking, but when I was done with my meal, I was going straight to my baby.
Money and anything else were stopped for the day or at least until I loved on my shorty and made sure she was good.
There were many kinds of people in the world that I didn’t respect, and dead-beat parents were at the top of that list. I didn’t rock with no nigga that didn’t take care of his kids.
It could be my daddy. I didn’t give a damn.
Around the time Bree got pregnant, I was adamant that I didn’t want kids.
I went from not wanting kids at all to not wanting them if Vani wasn’t the one carrying them.
But now that Dymand was here, a kid was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I would stand on that against whatever and whoever.
Vani walked over carrying my food. I cleared my throat and sat back as she placed the plate in front of me. “Is there anything else I can get you?” she asked in that fake tone that was reserved for all customers.
“Nah, this looks straight. Thank you.”
Vani turned to walk away.
“Aye.”
She turned around.
“Sit down for a second.”
Vani’s brows rose. “Um, you do see that I’m at work, right?”
“Yeah, I do. I also see that another server just got here. And I know your people own the place, so you’re not going to get fired for sitting down for two seconds.”
“That’s not the point,” Vani rolled her eyes, but she sat across from me anyway. I peered at her for a few seconds. “I didn’t sit down for you to stare at me,” she huffed making me chuckle.
“I’m gonna fall back and let you do you. I’m not going to crowd you or do too much. You spent three years in the belly of the beast, and I know you gotta come home and do whatever it is that you need to do. Whatever you do though, make sure it’s safe. For you and whoever you’re doing it with.”
Vani’s jaw slacked. “Did you just threaten me?”
“I’d never threaten you. I made a promise though. And I put that on me.” I was serious as a heart attack, and I gave no fucks about us not being together.
I had my reasons for not visiting her when she was down, and they were valid to me. She’d get over it. Just like I got over the stupid shit she’d done.
“Goodbye, Darius. Have a nice day,” Vani chuckled as she slid out of the booth.
Bowing my head, I prayed over my food before I demolished it. When I was done, I left Vani a $500 tip. I was going to be as patient as I could be, but she didn’t have too much time to keep playing with me.