Chapter 8
Like She Never Left
PRYCE
“When he’s ready to talk about it, he will. You need to give him some space, Princeton.”
“How this lil nigga gon’ have space in my house, Jess? He could’ve went to his own place for that. Now you in here tellin’ me where I can and can’t go in my shit.”
The corners of my mouth lifted into a smirk as I listened to my parents go back-and-forth as they stood at the door to their patio.
I sat outside in the backyard, staring at the pool, listening to the sounds of the rainforest lowly in my AirPods.
My father complaining about giving me space while giving me space wasn’t surprising to me. It was comical.
“If you open that door to bother him, you gonna piss me off, Prince. I’m serious.”
“Ain’t nobody bothering him. And who you talkin’ to, woman?”
“The man standing by the door breathing. When you wanna be left alone, I don’t let nobody bother you.”
“This my shit, Jess. I’ll put his ass and you out if I need space. That’s the difference.”
“Nigga, please. You put me out and you know what’s going with me.”
My father shut up then, and I chuckled silently.
I heard footsteps walking away seconds later.
My parents had to be one of the funniest couples I knew.
After being together for thirty plus years, they still found things to debate on, yet I’d never heard them argue a day in my life, always a healthy back and forth that was never disrespectful, never hidden, and never quiet.
Still, it was the only place I could come when things in my life didn’t make sense.
I’d been sitting in my spot in their backyard for an hour now.
I hadn’t planned on stopping by, but after driving around idly for a little bit once I left Dai’s place, I eventually called my mother and told her I needed to come by to talk but not right away.
She didn’t bombard me with questions. “Whenever you’re ready” was her response.
It was her way of communicating that there was no rush.
It had always been her way with me since I was a child.
She’d give me space when I needed it, her shoulder when I didn’t request it, and the truth when I didn’t want it.
Standing up slowly, I paused the sounds on my phone and headed inside.
“Y’all know I could hear y’all talking from out there, right?” I said as I entered the kitchen that was right off the patio.
“Good,” my father said, making my mother shake her head and giggle.
“I know you heard me telling him to leave you alone.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Then he threatened to put you out.”
She smirked, washing off fruit at the sink and bringing them over to the island to chop and pack away. “You see how that worked out, right?”
My father came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist with his chin rested on her shoulder. “You threatened to take that good stuff, and you know I couldn’t have that.”
“Aight, man. That’s too much PDA.” I waved them off.
He kissed her neck, and she blushed hard. “You in our shit. You lucky we ain’t fuckin’.”
“Princeton.” She elbowed him.
“Aight. Aight.” He stepped from behind her and leaned back on the counter. “Wassup witchu?”
“Adai back in town.”
My mother’s eyes lit up, and he smiled.
“Awww, really?” she let out. “I missed my girl. Have you seen her?”
“Yeah. I seen her and my baby,” I replied.
“I’m sorry, what?” She paused mid chop, setting her knife down. “What baby? Adai pregnant? When you find out?”
“How bout you let him answer at least one question before you fire off another one, beautiful?” my father suggested.
“I’m sorry. Go head, Pryce.”
“Yeah. She’s pregnant. Six months along.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Six months? Y’all been broken up for about…”
“Six months.” My father completed her sentence. “So, you just finding out?”
“Yeah. She found out a little bit after she was in Houston. I just found out today.”
My mother folded her arms. “I don’t know how I feel about that. And not that I’m questioning the paternity, I just don’t like that she kept it from you. Was there a reason why? And how do you feel about the news?”
“Here she go with the double questions again,” my father said under his breath, but we could both hear.
“Shut up, Princeton. You ain’t sayin’ nothin’,” she fussed at him to which he only smirked.
“I’m waiting on my turn.”
“I’m happy about my baby. I ain’t feeling that she kept it a secret from me for so long though. That shit bothering me a lot.”
“What was her why?”
“She said some bullshit about needing time after the breakup that she initiated. Then some shit that basically made it seem like I make everything about me.”
“You do,” my father said, taking a strawberry and tossing it in his mouth.
“What?”
“You make everything about you,” he replied.
My mother’s lips formed a straight line as she nodded. “Ya daddy would know because he used to do the same shit until I put his ass on ice.”
“Aye.” He slapped her butt. “This ain’t about me, woman.”
“Pop, chill, man.” I shook my head.
“Anyway,” my mother started again. “Does she still trust you, Pryce?”
“Shit. Does it matter?”
“Yeah. It does.”
“It don’t seem like it after this.”
“Then you gotta do something about it, son,” my father added. “Women don’t make those kinds of decisions lightly.”
I rubbed the back of my neck to ease my frustration. “So, we gon’ ignore the fact that she hid a pregnancy and somehow make this my fault?”
“No,” my mother answered. “No, we’re not. She was dead ass wrong, but accountability goes both ways.”
“Ma, what happened during the course of our relationship shouldn’t have any bearings on how she handled this situation.”
“You’re not a woman, Pryce. The way we move won’t always make sense to you and vice versa. But if I don’t know nothing else, I know you love that girl.”
“Son,” my father followed up, “when two people love each other that hard and communication starts to falter, they start protecting themselves instead of the relationship. What ya mama is saying is Adai hiding the pregnancy was a reaction to your actions.”
Exhaling, I ran my hand over my waves. I didn’t like how accurate their statements sounded, even though a part of me still wasn’t hearing that shit.
“Hey,” my mother called out, “you want me to whoop her ass?”
My father chuckled. “What happened to the whole ‘he not a woman and some things won’t make sense to him’ stuff, Jessica?”
“I still feel that way, but he’s still my son. I don’t like seeing him sad.”
“Ain’t nobody sad, Ma.”
“Mad,” she corrected.
“I ain’t mad either.”
“Confused.” She tried again.
“I’m clear on how I feel,” I countered.
“Conflicted?” my father questioned.
That feeling registered with me, and I hadn’t thought about it before. “That makes sense.”
“That’s really everything I said wrapped up in one word,” my mother concluded.
My father snagged another strawberry from the cutting board and chewed.
“I’ma say this last thing, and then I’m gonna put you out your misery and change the subject.
” He leaned forward with his hands on the island.
“Whether you feel any of those words your mother used and don’t want to admit it out loud or just conflicted, understand that a child don’t know pride or time.
All a child knows is it needs to be surrounded by loving people and a loving environment to thrive.
Don’t let your feelings make you miss out on what’s being handed to you right now. ”
“And what’s that?”
“Your family.”
The word family hit different when it was your own you were creating. Nodding, I just let his words sink in as we let the silence fall over us. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence but a quiet that was needed to digest what had been said.
“You going to Grandma Lettie’s party tomorrow night?” my father asked, changing the subject like he said he would.
“Tried to get out of it, but Key on a nigga head like I’m missing the second coming of Christ.”
“Aye, lil’ nigga, my mama 70th birthday is the closest thing to it.” He playfully swung at me.
“I wanna see you there, Pryce,” my mother said. “You and Adai. I wanna see the belly. I’ma bout to be a grandma. Ooouuu, her mama gon’ have to fight me over my grandbaby.”
“And you know Kelvin my boy, but I’m witchu, bae. So, if you got the wife, I’m on his ass.”
I watched the two of them spar like they were gearing up for grandparent wars and couldn’t help but smile. Dai being accepted back by my family with open arms when she returned was never a question. It was me that still needed some time.
Sunday night came faster than I would have liked it to.
As the day progressed, I tried to come up with different excuses to get out of going to the party, but the way everybody with the last name Sullivan that had my number had been blowing up my phone, I knew that wasn’t happening.
I messaged Dai when I woke up this morning and before I left for the party.
Both times, she texted back immediately, assuring me that she and the baby was good.
I didn’t bother asking if she’d be coming to the party because I was sure she would be if Kyiris had anything to do with it.
Kyiris had requested that everyone follow a strict dress code.
And as I looked around the hall at the different shades of brown, nude, and cream, I was surprised to see that the entire family listened for once.
She had decked the hall out, and I silently commended her for a job well done.
I knew my five hundred went to good use.
Jay stood near me with a drink in his hand, looking around like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Look at all this, man,” he said, gesturing to the family. “Niggas. All gathered in one place at the same time, on time. If I wasn’t so thugged out, I’d cry right now, real shit.”
“Yeah. Key wasn’t fuckin’ around,” Tay added from beside him. “I know G gon’ be boo hooing when she walk in.”