Chapter 12 Rule #1… Protect Yours
PRYCE
When we hopped in the car and Dai asked me to take her to her parents’ house before I could even put it in drive, I knew we had a problem.
And the last thing we needed was problems while we were on the mend.
I glanced over at her briefly before shifting gears and pulling out of the spot.
I wasn’t going to insult her intelligence and ask her why she wanted to be dropped off, and I damn sure wasn’t going to try to over explain that bullshit ass stunt that Alexis tried to pull.
As a man of action, I was going to take care of the problem before it could fester.
Alexis was on bullshit. On one hand, I felt like Dai knew that, and on the other, she was a woman. A pregnant woman at that. Rather than think logically, she was almost always going to let her emotions lead her. She sat beside me, looking out the window.
Her silence wasn’t loud, and her posture didn’t say she was angry. It seemed more like she was processing and trying to figure out which emotion she should lead with.
“Key is setting up a maternity shoot for tomorrow. She didn’t give me a time, so you’ll just have to be available when she reaches out.”
“Aight, cool. How long you think you wanna spend at your parents?” I asked, getting on the highway. “Not rushing you or nothing. I just wanna make sure I’m back to get you on time.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“You gonna have your mom drop you off?” I questioned.
“No. I’m gonna have my dad drop me off at my place.”
“Not sure I’m following you,” I replied, wanting her to make it plain to me what she thought she was doing.
“You follow very well, Pryce. Don’t do that.”
“I don’t wanna speak in code, Adai. That shit gon’ irritate me and make my head hurt.”
“I’m not speaking in code. You’re choosing to hear what you wanna hear.”
“Man, stop playin’ with me.”
We pulled up outside of her parents’ house quicker than I wanted to. Putting the car in park, I turned the engine off and reached over to grab her thigh.
“Dai.”
“Pryce.” She said my name, mirroring my tone. Resting her hands on her belly, she stared at me with a straight face.
“I don’t know what that broad on, but I’ma check that shit.”
“Oh, I know.” She nodded. “But I’m not coming back to the house until you do. Dead whatever she thinks y’all got going on,” she continued calmly. “Then call me and let me know how that goes.”
“There ain’t shit going on,” I replied. “She playing mind games. That girl ain’t pregnant. I’m gonna address it, and that’s going to be that.”
“Well, we won’t know it’s a mind game until you know whether she’s actually pregnant or not.
Until then, I’m not about to be sitting comfortable, pretending to avoid the elephant in the room.
And as petty as this may sound, I’m not about to share in no pregnancy with no bitch.
I don’t give a damn if I’m almost done baking and she just got started. I’m not doing it.”
I sucked my teeth. “I’m telling you that girl ain’t pregnant.”
“Don’t tell me. Show me.” Pushing the car door open, she stepped out. Ducking her head in the door before closing it, she spoke again. “Photoshoot tomorrow. Don’t forget.”
“How you gon’ do a photoshoot wit’ a nigga but don’t wanna come home with me?”
“Easy. Show up, get dressed, smile for the cameras, and leave. Your possible slip up don’t mess up my day to day. And I hope for your sake that it doesn’t take us five steps back after we just took a leap forward. I love you.”
“Yeah, aight, man. Love you too. Close my door.”
I was pissed, but I didn’t pull off until I saw her parents’ door open, and she walked inside.
Her mother waved, and I stuck my head out the window to say hi out of respect.
But I wasn’t in the mood to be hospitable, so I didn’t stick around.
Pulling back out of their driveway, I didn’t make it halfway down the block before my phone rang.
It was Aura. I sent the call to voicemail. He called back a second later.
“What, nigga?! Damn!” I barked. “If I didn’t answer the first time, clearly I don’t wanna be bothered.”
“And when I start giving a fuck about that, I’ll stop double calling, Grumpy Man. Where you at?” As always, Aura was unfazed by me snapping on him.
“Minding my black ass business,” I said, opening my text thread to send Alexis’ ignorant ass a message.
I quickly typed my message in all caps but deleted it before I could send it. The threat was clear. And after a quick thought, I decided it wasn’t something I needed to leave a trail of.
“Yo,” I called out when he didn’t respond.
“My bad,” he replied. “Muted the phone on accident. Pull up to G crib real quick. The guys here.”
“Nigga, what guys? And why y’all at G crib?”
“You know, for a nigga who don’t wanna talk, you sure are asking one too many questions.” He chuckled.
“You telling me to come by G crib on a random ass Tuesday. I wanna know what for.”
“Just pull up, Grumpy Man. And leave ya pissy ass attitude in the car. You not bout to come up in here fuckin’ up her Feng Shui.”
I didn’t want to laugh, but I did once he ended the call.
Aura was always trying to act like he was our grandmother’s representative, letting that favorite shit go to his head.
Needing to buy time before I popped up on Alexis, I headed to Grandma Lettie’s.
I hoped whatever they had going on over there put me in a better mood than I was in currently.
I entered Grandma Lettie’s basement through the garage that we all had a code to.
When I stepped inside, I heard voices before turning the corner.
The second I did, everybody turned in my direction.
I identified the same family members that had trapped me into a toast at the party — my father included.
“If y’all niggas thinkin’ bout doing an intervention, go head and count me out now,” I said, stepping farther inside.
My uncle, Ace, Aura’s father, clapped his hands and smiled. “No intervention here, nephew. This is the Sullivan crossover to fatherhood get together.”
I frowned. Usually, this was a planned gathering.
They’d sprung this one on me. When a Sullivan man was preparing to become a father, the guys would get together, have a cigar, and give words of wisdom.
My great grandfather had done it and passed it down to his sons who’d passed it down to mine, Aura, and Tay’s fathers.
Only difference was they had remixed it to include not just expecting fathers but potential dads. The last time we had done it altogether was with Jay. Enzo opted to do his privately, and we respected that.
“Who else got a baby on the way?” I asked, taking a seat on the sofa where Enzo and Tay sat posted up.
Jay sat at the bar, while my father poured shots. I was starting to think my old man was an alchy on the low.
“Nae should be pregnant by tomorrow,” Aura said seriously.
We all laughed.
“I’m not even gon’ ask no questions. I’m scared of the answer,” I said with my hands up.
“Go head, Princeton,” Uncle Ace encouraged. “Since this is your son, you give him the first piece of advice.”
My father spoke from behind the bar. “First things first. Understand that you don’t know everything, but she doesn’t have to know that.
She shouldn’t even feel that. As a man, you gotta know how to lead from a blind place just as well as you lead from a place you can see.
It’s your duty and even more important now that you’re stepping into fatherhood. ”
I nodded, agreeing with that bit of information.
“If Dai is your ending, meaning this is the person you not only want as your child’s mother but the person you want to share a life with, start moving that way from now on,” Uncle Ace added.
I thought about me and Dai committing to getting back on the right track after these last few months and then this hiccup with Alexis. Those events alone made me listen harder for the nuggets in this advice.
He continued. “A man of principle takes care of his family first always. Dai and Baby Sullivan are your family and your responsibility. Move accordingly. What you got, Jay?”
“Me or Pops?” Jay asked, pointing to himself and then his father.
“Go head, Unc,” I said to his father. “I don’t wanna hear nothing lil’ Jay got to say,” I joked.
“Cool.” Jay shrugged. “I’ll keep my advice, nigga.”
“Nah, I’m fuckin’ witchu. Go head, cuzzo.”
“Make sure she never feels alone,” he said seriously. “I may joke about my baby mamas and shit, but they never have to look for me. They know they can count on me, no matter what, to show up.”
“Consistently,” Enzo chimed in.
“Facts. Cause I know if they straight, my kids straight,” Jay said.
“What you having, nephew?” Big Jay asked.
My face lit up. “A little girl. Just found out today.”
“Damn,” Aura let out. “Lemme load up the choppas.”
“Swear I said the same shit. The doctor said girl, and I instantly knew I was going to jail behind mine.”
“My advice to that,” Enzo spoke. “Use your resources.”
I caught what he was hinting at and dapped him up.
“You got this shit, son,” my father encouraged. “Don’t be too prideful to where you can’t lean on your sources. I would say we did a good job at fatherhood. Look how you lil’ niggas turned out.”
I looked around the room. Despite me not being the most transparent when it came to my life, I knew that I had a family that still rallied for me even in times when I felt I didn’t need it. It was the Sullivan way.
I stuck around G’s crib for a few hours, chilling with the guys. Once night had fallen, I sent a text to my partner in crime.
Me: Yo. How fast can you get to a pharmacy to grab two pregnancy tests?
Key: Whatever happened to a hello? How are you? How was your day? You know, pleasantries and shit.
Me: Can you just answer my question?
Key: No. You almost ripped my damn collar when I walked into your house without speaking. Same shit applies in text. Greet me.
I let out a frustrated breath and typed quickly.
Me: Wassup, Key?