5. River #2
“I’m fine. Thank you for asking. Rivvy fell asleep while we waited for you, and I put her in my room in case that idiot banged on the door again. Before we leave, I need to take the trash out and bring the bins to the front.”
“I’ll do it. Point me in the right direction.”
“I got it. I don’t want him to—”
“Fuck that nigga. He’s not my concern. You are. Where’s the trash?”
She didn’t argue and led me to the kitchen, where she had the trash near the side door, ready to be taken out.
“You should see the bins when you go outside. If he bothers you—”
“Erissa, chill out, beautiful.”
I stopped to kiss her forehead as I walked by, and it caught her by surprise, which was exactly what I wanted. Hopefully, it distracted her enough to stop worrying about that lame-ass ex of hers.
I unlocked and opened the door, picked up the trash bags, and took them outside. The bins were a few feet away, and after I put the bags inside, I grabbed one of them with each hand, then dragged them down the driveway.
When I walked past the front of the house, Jeremiah’s goofy ass was sitting on the front steps. He hopped up and rushed in my direction. I put the bins at the curb and turned around to find him blocking my path back to the house.
“Listen, if I fuck you up, I got way more to lose than you, so if you take your ass on and leave Erissa alone, I’ll give you a pass this time.”
He folded his arms across his chest and widened his stance.
“And if I don’t?”
He was almost a foot shorter than me, so I leaned down and whispered, “I have enough money to make you disappear, and I don’t even have to get my hands dirty.”
He smacked his lips like a bitch, but before he could say another word, my hand was around his throat, and he was gasping for air.
“Leave Erissa alone. Don’t call her. Don’t text her. Don’t email or DM her. As a matter of fact, don’t even think about her. Do we have an understanding?” I asked.
He nodded as best he could, and I let him go with a shove. He fell to the ground, coughing and wheezing, and I stepped over him to head back inside.
“Jeremiah is petty and will sue you for that,” Erissa said as I entered the kitchen.
“Let me worry about that. I’ll come over tomorrow after practice to move the bins from the curb. Listen, he shouldn’t be a problem anymore, but if you need to come back here, I’m coming with you.”
“I can handle Jeremiah, but because I had Rivvy—”
“E, this ain’t up for debate. I don’t want anything to happen to you. Don’t come back here without me.”
“It’s not that serious, but fine.”
“Let’s go. You take Rivvy, and I’ll pick up dinner on the way home.”
“Okay.”
When I stepped outside with Riverlynn in her car seat on one arm and her diaper bag on the other, Jeremiah was gone. I waited for Erissa to turn on the alarm and secure the door before heading down the stairs and to the SUV.
“I changed my mind. Do you feel up to going to a restaurant?” I asked.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Meet me at Soulful Diner. I’ll take Rivvy with me.”
“What do they have there that’s healthy for you to eat?”
She cared more about my diet than I did, and even though I was conscious about what I ate, I appreciated her concern.
“They have salad. Let’s go.”
We headed to our vehicles, and once I had Riverlynn secured, I hopped behind the wheel and headed to our destination. This would be the first time we’d been out in public together, and I’d only been out and about with my daughter a few times.
After my short outings with Riverlynn, I fully expected us to end up on the blogs, but so far, I hadn’t seen anything. The three of us having dinner as a family would likely have a different ending, but I couldn’t hide the fact that I had a daughter from the world forever.
We arrived about twenty minutes later and parked next to each other in the parking lot. She got out and waited for me to gather Riverlynn and her diaper bag. Once inside the restaurant, the aroma of soul food filled my nostrils. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t have any.
The host greeted me by name and took us to a table. After we took our seats, he gave us our menus and informed us about this week’s specials. When he left, we looked at the menu. A few minutes later, Riverlynn woke up fussy. Erissa reached for her, but I stopped her.
“I got her. You’ve had her all day.”
While I removed her from her car seat, Erissa got a bottle from her diaper bag. Thankfully, baby girl didn’t cut up too much, and once she had her bottle, she was good.
“Do you know what you want?” I asked.
“Everything sounds so good. It’s kinda hard to decide.”
“What have you had before?”
“I’ve never been here.”
“Really?” I tried not to sound surprised.
“I’ve always wanted to come, though, so thank you for bringing me. What do you recommend?”
Before I could respond, I received a text from Jaxon. I glanced at my phone and saw the preview of his text.
Jax:
Look at this shit.
“Can you see what this text says? My code is 7-1-0-0,” I told Erissa because my hands were occupied.
She picked up my phone and entered the code. I watched as she read the text.
“It’s a link to something on Keeping It in the Closet.”
“Click on it.”
Her eyes widened, and she lifted her head and looked around.
“It’s a picture of us.”
“No shit?”
She held my phone in front of me, and sure enough, on the screen was a picture of us walking into the restaurant.
“What does it say?” I asked.
@KIITC: Say it ain’t so. Say it ain’t so. Say it ain’t so. Did Mr. Playboy himself turn in his player card for fatherhood? And who is this mystery woman who got him to stop hopping from bed to bed? Okay, nosy neighbors. It’s time to get to work. Who is the beauty who caught River Westmore slipping?
“These people don’t waste time. Do you want to get our food to go?”
She shook her head and shrugged as she continued to scroll on my phone.
“These comments are crazy,” she said, ignoring my question.
“What are they saying?”
@CandiGurl: That nigga ain’t turned in his player card. My homegirl was with him last week.
@The12and3: Didn’t y’all just post him with two other women a few days ago? Y’all just messy.
@MindingMyBiz: If that’s his baby mama, I feel sorry for her. That man ain’t got a faithful bone in his body.
“That’s enough.” I interrupted before she continued. “We should get our food to go. You don’t need to be caught up in my drama.”
She shrugged before saying, “They’ve already seen us and posted the pics, so we might as well stay and enjoy our food.”
“You sure? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
“I’m fine.”
A few minutes later, our server arrived, and we were ready to place our drink and food orders. I ordered a chicken Caesar salad, while Erissa got the soulful plate, which consisted of fried catfish, yams, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and cornbread.
To wash it down, she got a red Kool-Aid, and I had to admit, I was jealous. After hearing her order, I was no longer interested in the Caesar salad, but because I was in season, I had to practice self-control. Besides, if I tried to get anything unhealthy on the menu, Erissa would be on my ass.
“Besides this situation with your ex, how was your day?” I asked when the server left.
“It was fine once my cramps subsided. How was practice?”
“Practice is always practice. It feels monotonous until the games start.”
“How do you think the team will be this year?”
“We’ll make it to the playoffs for sure. Of course, the goal is to win it all.”
“Have you won a championship since you’ve been on the team?”
“You really don’t follow sports, huh?”
“No. I spend most of my time reading, but I go through phases where I binge-watch TV shows and old movies.”
“We haven’t won a championship yet, but hopefully, this will be our year. I noticed you read a lot. What kind of books do you read?”
“Black romance.”
“Romance? Oh, you like reading about people falling in love . . . that sappy shit.”
“Whatever. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a good story about Black people falling in love. What do you do during the off season?”
“The off season is like summer break, depending on how far we go in the playoffs, and it’s over before we know it. I spend a few weeks in Chicago, and one of those weeks I run a basketball camp. After family time, a trip out of the country is necessary.”
“All that sounds great, but what do you do on a normal Wednesday when you’re home during the offseason?”
I thought about it for a moment, and I couldn’t think of anything. I didn’t have any hobbies, unless you counted getting my dick wet. I didn’t do much besides work out, play basketball, and fuck, and the more I thought about it, I realized how shallow I was.
“I don’t know. I guess I don’t do much of anything.”
“Oh, well, the blogs say something very different.”
She laughed, but for some reason, I didn’t find anything amusing.
“Forget everything you’ve read about me in the blogs. They don’t paint a true picture.”
“If I’m still around next summer, I’ll put you on to the books I read and the shows I watch.”
“You planning on quitting?” I questioned, surprised by her uncertainty.
“No, but things happen, and nothing is guaranteed.”
The server brought our food, and my mouth watered when Erissa’s plate was placed in front of her. I looked at my salad, which had always been very good, and frowned.
“I’m going to the bathroom to wash my hands. Don’t touch my food.”
She stood, and my eyes were glued to her ass as she walked away. I had enough willpower not to touch her food, but I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to keep my hands off her for much longer.