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He spoke with his sister at least once a day and she didn’t sound tired, like she was being spread too thin. At only twenty-one, Jay was sure she didn’t have many responsibilities. She still lived with her mother, and as far as he knew, she wasn’t required to pay any bills.
As the only child to an only child, Jay inherited seventy acres of land from his granny on his mother’s side and fifteen acres from his mother’s father. The plots were both situated in his home state of Alabama. The fifteen acres he used to lease out to local farmers while the seventy acres had a grand, plantation-style home he’d recently renovated, adding a large privacy gate around it to hide his illegal marijuana farm.
Jay paid his baby sister to look after his home while he was in Sapphire City and she was a beast with the weed plants.
“Boy, just plan a trip to come down here to see ’bout your family. I heard about your breakup and want to lay my eyes on you. Your brother and sister miss you too,” Pete finally confessed, pulling a laugh from his son.
Finally, Jay sat up since he was forced to get his day started earlier than he wanted. It was good his father called him since he needed to have someone tow Candi’s car to the shop to get four new tires. “You could’ve just said that from the jump, Big Pete. As far as my breakup and shit, I’m good.”
“You sure? ’Cause I know how much you loved that girl. I ain't ever get to meet her, but I heard the syrup in your voice. You were sweet on Luna.”
Running his hand down his face, Jay couldn’t agree more. He was ready to be all in with Luna—he had proposed and was planning on filling her with his kids. Within the blink of an eye, it was all gone as if it was just a figment of his imagination. It still took some getting used to, but every day, his heart healed more and more.
“I promise fo’ God, I’m good. Shit, I’m already interviewing a prospect.” Jay thought about Candi. She was pretty and seemed to have a decent head on her shoulders, and he wanted to get to know her more.
“Just like your daddy. We some suckers for love.” Heartbreak never lasted long for Big Pete. Before his heart healed from the last relationship, he was already falling for the next. “Jayshun?”
“Yea?”
“You know that girl still ’round here putting that baby on you. You sure there ain't no chance it's yours?” Big Pete inquired; the playful banter was gone.
There was no doubt in his mind that Nobi’s baby wasn’t his. After his split from Luna, he convinced her to drive to Sapphire City, where he gave her all the dick she could handle for a weekend. Throughout their time together, he made sure to use condoms and knew it was still intact every time he went to discard them. Jay was so certain the baby wasn’t his that he didn’t even pretend to assist financially. He was willing to bet his life on it. It pissed him off that she kept feeding his family the lie just to get things from them. They were good people, so most of them didn’t hesitate to give her money and buy baby stuff as they waited for the arrival of the baby. It was absurd and he wanted to wring Nobi’s neck every time someone brought her up.
Clearing his throat, Pete expressed his concerns before leaving the subject alone. “Maybe you don’t need to be a hopeless romantic like your old man.” The thought of his son creating babies with multiple women didn’t sit right with him. It was what he had done. Three kids by three different women. Women he claimed to have loved when, in reality, he didn’t. Big Pete confused love with lust, and he prayed the apple fell so far from the tree when it came to his children.
The truth was the truth, and all Jay could do was agree. They joked on the phone a little longer before Big Pete pulled up to his job. With promises of Jay visiting soon, they ended their morning banter. I love yous weren’t exchanged because they knew they loved one another.
Jay finally lifted out of bed to get his day started. Besides getting Candi’s car looked at, he needed to get a haircut, check on his workers, do a little shopping, and pick his mama up so she could get her car from the body shop.
It seemed Big Pete calling him so early in the morning was just what he needed.
“Yea, it’s over on Duffy, parked at the old Title place.” Jay’s phone rested on his ear as the clippers buzzed in his ear.
He was in the shop and it was buzzing with people trying to get right for the weekend. Sapphire City wasn’t booming with daily events, but on the first weekend of the summer, everyone went to the park and hung out. During the day, families had picnics and fired up the stationary grills. When the sun set, the grown-ups pulled up in their best clothes and cleanest cars to see what they could see.
“Yea, just do what you need to do and send me the bill,” he said before hanging up the phone to respect his barber’s time.
Mack had been cutting his hair since he moved to Sapphire City as a young and wild thirteen-year-old. “Little nigga come up in here conducting business, reminding me he ain’t a little grasshopper anymore.” Mack chuckled.
A sly smirk danced on Jay’s face. Most people who had watched him grow up didn’t come to the conclusion that he had aged until they got to witness him handling business. As a teen, he was well-mannered and respectful.
Any little thing Jay could do to make money, he was with it. He was a little man who pulled on the hearts of all those who got to experience him. Jolene had done a beautiful job of raising him. Big Pete played a part too. A small role but significant.
His mama didn’t come from money so he was always looking for ways to help out. Jolene’s family had land, but without the knowledge of turning it into a profit, they struggled when it came to money. All that changed when Jay figured out how to grow a hemp plant when he was about fifteen.
“You know me, Mack.” Jay spread his arms, emphasizing who he was.
“You hear this shit, Bull?” Mack looked over to his colleague.
Bull had been cutting hair in the small shop just as long as Mack. “I hear his ass. You weren’t all that when that girl left yo’ ass at the altar,” he exaggerated, knowing Luna and Jay never made it to the altar.
Laughter filled the shop. Everyone who knew Jay had heard about his ex running off with the man of her dreams. Today seemed like the day everyone wanted to bring up his failed relationship, which he wasn’t too fond of. It had been over a year and the masses still wanted to pick his brain on how he fumbled a Grammy winner like Luna. They didn’t understand that the loss had been hers. Jay wasn’t cocky in a mean or nasty way—he was sure of himself. He had been raised right and any woman who could hold the amount of love he had to give would be deemed lucky.
“Y’all on one today, ain't it?” He shook his head at the chatter that filled the shop at his expense.
“I’m just saying, my boy. How you let a woman like that slip through your fingers?” the guy in Bull’s chair asked. He looked to be about the same age as Jay, but not as fly. Jay knew that to be true because a nigga on the same level as him wouldn’t even ask no shit like that.
Kissing his teeth, Jay didn’t want to respond but loved any opportunity to school a man on matters of the heart. “First, you don’t know me to be speaking on me or questioning me. Don’t let the actions of my OGs misconstrue your perception of the type of man I am. But I’m in a good mood, so I won’t do you how I normally do niggas that forget to mind their own fuckin’ business.” Jay winced a little when Mack wiped his lineup with astringent before he stood and wiped his shirt off. “To answer your question, I ain’t let shit slip through my fingers. She wasn’t made for me. Niggas gotta know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em. I got what I needed to get from that situation and now I’m moving on. Ain’t no love lost and I damn sure ain’t crying ’bout it. Now, before I leave, I’ll leave you with this little piece of advice. When someone is for you, nothing on earth could keep y’all apart.”
