“Rather only tell the story once,” he said, knowing his mother would want all the details as well.
Kyomi nodded and put her head on his shoulder while he finished his blunt. Deja stood with her arms crossed as she gazed out at the yard. The house was a cute one-story home that his mother had bought after their father died. It was the perfect home for her now that she lived alone, and Haze was glad she didn’t stay in the family home they grew up in. It was far too big for a single woman, and he loved that he could put it to good use for his club.
Finally, he finished his blunt and stood. He wasn’t calm by far, but he was ready to talk.
They walked into the home, and Haze followed his sister and cousin into the kitchen, where his mom plated sandwiches, pasta salad, chips, and fruit.
“Bird food.” Haze grunted as he took in the spread. It looked good, but he knew he would need to eat again in an hour.
“It’s a girls’ lunch that you’re impeding on, I might add.” Deja grumbled as she took a seat at the center island.
Haze ignored her, and so did everyone else.
Once everyone filled their plates, his mother looked at him with sad eyes and said, “What’s this about you having a daughter?”
Haze’s jaw clenched. He couldn’t believe he had a damn daughter. Then, his mouth quirked up into a smile when he visualized her face. “She looks just like me, yo.”
“Wait, so she’s a real kid? Like, for real for real?” Deja asked with her face scrunched up.
Kyomi elbowed her cousin while his mother cut her eyes at Deja. “Girl, hush.”
“What? I’m just tryna make sure?—”
“I said hush,” Haze’s mom said, and Deja clamped her mouth shut. Everyone turned their attention back to Haze. “Continue, baby.”
Haze let out a deep breath, the food on his plate completely forgotten. “There’s this girl. Y’all met her the other night. Devyn.” He looked at Kyomi and Deja. “I met her a few years back, and I don’t know. I immediately fucked wit’ shorty. I don’t know how to explain it. I knew I wanted her. I knew I would change to have her.” He shook his head to focus his thoughts. “Anyway, some things happened, and before I could get her name and number, she disappeared. I ain’t hear from her or see her again until about a week ago. I knew it was my second chance, but her ass tried to run from me again.
“I wasn’t about to let that shit happen again, so I pulled up on her today at her job. Last thing I expected was to find a little girl with my whole face.” He snorted. “Baby girl even named after me. Check it, her name is Hazel.”
“Aw, that’s actually so cute.” Kyomi gushed with tears gathered in her eyes.
Haze nodded because though he was initially mad about it, the name was cute as hell.
“I asked Devyn to explain, and she said she got pregnant that night a few years back and never told me because of the lifestyle I live.” He scoffed. That shit sounded so ridiculous to him.
He looked around the kitchen to see everyone’s reactions. His brows furrowed when he noticed everyone avoiding his eyes. His mother stood across from him and suddenly seemed super interested in her plate. Kyomi sat next to him and decided at that moment to dish more food onto her plate. Deja looked down at the counter as she stuffed the last of her sandwich into her mouth. “What? Y’all ain’t got nothin’ to say?”
Gently, his mother leaned across the center island and grabbed his hand. “Let me ask you this. What led her to believe your lifestyle wasn’t safe?”
“Them fuck ass Blue Boyz shot up our block party a few years back. That’s the night I met her.”
Kyomi’s eyes grew wide. “She was there?”
“Yeah.” Haze nodded, not understanding the looks on their faces. Deja simply shook her head. “Man, what?”
“Baby, look. She was dead ass wrong for not giving you a chance to prove her wrong,” his mother said.
“Thank you!” Haze exclaimed, excited that he finally got some validation.
“But—”
“Ain’t no buts.” He cut his mother off.
She cut her eyes at him and continued. “But she isn’t really wrong to be afraid of your lifestyle, honey.”
“Truly. I still have nightmares about that day.” Kyomi shuddered next to him. He understood why she still had nightmares. It was because she had never been exposed to anything like that.
Neither has Devyn.
