I laughed out loud because she was right. I couldn’t get enough of her, and I wasn’t even ashamed to say it.
I finally pulled up to The Reserve where I was meeting my pops. When I arrived, I parked and headed inside with Graves following close behind. Once inside, I looked around until I saw my pops seated in a booth near the back wall.
“Wassup, Pops,” I greeted once I got close.
He got up and hugged me before shaking Graves’ hand. I told Graves he could sit close by and order whatever he wanted. That was a big nigga, so I knew I just set myself up.
The waitress came as soon as she saw me, and I ordered a Corona. My pops already had an appetizer of Southwest egg rolls, so I indulged in them.
“Nice to see you, son. How’s your shoulder?” he spoke.
“It’s straight, and didn’t you just see me a few days ago?” I smirked.
“Yeah, but we hardly ever do shit like this anymore,” he admitted, and I nodded.
He was right. Between football and my personal life, I rarely saw my people as much as I wanted to. Lani was an exception because she was my assistant, with her nosy ass.
“Yeah, I know. Once the off-season comes, we’ll make up for it. I’ll plan a trip for the family and shit.”
“Cadence too?” He asked.
“Of course. She’s a part of this family,” I concluded.
He nodded.
The waitress came back and brought our food and left us alone again. I tasted my steak and shrimp bites before I got to the reason I was here.
“Wassup with you and Maureen?” I asked.
Pops wiped his mouth and hands before leaning back in the seat.
“Shit between me and Maureen was never supposed to be, son. I was still out here in the streets, and I was seeing Maureen and your mama at the same time. Your mama didn’t find out until Maureen thought she was Shirley and wanted to have a woman-to-woman talk with Ai. She told her she was pregnant, and that we were going to be a family. Well, I didn’t know your mama knew until I came to see y’all and she beat the dog shit out my ass and told me to get my black ass on before she killed my ass and everybody kids were gone be bastards. Defeated, I left.”
“I went to ask Maureen why she did that dumb shit and she said our baby deserved a family too. I thought that was the dumbest shit ever because I already had two kids that I was there for, so I don’t know what she thought by saying that. She knew I would’ve been there for our kid too.”
I just sat silently until he finished.
“Well, I never committed to her, not then anyway. I stayed away and avoided all contact with her. I was pissed that she made me lose Ai. I just knew it was over for me and your mama. A few months passed, and Maureen told me she lost the baby and it was all my fault because I ignored her and that stressed her out. I felt like shit. I ended up spending time with her, and I married her because she said that was the only way I could make it up to her, so I did.”
“I never loved her... at least not the way that I love your mama. I tried to make my marriage work because it was the right thingto do, but my heart wasn’t in it. I asked Maureen for a divorce, but she wouldn’t give it to me, so I said, fuck it. I explained everything to your mama, and we worked through it, and that’s why we’re together now,” he explained.
“So, you plan on fucking my mama and staying married to Maureen?” I questioned. Pops or not, he said the wrong shit, and I was going to beat his ass all over this place.
“Nah, son. I’ve finally filed for divorce again, and she agreed this time,” he admitted.
“What made you ask again?”
He looked at me for a second and said, “You.”
“Me?” I quizzed. “How the fuck I make you do some shit that you knew needed to be done in the first place?”
“Your actions, son,” he started. “You were running through these women like fresh drawls. You didn’t seem to care how they felt, and it was ruining you. I ruined you. You knew I was married, but you also knew that I was still seeing your mama, and you thought that was okay. It wasn’t. I never wanted you to be the man that I was. I felt like I failed you, son,” he explained.
“You didn’t fail me, Pops,” I countered, but he stopped me.
“I did. You only did that shit because that’s all you knew. Granted, you knew I loved your mother, but I also had a wife and any other woman I wanted. My actions almost ruined your life, and I knew I had to change that shit for me, and for you.”
I looked at my pops and knew he meant every word he said. It was days he pissed me off when he tried to tell me how to live my life, but now I see he was trying to help me not to go the same route he did.
