Page 20 of When It’s All Said And Done

“Oh, so now you remember where I live?” I sassed.

“Nessa, I been tryin’ to apologize all morning,” Desmond reasoned. “You haven’t picked up any of my calls, and I go to your job, and they say you called out sick. So, I rush over only to find you gone and still not answering my calls. Where you been?”

“You got a lot of fuckin’ nerve to be all up in my business but still ain’t told me why you ain’t make it last night. Miss me with that bullshit.”

“I didn’t come because I was sleep. I’d stayed up the night before playin’ my game, and when I laid down to take a nap I slept the night away.”

“Desmond, I told you how important this was to me. I needed you there for me so we could show a fuckin’ united front.”

“It ain’t like I need that nigga permission to fuckin’ be with you so it wasn’t that big of a deal. You’ve seen me and Nyla around each other, so why he couldn’t just take yo’ word ‘bout it?”

“Because he wanted to see it for himself! Just like I would if he wanted to move some bitch into his house. It’s a respect thing and you not showin’ up because you were fuckin’ sleep is so embrassin’! Then you tryna make it like it’s small but I’d already expressed how important it was to me! Ya know what go back to wherever you were because you could’ve just texted me this damn excuse.”

“Wait, wait,” he grabbed me as I tried to walk past him. “Look, I’m sorry, baby. I fucked up and I am so sorry for that. If you could set something else up, I’ll be there bright and early. We were takin’ a step in the righ…”

“Hold that thought,” I interrupted as my phone rung. “Hello? Are you sure? Ok, I’m on my way.”

“What’s goin’ on?”

“I gotta go pick Nyla up from school due to them not havin’ any air conditioning. Look, I’ll call you later and we can finish this conversation, ok?”

“Cool, again I’m sorry. Tell Nyla I said Hey.”

I didn’t even acknowledge what he’d said before I jumped in my car. Summertime was hot but in Florida that heat wasn’t anything to play with. The way I was driving like a bat out of hell you’d think I was running from the law. I didn’t play when it came to my child at all, so I wasn’t even gonna pussyfoot to go get her out of a hot building. When I pulled up to the daycare, I was surprised that I was the only one in the parent pickup area. The moment I walked into the daycare, I became confused as the cold air conditioning slapped me in the face.

“Hello, I’m Nyla Wilson’s mom. I got a call that the A/C was out and I needed to pick up Nyla,” I explained to the first teacher I saw.

“That’s our protocol but our A/C is still working,” she clarified. “Did you still want to pick up Nyla?”

“Uh, no, I’ll be back to get her at regular time.”

“Ok, see you then.”

I pulled my phone out of my purse and verified that it was the same number of the daycare. It matched the number on the door, but when I redialed it, the line just kept ringing. While I was confused as hell about what was going on, I was happy that I didn’t have to deal with Desmond. I didn’t want there to be any truth to what Yas was saying at the furniture store, but I wasn’t happy to see him like I used to be. With me getting everything we’d need for the move, I would actually be able to just enjoy my day off.

“Mommy, when is Chanel gonna get here?” Nyla asked as I buttoned her pajama top.

“She’ll be here when she gets here sweetie,” I answered as I stood up. “Come on let’s finish helpin’ your Goddy setup.”

She grabbed ahold of my hand before leading us into the front room. Yas was still blowing balloons up for the girls’sleepover. We were all dressed in matching pajamas with Chanel’s waiting for her on the sofa. While Yas did that task me and Nyla went into the kitchen to boil some water. We had two pedicure stations set up, and the water would go inside the tubs.

When Nyla heard the sounds of The Princess and The Frog, she abandoned the task she was helping me with. I was thankful that her favorite movie was on that way she would be distracted with Chanel not being here. It was thirty minutes past the time I told Chance to bring her over. He was never late but he didn’t cancel so I was going forward with everything. As I checked on the meatballs I was cooking, Yas joined me in the kitchen. Before she could finish asking me the same question Nyla did, my phone vibrated just as there was a knock on the door.

“Cousssiiinnnnnn,” Nyla and Chanel squealed in unison.

“Dadddy! I didn’t know you were comin’,” Nyla broadcasted Nas’ pop-up.

“Daddy?” I snapped my head towards Yas.

“Yep, y’all daddy here,” she smirked.

“See you finna go home,” I playfully threatened before stepping into the living room. “Hey, Nyla how about you take Chanel to go change into her PJs.”

“Ok, Mommy. Come on, Chanel. We gonna have so much fun,” Nyla informed aa they walked to back.

“Damn, Baby Mama you ain’t even gonna say hey?” Nas questioned once the girls were gone.

“Nas, why are you here? Where Chance?” I investigated.