Page 25 of Love At Close Range

The part I couldn’t figure out was why the fuck I didn’t know about him. Reiana knew me better than damn near anybody back then, so she knew I would never knowingly walk away from a child that belonged to me. She knew how seriously I took family and what losing my Pops did to me, so there was no way she could’ve believed I simply wouldn’t give a fuck about my own son. I grabbed my phone so I could call Rook and tell him about this shit.

“Wassup, bro?” Rook answered after a few rings. “Everything straight out there?”

“Man, you wouldn’t believe the shit that I found out,” I replied as I pulled Rhyse’s picture back up. “You remember I told you I saw Reiana with Pierce the other day right?”

“Yeah, I remember that shit,” Rook confirmed as the noise on his end died down. “What happened?”

“I was on Pierce again this morning and caught him leaving a breakfast spot with Reiana,” I explained as I stared at the picture. “Only this time, they had a little boy with them.”

“Okay, and?” He quizzed.

“The little nigga looks just like me,” I told him as I leaned back in the chair. “I’m talking enough like me that I wouldn’t even need a DNA test,” I admitted.

“Hold the fuck up,” Rook interrupted. “What you mean he looks like you?”

“Just what the fuck I said,” I answered as I clicked over to Rhyse’s information. “His name is Rhyse. He’s seven years old and turns eight September ninth.”

“Nigga…” he breathed out.

“Same shit I said,” I confirmed as I rubbed my hand down my face. “The dates line up. I pulled everything I could find on him. Then I got these pictures sitting in front of me, and that boy has my whole damn face.”

“Damn, bro,” Rook responded as he exhaled into the phone. “You think that’s your son?”

“I think there’s a real good fucking chance that he is,” I admitted as I looked at Rhyse’s picture again. “I’m not calling it one hundred percent until I talk to Reiana, but I know what the fuck I’m looking at.”

“What else you find out?” Rook asked.

“Reiana has a whole life out here,” I explained as I closed one of the windows on my laptop. “She lives in Ashmere Park, owns a cleaning company, and the shit is doing numbers. Mona moved out here with her and you wouldn’t believe the shit I found out about her ass.”

“What’s that?” He asked.

“She’s married to that nigga Quentin. Ain’t that some shit?” I expressed. “I’ve been that close to Reiana and my son all this time and didn’t even know it.”

“Damn, that is some shit,” Rook agreed.

“She also has a friend named Taryn that started out as Rhyse’s nanny and ended up becoming her best friend.”

“Damn, this shit is deeper than you thought before you left,” Rook said exactly what I was thinking.

“That’s what it’s looking like,” I agreed as I looked between Rhyse’s picture and the information on the screen. “I came out here for Pierce and found Reiana, then turn around and see a little boy that might be my fucking son.”

“What you planning on doing?” Rook asked.

“I’m going to see Reiana,” I answered without hesitation. “I need to hear the shit from her mouth. If Rhyse is mine, she needs to tell me why the fuck I didn’t know about him.”

“Just go in there ready to listen, bro,” Rook advised. “I know you’re pissed, and I know how you are about your family, but if she knew you back then like you say she did, something about this shit ain’t adding up.”

“I know it ain’t,” I replied as I rubbed my hand over my locs. “That’s why I’m going to hear what she has to say before I decide anything. But if that’s my son, almost eight years of my life with him is gone. I’m not taking that shit lightly.”

Rook agreed before shifting to the initial reason I was in Arbor Point. “So where all this leave Pierce and the contract? Because now the nigga you came to kill is walking around with Reiana and a little boy that might belong to you.”

“The shit is still on,” I answered as I pulled up one of the pictures with Pierce beside them. “Cyrus paid me to handle that nigga, and I’m still handling him. Only difference now is this shit might become personal depending on what I find out.”

“I knew you was gone say that shit,” Rook replied with a low chuckle. “Just get your answers from Ree first.”

“That’s the plan,” I confirmed as I closed the picture of Pierce and went back to Rhyse. “I’ll call you after I talk to her and let you know how the shit went.”

“Aight, bro,” Rook responded. “Handle that shit and keep your head right. I got everything covered here, so don’t worry about nothing back home.”