Page 35 of Love At Close Range

I didn’t answer immediately because my mind went back further than the text. Back before Reiana left. Back to the shit that had me looking at her differently in the first place. Kree had been the one who told me Reiana was fucking around. She said the nigga Reiana kept claiming she was studying with from one of her classes was more than that. At the time, I believed her because she was Reiana’s friend. I didn’t have a reason to think she would lie to me about some shit like that, especially when she acted like she was only telling me because she felt like I deserved to know. Now I was sitting in Reiana’s house putting the pieces together and they all pointed back to the one person who would’ve had a motive to keep Reiana away from me.

“Kree,” I said as I looked at her.

“What about Kree?” She questioned with a frown.

“She’s the reason I thought you were cheating on me,” I admitted as I kept my eyes on her. “She told me that nigga from your class you kept saying you were studying with was more than somebody you were doing schoolwork with.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Reiana asked.

“Yeah,” I replied. “She told me y’all had something going on behind my back.”

“And you believed her?” Reiana snapped as she stepped closer. “You believed Kree over me without even asking me if the shit was true?”

“I was already seeing shit that looked off to me,” I explained as irritation crept into my voice. “You were spending more time with the nigga, telling me y’all were studying, and then Kree came to me saying it was more than that. She was your friend, Ree. Why the fuck would I think she was lying?”

“Because I was your woman!” Reiana shot back before lowering her voice. “You should’ve asked me. Instead, you let that bitch put something in your head and broke up with me over a lie.”

“I didn’t know it was a lie,” I countered as I watched her. “From where I was standing, your own friend was confirming the shit I already thought I was seeing.”

“That bitch was playing both sides.” She shook her head. “She knew exactly who that man was because I talked to her about school all the fucking time. She knew I was studying with him, and she knew there was nothing going on between us.”

I had spent years believing Reiana cheated on me and chose somebody else, while she had apparently spent those same years believing I knew she was pregnant and rejected her.

“And after you left, eventually, me and Kree started fucking around,” I admitted as I kept my eyes on hers. “It wasn’t right after you left, but it happened.”

“Oh, that bitch was slick. She lied and told you I was cheating… helped break us up, then ended up being the pussy you fell into. And your dumb ass never once thought that shit was convenient?” She laughed, but we both knew wasn’t shit funny.

“Not back then,” I admitted as my jaw tightened. “I thought you cheated on me. As far as I knew, whatever we had was already done.”

“Because Kree told you it was,” Reiana shot back as she pointed toward me. “That bitch knew exactly what she was doing. She wanted you and played me to get you.”

“I’m starting to see that,” I replied as I rubbed the back of my neck. “But don’t act like I knew she was setting shit up. The fuck was I supposed to think, Ree?”

“You were supposed to ask me!” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “That bitch fed you some bullshit about me cheating, you never came to me and asked me shit, then she slid right into the opening she created.”

I couldn’t even argue with that part because looking back now, that was exactly how the shit happened.

“So what happened with y’all after that? You fucked around for a while and then what?” She asked.

“We had a daughter,” I told her as I watched her face. “Her name is Lennyn and she’s five.”

“You have a daughter with Kree?” She asked I heard the crack in her voice.

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Lenny wasn’t planned, but she’s my baby. Me and Kree never been together in a real relationship, though.”

Reiana laughed again, but there wasn’t shit funny about it. “So this bitch lied and told you I was cheating, got you to leave me, ended up fucking you, then had your baby while I was over here raising the son you swear you never knew existed. Excuse me if I’m not overjoyed right now,” she said sarcastically.

“I’m know this shit is fucked up and I’ll take that. It’s been eight years and I feel fucked up knowing I had a son that needed me,” I replied sincerely.

“You should feel fucked up,” Reiana countered with her voice laced with pure venom. “Kree didn’t just play me… she played your ass dumb ass too. You deserved to feel every bit of fucked up right now. Maybe you’d get a glimpse of what I felt over the years.”

Before either one of us could say anything else, footsteps sounded upstairs. Reiana looked toward the staircase just as Rhyse came down in a T-shirt and basketball shorts, and a face mirroring mine.

“Mama… the food done yet?” he asked as he reached the bottom step, but his attention shifted away from her before she could answer. His eyes landed on me, and he stopped where he was, staring like he was trying to figure out who the fuck I was.

I didn’t say anything as I looked back at him. Seeing him up close was different from watching him through a camera lens or studying pictures on a laptop. There wasn’t any question in my mind anymore because the resemblance was too fucking strong to ignore.

Rhyse looked me over for another few seconds before turning his head toward Reiana. “Ma, who is this nigga?” he asked, trying to put some bass in his voice.