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“I did. I haven’t seen him look this way since Joshua died.”
“Go ahead, Vegas.”
I lifted my head and sat back on the couch. I glanced at Jungle to see the serious expression on his face. “Keondra’s therapist, the one her sister Yunique introduced her to in Florida, is my mother. Did you know who she was?”
He didn’t look surprised, and that put me on edge a little. “No, I didn’t know who she was, but I knew she was in Florida. Did y’all talk?”
“She said Joshua paid her to have a baby for him to raise, and she had to be ghost after three months. That true?”
He lowered his head, and that told me everything I needed to know. I stood and started pacing. She wasn’t lying. Joshua was a cruel bastard. “Ice told me when we were young, not long before Mama died having Fawn. He told me not to tell you, because it wasn’t necessary for you to know. Plus, Joshua would have come unglued had I told you. That nigga would have been ready to kill me.”
“Did she put up a fight for me?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Ice said she cried and begged to stay and raise you. Joshua put a gun to her head and said a deal was a deal. She even tried to give some of the money back. She’d spent half of it, paying off debt for her and her mama. He told her unless she could come up with the rest in three days, the only way she could stay was if she was floating in the bayou. Her being dead would be the only way she could stay in Houston. Ice said she cried over you for an entire day before she packed her things and left.”
I sat next to him and dropped my face to my hands. What the fuck? “Vegas…”
I looked up at Isaiah, and tears fell from my eyes. I’d put Joshua on a fucking pedestal, and this revelation had given him a violent shove off it. I wiped my face, and Isaiah continued. “So when will you talk to her?”
“I wanna talk to her in person, but only if Keondra will come with me. I gotta make things right with her. I miss her so much. I never thought a woman would have my feelings in a fucking chokehold like this. She’s always on my mind. When I’m sleeping, I dream about her ass. I feel like I’m gonna lose it, and it’s barely been a week.”
“Send her flowers every day if you have to. Let her know you ain’t giving up. Let her know how sorry you are. Send a detailed text message, pin a damn note to her door or car door, send a note by pigeon. Whatever the fuck you have to do, do that shit,” Jungle said, causing Zay to smirk.
I nodded. “So I should just be open and honest.”
“Yes, but without playing victim. You were wrong. My dad always taught us not to hit girls, no matter what type of time they were on. He said to do our best to avoid confrontation with a woman. Was she wrong for hitting you? She sure in the hell was. I’m sure she’ll offer an apology also,” Isaiah added.
“Thanks, y’all. I think I can confidently go to her. She’s seen my sensitive side more times than I can count. So I guess I’ll have to be Joel for a while now and practically retire Vegas. That nigga keep me in trouble when it comes to Kee.”
“I’m mad that you talking like those are two separate people,” Jungle said.
“Shiiiid, nigga, they are.”
We all chuckled as I stood. When I did, Jungle and Isaiah stood as well. I walked over to him and extended my hand to shake his. He pulled me into a one-armed hug then said, “Anytime. And Jungle, whenever you ready to enter my career field, let me know.”
Jungle rolled his eyes as I gave him a head nod then went to a florist online and ordered her some white roses. I never had to be romantic, but the night I told her I loved her was the closest I’d gotten. After I placed the order, we walked out of the room to find everyone inside. It was raining. That shit came out of nowhere.
When I sat next to Pop, he glanced over at me. “You doing the right thing, son. I’m proud of you.”
I swore I wanted to fucking cry all over again. I’d never heard those words from anybody, because I’d never done anything for anybody to be proud of. Turning to him, I asked, “What’s there to be proud of?”
“Taking the necessary steps to assure the woman you love that with you is where she should be. It’s definitely obvious that you miss her… that you’re longing for something. Admitting you need help and actually getting that help by way of Zay is grown man shit. A lot of men don’t know how to do that, nor do they realize how beneficial talking to someone can be. That’s a lot to be proud of, son.”
Him calling me son was another emotional gut check. I was gonna have to get out of here to avoid all this brotherly and fatherly love. “Thanks, Pop.”
I bit my bottom lip and closed my eyes as he patted my back. What the fuck! I didn’t mean to call him Pop out loud. First, I slipped up with Keondra, now him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean?—”
“Chill out. I would much rather you call me Pop than Mister Berotte or Mister Sheldon. It makes my position in your life sound a little more permanent.”
He chuckled as I nodded. A slight smile graced my lips. This felt good. I was glad I came. I knew what I did today would be easy, though, compared to how difficult it would probably be trying to get Keondra to talk to me.
SIXTEEN
KEONDRA
Lying on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, wasn’t how I saw myself spending my Tuesday. I was staring at the flowers that Joel had delivered to me. We hadn’t spoken in over a week, since the incident, and I was pissed. I was pissed because I missed him. He said things to intentionally hurt me, then he almost broke my arm and threatened to kill me. Why in the fuck did I still want him?
When the flowers got delivered yesterday evening, I cried uncontrollably for nearly thirty minutes. He was trying to get me to talk to him, but I just didn’t feel like I was emotionally ready. The more I thought about it though, I knew I would never be emotionally ready, because I loved him. I came to that realization last week when I was avoiding him.
