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“I’m okay, Ma.”
“Jakari, I no longer need protecting, baby. It’s time that you tend to yourself. You’ve suppressed so much over the years for the sake of your brothers, your aunt Syn, Nesha, and me. We have all moved on to healthier relationships and have put the trauma of what Avery did behind us. It’s time for you to do the same, baby.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. While I knew she was right, I didn’t even know how to begin doing that. I’d been dealing with this shit the best way I knew how for over twelve years, fucking women to distract myself from my issues. Yendi had read me perfectly, and maybe that was another reason why I was running from her. It was like she could see my soul.
“I know, Mama. I will.”
“You know Serita will be happy to counsel you. There’s no harm in talking to someone, son. Christian had a couple of sessions with her and so did Rylan. They both said she helped them tremendously. I know Avery is your father, and you inherited all the good parts of him… his good looks, his business sense, and his charm. However, you are not him.”
“Yes, ma’am. Let me call you back, Ma. I’m at dinner with the crew.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, baby. Call me back. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I ended the call and blew out a hard breath of irritation and exhaustion. I was tired of feeling like I was the one that had fucked up. While I accepted some responsibility of what happened to Nesha, I knew that Avery was the guilty party. I slid my phone into my pocket, knowing that Yendi was a big part of why I was feeling the way that I was. I’d gotten thoughts of Avery out of my head, but they were replaced with all the shit I did with Yendi.
After sliding my hand over my face and willing myself into a better mood, I headed back inside. When I sat, everyone stared at me. “Damn. I mean that much to y’all? I’m good.”
Nesha smiled and ate a fry from her plate. My food was waiting for me, and I could only hope that it hadn’t been here long enough to get cold. I grabbed a fried shrimp and found it to still be warm.Thank goodness.There was nothing worse than eating cold fried food. As I ate, Jess shoulder bumped me. “You know if you wanna talk, I’m always available.”
I gave her a one-cheeked smile, waiting for the bullshit. She was just as bad as Uncle Storm sometimes. “Although, I heard you had a badass BBW with you at the diner earlier.”
I rolled my eyes. “She wasn’t with me. She was there before I even got there. I just happened to have met her at the school when I was picking up Maui and Ashanni.”
“Why were you picking them up when they both have cars?” Nesha asked.
“Because they were dipping their noses in my business, thinking I needed to be hooked up with Yendi’s fine ass.”
She giggled, and I couldn’t help but chuckle too. “I wouldn’t expect that out of the two of them,” Tyeis added.
“First of all, just because they’re sweet, they still have parts of their fathers. Uncle Storm is always meddling in somebody’s business. Uncle Jasper does too, but he isn’t as blatant about it as the mayor. So they get it honest,” Jess said with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Well however y’all met, it looks like y’all would make a cute couple,” Tyeis said.
Everyone at the table agreed. “A’ight, so when is the baby shower again, Nesha?”
They all laughed again as I tried to direct the conversation to something else. “I’m gon’ let’chu make it with that because I know you private when it comes to that. Everyone is just buying pampers and wipes. I already have a closet full of clothes, because I just couldn’t help myself,” Nesha said.
“Man, this woman was shopping as soon as we found out the baby was a boy,” Lennox added with a chuckle.
They were so happy. It was crazy, because I wanted what they had, but at the same time, I didn’t trust that the person I chose would be loyal. I was all kinds of fucked up.
“Well, fuck that. I want y’all to pull out all the stops for my baby shower,” Jess added. “No expense spared, because guess why?”
Everyone just stared at her waiting for her to continue. “We’re having a divaaaaa!”
The women started screaming as I frowned up, and Decaurey put his finger to his ear. Lennox glanced around the restaurant, nodding at people, assuring them all was well. I slowly shook my head. Jess was already loud, but ever since Tyeis had joined us, she’d gotten even louder, because she had somebody to get loud with her.
“Congratulations, Jess! Our baby girl will have a playmate, just like our baby boy!” Tyeis said excitedly.
“After that shit, we gon’ have to drop them home and head to Uncle Jasper’s,” Decaurey said.
“Hell yeah. But you know Lennox ain’t coming. He like the James Carter of the family. He don’t participate, but he knows what goes on,” I said with a smirk.
“Hell yeah. It’ll kill Aunt Boosie if I have to bust y’all asses,” Lennox said, causing another outburst of laughter.
“Y’all gon’ get our asses kicked out of here,” Nesha said.
