Page 59 of Beyond The Stars

“Laugh again, and we’ll see who’s laughing when I knock all your teeth out your mouth,” Siasia said through gritted teeth. “You know what? Fuck all this shit. You want to know how big his dick is? Big as fuck and he eats pussy real good too. Oh, let me add how beautiful his soul is and how much of a fixer he is.” She counted out all the good things about Qamar on her fingers. “Just to show his generosity, lunch on him.” She slapped the black card with gold writing down on the table. “Check, please,” she announced to any server in listening range.

Ally stood with her mouth wide open while Champ examined the card. Qamar Moony was etched in gold lettering confirming that lunch was indeed on him.

Siasia wiped her face even more pissed that they’d taken her out of character. She was already in a bad mood after the conversation she had with her mother. Add talks of a man she was trying so hard to forget but couldn’t because he’d taken her to the moon with promises of their exploration going beyond the stars—leaving gentle reminders of his presence like the card that had been keeping her lights on and her little sister clothed for the summer.

Ally tried to reach out but Siasia slapped her hand down. “I didn’t know.”

“Bitch, lie again. You knew but didn’t think I was worthy of a man like Qamar’s time. Too bad for you, I am home for him.” She choked. “He told me I was home. And if dumb hoes like you didn’t get in my head, I would take my ass home but he’s too perfect for a chaotic mess like me.”

17

With one leg kicked from under the plush yet lightweight covers, Qamar lay on his back with his eyes closed, teetering on the edge of wakefulness and dreams. The night had been long, filled with Belinay’s tears and playful babbles. She was seven weeks old, and they were all in Lynn Beach—him, Janay, and their precious little girl.

“Qamar!” Janay’s voice pierced the morning silence, causing him to groan. He could hear her bare feet patter across the hardwood floor, down the hall, and into his room as she aggressively pushed the door open.

“I know you ain’t still sleep. Get up so you can get her. I have class in…” She glanced at the watch on her wrist. “…thirty minutes.”

“Why you can’t get ready earlier and drop her off at daycare?” He looked up at her with tired eyes, barely able to keep them open.

“Because what she got a daddy for?” Janay’s neck snaked as she retorted.

The tension between them was palpable. They were in a strange place—she was still pissed about what had happened over a month ago, and he walked around like he’d lost his best friend. Janay still tried her hand at seducing him, attempting to show him that being together was better for Belinay, but Qamar wasn’t trying to hear any of that.

He still hadn’t talked to Siasia, and Luna had been on his head about what went down with him and Solar. It felt like a tectonic plate had shifted in his world, leaving him disoriented and unsure of how to get things back on track. The weight of unresolved issues hung heavy in the air, and Qamar couldn’t shake the feeling that he was standing on the precipice of something monumental, yet he had no idea how to navigate the landscape of his fractured life.

Qamar squeezed his eyes together while pinching the bridge of his nose to stop the not so nice things that wanted to come out of his mouth. Janay had been moving like her end goal was to stress him out. Like she was trying to get some payback for him not choosing her when she should’ve been easy going seeing as Belinay wasn’t his seed biologically. No matter how bad she pissed him off, he wasn’t going to throw that fact up in her face.

Instead of saying all the shit he wanted to say, he stretched his hands out to receive his happy baby. Belinay didn’t look like him but felt like his every time she was in his arms. Over the last few weeks, she’d gotten her weight up and was a short and juicy baby with fat jaws that he loved to kiss.

“Hey, Daddy baby,” he cooed, nuzzling his nose into her fat neck. She whined a little. “I know. That’s your mama always making all that noise early in the morning.”

Janay tightened her lips. “That’s cause your daddy always trying to play on my top,” she said, pulling out her phone to snap a picture of Qamar holding Belinay on his bare chest.

“I thought you had class,” Qamar called her bluff.

He’d noticed how many pictures Janay took and how much she posted them on her social media. He wasn’t into social media like that and only got on to post every now and then because of his NIL deals. Lately, he’d been on there to stalk Siasia’s page where she only posted her work. Anything else he wanted to know about her, he had to get it out of Noodle.

“I do and I’m leaving. Please get her there in a timely manner. Ain’t no need to be paying all that money for the daycare just for her not to be there.”

“Are you paying it?” Qamar gave her a deadpan stare.

Janay only rolled her eyes before stomping off. He had been so difficult since she’d been back in Lynn Beach. If she had it her way, she wouldn’t finish college and go on to be a kept baby mama to a professional soccer player. However, her mama nor Qamar weren’t trying to hear that.

As soon as his front door shut, his phone rung which annoyed him even more. Seeing it was Luna calling, he answered knowing if he didn’t she’d hop on the jet and be at his house.

“Yea?” he answered, rolling over to lay Belinay down since she’d dozed off.

“Don’t answer the phone like that,” Luna fussed. “What you doing anyway?”

“Still in the bed. Belinay right here.”

“Mm,” she huffed. “So that’s why your coach been calling me saying you ain’t been to practice or call… what’s going on with you, Qamar?”

Qamar exhaled heavily, regretting answering her call. “Luna, I just ain’t been feeling it.”

“Yea, your spirit all fucked-up. You gotta make shit right with your sister and French.”

“I don’t think one has anything to do with the other.”

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