Page 2 of Give Me All Of You

“Bet.” He nodded as he walked out of the room.

I went back to my desk and pulled my phone out of the drawer before I dialed Keith’s number. He answered right before the voicemail came on.

“What is it, Rue?” he asked like I was annoying him.

“I have to work over tonight. Can you pick Infiniti up from daycare?”

I could hear him huffing, but I didn’t have time for his shit today. The answer was ‘yes or no’.

“Working over?” He scoffed. “I know what that means. I don’t know why you won’t get a respectable job and leave those people alone,” he stated.

He always belittled my job every chance he got but had better sense than to say that to The Richmonds. He just liked to talk shit.

“It’s a job, and it’s how I take care of my daughter. You do the bare minimum and that’s only when you feel like it. I pay for daycare even though you told me you would. I-” he cut me off.

“I told you if you wanted me to do more, sign your rights over to me and my wife and I wouldn’t have a problem taking care of her financially.”

This nigga never ceased to amaze me.

“Why would you think I would give you my daughter? You know what? Don’t worry about it.”

I hung up in his face because I didn’t have time to be going back and forth with this overgrown ass man.

“You good?”

I turned around and saw Knas standing on the other side of my desk.

“I’m fine. I just need to make sure I have someone to watch my daughter tonight. Knight asked me to work over, and I desperately need all the extra money I can get.”

I sat down in my chair and put my head in my hands.

“Look, I get it. I’m a father myself, and that nigga Knight has three kids. Go home to your baby.”

“No, I can find somebody to watch her,” I insisted.

“Rue, you’re good. I promise. Don’t worry about staying over.” I cut him off again, but he put his hand up to stop me. “I’ll still pay you.”

I was floored.

“I can’t take money I didn’t earn, Knasim.”

“Look at it as a bonus.” He smiled, which was something he rarely did.

“Thank you! Thank you so much.”

I was on the verge of tears, but the family was walking in, so I had to straighten up my face immediately. Keith can say what he wants, but The Richmonds were lifesavers.

∞∞∞

After the consultations, I was able to go pick my daughter up on time. When I got ready to leave, Knasim and Knight came back upfront, and both handed me ten thousand dollars apiece. I almost fell flat on the floor. I never expected them to give me anything, especially not that much. I refused it at first because I didn’t want them to think I was a charity case. They explained that wasn’t the case at all. They knew I was a hard worker and being a single mother could be hard. I never told them about Infiniti’s father because a part of me was embarrassed that he was well off but still refused to take care of his child without stipulations. To them, my baby’s daddy was just another broke ass deadbeat. I thanked them for the money again and went straight to the bank to deposit it. As soon as I picked up Infiniti, I paid for her daycare for the rest of the year. I told Stephanie how I got the money, and she told me I would have been a fool to block that blessing. After that, I went home to bathe my baby, order groceries and house essentials. I paid my rent and lights for the rest of the year and paid off my furniture. I would call my mechanic in the morning to see how much it would be to fix my car and pay that upfront. I didn’t care if I didn’t have a dime left; I wanted to make sure my bills were paid, and we had food in the house.

After bathing and feeding Infiniti, I laid her down, then ordered the groceries and waited for them to arrive. While I did that, I poured a glass of wine and called Journei.

“Hey, boo,” she answered.

“What you doing?”

“Nothing. Sitting here looking at the walls, look at me. My mama still out doing whatever with whoever, so I’m here by myself.”

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