Page 31 of Beautiful Harmonies

“Shit ain’t spiraling out of control. That was an isolated incident that happened. It’s over as far as her affiliation with him. You should have taken initiative when Mama died. You came to the funeral and that was it. You left all the planning to me, all the bills to me, and the responsibility of raising a teenage girl to me. Now that all the work has been done and I’ve made something of myself, you wanna bring your trifling ass up here in my element to talk. Man, get the fuck outta here.”

“Deontray, who are you talking?—”

“Hey, baby girl.”

When I saw Mi appear behind him, I wanted to force him out the back door. She didn’t need his bullshit in her life now. She was standing there stunned. Her lips had parted, and hereyes had watered. I rolled my eyes because I felt like she was going to want a relationship with his dead-beat ass.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, sweetheart. How have you been?”

She hugged him, and my lip twitched. Then it was like lightning struck her or something because she pushed him away from her. “Why are you here? Are you tryna be in our lives because Tray famous? You didn’t even like that Mama was taking him to all those talent shows.”

“I finally got the audacity to admit my faults, baby girl. That’s all. I miss y’all.”

She frowned as she stared at him and watched his gaze bounce between the two of us. “Please. Just give me a chance to prove that I’m ready to be the father I should have been from the beginning. I want to do right by y’all.”

“You right. You got plenty of audacity. This was not the time or the place. You wanted to wait until a weak muthafucka, who I think has an ulterior motive, was watching us. You knew he would let you get to us. How did you know that?”

He lowered his head for a moment. When he looked back up at us, he said, “Terrence is your uncle. He’s my dad’s illegitimate son. He stole from me when he was younger, and he owed me a favor.”

That shit only made my blood boil. My own uncle was after my lady. I was pretty sure he was intentionally after me by trying to convince Kamari that I was no good for her. He was jealous and didn’t want to see me happy. Or it could have some shit to do with this nigga standing in front of me.

“Come at me again. You and Terrence don’t get along at all. Actually, he can’t stand your ass and thought he was gon’ fuck with me to get back at you. That’s why you here. You were here to talk to him, and he blew up your spot. That’s just the shit I’m feeling.”

He frowned just as Mi’Junae slapped the shit out of him. I looked over at security as they approached. “Get his sorry ass out of here.”

“And I was about to accept you into my life. You haven’t changed. A sorry excuse for a father. Thank God we had a mother touched by God, because yo’ ass is the devil.”

They carried his ass out, and Mi turned to me and asked, “How did you know?”

“I didn’t. I didn’t know until he remained quiet and didn’t deny shit I had said. He wasn’t here to see us. There’s no telling how many of Kamari’s concerts he’s come to. We just happened to be at this one. Since it wasn’t publicized that I would be here, he had no clue. I’m pretty sure if he had heard the interview yesterday, he wouldn’t have come.”

“That’s fucked up.”

I put my arm around Mi and took a deep breath. That nigga was sorry as hell, and I was glad Mi saw right through his bullshit. I felt like he was just trying to get close to us because of who I was now. Well, he could go back to wherever the fuck he was.

“Thank you for being not only a big brother but a father to me. I love you, Tray.”

I kissed her head. “I love you too. Mi.”

I was sitting in Kamari’s dressing room, waiting for her to come out of the shower. The frown was still on my face. I felt like she was angry because I’d knocked that muthafucka out for trying to get at her behind my back. Whatever shit he had going on with that sorry excuse for a father had nothing to do with me. Jealousy was a powerful thing. It could lead to all kinds of evil. Terrence had proven that. There was no telling how far he would have gone had the shit not hit the fan tonight.

When Kamari emerged from the bathroom, I stood and was prepared to explain everything that had happened. I didn’t likethe frown on her face. Angels weren’t supposed to look the way she did right now. “Kamari?—”

“Not now. I have fans to greet.”

I frowned hard as she tried to walk past me and grabbed her hand. “Those fans can wait. I’m your man, and we need to clear the air before you go out there.”

She only frowned harder. “What do you mean my fans can wait? Do you say the same about your fans? Are you insinuating that because you’re the man in this relationship that you should come first?”

I frowned as she jerked her hand away from mine. “Shouldn’t I come first?” I asked.

“This is my career. If you can’t handle that, then you need to move around. It was here before you, and it’s gonna be here after you. I don’t like all this drama in my element.”

“That wasyourfucking security that brought all this drama! That nigga?—”

“I said we would talk about it later! If you can’t respect that, then carry yo’ ass back to Detroit. It’s a shame that you professed your love for me less than an hour ago, and now you’re showing me that you’re a chauvinistic asshole.”

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