Page 107 of Intercept My Heart

“Why don’t we get changed and then find a movie to watch in the theater room,” Sunny suggested.

“Wait, you have a theater room here too? Man, you’ve been loaded your whole life!” Cash exclaimed, hopping up from the bed.

“Hey, I wanted to let y’all know I’m here. I’m gonna order some pizza and wings unless you all have a taste for something else,” Uncle Ro stated as he peeked inside of the room.

“Naw, pizza is cool.”

“Oh, can we get our own pizza and wings to ourselves? I’m not trying to share with everyone else,” Moolah requested. Unc grinned and agreed to his request. The twins followed him out of the room, telling him what they wanted. Sunny scooted closer to me as I stared off into space. I still couldn’t believe all of this was happening right now.

“How are you feeling? And don’t give that general answer because I know you better than that,” she pressed. I chuckled at the stern look on her face.

“You do know I’m grown, right? You have two sons, but I’m not one of them.”

“You said everything except what I asked. I don’t want to hear any of that. Give me the real.” I stared at her for a moment. Taking a deep breath, I attempted to gather my thoughts so I could truly give her an answer.

“I’m angry and scared. They kept this secret from me for all of these years, and now, what am I supposed to do? Uncle Ro has been my hero since I was a kid. I always looked up to him and wanted to be like him when I grew up. He would pop in to visit and go fishing with my dad and me. Never once did he give me any reason to doubt him. This situation has stressed me out because, as angry as I am, I don’t want to lose either of them. Tootie’s love helped me through so many dark times, and I don’t want our last memory to be a bad one.”

“It won’t. You have to have faith. She loves you too much to leave without the two of you making it right.”

“Thank you for being here.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” My lips pressed against hers. Everything with Sunny seemed effortless. She fit perfectly into my world. She always had.

I walked down the stairs and immediately wanted to turn back around to avoid being in the same room with this man. It was crazy that I used to idolize my uncle, and now the sight of him pissed me off. I wanted to beat his ass like a nigga off the street, but I knew it wouldn’t do anything to make me feel better.

“Are we supposed to call you grandpa or some shit?” Moolah probed.

“I don’t know about that shit. I’m too damn player to be called PawPaw or Granddad. Besides, your dad isn’t fucking with me right now, so I’m sure he probably won’t want you calling me anything other than Uncle Ro.” The conversation made me uncomfortable because I had no idea how I wanted them to address him. Hell, I was still processing the fact that he was my biological father.

“What about Papa Ro? It’s still cool, and it gives us something to address you as that’s not weird.”

“I’m cool with that. Y’all want to see some photos of your dad? Tootie kept a bunch of photo albums here from when he was little.” My stomach sank at the mention of her name. Tootie was the best auntie in my eyes, and she always supported me in whatever event I had. Even those stupid ass Christmas programs at my school. She would sit right next to my parents, smiling big and proudly with a camera in her hands.

“You can bring your peeping ass in here and look too,” Uncle Ro called out, letting me know I had been caught. Instead of turning to head back upstairs, I decided to join them. I watched as he brought out a big box with what appeared to be photoalbums. The twins sat on either side of him while I chose to sit on the love seat across from them.

“This was your dad on his first day of kindergarten. Little nigga walked into that classroom, saw all of those kids, and walked his ass right back out.” They all laughed while I sat there stoically. I didn’t have too many memories of my childhood, and after my parents were killed, I wanted to forget about those days because the memories of them were so painful.

“This was him in the third grade. He had a crush on this pretty little girl, but she never gave him the time of day. I can’t remember her name, but I remember him calling me to ask for some dating advice because the little girl wouldn’t talk to him. Apparently, he didn’t like the advice my big brother gave him. He told him to be patient and wait for her to come to him.”

“What did you tell him?” Moolah asked. I listened intently because I wanted to know the answer to the question too.

“I told him there were too many bitches in the world to be caught up on one. Then I advised him to take some flowers to school and give them to her friend. That would get her attention for sure.”

“Dang, Papa Ro. That’s cold-blooded.”

“Aye, it’s a cruel world out there. I was only trying to give him the game early.” I shook my head because he gave the worst advice when it came to women. I never saw it that way. Growing up, he was like an idol to me, and his word was law. He continued to pass them pictures and explain where they came from and what they meant. I remembered him being around as a kid but never to this extent.

“How do you know so much about my childhood when you were gone all of the time?” Uncle Ro looked up and stared as if he was pondering the answer.

“I was there as much as I could be. At the time, the streets were my life, so I spent a lot of time chasing the bag. However,I made sure to be there for the major events in your life, even if I had to watch from the background. Whenever there was something going on that I couldn’t be a part of, your mother and Tootie would call and give me every detail so I could be included. To be honest, I never cared about that shit. I felt that providing was the only thing I needed to do as a man. As long as I brought home the money, then I was doing my part for you and my family. Do y’all mind giving your father and me a moment to talk privately?”

“Can we go watch movies in the theater room? I want to see if it’s as nice as the one Pops has.”

“Of course.” The twins ran off without any further objections. The room fell silent as the two of us glanced at everything but each other.

“Look, Son.” I glared at him. “Money, you have every right to be upset, but you’re acting like we gave you to some strangers who didn’t give a fuck about you. My brother and sister-in-law loved you as if you were theirs because you were. They never treated you any differently, nor were you neglected. What other alternative would you have wanted? Because I can guarantee you, a young street nigga and a junkie weren’t gonna be able to give you the life you deserved.”

“What happened? Why didn’t she get an abortion if she couldn’t take care of me herself?” Tootie tried to explain what happened, but I was so angry back then that I couldn’t hear shit they had to say.

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