Page 23 of Pulse of True Soulmates

“Oh, so this wasn’t your idea to reach out to me. I’m actually surprised that he knows about me,” I quipped. She was pissing me the hell off at this point. It didn’t feel like any open doors would come from this bullshit dinner.

Ariel shifted in her seat. “Yes, he knows about you. I had to tell him about you when your father called to ask for the ten thousand dollars for Midnite’s training. That was a substantial amount of money to pull from my household.”

I chuckled. “I’m not really sure if you’re trying to or even realize that you’re using all the wrong words in this conversation. You basically just told me that the only reason you told your husband was because you gave me money so my dog could be trained. I appreciate that, by the way.”

Her hand waved in front of her frustration-painted face. “This is not going how I thought or want it to go.”

“What, did you think that I would be overjoyed because you wanted to spend time with me? Excited that you found the time to pencil me into your life?” I felt the first tear leave my eye. “Ariel, I’m not that six-, seven-, or eight-year-old girl that cried for you. It would have been different if you brought me to my father but were still in my life. Maybe if you called to check on me, send me a birthday card or call every year, not every damn five years. Who the fuck does that shit?”

I felt like I would hyperventilate. Seconds later, Midnite jumped up onto the booth seat next to me with my medication in his mouth. Right behind him was Deck. “Aeon, baby, are you alright?” He turned to Ariel. “Aye, I think you need to leave because you’re agitating her, and I don’t like that shit. You can try this bullshitI give a fuckreunion another day if she’s up to it.”

My baby was pissed as he took the medicine from Midnite to open it and give me a pill. Ariel sat there and watched as Deck and Midnite took care of me. There was this look of something. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was something. “Um, yeah, Aeon, I didn’t mean to make you upset. I would love it if at some point you could meet your sister. I would really like her to meet you at some point.”

I looked at this woman like she was crazy. The insensitivity of her attitude was outrageous to me. I knew Sophia was innocent in all of this, and I felt horrible for the jealousy I felt in my heart toward a child. Why wasn’t I good enough tohave a mother? I had already taken my pill and felt myself calming down. “I’ll see if I can pencil the love of your life into my schedule. I’d love to ask her how it feels to be loved by a mother.”

“Aeon, I love you. I have always loved you,” Ariel proclaimed. “It was my love that made me know that I couldn’t take care of you. I was young and still wanted to live a free life. Your father was more stable back then than I was.”

I felt myself getting upset again. “Nope, we’re not doing this shit,” Deck said as he stood to his full height. “Ariel, I’m gonna need you to leave. All that bullshit you’re poppin’ is just that. Picking up the phone to call your damn daughter would not have impeded on your damn free life. Now you want to flounce in here like you were here all along, asking the daughter you abandoned to meet the daughter you kept. Fuck outta here.”

Ariel chuckled, then said, “Fine. Aeon, you know how to get in touch with me if you want to. Hopefully, I hear from you, but if I don’t, I understand.” She slid out of the booth and put her purse strap on her shoulder. One final look, then she was gone.

“Come on, baby,” Deck said. Right as I stood, the waitress walked up with our food. He told her to bring my plate upstairs with cutlery and trash the other plate of food. “Come on, Midnite.”

When we got upstairs, Julian had a concerned expression. “Aeon, you good?”

I just nodded before I told Midnite he could lay on his pillow. Deck walked me into his office, then closed the door. He leaned back on his desk before he pulled my body to lean against his. He said nothing; he just looked at me. The silence made me uncomfortable. I didn’t like being uncomfortable.Why isn’t he saying anything?

I had no idea where the tears came from. They left my eyes without my consent. In a whisper, I asked, “How could she notwant me but have another child? She said her husband told her to reach out to me. Not she wanted to, but her husband told her to. Oh, and the only reason he knows about me is because of the money she gave for Midnite.”

Deck wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. The hug was so damn tight, and I needed it as I cried into his chest. “I’m so sorry, baby. Time may have passed, but that woman is still selfish.” He pulled my face out of his chest, then cupped my cheeks. “You are not obligated to let that woman into your life. You have so many people around you that love you, including my mama.

“We got you. I know it’s not the same as having your own mother, but we got you.” He kissed my lips gently.

When we pulled back, I wore a smile. “You’re right. It’s not the same; it’s better.”

A LITTLE TIME LATER . . .

“I swearshe has always been a selfish bitch,” Mr. Vernon said. “We were young when we got together, so you expected immature, selfish behavior. I knew our marriage wouldn’t work before it happened, but I wanted my baby to experience a two-parent household.” He sighed. “When we divorced, I offered totake my baby, and she told me that I was trying to take her baby. She was so damn bitter.”

My face scrunched. Aeon never spoke much about her parents’ divorce, which was expected since she was only four when they separated. She told me that it was an amicable split, so I was confused why Ariel was bitter. “Wait, why was she bitter? Aeon told me that y’all split was amicable.”

He tittered. “That’s what you tell a five-year-old that ask why you and mommy aren’t together anymore. You say,Mommy and Daddy are still friends.I’ve kept that storyline because it was easier than saying what really happened. The fact is that she started her live free lifestyle well before we divorced. It seemed like every other month I caught her doing something she had no business doing. The last straw was when she got pregnant by another man.”

I spit some of my drink out. “Wait, what? She got pregnant for another man! How did you know it wasn’t your child?”

“When she got pregnant, we weren’t having sex. The first time I found out that she cheated, that was enough for me to not want her. Man to man, all she could do was suck my dick,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this blunt conversation with Mr. Vernon. I guess we had crossed a certain bridge in our relationship. That had to be a good thing. “Damn, that shit is crazy. What happened with the baby situation?”

“The guy said that he didn’t want a baby, so she had an abortion. The week after she told me that she was pregnant, I had her served with divorce papers. She talked big shit about the man that she was pregnant for. How he would take care of her, their baby, and our daughter. Blah, blah, blah. She signed those divorce papers with enthusiasm and vigor. Once her knight in shining armor turned out to be nothing more than a court’s jester, she came running back.

“When I refused to take her back, she made problems for me when it came to seeing my daughter. We were in and out of court about Aeon. It was crazy,” he commented with a far-off look in his eyes.

“Damn, yeah, Aeon never told me anything like that,” I said. This new information was a little surprising. From first impression of Ariel, she came across as a selfish woman. It was in how she carried herself. There was something about a selfish person that just stood out. They couldn’t hide it.

“Yeah, it was bad, but she probably doesn’t remember. That’s why when she popped up at my door with Aeon and all her stuff, I was surprised. It wasn’t even a weekend before that she wouldn’t let me see her,” he recalled. “She didn’t ask what I had going on or anything. It was just, I don’t want to be a mother. Since you want her so bad, take her.”

I sat there quietly for a moment. “It’s crazy that she’s around here like she’s sincere. On top of that, she’s been texting her about meeting Sophia. That shit is stressing my baby out.”

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