Page 3 of It's Love I'm After

“Thank the Lord, because I can’t deal with you when you’re in the stars,” East says, handing Riele the plate before kissing her lovingly on the cheek.

“Let me go check on Caleb.” I walk from the table to check on Caleb, hoping he is ready to wrap up this party.

The loudness in the room is indicative of the enjoyment of the children taking part in whatever event brought them to this establishment. Light energy flows through me when I take in the smiles on the kid’s faces that I pass. My steps falter when I reach the outside of the ball pit where Caleb is playing. A man is holding a little girl whose face is wet with tears, comforting her while kissing the dainty finger she’s holding in front of him. My chest pinches when I see Caleb watching the display with a somber expression.

“Hey, baby,” I say, grabbing Caleb’s attention while fighting the tears swelling within me upon seeing Caleb’s slight smile.

“I want to go home, Mommy,” Calebs tells me once he’s standing before me inside the ball pit.

Staring at my world, I nod to acknowledge his words because if I reply verbally, I won’t be able to contain the sob, ready to break free.Damn, Chaniya. You really messed this up.

2

GERMAYNE KADEEM MALONE

“Aye, G man. What’s good, bro?” My boy Desi greets me once I answer the phone.

Desi Williams has been my best friend since our sandbox days and my man one hundred grand. He’s also my only friend who I’ve had to fight before working to fix our friendship. If Desi was of the opposite sex, we would be the perfect inspiration for a breakup-to-makeup love ballad. Yet, I wouldn’t trade him because he’s never ceased to have my back whenever I need him.

“Chilling, man. I needed this day off because my ass has been staring at more open vaginas than my eyes can stand. I’m tired and need today to breathe more than amniotic fluids. What’s good with you?”

I’m not sure how my thirty-year-old ass got into the field I’m in, but despite my griping, I love my job. As a physician’s assistant, I get the opportunity to practice medicine without having the responsibility of holding the title. I work at Baxter Medical Center and tend to float around every available department because I love variety. However, for the last ten months, I’ve been working in gynecology, assisting doctors with birthing babies. Getting the opportunity to help mothers bringnew life into the world is something I didn’t think I would enjoy. Yet, it’s one of the best things I’ve done since obtaining my credentials.

“I can dig it. Although, I’m wondering when you’re gonna get tired of working with the gynie squad. You couldn’t pay me to push my fingers into pussy that I’m not making cum,” Desi states.

“This is why you stay in trouble. What do you want, though?”

“You gotta talk to Nay’s ass, dawg. She’s tripping, and I’m tired of going back and forth with her stubborn ass.”

Chardonnay, or Nay as Desi calls her, is my cousin and the woman he entertains, which is the root cause of some of our past fallouts. I tried telling Desi to leave my cousin alone, but his stupid ass got lost in the family curse, . . . big butts. The problem occurred when Desi attempted to be with Chardonnay and decided to explore her options. Chardonnay was raised by my uncle Cooper who taught her that relationships are for suckers. Uncle Cooper not only got left at the altar by Chardonnay’s mother, but she also left him to raise Chardonnay. Her actions made Uncle Cooper bitter, which spilled over into how he raised Chardonnay.

“Come on, G. Say something. Your cousin got me sitting outside her condo, looking like a simp. I can’t keep fighting for this girl like this,” Desi says.

Desi has been around too long to not understand that Chardonnay isn’t gonna change her ways until she’s ready to do so, no matter how much he pleads with her. It’s the main reason I warned him not to go there with my cousin, but a hard head makes a soft behind. Therefore, Desi is in the fuck around and find out phase of his mating dance with Chardonnay.

“Remember what you said after our last fallout. Now you gotta stand on that rah-rah foolishness with ten toes down. Thissituation is above me. I’ll holla, though.” Disconnecting the call, I drop my phone in my lap, returning toBad Boys For Life.

“I don’t know why that boy doesn’t leave Chardonnay alone. They’ve been mismatched from the beginning. My son got that girl acting like she’s a man without feelings, and poor Desi didn’t see it coming,” Grandma Jolene speaks up, reminding me of her presence before I can focus on the movie.

Jolene Malone is my father’s mother and the woman I value as much as I do my mother. Jolene keeps to herself and doesn’t intervene in anybody’s business for the most part. She generally speaks her peace and moves on, which is more than likely what she’s doing now.

“Mhm,” I utter noncommittally.

“A man has gotta know when to drop the cards and take the loss on the chin. That’s what Desi needs to do because Chardonnay is gonna keep running over him like a freight train. Poor girl ain’t had a womanly instinct since she was born. Cooper refused to let me help with her, so it’s too late for me to try to change her now. It’s a shame too. Chardonnay is such a pretty girl, but she’s gonna lose all her wits running around here living out her Cooper Malone instructions.”

Come on, Grandma Jolene. I ain’t trying to consume myself with business that ain’t mine. Desi told me to mind the business that pays me, so I intend to do just that.

“Why would you invite her, though, Sis?”

Staring at Essence, I try to control the inferno boiling within me from the information she just shared with me. Essence is the baby between her and me, which often means she gets her way with our parents and me. At this moment, I want to wringher neck because I’m not sure why she made the decision to invite my ex to her upcoming wedding. If I had it my way, the last thing Essence would be doing at twenty-one is getting married. Yet, neither of our parents sees a problem with her age or the fact that her fiancé is eight years older than her. Essence hasn’t told me where she met the dude, but I think she’s too young and inexperienced to make a lifetime commitment of this magnitude.

“I felt bad for her because she knows about the wedding and looked so hurt when she saw me having brunch with my bridesmaids,” Essence informs me.

“That was just her way of playing on your sympathies, baby. If nothing else, Sherita is a master manipulator who wants nothing more than to get your brother to fall for her foolishness.” Ma interjects, taking the words from my mouth like she has a mirror inside my brain, reading my exact thoughts.

“Not to mention, she’s an opportunist who desires to snag a man to take care of her. My son ain’t about to fall for the okey doke as long as I’m living,” Dad adds before I have a chance to speak on Ma’s statement.

I should have known that spending quality time with Grandma Jolene would lead to unplanned visits from my parents and sister. Yet, I love Grandma Jolene’s company too much to worry about the three of them interrupting the bonding between Grandma Jolene and me.

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