Page 25 of Read the Room

We all looked at this girl as she slowly got off the floor. Whatever happened to her must have happened to her side because that was where she held when she got up.

“Lo, baby, why are you doing this? We can work through this, baby. You know I love you.”

“Ain’t shit to work out with a bitch that shares her pussy with other niggas. Even if that shit didn’t happen, I planned to end our relationship anyway,” he told her. “You’re not it for me, ma. I’m too old to be dealing with someone that ain’t for me. I’m trying to find my forever.”

Damn, that has to hurt.

Her forehead creased. She pointed her finger at me. It was funny because I was not far from her, and no one blocked her, but she wasn’t trying to come at me now.

“So, this bum bitch is your forever?”

“Ma, what she is has nothing to do with you. I can tell you what she’s not, though… a bum bitch. Last I checked, you’re the one that solely depended on a nigga to take care of you. Remember that conversation we had about what you would do if I didn’t have it?” Lo paused and stared at her sad ass. He turned his attention to me then asked, “Reya, if we were in a relationship and something happened that I couldn’t pay the bills, how are you going to handle that?”

This whole situation had to be uncomfortable and embarrassing for Alexi. I wanted to feel sorry for her, but I couldn’t find it in my fuck-o-meter to do so. A public breakup, no matter what the size of the public, would crush me. It didn’t take me long to think about Lo’s question.

“Um, we’d sit down and come up with a game plan. We’d determine if there was anything that wasn’t a necessity that we could cut. I would be working already. If my income didn’t cover the bills, we could see if we could do a short-term loan or something. Downsizing would be an option if the situation was a long-term thing. I don’t know, but I do know we’d figure it out,” I said with my shoulders lifted toward my ears.

Joey muffled a damn while Ethan shook his head. Mama Bee laughed. “You see the difference between your lil girl ass and a grown ass woman? You around here calling her a bum, and you’re the real bum. Now, get the fuck out my grandson’s house before I beat your ass.”

“Lo,” Alexi muttered. “Please, we can work this out. I can change, baby.”

I closed my eyes with shame for her. I would rather wash my pussy with a porcupine than beg a man to stay with me. Hell damn no!

“Nah, ain’t no changing a twenty-seven-year-old woman when it comes to how she acts,” Lo let her know. “It’s going to take therapy and a lot of Jesus for that. I don’t have time to wait for you. I do wish the next nigga well with you and you with him.”

She stood there with us looking at her while she looked at us. Something must have flipped in her because I saw when her spirit went from baby please to fuck you.

“You know what? I don’t need you. My real nigga got motion, way more motion than you!”

Lo bowed his head. “That’s what’s up. I wonder how that nigga would feel about you begging another nigga to be with you?” He tapped his finger on his chin for a second. “How about you get the fuck out my house and go be with that nigga that got motion. As you can see, it’s almost time to eat with my family.”

Whew, that pissed her off.

“Fuck you, Lo’ak, and that broke bitch!”

She turned on her heels to leave the house. She reached out and knocked over a vase that was on a table close to her, causing it to hit the ground and shatter. Mama Bee rushed behind her and kicked the damn girl in the back. When she fell forward, she didn’t block her fall. Her face hit the floor hard, and when she rolled on her side, there was blood and a tooth on the floor.

Mama Bee stood there without an ounce of remorse. “I told your yorkie looking ass about playing with my grandson. Get the fuck out.”

“You’re going to get yours. Mark my word.”

Her words felt like an omen to me, but no one else in the house was fazed. She walked out of the front door and slammed it behind her. Seconds after the door was locked, Mama Bee turned to me. “Now, where is my baby? What you cooking up in there?” Just like that, everything was back to normal.

Lo took Mama Bee upstairs to Lucas’s room to see him. I went back into the kitchen to finish dinner. Joey and Ethan went back into the den. Just as dinner was finishing, Simone, Sully, and their son SJ showed up. Thank God I didn’t know how to cook small, so there was more than enough for everyone. We sat around, ate, laughed, and enjoyed each other’s company like there wasn’t a price on my head.

It was a few days after Alexi had dropped by. I thought that she would come back because the girl acted like consequences didn’t apply to her, but she didn’t. Mama Bee’s drop kick probably had something to do with it. Oh, and the nasty bitch didn’t even havethe courtesy to pick up her tooth and take it with her. Lo cleaned it up before we all sat down for dinner.

“Reya?”

Lo’s voice tore me away from the book that had me in a chokehold. No one, and I meant no one, could ever make me hate Jahquel J. She was my cousin, and if you said otherwise, it would be a problem.

I glanced up from my tablet from my seat on the back deck. Joey and Lucas were in the yard throwing around the football. It was determined that Lucas would play football amongst the men.

“Yes?”

“I want to chop it up with you real quick,” he said before he sat next to me on the lounge couch.

I shifted my body to face him, then placed my legs in criss cross applesauce. I didn’t say anything because he wanted to talk.

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