Page 33 of I'm So Mega
Moments later, I could no longer hear it. I moved around the kitchen with ease. I turned to place a plate in the sink, and Maggie stood on the other side of the counter. My mommy antenna rose at the glum expression on her face. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“Mama, can I talk to you before Daddy gets home?” she asked with a solemn tone. “I know you’re cooking, but can we talk in my room?”Ah, hell.
“Of course, baby. Let me cover this up, and I’ll meet you in your room. Do you want me to bring you a water or anything?” I asked her.
She nodded her head. “Yes, please. Thank you.”
I just finished dicing, seasoning, and putting the chicken breasts to put it in a container. Once it was in the refrigerator, I made sure I had the bottles of water, checked on my boys, then went to her bedroom. After the water bottles were set on the side table, I sat in the middle of her bed across from her. “What’s going on?”
There was this blankness in her expression that I didn’t like. If she wanted to talk to me before her father got home, then that meant that whatever it was would set him off. “Um, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I don’t know how to help her. I know you’re going to tell Daddy, but I wanted to tell you since it’s kind of an adult thing.”
My heart was about to beat out of my chest.God, if this little girl tells me that she lost her virginity, I am going to lose it.There was nothing that could prepare a parent for news like that. “Maggie, you know you can tell me anything.”
“Um, Kellie is going to be mad that I told you. She won’t tell anyone, but she’s so scared.” She took a deep breath. “Th-that boy Payton is messing with her. At the dance, he tried to kiss her, and she told him no. Since then, he’s been picking at her about being a baby and a little girl.”
I gave her a blank stare because Kellie and her were little girls. Kids these days were different as hell. “Okay, is that all that he’s been doing?”
She shook her head. “A few weeks ago, he cornered her in the hallway. He grabbed her throat, then slammed her on the wall.”Tears sprung from my baby’s eyes. “He-he like touched her and stuff. She’s so scared, and he did it again last week.
“He told her that if she tells anyone that he would tell everyone that she put her mouth on his you know what.” She cried harder. “I told her to tell Uncle Ned and Auntie Shan, but she said that her daddy would kill him, and she doesn’t want him to go to jail. She said that she’s gonna start skipping school.”
I grabbed her arms and pulled her into me. My tears finally fell as my mind raced on what I needed to do. My heart broke for my niece and my daughter, but my anger was mending it back together! I never thought I’d see the day that I welcomed God’s vengeance on Earth back. I grabbed her face. “Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll call your Auntie Shan and tell her to bring Kellie over.”
“No! No! Daddy’s going to be home. He’s going to tell Uncle Ned, and they’re going to go to jail.” The panic in her voice pierced my heart.
I shook my head. “No, no! Listen, we’re going to go out to my she-shed for a girls’ night, okay. We need to talk about this, okay? I promise we won’t tell your daddy or Uncle Ned tonight. How about you go out there now. I’ll tell daddy that you’re reading and we’re having a girls’ night. I’ll finish cooking dinner and bring a plate out to you.”
“O-okay, Mama. I love you.” She hugged me tight. “I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you earlier. She begged me not to, but I had to. I asked Ryne to talk to him, but he said he wasn’t cool with Payton anymore.”
He probably knew that Payton was a damn creep. I calmed my baby down before I got her together to send her to my she-shed. I needed to call it a she-house because it had a full kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and a loft library. I loved my space. Of course, when I had mine built, Mega said that he deserved one. A month after mine was finished, the construction on his started.
When Maggie left out the back door, I made one of the hardest calls that I’d ever made. Shan and I had been through so much, but never in a million years would I think that we would have to deal with a sexual assault of one of our children.
“Hey, girlie. What’s up?” she answered on the second ring.
I took a breath. “Shan, are you near Ned?” After she hesitantly confirmed, I knew I had to talk fast. “I need you to act normal. I need you and Kellie to come over here. Tell Ned we are having a girls’ night in my she-shed.”
“Yes! What you cooking? I hope you’re making enough.” She played along, but I could hear the concern in her voice. After I told her what I planned to cook, I heard her tell Ned that she was coming to my house and that she would send Mega over there with a plate for him.
I didn’t need to fix Shanae a plate, because she was at work. She was a waitress at Glory Soul Food. She had this thing about working for her own, although her parents gave her anything that she wanted. Her work ethic was amazing as well as her academic success.
Ned fussed on the other end but shut up after she told him what I was cooking. She said that she and Kellie would make their way over here. We spoke for a few more minutes, then hung up.
I was almost finished dinner when strong arms wrapped around my waist and lips kissed my neck. “What’s up, love. That smells good.”
I put the top over the skillet. I turned in his arms, then kissed his lips. “Doesn’t it. It’s your favorite.” I gave him a deeper kiss. “Hey, your daughter and niecey pooh want to have an impromptu girls’ night in my she-shed. Shan is on her way over here. I want you to take Ned a plate and take the boys with you.”
His face scrunched and neck pulled back. “Why do I have to leave my house if y’all gonna be in your lil house? Ned can come over here.”
When I tried to say otherwise, he pulled his phone out, called Ned and told him to come over here. Lo and behold, he didn’t agree with Shan’s plan, too, so he was his wife and daughter’s ride here. I wished I was surprised, but these men of ours did what they wanted most of the time. “That’s fine, Megatron. Let me fix y’all plates, then fix our plate to take out.”
“Dang, y’all can’t eat with us? What y’all got going on?” he questioned as I moved around the kitchen to fix the plates.
It could never just be one thing with him. “What we have going on is what I told you.” I stopped my task to peer at him over my shoulder. “Is that alright with you, sir?”
He threw his hands up in surrender just as the alarm for the front door sounded. “My bad, Ruth. I see y’all takin’ this girls’ night serious. I guess I’ll abort my plan to crash it.” When my stare of death landed on him, he chuckled.
Ned came into the kitchen followed by Shan and Kellie. There was so much worry on both of their faces. “Hey, Kellie, baby.” I put my stuff down and walked over to her. She ran into my arms when I opened them. I kissed the top of her head. “I love you, lil girl. Maggie’s already in the house. Go ahead, we’ll be out there in a minute.”
