Page 29 of A Cancer's Embrace
My eyes bounced from him to her. I was confused about who she thought she was talking to and what she meant by fling?
“Kya, get on with that disrespectful shit. If you want to take JaBria, go get a lawyer and serve me.”
Jabari then slammed the door in her face. He turned around and looked at me. The words Kya said were on repeat in my head. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a fling. I never thought so at first, but now, I couldn’t help but think that way. It also didn’t resonate with me that Jabari wasn’t that great of a father during the early years of JaBria’s life.
“Amina, I’m sorry about that.”
“Um... There’s no need to apologize.”
He let out a deep breath. “Damn, I need to get on the phone with a lawyer. I know Kya, and she likes to get dirty and grimy. JaBria is going to miss the movies tonight. Damn, she’s going to be so sad.”
“I’m sure she’ll understand. Just let her know it was an emergency.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He looked at me. “You good?”
I nodded, but deep down inside, I wasn’t. The entire interaction had thrown me off, and there were some things I needed to think about.
“Yeah, I’m good. I’m probably going to head out and let you handle your business. I don’t want to be a distraction.”
“No, you’re good. Your company is needed, especially right now.
I smiled because I no longer wanted to be in his space. I had some things to think about. I was so hypnotized by the way Jabari treated me that I’d been deluded on other shit.
“Please stay.”
Jabari’s tone was sincere. He looked exhausted and irritated at the same time. I wanted to run away from all of this and sit alone with my personal thoughts to process everything. Instead, I took him up on his offer.
“I’ll stay.”
He smiled and placed a kiss on each of my hands. “Thank you.” He pecked my lips. “I appreciate you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I’ll go talk to JaBria. Can I get you anything?”
“Um... no. I’ll sit out here and let you handle things.”
He kissed my forehead and headed to JaBria’s room. I sat back on the couch and pulled out my phone. I noticed I had three missed calls, and two were from Gio and one from Danita. I rolled my eyes, realizing I wouldn’t hear the end of missing their phone calls, especially Gio. Instead of calling Danita back, I called Gio. My conversations with Gio were usually quick, unlike Danita’s.
Gio answered the phone, and per usual, there was no greeting, just questions. “Where are you?”
“Hi, Gio.”
“Man, I’m looking at the Ring camera and you’re not home. I’ve also noticed, that your car is there during the day at times but then gone at night. Plus, I know it doesn’t take that long to put a TV screen in a car. Are you stripping or something?”
I sucked my teeth. “Gio, please.”
I regretted giving Gio access to my Ring camera. He demanded that Danita and I give him access to our homecameras just to keep tabs on us. We fought tooth and nail but eventually gave in to him.
“Don’tGio, please,me. What’s going on? Are you working two jobs?”
“No, Gio, I’m not working two jobs.”
I knew eventually I would have to tell Gio about Jabari, but I didn’t think it would be as soon as this. It didn’t feel right keeping this from him because eventually I knew he would find out.
“Then what is it?”
I sighed. “I’ve been seeing someone. Before you jump off the bridge and start flying off questions, it’s nothing serious. We’re just learning each other and spending time together. Things are new and fresh?—”
