Page 91 of Girl, We Go Together
I sat on my sofa with the paper I had just taken out of the envelope open in my hand.Probability of Paternity: 0%.The words jumped off the fucking page.
“Just let me explain.”
Brandi’s words echoed in my ears. Olivia was five months old, and I finally did what I had been putting off since she popped out of Brandi’s deceitful pussy. I got a DNA test on all my children. It was nothing against any of their mothers; it was just a precaution that I took for myself. When Olivia was born, I wasn’t in the right headspace. It was a few days after my mother’s birthday, which was close to when she had died. I was all over the place, and her being born was honestly the silver lining in the dark clouds that seemed to linger over me.
“Who the fuck is her dad?”
My tone was calm as fuck. Too calm considering the circumstances. When the space between us was quiet for too long, I looked up at her.
“The question isn’t fucking rhetorical, Brandi.”
Her eyes darted around the room like the answer to my question was hidden somewhere on the walls.
“I uh…”
“You don’t know, huh?”
I chuckled, although wasn’t shit funny because this was what the fuck I got. It was obvious that Brandi was never ready for a child. She must have wanted a new accessory or something. Better yet, she wanted a fucking meal ticket.
When I stood from the couch, she jumped, and that pissed me off. I had never put my hands on her before, and the women before had touched every damn wall in this house. This shit right here, I could have put my hands around her neck and squeezed until her eyes popped out of her head.
“Ain’t nobody gon’ touch your ho ass. I want you out, though, before I get back. Grab your fatherless little baby and get the fuck out.”
One thing about me was that when I started not to give a fuck, I didn’t care who was caught in the middle and could get hurt. Her daughter didn’t do shit, but I’d be damned if I kept a lying, ho ass bitch around me or if I took care of a kid who wasn’t mine.
“Where am I supposed to go?”
I looked at her with my face screwed like somebody had run through the room, holding a platter of shit.
“I don’t give a fuck where you go. It just better not be here by the time I get back.”
I folded the paper, placed it into the pocket of my sweats, and grabbed my keys off the table in the foyer before making my exit. I made sure to slam the door on the way out, knowing it would wake her baby up. As predicted, when I walked over to my car, I heard the baby wailing in the distance. I sat in my car for a minute. Cayla had sent me a picture of Oriana last week, and shewas running around the house with this little balloon tied to her arm.
In that moment, I wanted to be around my family. One of my real babies. It was early on a Friday morning, and I knew Cayla was probably getting Oriana ready for daycare.
Good morning. Can I take Ori to daycare today?
I thought I would have to call Cayla just in case she didn’t text back. When I saw the three bubbles pop up in our text thread, I knew she was about to respond.
Cay: Uh… yeah, that’s fine, but only if you can be here in about thirty minutes
I appreciated her working with me, especially since I was coming at the last minute with this shit. On the short ride over to her, I kept glancing at the front door camera and seeing Brandi taking her stuff to the curb. Some light-skinned nigga in a XXL truck was helping her put her things into the trunk. It could have been an Uber driver or her real baby daddy. Whoever the nigga was, I honestly didn’t give a fuck.
On the way
Her read receipts were on, so I saw that she read my message as soon as I sent it.
When I made it to Cayla’s block, finding a park was a hassle. After circling the block for a third time, I just double-parked right in front of her building. My phone started ringing, which caused the annoying noise to come through all the speakers. I pressed the button on my steering wheel to answer for my brother. It was too damn early for his ass to be calling me.
“What, nigga?” I answered on the third ring.
“Well, damn. Good morning to you, too. What you on?”
“About to pick up Ori and drop her at daycare,” I said.
“Oh, ya ass must be trying to get in Cayla’s good graces.”
I smiled a bit because that wasn’t my intention, but it did look good for me to offer.
