Page 24 of Down With the King of the South 4

“Shit, don’t I know it. My fiancée is pregnant too. I’m already waiting for the day she makes me run out to get her what she’s craving. I got my lie already in order, man. I got her so fuckin’ spoiled that she thinks we supposed to get on a fuckin’ jet to fly to Atlanta just to go eat at Pappadeaux,” I said, referring to a famous seafood restaurant in Georgia that Jashae liked.

“I saw your post this morning about the funeral for your dad. I’m sorry for your loss, bruh. He was a real solid dude. I remember meeting him a couple of times when I would go and watch you fight. I’m literally just getting back in town from Colorado. We opening up a little spot out there for hookah and shit,” he said.

“Thanks, bruh. I appreciate it.”

By this time, Jabari had stopped playing pool, and he came over. He and Boss dapped it up, talked for a little bit, and that was that. Boss and Jabari knew each other through me.

“What y’all got going on in two weeks? I took Winter to Jamaica for the first time almost a year ago, and she’s been dying to go back, but the timing just ain’t been right these days. We going out there just to chill and shit. You know, before our wedding and shit that’s supposed to take place in a few more months. I rented a big ass house out there with like fifteen bedrooms, and it’s more than enough room for y’all to slide through. We all could use this little vacation, especially you, bruh. I know that can’t be easy on you with the death of your ole boy. Y’all down?” Boss asked me.

“Yeah, man. I don’t see why not. I’ll hit you when we get closer to the day,” I let him know.

We dapped each other one last time before he walked away.

Later that night

I made it back home just before midnight. Like I always did when I made it home late, I went and checked on Maya, who was knocked out cold, and then I headed to my bedroom. When I made it inside the room, Shae was sitting up in the middle of the bed with a throw blanket wrapped around her body. I instantly noticed the sad look that she had on her face. She was in deep thought about something because her eyes never even shifted in my direction. It was as if she didn’t even hear me come inside the room.

It wasn’t until I started removing my jewelry and laying it down on the dresser that I felt her eyes on me. I knew Shae hated for a nigga to get on top of the comforter in my outside clothes, but I did the shit anyway. I lay before her with my head resting in her lap and both of my hands on her small stomach. She was a little over sixteen weeks pregnant and was finally starting to get a little pudge. I kissed her on her stomach a couple of times while she ran her fingernails through my hair.

“What you in here stressing about? I see that shit all over your face, shorty,” I said with my eyes closed.

I heard her release a sigh, and that’s when I opened my eyes because I felt like she was getting ready to be on some good bullshit.

“After I took a shower and everything tonight, I went to check on Maya. Miami, she had my purse and was taking money out of my wallet. I swear I wanted to pretend like I didn’t see it, but I did. She was holding two fifties in her hand, and when I walked in, she tried to hide the shit behind her back. She lied so easily, talking about she thought her headphones were in my purse. Meanwhile, her headphones were sitting right on her dresser.

“She tried to lie about it until the very end. Eventually, she broke down crying and said that she was taking the money so that she could give it to her mommy. Maya doesn’t even talk to Krystal. Krystal doesn’t call my phone to speak to Maya, and I been stopped having Maya call her. I don’t know, Miami. That shit just made me so mad because we give that little girl everything,” Shae said, followed by a lone tear falling from her eyes.

I could tell how hurt she was behind that shit. Shae did any and everything for that little girl. I swear you would never even believe that Shae didn’t birth her because she treated her in a way that a mother would treat a child that she’d birthed. On top of that, she’d placed Maya in one of the best private schools in Miami, she had her attending speech courses three days out of the week and was just all-around a good ass mom.

“You ain’t see no calls in your phone history of the two of them talking? You know Maya knows both of our codes, and she knows how to work our phones. Maybe she has been talking to her like that. Text messages? Anything, shorty?” I asked, and she shook her head.

“No, I looked,” she let me know.

“You checked her iPad? You know they can text and shit on there,” I suggested, and this time, she shook her head no.

“Hold on. Let me go and get it,” I said and hopped off the bed.

I walked out of the room and down the hall to Maya’s bedroom. I found her iPad after damn near five minutes of looking for it. It wasn’t on the dresser where it would usually be. This time, it was in bed with her, damn near buried under the sheets. I’d bought her the iPad a few weeks ago. Once I had it in my hands, I walked out of the room and carried it with me into the bedroom with Shae. I knew that Maya’s password was her birthday, so I keyed that in. Instantly, her photo galley popped up since that was the last thing she was doing. I clicked out of it and went to her messages.

“I thought it had to be a phone in sync with the iPad in order to text,” I mumbled after seeing that she had a contact in her messages under Mommy.

It was a one-sided conversation taking place. Maya knew how to work the emojis and shit real well, but her little ass didn’t know how to text, so she was sending a lot of heart emojis and the rest of her messages, she was speaking them out.

“I love you, Mommy.”

“Call me, okay?”

“You okay, Ma?”

“I want to see you mm… Mommyy. I love you.”

Those were the audio messages that Maya had sent to her mom last night and tonight, and her bird brain ass mama didn’t even have the decency to text her back.

“Grab your phone. Look and see if she’s been texting the same number that you have saved in your phone for Krystal,” I told Jashae.

She picked up her phone from the dresser, and I watched as she went to the contacts. Sure enough, the contacts matched.

“I don’t get it then. Krystal wasn’t writing back, so why did she say she was getting the money for her mom? It’s not like she asked her for it. Damn, Miami. I swear I wanted to just pop her little ass. Vonte was bad as hell at that age, but my son knew not to take my damn purse and steal from me. I don’t know what to do,” Shae said and threw the phone down.

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