Page 29 of Turned Out by His Hood Mentality 3

People had walked up, wanting to see the baby. I wouldn’t tell this to Twinkle because I knew that talking about Monterius’s baby was a touchy subject, but that little girl that Monterius had was drop-dead gorgeous. He’d been on daddy duty a few times, and he’d come to the house with little Tegan. On one occasion, I was on the phone with Twinkle, and she heard Tegan downstairs crying with Billionaire and Monterius.

Twinkle said nothing; she just laughed, and then she shook her head. Her laugh was sarcastic, and I could tell that she was pissed.

“Normani, life is just so fuckin’ crazy, you know? I get it, I’m engaged to the next man, I have a baby on the way with the next man, but I can’t help but look at this shit and be fuckin’ disgusted. For months, this nigga told me that bitch was just a fuck. I remember one time, I went through his phone, and I found some messages between them. He swore up and down that he didn’t give a fuck about her and that she was just somebody he entertained whenever he and I were going through our little things. Lied to me until he was fuckin’ blue in the face and told me that baby wasn’t his, and now look.

“The same baby he said wasn’t his… look. He’s walking around here, holding onto a little girl who looks just like his ass. Doing that shit proudly too, after lying about that shit for fuckin’ months! Holding hands with a bitch who he swore he didn’t care about. I’m not going to ruin you and my cousin’s day, so Ima just chill, but Normani, I’m pissed because this shit ain’t right. Let me have been the one who cheated on him with another nigga, got pregnant, and lied about who my baby daddy was the whollleeee nine months, only for the truth to come out that my baby wasn’t even his. Monterius would have fuckin’ killed me.

“I could take him moving on with any other bitch, but for it to be the same bitch that he lied to me about for so long, that shit just annoys the fuck out of me. The shit with them happened too fast, which makes me think that he beeeen fuckin’ that bitch, and he been had feelings for her. He was just waiting for the perfect time to act on his feelings,” Twinkle said, and I could hear the hurt in her voice.

In the beginning, a lot of things that Twinkle used to go through relationship-wise, I could never understand. I’d never had a relationship where I loved a man so much and would give him all of me. Now that I was with Billionaire, I understood. I loved my husband in a way that’s hard for me to even understand. I loved him like this when we were just boyfriend and girlfriend.

Putting myself in Twinkle’s shoes, I can imagine that I got pregnant with Billionaire’s baby, and within a matter of weeks, I have a gruesome miscarriage. Add on to this, a couple of weeks before my miscarriage, I find out that Billionaire could possibly have another baby on the way. Boom, we break up, but I still love him deeply. Now, the same woman that he’s lied to me about for years, the same baby he swore wasn’t his for months, turns out to be the two people that he’s now starting a family with. Yes, I’ve moved on, but still, that shit has to hurt.

Monterius and Twinkle have years’ worth of history, so that’s years’ worth of love. I felt where she was

coming from. Although I felt her, and I felt like she had the right to be angry, hurt, and even bitter if she wanted, she had to look at this from a perspective that this wasn’t a loss. It was an opportunity to start over fresh with Truth.

“Twink, I get it, but sis, please look at the man you have across the room,” I said, then sat up in my chair, put both of my hands on either side of her head, and turned it toward Truth.

Billionaire had some of his homeboys there, and Truth was from Miami too, so he knew a lot of people in attendance. Truth was laughing with a few of the men, and when he laughed, his handsome face showed the dimples on each cheek.

“Girl, with all due respect, that man is too fine. Twinkle, he loves you. Are we going to act like we don’t see the interviews that he does on TV? When your name is brought up, that man is smiling from ear to ear each time. You even said it out of your own mouth that Monterius has never treated you this way. He has a game tomorrow, but he flew down here with you, so you could attend my gender reveal. I’ve never seen you this happy before.

“I feel like you are more motivated than I’ve ever seen you before. You have your boutique here, and it’s doing amazing. Now, you’re in the process of opening another one out in Cali. Look at how mad you just got in one second of seeing Monterius, Trinity, and their baby. Can you imagine working things out with Monterius, and you have to be forced to deal with this and accept it for the rest of your life? You’ll never forgive him for having a baby on you, so why even punish yourself like that and even be angry about a bullet that you know damn well you dodged?

“Let them do their family thing while you do your family thing with a man who doesn’t have children. Girl, you’re one of the lucky ones. Some of us out here have to deal with these niggas and their crazy ass baby mamas,” I said in a joking way, but I was dead serious.

Twinkle laughed at what I said as she shook her head.

“Ima tell Billionaire you said that,” she joked.

“Girl, I swear I don’t care. It’s not even Sidnesha who’s the problem. Shockingly, me and her are actually cool. A few of those gift bags over there came from her. She dropped them off earlier this afternoon when she dropped off Lil’ Bill. Because I have a relationship with her son and he’s my stepson, it’s like I have to have a relationship with her as well. We talk, but often, it’s about Lil’ Bill, and she’s even given me advice when it comes to my pregnancy. I can tolerate Sidnesha, but Twinkle, it’s that damn Denim,” I said and rolled my eyes.

Twinkle looked at me with a shocked expression because this was new to her. I hadn’t said anything to anyone about it. Hell, I hadn’t even told my own husband, because I didn’t need the unnecessary drama.

“What? What the hell did Denim do?” Twinkle asked.

I sighed and leaned back in the chair.

“You know Khari is a sponge, and you have to be mindful of the things you say around her because she’ll go right back and repeat it. I was giving her a bath the other night, and she started telling me a bunch of things that she heard her mama say. It started out with her telling me how Denim hates the therapy sessions that she has to do, and then the conversation went all the way left, and she started repeating stuff that a five-year-old shouldn’t even be around to hear, let alone repeat.

“Basically, she heard her mother tell one of her friends that Billionaire and I are going to have one black ass, ugly baby. Something else along the lines of Billionaire only marrying me because he wanted to prove a point that he was over Denim and Sidnesha, and how he doesn’t love me for real. It was just stupid stuff that Khari was telling me, and I knew she was telling the truth because the things she was saying had to come from an adult’s mouth.

“Oh, and let me not leave out that Billionaire is cheating on me, and she’s going to beat my ass when she sees me for trying to take her spot when she was in a coma. Not sure when I’ll be around Denim because I haven’t seen her since yall’s grandmother’s party, but I plan to have a few words with her because I can’t let her think that it’s okay to disrespect me. The only reason I haven’t told Billionaire is that I know he’s going to go and confront her on my behalf. She already thinks I’m scary, so I’ll just handle this one on my own,” I said to Twinkle.

“Wowwwww, Normani. That bitch has some fuckin’ big ass balls! I guess after being in a coma for almost three months, that bitch is still the damn same. You would think that she would be appreciative of you being in Khari’s life because you have been the one keeping up with her hair, helping her with her homework, and dressing her. Leave it up to Billion, and he’ll be dressing her up like a little boy. She ought to be thanking you instead of being mad at you. That hoe is so fuckin’ jealous that it’s crazy.

“Only a fool would fix they lips to say that you and Billion’s baby is going to be ugly. Girl, that baby is going to be drop-dead gorgeous. I lowkey shouldn’t even be pregnant at the same time as you. I should have just let you bless the world with your beautiful baby, and then I bring mine in about two years later,” Twinkle joked.

“Twinkle, please! Your child will be beautiful as hell. Come on. Your cousin is ushering me with his hands, telling me to bring my ass on,” I said before standing up, and she followed me.

I walked over to where Billion was standing with his arms wide and walked into his embrace.

“What you was over there running your mouth about?” he asked.

“Nothing. Come on. I’m trying to see if I’m carrying your junior in my stomach,” I said, then pulled away from him and did a little dance. It was my happy dance because I was excited.

My husband looked over at me and shook his head.

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