Page 62 of You Make Me Feel

“Congratulations. You’ve been here for a while, and I’ve never seen you with anybody.”

Deciding to mess with her, I asked, “You keeping tabs on me, Brooklyn?”

I glanced up at her to see her face was red as hell. “No . . . nooo. I was just observing. I mean . . . I noticed y’all together, and you usually sit alone . . . Ugh. I’m not making this any better.”

I chuckled as she pushed my shoulder, realizing I was picking with her. After clearing the program error, I handed it back to her by standing from the seat. “It’s all yours.”

“Thank you so much, Oliver. Right on time,” she said as Pastor Adolph made his way to the podium.

She always put his text, sermon title, and key points on the big screens. Knowing that I could keep all that functioning properly filled me with a sense of pride. As I descended the stairs, I saw Jarod walk by like he was leaving. The nigga in me wouldn’t just let him go without knowing what he was up to. I secretly followed him down the hallway to the room where the security team congregated.

I wasn’t sure who he was talking to, but someone said, “If this is your baby, it won’t be good. Your salary and bonus depend upon your having good moral character. This woman isn’t even your girlfriend. Had you not announced an engagement to someone else, it may have been something you could have fixed. Now, I don’t see you getting out of this unscathed.”

“She has a boyfriend now. I don’t have to be involved. I thought it would be honorable to admit I had a lapse in judgment but was still handling my responsibilities. I need that $10,000 bonus from Eastern Progressive. I’m almost a shoo-in for the position.”

“Naw. That’s a mess. It wasn’t a lapse in judgment. You wanted what you wanted, messed around, and got caught up. Is that engagement even real?”

“No. It’s so my dad can get off my back. Plus, Mila’s family is loaded. I marry her, and I won’t have to worry about a stipend from the church.”

I walked away. I’d heard enough. As usual, people’s fuckups and evil tendencies practically always involved money. I should have known that was what it had to do with. Hopefully, judging by this conversation, he would let the shit go and move around like before.

I returned to my seat with Kinisha to enjoy the rest of the service. When I sat next to her, she had a deep frown on her face. I wasn’t sure what had made her so angry until I nudged her, and she dropped her phone on my lap. There was a text on the screen from a number not saved in her contacts, but I could clearly see the message was from Jarod once I started reading it. I filed for full custody. The DNA results were emailed to me. I’m the baby’s father. I want to raise and take care of him in the same home as me. Get lawyered up and unblock my fucking number.

This was the total opposite of the conversation I’d just heard. Whoever said church people weren’t shit ain’t never lied. I had to find a way to get his ass off my baby. The Taylors and Corey Sheffield had experience with this level of drama, and I would be hitting them up as soon as we got out of church.

Chapter 23

Kinisha

It had been a week since that fucking text message from Jarod, and I was beyond stressed. Between Jarod’s bullshit, meetings with Sidney Taylor, and work, I was overdue for a vacation. Last Sunday, we’d gone to dinner at Oliver’s cousin’s house. She and I exchanged pleasantries, and she apologized for her behavior the last time regarding the situation with Robert. She was more naïve than Ramsey to believe his bullshit.

The Taylors had shown up, and I later found out that Oliver had called them to consult about the situation with Jarod. He was being proactive, and I appreciated that. I also talked to Sidney, and she gladly took on my case. She said she had a family lawyer in her firm and would be the second chair. She was a criminal defense attorney, so family law wasn’t her specialty, but she was extremely knowledgeable about it.

I was confident about having her on board. There wasn’t much information I could give her other than how everything went down and proof of his text message saying he wanted no part in raising a baby that may not be his anyway. She was all worked up from what I told her, which made me confident in her abilities. She was passionate, and I loved that.

Jarod had sent more text messages throughout the week, trying to make me believe that he just wanted what was best for his child and that the baby being with his ho ass was best. I could only roll my eyes. He was crazy as hell if he thought he could raise a child better than I could. Although I had no experience in child rearing, being the mother had to count for something. He would have to prove me unfit, and I was extremely interested to see what he would come up with besides that fucking assault charge.

So today, Oliver said he would be sure I had a day I would never forget, just like I did when he picked me up from the airport that day. I couldn’t wait. I needed some serious relaxation. The extra weight of the baby growing had me drained. I often rubbed the little pouch that was forming and talked to my baby as much as possible. Although I knew he or she couldn’t hear me at first, I wasn’t quite sure when the baby would be able to hear. So, to be safe, I started talking at twelve weeks. My baby needed to know who would always be there for them—Mommy.

My brain was definitely in need of a break as well. I just needed peace. Talking to my mother about the situation was more helpful than I anticipated. I was just happy that she and my dad were there for me despite not agreeing with how I did things. What remained to be true was that a baby was coming that would need love and care. How it got here was no longer important.

After getting dressed in a T-shirt and leggings, I pulled my dreads into a ball at the top of my head. I was so happy I’d gotten them. The maintenance was minimal, and I didn’t realize how much of a difference that would make in my day. It saved me more time than I expected. I put on some lip gloss, then sat on my couch, waiting for Oliver to arrive. I went to my Hulu app and watchedLaw & Order: Special Victims Unituntil he came.

About fifteen minutes into the second episode, my doorbell rang. I smiled and went to the door, opening it without checking to see who it was. When I saw Jarod, I had to have lost all the color in my face. I was speechless. He wore a stupid grin, and when I tried to close the door, he pushed it open, nearly knocking me to the floor.

He glanced at my belly. “How far along are you?”

I rolled my eyes. “What do you want before I call the police? You have no right to barge into my place.”

“You haven’t been responding to my text messages. Did you unblock me?”

“Unfortunately, yes. You may actually say something that I need to know. Everything you’ve sent so far has been bullshit, and you know it.”

I grabbed my phone to prepare to call the police, but I also began recording.

“All right, don’t call. Just listen.”

I shifted my weight as I felt slight flutters in my belly. A little smile made its way to my lips, and I instantly rubbed my belly.

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