Page 21

Why did I even bring this nigga?

Dating never used to be this hard. I did literally whatever I wanted, and if the nigga wanted to stay around, he’d let a bad bitch be.

But I’m not a bad bitch first. Not anymore.

No, I’m a muva. Bad bitch immediately after, but first, a muva.

And that means, if a nigga gone be around, eventually, he will see Sadé.

Which means I can’t have your average fine ass fuck nigga beating my walls down and taking me to the mall to spend a bag.

I mean, I can, but I’m trying to be a better role model. Because lawd, I would probably fall out if Sadé comes in the crib with lil Tiny Mac with the tattoos on his face telling me she in love.

I mean, right after I ask if Tiny Mac’s daddy is single.

So I’ve traded in the ne’er-do-wells with corporate daddies. And of course, the afternoon after I decided on that, I met Brandon at the deli Dal likes to get her lunch at.

Tall? Check.

Fine? Check.

Money long? Double check. C-suite check.

Big ass dick? That remains to be seen.

Because I’ve also implemented a five-date rule in my new means of dating. Different caliber of rich nigga means different rules, and I might as well go all the way if Ima be doing all this. Besides, between my evil spawn that is my daughter demanding every single free second of my life, I’ve barely had time to even date the nigga.

This is why I invited him to Denver’s birthday party. All the guys are here, and can interrogate him before I waste any more of my time and data facetiming him, and I can count this as one of my dates.

Which brings me to a whopping three in the last month we’ve been seeing each other.

I glance at him at the dominoes table with Nut, Set, and Turk. Apparently he took a class with Turk when they were in school, so he fit right on it once Turk vouched for him. I guess he lives to fight another day.

“Why you looking so down Mace?”

I turn at Reem’s voice, but beam as soon as he sets Angel down next to my chair. She just started walking, and is such a busybody now. She smiles at Sadé, mumbling baby over and over as she plants her little hands on my knee.

Sadé has deemed Angel worthy, so she just lets her ogle and marvel at her. A true Gemini sun, Leo moon.

Please know I’m dying slowly.

“No reason. I should be happy. Brandon’s passed the test.”

Reem scoffs and takes a bite of his hamburger.

“No he ain’t; I don’t like his ass, on Foe. And I know Love don’t either.”

“Fuck Love,”

I bristle, and I mean that literally and figuratively.

Angel waddles over to Reem and he breaks off a piece of burger to feed her. Sadé decides she wants that, and her greedy ass starts hollering, per usual.

And since I can’t bust out my phone and play her daddy’s song, I take out her bottle and stick it in her mouth, which settles her into the crook of my arms, for the time being.

“Y’all still beefed out? You know if you keep up this silent act she’s just gonna make herself be heard, or worse, actually kill me.”

I stare into my baby’s face as her long lashes flutter closed. We’re under one of the cabanas in Turk’s backyard, so I took off her sunhat. She’s gorgeous, truly. The color of golden almonds, with big expressive eyes and my mouth.

Everything else is her daddy. That temper. That sensitiveness. Her affinity to grate my nerves.

And unfortunately, I don’t even mean her sperm donor.

For some odd reason, Sadé looks just like Shaddy. It had me digging up younger pictures of Dan, and sure enough they favor each other, too. Enough to explain why a man who shares no DNA with my baby contributed so much.

I slam the door shut on thinking about that nigga and the bullshit video I saw on IG earlier and glance at Reem.

“Y’all been deep in this prank war and now all of a sudden you a YT expert. Please. She’s gonna try to kill you whether I talk to her traitorous ass or not… but since I do care about your well-being, I guess I’ll speak when she comes.”

Reem feeds Angel another piece before we both look up at the commotion at the sliding doors.

My throat drops to my ass.

My pussy clenches.

My eyes start seeing red.

There, in the muthafucking flesh, is the traitorous bitch herself.

And the nigga she helped disappear.

God, that nigga’s sexy.

Some bitch has been playing in his head, giving him small plaits instead of cornrows, which lets me know that the video he posted announcing his comeback show is old. Which means he’s been planning this shit.

But why am I surprised? This nigga don’t do shit to do it, no matter how it seems. He’s as meticulous as a mom who’s jealous of her daughter.

Skin glistening, and when he takes off his hoodie–that’s in my favorite color, his muscles ripple and flex and that nigga’s even bigger than he used to be. Like he’d been in jail, but that’s impossible. We checked all the jails.

No, that nigga poofed into thin air, and left it up to YT of all people to break the news.

“Oh, shit,”

I hear Nut say, and they all rush over to him. I don’t know if they’re about to jump him or hug him, but I get my answer when Brina and Autumn both jump on top of him.

Patience grabs his hand and leads him inside, with some of Foe Dub following.

It’s the perfect time to escape.

Reem and I get up at the same time. He smirks when I grab Sadé’s diaper bag.

“You outta here?”

“I don’t need him and Brandon meeting.”

He grabs Angel, who lives up to her name, settling into his side quietly.

“You coming out tonight? Don’t say you don’t gotta sitter, I know Nut got Ms. Sheryl on standby.”

I roll my eyes and gesture for Brandon to come on. His bumbling ass gets up and we start making our way to the side gate.

“I’ll pick you up at seven,”

Reem chuckles at my back.

I just flip his ass off and keep walking.