Page 59

Navy BLEU

It had been two weeks since the miscarriage and I was feeling like myself. I wasn’t depressed or sad but accepting that even God knew my plan and decided to take matters into his own hands. I wanted to put that behind me and move on with my life, forgetting that ever happened.

“Mink-Mink, we still have a block to go… come on,” I fussed with Mink, as she took her place in the middle of the sidewalk.

This morning, I pulled my camera out and recorded a day in the life. Landon was in a different time zone, so I sent him a message letting him know I was awake. He wanted me to stay at the penthouse, but I came back to my apartment.

“Jett, is it necessary to follow me in the car?”

“Don already told me that I gotta stay with you.” He was double parked across the street and switched to the next page of his S.A. Cosby book.

I discovered he was a reader when we were in St. Lucia. He was leaned on the car staring down intensely at his phone, and I made a joke that his wife was cussing him out.

He showed me what he was reading, and I went to download the book onto my kindle. Jett didn’t have a wife, or a girlfriend.

He was gay.

Not that there was a specific look to being gay, but he didn’t look gay in the least. I would have assumed there was a bunch of women running behind him.

“Mink, can you please walk for me… my legs hurt.”

“You can always get in the car,” he replied, never taking his eyes from the book. “Pretty sure you closed your rings by now.”

I checked my watch, and I had, but I was determined to make it back to my building. Mink had gained weight since I last saw her, and I wanted my girl to be healthy. “Nope. We’re good. Where is Landon at now?”

“Berlin.”

Ever since I told my parents that I was retiring them, neither of them quit their job. They were so scared, and I hated that for them. Their jobs weren’t easy to come by without a waiting list, and to give it up, after being in those positions that long was scary for them.

“Gotcha.”

My phone pulled my attention from my fat dog, and I saw it was Stevie. Greene had given her my number. “Hey Stevie.”

“Hi Navy… I wanted to check in and see if you were alright.”

I smiled, because both Kora and Zoya had called me the other day to check in with me. “I am doing much better.”

“I heard you lost the baby. I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s alright.”

“ I wanted to see if you wanted to do lunch and some shopping. I also would love to show you my gallery.”

“Stevie?”

“Yes, dear?”

I laughed. “Do you want me to post about your gallery?”

She giggled. “That would be nice… I’m not forcing you or anything. My husband won’t kidnap you, I promise.”

“I don’t know, Stevie. He seemed like he was serious.”

“Oh, he was very serious. Mavie does whatever I want… not that I want him to kidnap you,” she quickly corrected herself.

“Alright, Stevie… I would love to come hang with you.”

“I’ll shoot you the information via text, and me and Dukie will pick you up.”

I looked at Jett. “Well, I do have Landon’s security with me. Would you like us to meet you?”

“That’s right. He did mention that he had security detail on you like me,” she spoke to herself.

“Do you go everywhere with security?” I questioned, curious, because security always seemed to follow Menace, and wondered if the same applied to his wife.

“All the time… sometimes two at a time. Duke is my bestie, so he doesn’t really count… sorry, Duke.”

“You’re good, Steve-o,” I heard him in the background.

I smiled. “Oh okay. I will see you soon, Stevie.”

“See you soon.”

Mink had finally collected her energy and decided to walk again. As we turned the corner, I almost turned back around. Antwan was standing outside of my building, and I wasn’t in the mood. I had been having a good day, no drama, and was just waiting for my baby to return back.

He told me what he felt I needed to know. There was no need for me to be clued into everything he had going on. All he needed to tell me was when he would return to me. Anything outside of that, I understood it was for my protection.

“What’s going on, Ant?” I asked when I walked up on him, Mink sitting beside me. She wasn’t reactive; however, she wasn’t friendly.

He chuckled as he looked down at her. “Oh shit, you fostering Mink-Mink again?”

Because Antwan had met her before, she wasn’t standoffish when it came to him, but she wasn’t wagging her tail and begging to be petted like she usually did. Antwan knelt and touched her collar that had a 14k gold nametag.

“Mink Caselli?”

I looked at him, as if he had the right to even question her tag. “My boyfriend adopted her for me.”

“Boyfriend, huh?”

“Antwan, what do you want? I need to get her some water.” I folded my arms, wanting him to spit out the reason for his visit.

We had no reason to sit and talk. Antwan needed to move on and live his own life that didn’t include me. He made his bed, and now he needed to lay in it. “Me and Mila broke up.”

“Sorry.”

“Decided we’re going to just co-parent our child. She found some Lamaze studio that one of her homegirls recommended.”

“Hmm.”

“Just moved into my spot. I’m downtown… one of those nice buildings they built,” he continued to tell me shit that I didn’t give a damn about.

This wasn’t my business anymore. I didn’t care what he did, and here he was standing here telling me things that I didn’t need to know. “Congrats.”

“We were friends before all of this, Nav.”

“Which is why you didn’t have to do me the way that you did. We could have talked and figured it out. If you weren’t happy, a simple conversation, no matter how much it would have hurt, could have happened.”

“You’re right.”

“I’m always right.” I sighed.

He looked at my door. “Can I come up? I could really use your energy right now.”

It was the way he licked his lips that told me energy meant something else. “I have a boyfriend. Did you miss that part of the conversation?”

“You not serious about him, though, I know you. What we had is still fresh in your mind.” He moved closer to me, and I stepped back, creating distance between us.

“Are you drunk or something? ‘Cause why would you even think that? Antwan, you cheated on me and have a baby on the way. I don’t even fucking like you… and you’re lucky I’m being nice.”

Antwan looked hurt as he stared down at me. “You always talking like money don’t move you, but clearly it moves that pussy, Nav.” He reached between my legs, catching me off guard.

Before I could even react, Jett had yanked his ass up and tossed him near the bus stop. The woman and her baby scooted over as he fell near the bench.

“You fucking crazy?” Jett snarled.

Mink was going crazy, trying to get at Antwan, and I held her leash as she pulled me. “Jett, can we just go upstairs?” He left his truck double parked and came with me upstairs.

“The fuck is his problem? Touching you that way,” he was fired up, and I could tell he was about to pull his gun and beat his ass with it.

I saved Antwan, although he didn’t deserve that shit from me. “He’s stupid. Feelings are hurt because I moved on and he didn’t think I would.” Kneeling, I rubbed Mink’s face. “It’s alright, baby… I need you to calm down before I give you water.”

I checked my phone and then sat at my computer, looking out the window. Antwan was no longer there, which was good. I didn’t need him to become this big boss and get his ass whipped because of it.

Jett gave Mink her water while I logged into my email to see what work needed to be done. I was so used to checking my emails first thing in the morning, and since having Mink, I focused on her and our walks.

An email from Landon with instructions popped up. I read the email, and then followed the link he sent me, typing in the information he had given me. While it loaded, I kicked my sneakers off and pulled my legs up under me.

“The fuck!” I screamed when I finally looked at the screen in front of me.

Jett came running out the bathroom. “He’s back?”

“No…”

The words and thoughts wouldn’t work together. I was staring at a bank account in my name with millions inside the account. My hands were shaking as I picked up the phone and called Landon.

“Hey, Baby… what up?” he answered.

“Wha…what is this?”

“The email you keep marking as spam.”

“I thought it was spam, though.”

“I know, which is why I sent it from my email… what you doing?”

I looked at the phone. “Landon, we can’t gloss over the fact that you sent this account.” He was asking me what I was doing like he sent me a Zelle for coffee.

“Miss you, Pooh.”

“Well, I miss you, too.” I clicked around the website, and my stomach hurt from looking at all those zeros in the account.

“You scared?”

“Of what?”

“All the money in there.”

I laughed. “How did you know?”

“Cause I know you… guess what?”

“What?”

“Your man is an accountant, so I got you.”

He wore so many hats that at times I forgot that he was an accountant. “Which is true… do you think you can set my parents an account up? I think once they see it, they will finally quit their jobs.”

“Got you… say it.”

“I love you, Landon Caselli.”

“Love you, too, Bleu…Where Mink?”

Mink finished her water and was rested by my chair. “Right here. She’s tired from our walk together.”

“And you still don’t want to admit that she’s overweight.”

“Byeeee!” I snorted and ended the call on him.

We sat in the house for the rest of the morning before I grabbed Mink and we walked to my parents’ house.

My father was off from work today, and I wanted to hang with him.

Jett followed along with me, not understanding why I wanted to walk when I could get a ride.

There was nothing like walking in Brooklyn when the weather was nice.

It was beautiful out here, and I wanted to enjoy it while walking my girl. Climbing the steps to my parents’ apartment, I used my key and let myself in. “Avril?”

“It’s me, Daddy.”

“Oh, what up, Mamas? What you doing over here?” I heard his voice from the back, and he rounded the corner. “Oh, what up, Mink!”