Page 52 of Ony If It’s You
“Uber.” She grinned as she circled my car to the passenger side. “Hurry and get me home, bestie, my man is waiting for me.”
“You should have stayed with his ass, bitch.” I rolled my eyes as I climbed into my car.
I gave her a little more details on the situation with my dad and also filled her in on all of the shit with Javyous and his family too. I felt bad for my man since everything seemed to have hit him at once.
I dropped her off after making promises to get together for lunch soon.
Now that she was licensed as a nail technician, she was working at my beauty bar and her clientele was crazy.
Both of us were always busy, her more with work and me more with my home life, but when we linked we didn’t miss a beat.
“I don’t understand why we have to do this shit,” Javyous complained and frowned.
We were at Ocean’s for lunch, but we were also going to meet with my baby daddy.
Things had been strained with us and I didn’t like it.
I didn’t like the process of having a middleman to do the exchange with our kids.
We were both grown and should be mature enough to pick up and drop off the kids to each other.
“We have to do it, baby. This is the twin’s father and they love him just as much as they love the both of us. Whether we like it or not, they need all of us.”
He mumbled something inaudible under his breath, but I didn’t pay him any attention.
He would be okay. Picking up the menu, I started to look over it.
Javyous and I had been at our doctor’s appointment to find out what we were having before coming here, so I was starving.
For no particular reason at all, I always ate minimally before an appointment, so I couldn’t wait for this seafood that I had been craving.
“I’m going to run to the restroom, baby,” Javyous said before kissing my temple and excusing himself from the table.
While he was gone the waitress came to get our drink and food orders and my baby daddy arrived. I had to curve him when he leaned in to kiss my forehead.
“It’s like that now?”
“Yes it is, Pharaoh, I’m married.”
“And? You’re my baby mama.”
“And you know he would show his ass if he knew you were trying to kiss me.”
“Your weak ass husband ain’t shit to be worried about,” he spat and waved me off.
“That wired jaw you had says otherwise,” Javyous replied wearing a smug grin as he slid into the booth beside me.
“What the fuck is this?” Pharaoh frowned. “I thought you wanted to meet about our fucking kids.”
“I do.”
“And you need a mothafuckin’ bodyguard for that shit?”
“No, but he’s just as much an important piece of their lives and the problem involves him, so yes, I had him come too.”
“No, Kehlani, me and you made our mothafuckin’ kids, so if anything needs to be fucking discussed then that needs to happen with the two of us, my nigga.”
Before I could respond, JV sat up and beat me to it.
“Naw, my nigga , you need to check your fucking tone while you’re talking to her. She’s a fucking lady, the mother of our kids, and most importantly my mothafuckin’ wife. That alone demands respect; got me?”
The two of them engaged in a stare down until Pharaoh eventually gave in and agreed.
“Good, now just as much as you don’t think I need to be here, I felt the same about yo’ ass.
Shit could continue as is for all I care as long as the twins are good, but this is what my baby wants so here we fucking are,” Javyous spat and sat back in his seat, tossing his arm around me. “Go ahead, baby.”
It was extremely awkward now that they’d had their pissing contest, but I wanted to go ahead and get the conversation out of the way while things were calm.
“Pharaoh, I just want us to come to common ground. I don’t like disrupting your parents or my grandmother for us to make an exchange for the kids.”
“Shit is like this because of you, Lani.”
“Me?” I asked incredulously and frowned. “How the hell is any of this my fault?”
“Hell, it was your husband… ” He put it in air quotes. “That came to my house and laid hands on me.”
“ After you put your hands on me and told our kids that I was a hoe.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“So, Messiah was lying?” I fired back, angling my head to the side.
“No, but he mistook my words,” he replied and JV laughed.
“How the fuck does a six year old mistake someone calling his mother a hoe.”
“Just how he did, nigga,” Pharaoh spat. “I wasn’t even talking to him when I said that she was on some hoe shit. I was talking to one of my partners.”
“Regardless of how you said it, Pharaoh, and to who, our son heard it and repeated it. I never talk bad about you to them or around them, so I deserve the same respect.”
“Aight.” He sighed. “My bad, you’re right. I didn’t have to do that and it won’t happen again.”
“That’s all I ask.” I smiled. “And now we can leave your parents and my grandmother alone and do drop offs between the three of us, right?”
“Three?” Pharaoh frowned.
“Yes, Pharaoh, JV is my husband and a permanent part of our lives. I’m about to have a new baby and I work, so there are going to be times that the two of you will have to get along for the sake of the kids.”
I could tell that my baby daddy so badly wanted to kick, scream, and fight me on this, but he knew that I was right, so he obliged.
“Fine, but I hope the vibes are the same when I wife a bitch.”
“That’s your problem, you’re looking for a bitch and not a wife.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he mumbled and grabbed the menu that was in front of him. The waitress had brought me and JV’s drinks while we were talking so I hoped the food came soon too.
“Fuck you doing?” Javyous frowned.
“Getting some food, is that aight with you?” Pharaoh asked sarcastically. “We all got to coparent, so we should all be able to share a meal, right?” He was wearing a smug grin and I groaned. JV was playing shit cool, but I knew Pharaoh was pushing it.
“Yes, you can eat with us,” I answered before JV could and laughed.
“He paying for his own shit,” my baby griped and pulled me closer to him before kissing my temple. I was just glad that we’d gotten through the conversation and came to a conclusion without moving these people’s furniture around in their establishment.