Page 25

“Don’t you open that door, Kari!” I shouted once I found them preparing to unlock the door.

I damn near tripped over my own feet to get to them, but it was already too late.

Javon and his fiancée stood there looking like she was ready for a girl fight, in some sweats and comfortable sneakers with her under-the-wig braids exposed.

“Bitch, did you really put Javon on child support like he ain’t already giving you money every month for these kids?

” she spoke before he did, probably getting amped up just to be able to say that shit.

I had only ever been around the woman a handful of times, but considering how she was coming at me, Javon had been filling her head with bullshit.

“Oh, you send me money every month, lying ass dummy?” I swung my head over to him and watched as his face reddened under my gaze.

I couldn’t believe he was lying to her ass, but then again, it was Javon, and all his ass knew how to do was the exact opposite of what he was supposed to do.

He sucked his teeth but knew better than to call me a liar.

“Watch your fucking mouth!”

“Girl, fuck you and this stupid ass nigga!” I snorted, riling her up. Neveah lunged for me, but Javon held her back like he hadn’t brought her over here for this bullshit. Shoving my shocked kids behind me, I went to close the door on them both, but he quickly stuck his foot in the way.

“Why you put me on fuckin’ child support, bro!

You know how much they gone be tryna take out my check!

You a petty, bitter ass bitch for this shit!

” He was yelling loud as hell, unfazed by the kids being right there, screaming and crying in terror.

I’d never hated his ass so much! If my kids hadn’t been there, I would’ve certainly gone upside his and his bitch’s head. They were my first priority though.

“Kids, please go upstairs!” I shouted once Neveah began helping him push against the door. They seemed frozen, unable to move their feet as their daddy acted crazy. “Go! Now!”

They both took off, feet barreling down the hall to do what I said. I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard them on the stairs and tried to put all of my strength into holding the door. “What the fuck goin’ on!”

I gasped, hearing Cruz’s voice over the ruckus, and their weight against the door suddenly went away, causing it to slam shut.

My heart was pounding out of my chest, and my body shook as I went to open it back up.

Cruz had Javon hemmed up against my porch while he held a feral Neveah off at gunpoint.

“Oh my god! Cruz!” fell from my mouth, drawing his eyes to me. He grinned coolly, hoping to put me at ease, but I was far from calm. I looked around to make sure no one was out watching and cringed when I saw Ms. Anne’s nosy self sitting in the window.

“It’s cool, baby, go back inside with the kids.” Cruz’s voice was just as calm as his demeanor, and I started to do what he said.

“I knew you had this nigga over here with my kids, triflin’ ass!

” Javon had the nerve to talk shit like he wasn’t at a disadvantage.

He glared at me as he struggled to get free, but Cruz held him firmly without breaking a sweat and grinned sinisterly, smashing him in the face with the gun quickly before returning it to Neveah.

“Yep, and I be eating their fruit snacks and shit, pussy ass nigga! Shit, I be eating Keyani’s too!

” He smirked salaciously and winked my way.

“I definitely understand why you so fuckin’ butt hurt.

I only had it once and I’m feignin’ like Jodeci.

I know damn well this bitch pussy probably weak as fuck in comparison.

” He took a shot at Neveah, and while I normally wouldn’t have appreciated how vulgar he was being, my ass blushed from the compliment.

His crazy was obviously rubbing off on me.

“You just gone let him talk about me like that, Von!” Neveah shrieked, waving her arms wildly.

“Shit, he know it’s true, that’s why he ain’t said shit.” Cruz shrugged then looked down into Javon’s contrite face. “Gone, try and validate this hoe feelings, nigga,” he encouraged while Javon remained silent, jaw tight and eyes blazing, making Cruz laugh.

“That shit ain’t funny! If you ain’t have that gun, I’d—” Cruz eyed her as if seeing her for the first time, looking over her attire, and realization covered his face.

“You wouldn’t do shit! If the kids wasn’t in there, I’d have shorty dog walk your funny-looking ass.

Unless you wanna get some shit off your chest, bae.

” It was like he gave me the green light, and before she could say anything else, I hit her with a hook that had her spinning like a ballerina.

She landed hard, phone sliding across the concrete of my walkway.

I didn’t even give her a chance to get back up before going to work on her face as all the drama with Javon came rushing back to the surface.

I took every bit of frustration and anger I had and put it into her face, leaving her lumped up.

It wasn’t until I felt a pair of arms pulling me away that I stopped, instantly recognizing Cruz’s scent.

“You got her, bae,” he said, pressing a kiss to the side of my face as he set me on my feet.

Stalking back over to where Javon was just sitting up, holding his head, he crouched down in front of him with his gun between them.

“Go scrape yo’ bitch up off the sidewalk, and don’t bring y’all asses back over here unless you’re trying to be a father.

I really don’t wanna have this conversation again, ’cause next time, you ain’t gone limp away, you gone get carried away.

And I’d hate to take you away from the twins… permanently.”

The threat sent chills up my spine, so I knew that Javon was ready to piss on himself since he was on the receiving end.

They shared a silent stare down before he picked himself up from the ground and limped over to where Neveah was still sitting.

He narrowed his eyes at me once he had her on her feet.

“Nigga, don’t look at her! Get the fuck outta here!

” I could tell that Cruz was restraining himself, and the fear of him possibly doing worse while my kids were inside had me moving to his side as if I could stop him.

Thankfully, he only shooed them off with the gun, finally putting it away when they climbed into their car and pulled off.

Out of nowhere, he sniffed the air and looked back into my open doorway.

“You cooked?” he quizzed like none of the shit from the last fifteen minutes had happened. Crazy ass!

I’d finally made it to the weekend and figured I would make a day of fun and then shopping with the kids.

The truth was, I still felt bad about the shit Javon had done in front of them.

I’d talked to them about it, and although they didn’t seem traumatized, I knew that seeing their father act out so violently wasn’t good for their mental health.

My poor babies were taking things very differently.

While Kari seemed sad about Javon’s antics, Kani was growing increasingly angrier.

He didn’t want to talk about his father or his feelings, and I figured at some point I’d have to have a conversation with just the two of us to see where his head was at.

Once again, I was having to fix Javon’s fuck-ups with our children while he just continued living his life.

Shaking away thoughts of Javon, so I didn’t kill the vibe, I finished getting myself together.

I always made sure when I was out with the kids that I dressed comfortably, so a simple pair of boyfriend jeans, a cropped tee, and some Birkenstocks was what I was wearing.

I threw my braids up into a high ponytail and went to gather the twins, who were in their room playing.

I loved how close they were, but I’d heard that twins were like that no matter if they were the same sex or not, and I hoped that becoming teenagers didn’t change that.

“Come on y’all.” I smiled as they jumped to their feet excitedly and instantly noticed that Kani was due for a haircut. I’d been being cheap and cutting it myself, but since I’d started working, I had the extra money to take him to an actual barber.

“I don’t wanna watch another baby movie. Can we go see something with action or something scary?” he huffed as we headed down the stairs. I immediately frowned at the suggestion, wondering when he’d started liking scary movies.

“Noooo, I wanna see the minions!” Kari instantly chimed in. So much for getting along well , I thought, rolling my eyes.

“No scary movies, babe, I don’t wanna give you nightmares, but maybe we can go see an action movie just you and me?

” I offered. “It can be a mommy-son date and then me and Kari can have a mommy-daughter date,” I made sure to add before she could protest. While Kari seemed excited at the idea, Kani only mumbled a dry ass okay, but I figured at least he agreed, no matter how unenthusiastically.

For as sad as he’d seemed about seeing Despicable Me before we left, Kani was cracking up the entire movie.

They both had their fill of popcorn, pop, and candy, and by the time we left, they were hyped up.

Obviously, I hadn’t thought shit through.

The last thing I wanted was to take them into anybody’s grocery store at the moment, but I also didn’t want to continue running through my link with daily trips to the store, so I sucked it up and headed to Walmart.

I made them sit in the cart that had the seats for bigger kids, even though it made it harder to push.

I’d still rather have them strapped down somewhere than running wildly through the aisles in search of the toys or some shit.

Starting at the front of the store, I began adding the things we needed while simultaneously ignoring their requests for shit we didn’t need.

I hit the corner and had to put my back into it as the cart got heavier, and suddenly ran into a wall.

“Oh, I’m so...sorry.” I was already apologizing as I came around the corner to see who I’d hit, but my words instantly trailed off as two of the biggest niggas I’d ever seen in my life appeared before me. They looked like they ate people, and I immediately took a step back.

“Guys, don’t scare the lady.” A small hand reached between them, pushing them aside, and a whole supermodel came forward.

She was dressed in designer from head to toe, and I instantly clocked the Hermes bag on her arm.

She was obviously rich, rich and didn’t belong anywhere near a Walmart, but what did I know about where the wealthy did their grocery shopping?

Smiling, she extended her hand to me. “Hey, I’m Raya.

” I accepted the hand she held out to me, but forced a smile, even though something about her seemed…

off. It may have been the fact that she didn’t have a basket or cart, but again, what the fuck did I know?

“I’m Keyani. Sorry about the driving, sometimes these carts have a mind of their own.” I let out a nervous chuckle, and she joined me, laughter trailing off as her eyes rolled over me and then the twins in my cart.

“Yeah, I guess they do.” Her tone quickly turned dry, and I started to back track to the front of my cart to end this awkward ass exchange.

“Well, let me get going before they start getting restless. It was nice to meet you, Raya,” I lied, finally setting my hands on the handle and pulling my kids backward.

“You too, Keyani,” she said to my back as I headed in the opposite direction.

“Was that your friend?” Kari asked once we dipped around the corner, and I quickly shook my head. They always thought anybody I spoke to was a friend of mine.

“No baby, just another shopper.” That creeped me the fuck out , I thought to myself as I tried to move to another part of the store.

Thankfully, I didn’t see Raya or her goons the rest of the almost hour I spent in the store, and after filling my cart with all of our essentials, I made my way to the register.

Instead of going to self-checkout, I went to one of the only three cashier lines available to save myself from having to get another cart.

I immediately regretted that shit though because it took forever to get to the register, and once the annoyed-looking cashier finally got everything rung up, I swiped my link in a way that kept it from being visible to the people behind me.

As happy as I was to have gotten it, I didn’t want people staring at me with their noses in the air like I wasn’t shit.

“It says you don’t got enough on your card,” the cashier said dryly, and I frowned, looking from my total back to the card in my hand, smiling uncomfortably.

“Can I try again? I just got this card, it should work.” I was trying to keep my voice low even though she’d been talking loud as hell. Rolling her eyes with a shrug, she motioned for me to go ahead, even though she didn’t seem at all like she wanted to let me.

“It still says it’s no money.”

I could feel my cheeks flush under the scrutiny of the folks in line behind me.

Frustrated tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall as I sighed deeply.

“Can I just sit the cart to the side while I call and figure out what’s going on?

” I didn’t know how a card that had just had a balance of $600 was now at zero, but I was about to call and curse somebody out for the embarrassment and wasting my damn time.

Without waiting around for her permission, I pushed my cart to the side and dialed the 1-800 number.

It took me a half hour to talk to somebody, and when I finally did, it was only for them to tell me that my link must’ve been stolen through hacking, which was why they’d encouraged me to lock it.

I wanted to blow that bitch up, but instead, I discreetly helped my kids out of the cart and back to the car, blinking back tears.

If it wasn’t one fuckin’ thing, it was another.