Page 111 of Rah

I smacked her ass. “C’mon before you change your mind. Let’s swab, nephew-son.”

She sucked her teeth and said, “Yeah, let’s swab him so you can stop calling him that shit!”

Aaliyah swabbed Junior, and I swabbed myself. After putting the Q-tips into the specified envelopes and sealing them into the DNA envelope, I put it in my coat pocket so I could mail it off the next day. Then, I went to wash off the work day while Aaliyah finished making dinner. She was making a nigga feel like he had a housewife. She couldn’t work. I honestly didn’t want her to with Rah still insistent on finding her. Real talk, I didn’t need her to because a nigga had always taken care of his household. But she had been doing a good jobof making me feel like I wanted to cuff her forever. My house stayed clean, clothes stayed washed, and she always made sure that a meal was on the table. She catered to her man for real, and I loved that shit.

A few hours later, Aaliyah had fed me real good. I was surprised that she could cook like that. Most twenty-four-year-olds couldn’t find the kitchen. But Aaliyah cooked like she was an old lady from Mississippi.

Now, we were chilling on the sofa watching TV with her feet in my lap as I rubbed them.

“You need these joints done,” I teased her, looking down at them with a frown.

She laughed and lightly kicked my stomach. “Whatever.”

“For real, man. Look at that bunion!”

“I donothave a bunion. Stop playing,” she whined.

“These bad boys hard as hell. When the last time you put ‘em in some damn water?”

“Shut up, Fabe!” she laughed.

As I chuckled, the doorbell rang. Aaliyah’s eyes bucked. She sat straight up. Her high-yellow skin turned red.

“Be cool,” I told her. But I had to admit that my antennas had gone straight up. Suddenly, I was wondering where the fuck my pistol was. Remembering that it was in my closet in the lock box, I grimaced.

Fuck.

Then I realized that I was only wearing a pair of basketball shorts. I was in a fucked-up position without my piece and damn near naked.

“Who could that be?” Aaliyah asked with fear in her eyes.

We were both wondering the same thing—if it was Rah. No one had told me that they were coming by. But Rah had probably been to my crib twice in the years that I had been living there. He didn’t even remember the address or where I lived exactly. So, I shrugged as I stood and walked towards the window. I quickly glanced at Junior, who was sleeping in a bassinet near the couch. I then peered outside. Admittedly, I calmed down when I didn’t see Rah’s Mustang in the driveway. But when I noticed the BMW truck, I grimaced.

“What?” I heard Aaliyah asking once she heard me sigh. “Is it him?!”

“No,” I replied as my nostrils flared.

I went to the door, avoiding Aaliyah’s curious eyes. I didn’t even want to open it, but if I didn’t, it would only make this shit look worse. So, I went ahead and snatched the door open. A menacing scowl was all over my face as I glared at Jackie’s smug smirk. She stood on my porch with her arms folded across her chest. I hadn’t heard from her since I broke things off, so I knew she had definitely shown up here to make a scene.

Her eyebrows raised as she watched me just stand in the doorway saying nothing. Her head jerked as she spat, “Can I come in?”

I laughed, “No.”

Her brown eyes bucked with shock. Then they glared at me, nearly turning dark. “No?”

I wasn’t super religious, but I definitely believed in the man upstairs. So, I started to holla at Him, asking Him to please look out for his boy and keep this woman from acting a fool.

To keep her from barging in, I continued holding the doorknob with one hand and leaned against the doorframe, blocking her. “I told you it was over.”

Suddenly, just like any woman would, Aaliyah made her presence known. I could hear her having a conversation on the phone. I inwardly laughed at her picking this moment to start laughing, loud with her auntie.

Hearing the female voice, Jackie tried to look around me. I was a big dude, so I figured she couldn’t see past me, but when her eyes bucked and rage covered her face, I knew that she had been able to. By the look in her eyes, I could tell that she had seen Aaliyah’s thick ass on the couch, laid up comfortably in my t-shirt and nothing else.

“So, this is why you left me?!” she squealed as her arms started to thrash around.

“Lower your fucking voice,” I growled.

“And she has a fucking baby? When were you going to tell me? You lying motherfucker! Thought you didn’t have any kids! Have you had a woman the whole time?! You are so fucking phony! You made it seem like it was me–”