Page 44 of Rah

Walking back to the ride, I finally checked my phone. I had only been at Felicia’s crib for an hour. However, I had a crazy amount of missed calls. Solae had been calling nonstop since I sent DCFS to the crib, so I wasn’t moved when I saw how many times she had called.

Fuck her.

She deserved to be hurt. She needed to know that I wasn’t one to be fucked with.

However, I was caught off guard when I had so many missed calls from Aaliyah.

Assuming that something was wrong with Junior, I hurried and called her back.

As soon as she picked up, she shrieked, “Where have you been, Rah?!”

My brows furrowed. Aaliyah never questioned me, and I had never heard her this upset, But I kept my cool. “Damn, Merry Christmas to you too, baby. You miss me that bad?”

“Don’t play with me,” she hissed. “You weren’t with Solae, because she showed up at the house!”

I damn near swerved into the next lane. “She what?”

“She showed up at the house, Rah! She said you all have still been together, that you all have been living together. Apparently, you’re engaged!”

I let out a slow sigh, lowering my tone until it dripped with sympathy. “Baby, listen to me. You know Solae ain’t wrapped too tight. It’s Christmas. She’s lonely, bitter, and still hurt that I moved on. That’s why I got the kids and just took them to my parents’ house. She had a bad attitude the moment I walked in. She went over there to get under your skin because you’ve got everything she wants: me, the house, and the family. That’s what this is really about.” Aaliyah was quiet, so I kept going, feeding her just enough truth to make the lie believable. “She can’t stand seeing me happy with you, especially with Junior. She’s still upset about that baby we lost before I left her. She never got over it. That’s why she pulled this. She’s trying to get between us.” Her breathing softened on the other end. That was my cue to keep pouring it on thick. “Don’t let her get in your head, a’ight? You know I love you. You and our son are my world. You know I’m not with her. I haven’t lived with her in years. Where are my belongings? Where I get my mail at?” Imade sure my tone stayed so soft that it wrapped around her like a warm blanket. “She’s just bitter, baby. You won. Stop letting her drag you into her misery.”

When she didn’t respond right away, I added gently, “I’m on my way home right now, a’ight? Don’t let that woman steal our joy on Christmas.”

There was a long pause, then she finally exhaled. “Okay.”

I grinned. “That’s my girl. Now go tell my son his daddy loves him.”

“Okay,” she whispered again.

By the time I hung up, I knew she was still mad, but she was now doubting herself, exactly how I needed her to.

But I was pissed. If Solae wanted to talk to me, she was definitely about to talk to me now. I called her immediately.

“So, I gotta show up at your side chick’s house for you to call me back?” Solae was definitely ready for a fight when she answered.

I was whizzing through the icy streets like a NASCAR driver. I was pissed. “The fuck are you on, Solae? Didn’t you put me out? Why you give a fuck where I’m laying my head at now?”

“You got my kids taken from me! All because I caught you up?!”

“You haven’t caught me up!”

“You are a liar! I don’t believe anything you have to say anymore, Rah!”

“Check this out. I don’t let any bitch blow up my spot. You don’t want to keep playing these games with me because I always win. And you betta believe that more than you believe in Jesus.”

I hung up on her. A disloyal bitch was never worth the air that I breathed.

If she thought what I was putting her through was some shit, she hadn’t seen nothing yet.

10

SOLAE

After Rah hung up on me, I just sat there on the couch, staring at nothing. None of this felt real. It felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. I couldn’t believe it. Rah hadn’t just cheated. He had been building a whole ‘nother family behind my back. And I hadn’t had a clue. I felt to foolish and played.

The house was too quiet. Life didn’t even feel real without my babies running through the rooms, making noise, fighting over toys, laughing too loud, or asking me for snacks every five minutes. If I had to lay around in this tomb of a home much longer without the sound of my babies yelling, arguing, calling my name a hundred times, or knocking shit over, I was gonna lose it. I prayed every second for tomorrow to come faster. The next day was my court date. I prayed that the judge would see how ridiculous these allegations were and give me my kids back.

When my phone rang, I cringed. Mynerves were shot, and I was scared to even look at the screen. I figured it was my parents again, asking more questions about the kids. Or maybe Kahlani, wanting to rehash what went down at Aaliyah’s house. Or, worse, it was Rah, calling to threaten me some more. I didn’t have it in me to deal with any of that.