AUGUST, page 24
I busted out laughing.
“But June and I settled on Gift. So, he has Bonus and Gift now.”
Fanning my eyes, I was about to cry again.
“If you’re here, who has Grandma?”
“King and Tiffany. You know his ass couldn’t wait to be needed.”
I busted out laughing, then sobered. “Before we even continue this trip, I need to tell you something.” I relayed my concerns to August and watched him chew on his bottom lip. His expression was unreadable, almost unfazed.
“When we touch down in Pensacola, we’ll head straight to the doctor, so he can put ya mind at ease. While we’re here, I want you to do nothing but enjoy this moment and opportunity. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing is gon’ make me run, Asia. Whatever we gotta face, we’re gon’ do it and carry each other through. Cool?”
I nodded. “I love you.”
“I love you, my baby.”
This Black Beauty Magazine shoot was going to double down on my success much like linking up with Jacoba did. My wigs were still doing numbers, and my bank account was healthier than it had ever been. That was the only reason I was choosing to be professional even though I wanted to walk the fuck up out of the building as soon as I saw Syasha on set. While I knew that there would be other wigmakers here, we had signed a contract stating that we couldn’t speak on it until the shoot was complete. Now, I saw why.
I could ignore Syasha. It was Nesha and Coco Beats being her models that put a sour taste in my mouth. Production knew what the fuck they were doing. Even the other two wigmakers who were on set looked like they were uncomfortable. They followed me on social media, so I was sure they saw the bullshit that went down with me and Nesha.
“We’re good,” Faith stated.
She pulled me along to the area that was designated for us. By the time the shoot started, Faith and I were in our own world, with Nesha and the other two forgotten. Faith was the perfect model and looked fine as hell all dolled up and donning a custom ginger wig whose strands stretched down to her knees. It was the way Faith and I posed and flawlessly played off of each other that had production crew eating us up. In the end, it was so dope that I made a play for Faith to join me on every shoot that I had from now on.
“Girl, you know I’m down,” she agreed as we left out of the studio. Outside, August and Jericho waited for us next to a rented Suburban. Seeing his woman all dolled up had Jericho’s mouth on the floor. Such was the same with August. He snatched me to him and kissed the lipstick I had on right off my face. I just held on and let him.
“Y’all niggas must not know y’all bitches fuckin’ each other.”
Breaking my kiss with August, I mugged Nesha. Surrounded by her entourage, she felt bold enough to say something to me. It was Chad coming up behind her that was even funnier. He looked stressed the fuck out. I glanced at the ground to hide the smile on my face. June was inside the Suburban, so we had to keep it cute.
“Y’all be cool,” Jericho warned.
“Shut the fuck up, nigga,” Chad said to Jericho. Chad had to bow up behind Nesha or else he would’ve looked like the bitch that he was. The last time he crossed paths with August, his ass didn’t say shit. He, too, was only being bold because Nesha had security with her.
“Yo’ girl gon’ get you laid the fuck out.” Jericho chuckled when he said it, which scared me. He was dead ass serious, although he looked chill with his arms around Faith.
Chad chuckled too as he set his sights on August. “We gon’ get up, nigga,” he threatened.
“Come on, baby, let’s go.”
Grabbing August, I felt like I had to force him to get inside the Suburban. Since seeing his father, something dangerous had been brewing inside of him. Nate played his sons, and now, neither of them were going to let him rest until they got their revenge. Knowing this didn’t make me afraid of this man. I was honored to call him the man who would be mine forever. He climbed behind the wheel but didn’t drive off. He watched Nesha’s entourage through the rearview mirror. A couple minutes later, he smirked.
“I’ll be back.”
Before any of us could stop him, he hopped back out of the Suburban and took off across the parking lot. I jumped out and went after him. He caught Chad by his own rental car. Nesha and her entourage were on the other side of the parking lot, getting her inside the tour bus. August snatched Chad up and threw him against the luxury sedan. Chad’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“Fame can be a muthafucka. Some of y’all niggas forget it’s real niggas outchea that don’t give a fuck about that shit. Find yaself a packed-out racetrack to play on. It’s safer than fuckin’ wit’ me. I’m really on that shit and will hide yo’ muthafuckin’ ass.” August let Chad go, who scrambled to get inside his ride. “Puss’ ass nigga.”
Jericho and Faith were by the Suburban, dying laughing as we walked back. Meanwhile, I thought I was about to witness my first murder.
Two days later, we were back in Pensacola, sitting in Dr. House’s office. Before going to the room, my blood was drawn, and I offered a urine sample. My vitals were good, which was a blessing. August kept me from pacing. I sat on the exam table with him in front of me. He held me to his body, and my head rested on his chest.
“It’s gon’ be aight, my baby,” he stated and kissed my forehead. Between kisses, he whispered scriptures over me that brought a calmness to my spirit that was unexplainable. Dr. House walked inside the room to August praying over me.
He took a step back, looked at August, then reached his hand out to shake.
“Dr. House,” he introduced.
“August,” he replied, shaking the doctor’s hand.
“August, you have made me very proud to walk in here and see you praying over this young lady. As a father, I’m proud of you.”
Something passed between the two men, that had them both clearing the emotions from their throats. Surely, August was thinking about Nate. Hearing a father tell him that he was proud of him was probably something he’d been waiting to hear all his life.
Dr. House smiled big and announced, “I am honored to stand here and inform you that you’re going to be parents. Congratulations!”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
AUGUST WELLS
Hearing those words three weeks ago had me in the clouds. I swiftly crashed back to earth as I cleaned Asia up after another round of vomiting. While I was ecstatic to be a father, I was scared as fuck for my shawty. Once she was cleaned and nestled in bed, I cut the lights low and cracked the door.
Rubbing my forehead, I walked down the hallway and found June standing at his room door with one of his toy trucks in his hands.
“Is Gift okay?” he asked.
Concern lined his face. Picking him up, I walked back into his room and sat him on the bed. Sitting on the floor, I leaned up against the nightstand and deposited my arms over my knees.
“Gift is okay, baby,” I assured him even though a million what ifs raced through my mind.
“Why is the baby making her sick?”
Explaining the woes of pregnancy to June wasn’t on my calendar for the month, so I played that shit off.
“I should’ve made her soup instead of sloppy joes for dinner.”
June giggled. “No more sloppy joes for Gift,” he said.
As I laughed with June, it occurred to me that I’d missed Faith’s entire pregnancy. The fact that she’d had to face days and nights like this broke me. Jericho was there for her, and still, that nigga didn’t live in the city back then. To think that she’d spent her days alone fucked me up.
“You know I love you, right?”
June nodded. “A lot. Mommy says you love me a lot, too.”
“Because I do. You’re gon’ make a great big brother, June. Jericho and I are gon’ teach you how to be the strongest, most caring man ever.”
He grinned. “You’re strong, Daddy. And you care about me, you care about Mommy, Gift, Gran-Gran—”
“Gran-Gran?”
“Mrs. Mary, silly.”
Briefly, I dropped my head to hide the emotions behind my eyes. My son was loving. I almost missed out on this shit!
“I like that name for Mary,” I told him.
“She likes it, too. When Gift feels better, you think she’ll take me skating again?”
“You like skating?”
He briskly nodded. “You should learn, too, Daddy since Gift loves it so much.”
For a second, I turned my nose up. Then, I thought about it. If this kid could recognize Asia’s love for skating, then I could too. June unlocked a love language of Asia’s. Skating and making wigs were here ultimate loves. With skating, I could literally see the joy on her face once she donned those lime green rollers.
“You’re right, my baby. What’d you say we go read Mary—”
“Gran-Gran,” he corrected.
“—Gran-Gran a book before bed,” I proposed. June was already grabbing a book and heading for the door before I could climb from the floor.
Walking into the library, I chuckled at how June threw himself into Gran-Gran’s lap. She didn’t mind his ass being so fucking rough. She kissed the top of his head, turned the television down, and smiled as he started reading Black Boy Joy: Mekhi’s Gift by Ms. B. That was one of his favorites.
As he read, I went through the library, scanning books to see which one would be my next read. Smiling, I thought, reading had become a love language for me. Reading settled my mind and gave me an outlet, plus it was easy to do. Spending my money on books had become a habit I wouldn’t break for the foreseeable future. Even if I had to expand the library, I would do so. I created this space for myself, Gran-Gran, June, Asia, and our family to come. I could see the vision plain and clear.
Taking a book from the shelf, I flipped through the pages. Knowing this author, she would help me briefly escape the fear of what lie ahead with Asia and me. She was growing our baby. It terrified me that she was putting her own health at risk to do so.
One month later…
As time passed, the fear of the unknown loosened its grip. Hand in hand, Asia and I left out of her OB’s office, with better news than we could hope for. Our baby was growing beautifully, and her morning sickness was tapering off. What had us elated were her test results. So far, the blood test indicating whether or not the tumor was oversecreting showed that it was stable. We were early into this thing, but we were slowly becoming more confident that all would go well in the end.
Inside the truck, I held Asia’s hand and kissed along her wrist. She wore the bracelet I bought her for her birthday, along with the necklace and earrings. Thinking it had been too long since I iced my baby out, I made a detour from going straight home. She immediately whined.
“Bae, I’m hungry as hell. Where are we going?”
“I’ma feed yo’ greedy ass,” I playfully responded.
She smacked her teeth, then busted out laughing. “You gotta let me slide on being greedy. I haven’t eaten a solid meal in forever. And you see how small I’m getting because of it.”
Yeah, that was the only thing her doctor was concerned about. Not eating had her a little slender.
“I’ma put all the weight back on you and then some,” I promised.
Ten minutes later, we were downtown, and I maneuvered my big ass truck into an available parallel parking space. Seeing the name on the awning, Asia’s eyes flew to mine.
“What’re we doing here?”
Smirking, I climbed out of the truck, then went and got her out. Tugging her behind me, we walked inside of the swanky high-end jewelry store and were immediately welcomed by one of my regulars.
Goony dapped me up, then shook Asia’s hand. “The last time I saw this nigga, he bought that set from me.” He pointed at Asia’s necklace.
Asia smiled and said, “You make beautiful jewelry.”
Goony grinned hard as fuck. “She said it, not me.”
We shared a laugh.
“What can I do for you, bruh? An engagement ring, perhaps?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed.
Goony was joking, so when he saw the look on my face his eyes widened.
“You for real, my nigga?”
“He is,” Asia answered.
I could only chuckle. My baby knew she deserved this shit. Her ass wasn’t even hungry anymore. We spent an hour and half in that muhfucka until she was satisfied with the perfect ring.
“I’m supposed to get down on one knee,” I told her when we were back in the truck. She admired her ring with the biggest smile on her face.
“You’ve been on one knee since January, boo,” she stated matter-of-factly.
That shit was too accurate for me not to agree. So with a chuckle, I cranked the truck.
“You did all that running just to give me a ring. How do you feel about yourself?” She shook her head and narrowed her eyes in mock disgust.
“I feel pretty good,” I said being just as petty as her. “Between my mama and yo’ big head ass, I really didn’t have a choice.”
She pushed me, then laughed. Reaching over, I took her chin, then brought her face to mine.
“We’re about to get married, my love. How do you feel about yaself?”
Her eyes misted. “I feel like I’m the luckiest girl to ever walk the earth. This man came into my life and loved on me in the gentlest way. There wasn’t a day I didn’t recognize how intentional he was with everything that he did. He took care of me. He was patient with me. Most of all he loved the one person in my corner who has always stuck beside me. I can never thank you enough for that, August.”
We kissed on it, blending the unspoken promises between each other with our tongues. My baby never had to worry about shit.
The next week…
Finally confronting Nate took time. I hadn’t seen him since Cage showed up my doorstep in Georgia. King being the fucking emotional machine that he was faced Nate one last time. What they discussed was something I would never know.
Every day that passed all I could think about was how he’d betrayed not only me, King, and Cage but the women who gave us life. Lately, my mother hadn’t been coming to me. I knew it was because Nate’s secrets had finally been revealed. All she wanted me to see was that everything she did was to protect me and King. She wanted me to remember her face and the love she had for her boys.
I wasn’t going to lie. Seeing Nate still breathing brought a heaviness to my spirit that I knew would only dissipate once this nigga was under the ground. A nigga shouldn’t feel that way, but it was the fucking truth.
To know that this nigga tried bringing me down to his fucking level was what truly hurt a nigga’s heart. King spared me for so long, not wanting to tell me all the shit he found out about Nate when it came to me. All those years ago, Nate had really been out to ruin my life. So much time had passed with me still giving a fuck about this nigga.
Today… Today, I just wanted to cleanse my whole existence of this muthafucka.
“I have to admit I’m surprised to see you here,” he said. One thing I noticed off rip was Nate’s weight loss and newly formed wrinkles. Some of his spunk was gone, too. For what I now knew, I was pleased with his appearance.
Foregoing any pleasantries, I said, “One of the greatest gifts a father can have is the admiration of his children. It took becoming a father to understand that. Whether or not June chooses to walk in my footsteps will be his choice. I am absolutely gon’ make sure my steps are measured so that my son, should he follow in my footsteps, won’t stumble like I fuckin’ did.”
Nate glanced around as if someone could hear us. He should’ve felt ashamed.
“Ya job as a father was to protect your children. Especially from the same life you lived.”
As much as I wanted to blast him from being in law enforcement at one point in his life, I didn’t. That was something between King, Cage, and I. I would go to my grave protecting the secrets I now held with my brothers.
“Don’t look for me to come back here, Nate. I told you that I forgive you…and I do. I forgive you for being less than what your children deserved. I forgive you for being too selfish to put ya family first.”
Nate said nothing as I stared at him through the glass partition. He couldn’t say shit because he wasn’t shit. I accepted the closure in his eyes. He had no choice but to accept the closure in mine.
Chapter Forty
FAITH
One month later…
Someone once called me damaged. Shoot, I’d even called myself that once upon a time. However, standing in front of this floor-to-ceiling mirror, damage was not what looked back at me. A woman with substance, faith, endurance, hope, peace, and mostly love, was who looked back at me.
Today was the day. I was marrying the love of my life and the protector of my heart. Preparation didn’t stop me from being nervous as hell. The baby growing in my womb could also be the reason for my nerves. He or she had me feeling a little nauseous but nothing that would deter me from carrying out this special day. A hand going into mine calmed the fluttering inside my chest.
“We’re walking down this aisle together,” Asia said. “Which means we will hold each other’s hand through whatever we have to, Faith. How we got here is the most beautiful part of it all. We’re proof that blended families can not only work but thrive. I love you like a sister. And I promise to always have your back.”
I fanned at my eyes to keep the tears from falling, but it was no use. Taking a cloth from Grandma FeFe, I dabbed at the corners of my eyes.
“This is why you’re June’s gift. From the beginning, I knew you were the one, Asia. We connected in a way that was so pure I couldn’t ignore it. As a mother, I couldn’t ask for August to have rightfully chosen you. As a woman, you are who I’ve always wished I had in my corner. As a friend and sister, I will always have your back, and I can’t wait to hold my niece or nephew.”
