Give Me All Of You, page 9
“Pea, this is my bestie, Journei. Bestie, this is my princess, Peace.” He introduced us and escorted me inside. His foyer was beautifully decorated with a navy chaise lining the wall with a gigantic mirror hanging above it, with a sturdy shelf on the other side with a few trinkets on it. When we got to the living room, I became speechless. It was decorated in navy, cream, and gold. You would’ve never thought that a child lived here because it was so clean. He took a seat on the couch and placed Peace on her feet. I took a seat next to him and watched as he got her together.
“Peace, Journei is going to stay here with you and mommy, okay?” he explained.
“Mommy, schleep!” she squealed in her cute little voice.
“Yes. Mommy is sleeping. You be good for my bestie, okay?”
“Yay, bestie!” She started clapping, causing the both of us to laugh.
“She’s animated as fuck,” he explained.
“It’s okay. You forgot I have a goddaughter?”
“Damn, I really did. You could’ve brought her with you. Peace would’ve loved that.”
“I’m pretty sure Rue wouldn’t mind a play date between the two of them,” I offered. He nodded and continued to pick up toys that Peace had scattered about.
“Uhm, you can come with me so I can show you where Lu is.”
He got up and Peace grabbed my hand while we followed her father toward the back of the house and down the hall. We came to a closed door and pushed it open, allowing me and Peace to go in first. Peace practically dragged me toward her mother’s bed. I was surprised she was so quiet, but I guess she was used to it.
“She’s asleep right now. There’s really not much that you can do except for watch and make sure that she’s still breathing and give her meds or something to drink. She’s been refusing her medication, so all we’ve been doing is keeping her comfortable.”
While he explained everything to me, I heard the hurt and anguish in his tone. He was hurt and had every right to be.
“We’ll be fine. Go handle your business,” I assured.
Nodding, he placed a kiss on Lu’s forehead before kissing Peace. When he reached me, he looked down into my eyes and I saw a glimmer of attraction there mixed in with the hurt.
“Thank you,” was all he said before he placed his forehead on mine and left the room. I watched him leave and when I turned back around, Lucretia was staring at me with a smile on her face.
What the hell?
Chapter Twelve
Rakeem
I left Journei in the room with Peace and Lucretia while I headed upstairs to my room to finish getting dressed. I had to leave because I was feeling guilty about having Journei come and sit with Lu. I was feeling this girl more than I wanted to accept. I know Lu made me promise I would move on, but how do I go about doing that? I didn’t want to get ahead of myself and just let shit be. After I finished dressing, I didn’t even bother to go let them know I was leaving. It was a security monitor in every room in the house. She would be able to see me leave if she looked at it. Once I grabbed my keys, I went into the garage and hopped into my Tahoe and headed to the docks. We had a few families due to come in later and Haze and I were always there for that. When I pulled up, I saw Haze was already there. I noticed Ced and Art were here as well. We had other workers, but these two were our top lieutenants and who we considered homeboys. I stepped out of my truck and headed inside the building that was tucked off to the side and found the three of them sitting around passing two blunts around.
“Wassup, wassup?” I spoke.
“Ain’t shit.”
“Wassup,” they spoke back.
I took a seat next to my brother, and he passed me the blunt.
“You good, bro?” he questioned.
Taking a deep pull from the blunt, I held it a few seconds before I blew the smoke back out and spoke.
“I asked Journei to come to the house and sit with Lu and Peace,” I informed.
My brother, along with Ced and Art, looked at me like I was crazy.
“You aight?” Ced asked, taking the blunt from Art.
“Yeah, I’m alright. Why wouldn’t I be?” I frowned.
“Because nigga. You’on leave Peace with just anybody. Hell, you’on let too many people around Lu. Now you have this girl that you’re clearly feeling in your house with your kid and baby mama. That’s enough grounds to question your sanity,” Haze spoke.
“I agree. As long as I’ve known you, you’ve never had too many people at your spot. Now you got a random chick there,” Art expressed.
“She ain’t random,” I shot back.
“And you’re defending her? Yeah, it’s that damn deep,” Ced laughed.
“Aye, y’all go check on them niggas. Let me holla at Rock.” Haze dismissed Ced and Art because I knew he was about to go into big brother mode on my ass. No sooner than the door shut behind them, he started up.
“Talk to me,” he insisted.
As I slid down in the chair, I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the back of the chair.
“Man, I’m liking Journei…a lot and I feel guilty as fuck about the shit,” I revealed.
Saying it out loud made me realize I was really slowing falling for this girl.
“And what’s wrong with that?” Haze asked. I looked at him like he was crazy.
“The fuck you mean, what’s wrong with that? My baby mama is laid up in my house, dying and you think it’s okay for me to be attracted to another one while I’m already mourning her.”
He passed me the blunt and sat back in his seat before he spoke again.
“Didn’t you tell me Lu wanted you to be happy and love again?”
Silence.
“Didn’t you tell me she wanted somebody for you and Pea?”
“What does all that have to do with Journei?” I asked.
“Who’s to say that Journei isn’t the one? Why eliminate the possibility before you give it a fair chance. I mean, that bestie shit y’all got going on is cute, but I know you. I see the way you look at her. You start blushing like a bitch when you’re talking to her. Now, you have her in your home…alone with your daughter and baby mama. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that your ass is in love.”
Was I in love?
“Nah, I wouldn’t say all that, but I am feeling her. You know when I asked her to come sit with them, she didn’t hesitate? I was expecting her to curse my ass out, but she came through without a second thought,” I revealed.
“I say once we finish here, you go home and talk to her about everything. Let her know how you feel. Who knows? Maybe she feels the same.” He shrugged.
I don’t think I’m ready to discuss any feelings yet, but I will be taking a better look at things from now on.
Five hours and four families later, I was pulling back into my driveway. It was almost eight o’clock at night, so I know Peace would be cranky. After thanking Journei, I would get my baby down for the night and then make sure Lu was straight.
When I walked inside, I didn’t see them, so naturally I went inside of Lucretia’s room, and I was taken aback to see Journei braiding Lu’s hair. I didn’t even know how to take this.
“Hey,” Journei spoke first. Lucretia’s eyes darted to mine and a weak smile graced her face.
“Wassup? How long has she been sleeping?” I noticed Peace was lying in the bed that I had in here and she had on fresh pajamas.
“About thirty minutes now. You have a very independent little lady on your hands. She led me to her room and showed me her clothes and toys. I hope you don’t mind. I fed her too.”
“Ugh, nah. I don’t mind.”
“Lu has been up for about two hours. I saw her hair products, so I did a dry wash and re-braided it. I also washed her up for you.”
I was speechless. I couldn’t believe that she did all of this and not hesitate at all.
“Thank you, shorty. I really appreciate you helping me out today, shorty. I’ll have to repay you real soon to show my appreciation.”
“I like seafood.” She smiled.
“I got you.”
I watched her as she gathered her things, and I walked her out of the room and to the front door. Once I got her to her car, I pulled her into a hug and squeezed her tight.
“Thank you, again. You don’t know how much you showing up today meant to me.”
“It was no problem. That’s what besties are for.” She smiled.
I watched as she got in the car and drove off. When I made it back in the house, I went into Lu’s room, and she was still awake. Walking over to the side of her bed, I took a seat and grabbed her hand.
“Rakeem,” she called out to me weakly.
“Wassup, shorty?”
“That’s her,” she said.
“Huh?”
“Th-that’s her. Journei. She’s the woman for you. Sh-she’s the one fr-from my dreams.”
I was stuck at her words. What did she mean Journei was the woman in her dreams? What was she trying to tell me?
“I had a dream about the woman that would teach you how to love again,” she rasped. “When I opened my eyes and saw her, everything about her was so familiar. I recognized her voice. She’s so good with Peace.” She stopped to catch her breath. “Don’t shy away from her, Rakeem. You like her. I can tell. Otherwise, she would have never stepped foot inside of this house. Don’t fight it. Let it happen. Let Journei love you. You deserve it.” She gave my hand a light squeeze before closing her eyes. The lone tear that dropped from my eye before I even realized it had formed.
Was everything that Lu was saying true? Had she seen Journei in her dreams? Was she sent here to comfort me? I didn’t understand all of this and right now I didn’t want to. I wouldn’t completely ex out the thought, but right now, my primary concern was providing Lu with a peaceful transition.
Chapter Thirteen
JaRue
sometime later…
Things between me and Hassan have been going great. We’ve been on a few more dates, had a lot more sex and even had playdates with the girls. It was refreshing to be dating someone who seems to have a genuine interest in you. We haven’t established a relationship yet, and I will not pressure him into one. Hopefully, he will be able to let me know sooner rather than later what we are, and what we’re doing.
I left the premises today to get lunch. When I came back, I was surprised to see Hassan’s truck parked out front. I knew he had business with The RCF, but he usually calls or texts when he’s coming by. Maybe they had an impromptu meeting or something. Grabbing my purse, I walked inside and saw Hassan sitting in the chair closet to my desk with an enormous arrangement of purple roses. As I was nearing my desk, he stood with a smile on his handsome face. Before handing me the flowers, he pulled me into a hug and kissed my neck.
“These are for you, beautiful.” He handed me the roses, and I blushed at how thoughtful he was.
“Thank you,” I simpered. “What are you doing here, though? Did you have a meeting?” I asked as I sat the roses on the counter behind my desk.
“Nah. I came to lay eyes on my girl because I missed her.” He smiled.
His revelation caught me off guard.
“Why you looking like that?” he asked.
“You said I was your girl. When was that established?” I asked for my own knowledge.
“It was established the moment I slurped that pretty little pussy up like a hot pocket, then again when I let my dick get acquainted with it. If you need some reassurance, you can go tell Knas that you’re leaving for the rest of the day,” he asserted.
“Nigga, I told you don’t come in here trying to run shit and I hear you trying to make my receptionist leave work early.” Knasim came from out of his office with a smirk on his face, embarrassing the hell out of me.
“I’m sorry, Knasim. I won’t be leaving early. I can assure you,” I declared.
“Damn, baby. You’re going to choose this nigga over me?” Hassan asked.
Before I could respond, he smiled and leaned down to kiss my lips.
“I’m just playing. I got some shit to handle with this nigga, but I’ll hit you up later, aight?” He kissed my lips again.
“Okay,” I simpered.
“Rue, things might be a little slow. I’ll be out of pocket for the rest of the day. You can leave within the next hour if you want. I’ll still pay you for the whole day,” Knasim offered.
“Thank you, but you don’t have to do that.”
“He got it, baby. Don’t turn that shit down.” Hassan kissed me one last time before he left with Knasim.
Things were indeed slow, so I took Knasim up on his offer to leave early. I went to the grocery store before going to pick Infiniti up from daycare, so that I could have all that out of the way. By the time I was done, it was only an hour left for her to be there, so I went and picked her up before going on home. When I arrived at the daycare, I went straight to the room that Infiniti was in. I saw her in the corner playing with some blocks with another baby. Stephanie saw me enter and the look on her face put me on high alert.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as soon as we were close.
“I didn’t want to upset you at work, but Keith stopped here today to take Infiniti with him. Of course, I didn’t let him, and he got mad and said that he would report my business. I tried telling him that his name wasn’t on her paperwork, and I couldn’t just release her. He then called the police, but once they got here, they told him the same thing.” I wanted to go find this bastard and peel all his damn skin off. He hadn’t contacted my daughter in over a month but thought it was a good idea to take her from daycare without my permission. He had lost every bit of his gah damn mind.
“I’m sorry Stephanie. I hate he dragged our mess to your place of business. If you want me to find another dayc-” she cut me off.
“I wish you would take my baby anywhere else but here. I’m not worried about Keith. He can make whatever claims he wants. My business is legit and anything that he might say won’t hold a candle in court. By any chance that it goes that far, he’ll find out that I have a husband that doesn’t play about me.” She winked and smirked at me, and I was relieved.
“I’m so sick of him. Thanks for the heads up because I’m pretty sure that he’s just getting started with his bullshit. He saw me on a date about a month ago and I haven’t heard from him since. I should’ve known it was too good to be true,” I vented.
“Wait a minute, Miss Thang. You went on a date? With whom?” she pried.
“It’s a guy that I met at the gas station, but he’s associated with my bosses.” I blushed.
“Oooh okay. He’s one of them?”
I nodded.
“That’s where that glow came from. I ain’t mad honey. Live your life. I kept telling you that you were too young to be living the life of a senior citizen. It didn’t matter that you had a child. Mothers need to learn how to separate the two, and doing so doesn’t make you a terrible mother.”
She was right. She was another person in my life that kept telling me to get out the house. She’s even kept Infiniti occasionally when my parents couldn’t or if I didn’t want to bother them.
“You’re right and I get it now. I guess it took the right man to come along to help me put it into perspective.”
“Amongst other things.” She smirked.
“Give me my baby so I can go.”
We shared a laugh before she went to get Infiniti. When she saw me, she started wiggling to get out of Stephanie’s arms and into mine.
“Hey bookie butt,” I cooed.
We told Stephanie goodbye and were on our way. When I got home, I put Infiniti in her playpen and got the groceries out of the car and inside. While I put the groceries up, I received a FaceTime call from Hassan. The smile that formed on my face was inevitable. When I answered, he was already staring into the phone.
“Hey,” I simpered.
“Wassup, shorty? You just getting home?” he asked.
“You got a tracker on me or something?” I joked. His only response was a smirk.
“Haze,” I called his name.
“Nah, that name ain’t for you. What you do after you left work?” He avoided my previous question.
Sighing, I decided to just fill him in on the events that happened after I left work.
“You want me to handle it?” he asked.
“Handle it? No. I don’t want you worrying yourself with my problems. I can handle Keith,” I countered.
“But as your man, you don’t have to handle any nigga as long as I’m around. That’s what I’m here for,” he uttered.
That was the second time that he referred to himself as my man.
“That’s the second time you’ve called yourself my man.”
“And it won’t be the last.”
I blushed.
“You said you went shopping. You cooking for your man tonight?” he asked.
“Maybe if he asked nicely, I will.” I smirked.
“Baby, you going to cook for daddy then let me slurp that pretty little pussy up for dessert?” he asked, showing all of his teeth. It was something about that bottom grill that drove me insane.
“I guess, since you asked so nicely.”
He laughed.
“Bet. I see you later.”
“Okay.”
We ended the call, and I finished putting my groceries up. I already took some chicken out before I left the house this morning. I would make some oven baked smothered chicken with some cabbage, rice and honey cornbread. I usually fixed enough for four people since I didn’t cook every day and most days Journei was here with us when she wasn’t home or with Rakeem.
As I prepared dinner, I smiled at the thought of seeing my man later. My man. That sounded weird as hell, but I would take it as long as he gave it. While I was cutting up the cabbage, there was a knock on my door. Quickly drying my hands, I went to the door and opened it. On the other side was a man dressed in a suit. He probably was a Jehovah’s Witness.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
