When a Hood Legend Claims It All 4 Read online

  Just as I was about to head to the garage to use one of his cars to take me and my mother around the city a call came through from Ms. Margaret. It was going on nine in the morning. Even though I was up I knew it wasn’t considerate to be calling someone this early in the morning.

  She was an overwhelming customer. I should’ve known she’d still be this way when it came to life outside of the nail salon. I get it she was excited, and this was all that she may have wanted, but I was still processing everything and wanted to run it past my mother before I decided on what I was going to do next.

  Instead of answering, I chose to ignore her phone call and proceeded to the garage. I settled on Mar’s Charger and left to go to my mother's house. I was surprised she was dressed and waiting for me.

  I took her to the Green Eggs Cafe that was in BreweryTown. There would normally be a line of people waiting for a table, but it was just my luck that there was a table available when we walked up. I guess no one wanted to stand around in the heat.

  My mother of course started complaining as soon as we stepped through the door. I guess a breakfast date she assumed we were going to hit hip an IHOP or Denny’s. Green Eggs Cafe was a brunch style restaurant that served plenty of vegetarian and vegan options. The food was delicious and always looked to good not to eat it how everything was put together on your plate.

  “Why the hell did you bring me here, Corryn,” she fussed looking at the menu. It wasn’t a traditional pick your combo menu of pancakes and sides. The food was out of the ordinary and everything was ordered separately no combos or two for twenties.

  I rolled my eyes behind the menu. “I’ll order for you since I can tell you plan on being difficult.”

  “Difficult? What’s difficult is this menu. What the hell is red velvet pancakes? Does it look like I want cake for breakfast?” she continued to complain.

  I glanced around the restaurant and saw her loud behind had people looking at us.

  “I’ll order mom. I know what you want and yes, they do have it. You have to expand your palate mom. There’s other foods you can enjoy for breakfast.”

  She scoffed closing the menu. “Whatever. As long as I get my pancakes and coffee. It better be good too.”

  When the waiter came to our table, I placed our orders which had my mother frowning her face up even more. I swear sometimes she could be such a grouch.

  “Cookie dough stuffed French toast. I know you’re not about to feed my babies that crap. Had I known you were about to be eating bullshit we could’ve stayed at my house and I’d cook.”

  Again, I rolled my eyes this time not caring that she saw that I did. This was exactly what I meant when I said I had to deal with her in doses. “Mom, it’s one baby and I’m pretty sure having one meal won’t harm the baby.” She sucked her teeth and I sighed rubbing my temples. “Can we enjoy our time out? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you and I just want to eat and enjoy your company.” I was damn near begging for her to be on her best behavior.

  Pursing her lips, she rolled her eyes. The waiter came back with her coffee and my almond milk Chai Latte.

  “What makes you so sure that there isn’t two babies in there?” she asked stirring some sweetener into her coffee.

  I see she wasn’t going to let the two baby shit go.

  “Because during the ultrasound appointment there was one baby and one heartbeat. Stop wishing two children on me. I already have a lot going on.”

  “Like what? Tell me what’s more important than you bringing your children into this world.”

  “That’s not the case. I’m very excited about becoming a mother. You just keep saying two babies. Now that scares me.”

  “Why? You got me?”

  Now she finally had me smiling. This woman was nuts, but I knew she would love her grandchildren with all her heart and soul. I’m sure she was only hoping for two babies because she needed something to occupy her time since she was always in the house.

  “Of course I do. Don’t worry, I will have to get back to work and you will be my designated babysitter.”

  “Go back to work for what? You should be home raising your baby.”

  “It’s 2019 mom, not the 1960’s. Women work now. I will love to stay home all day with the baby, but I do have a business to tend to as well. Amare and I have actually started talking about expanding.”

  I waited for my mom to say something snippy, but she didn’t. Instead she lifted her cup up and finally drunk some of the damn coffee.

  “That’s good. I’m glad you found a man that want to see you grow and start a family unlike your fucking father.”

  Her words were dripping with some much hate, it almost had me second guessing whether it was the right decision to bring up the topic I wanted to discuss.

  “Speaking of my father. Do you know a woman named Margaret?”

  My mother’s expression dropped for a few seconds before it contorted into a glare. She didn’t have to say she did or didn’t because her reaction said it all.

  “Don’t you ever say that bitch name around me!”

  “I want the truth. The whole entire truth, Mom. You said my father left but he’s been in wanting to be around me. Did you know that the woman was his wife?”

  She just stared at me blankly. I couldn’t tell if she was still angry or guilty that she slept with a married man and lied to me all these years. I get it, the shit was embarrassing. We either were on the receiving end of heartbreak or a part of someone’s heart break. I completely understood no one was perfect and quite frankly, that part of her life wasn’t my business. I just wanted to know if this man was my father and if she was ok with me meeting him. My mother was all I had at one point of time. I knew how emotional she could be, and I didn’t want her to think I was betraying her.

  I reached out for her hand. “It’s alright. I’m not upset and honestly, I don’t care what happened between all y’all it ain’t my business. I just would like for you to be okay with the idea of me getting to know my father. Amare’s mom isn’t in his life, she hasn’t been for a long time, his father is dead… I just want to give our baby the chance to know everyone he or she’s connected to—"

  She cut me off by snatching her hand away and pushing her chair back with so much force our drinks shook spilling some of its contents on the table. “Take me the hell home.”

  My mouth dropped. “Mom… we haven’t—"

  “I said take me the hell home!” she said louder this time causing everyone to stare at us. When I just sat and looked at her stunned by her outburst she stormed out of the cafe. The waiter came to our table with our food and I gave him a sorry look.

  Going inside of my purse, I took three twenties out of my wallet to cover our tab and a tip.

  “I’m so sorry for that,” I quickly said before I rushed out of the restaurant to get my mother. When I got outside, she was nowhere to be found. I didn’t have it in me to run around and look for her either. It was embarrassing as fuck that she decided to act like an adolescent. Taking out my phone, I dialed her number and placed the phone to my ear. It rung a few times then went to voicemail signaling that she declined my call.

  Smacking my lips, I put my phone away instead of playing this cat and mouse game with my mother. For all these years I tiptoed around her feelings and accepted her ways summing it up to her being hurt, but now I fully understood it was just her way of burying her demons.

  All I wanted to do was to let her know that I was going to build a relationship with my father. From her actions she didn’t care to hear me out, so there wasn’t any reason for me to chase her down just to hear me out either.

  Wes

  “Damn, was she a sucka like that?” I asked pulling open the duffel bag Mar tossed on the table.

  At the end of each month after, Amena did her thing making sure our numbers were straight on the business end. What we had to send back to Florida was separated from our profits, organized and packaged to be sent back in one of our vans. Th
e process was tedious, but it was what had to be done to stay under the radar.

  Early this morning he informed us that the nigga, Trevor or Trey was now just a memory from our past. He thought he could travel across the country and get away for even coming at us but was sadly mistaken. Now I was curious to know what was going to become of Yvette. Even if she wasn’t a part of the plan she was guilty by association.

  “Yup, he took all her money. She was pretty fucked up about it too.”

  I stopped putting together the money and eyed Amare only because I wanted to know now that Trevor was gone, what he was going to do with her.

  “So what’s up with Yvette. You’re allowing her to walk?”

  He nodded his head. “Yeah only because she’s a woman. More than likely she was acting out of emotion and hopes of having a man to lead her. Now that both her options are gone, I’m sure she just wants her money and to leave. That’s the only option I’m giving her.”

  “You trust that she will do that.”

  “It’s only one way to find out.”

  We finished getting the money together. I wanted to ask Amare if he spoke to his sister, but it would’ve been a rhetorical ass question and I really didn’t want to get him in the midst of anything we had going on. Truthfully, I was desperate. Since leaving his crib she hasn't responded to any of my text messages or phone calls. It was the same song and dance. I was afraid that she might’ve just been done with me.

  While Amena was ducking me, Kesha was on my line. I fell back from her completely. Since she was due any day now, I sent her messages daily asking her how she was feeling and if she needed anything. Other than that, I didn’t say much, and I kept my distance.

  I knew shit should’ve been that way between Kesha and I especially since I said I didn’t want to be with her, but I knew I was in a selfish stage. I had two women that wanted and pretty much would do anything to keep me in their life. Now that I felt it in my soul that Amena was really done, I wasn’t willing to accept that.

  “How’s the wedding plans coming along?” Ken asked once we were cleaned up and rolling a blunt.

  “We haven’t spoken about it. I’m trying to do it ASAP, but Corryn would rather wait especially now that she thinks she found her father… or he found her. Come to find out his wife been a client at her salon for the longest.”

  “How she feel about that?” Ken asked.

  “She cool with it. Excited even. Now that she’s pregnant she’s big on having one big happy family. To the point that she wants to get my mother involved in my life. We ran into her at one of her doctor appointments and that crack head caused a scene.”

  I studied Mar’s face and knew he was pissed despite the fact that he spoke in an even tone. He hated his mother and we knew that wasn’t going to change.

  “Ain’t nothing wrong with forgiving… in Corryn’s case,” Ken added. “She’ll probably want her father to walk her down the aisle so I can see why she’s not in a rush. Just make sure the date ain’t when I marry Rita.”

  Mar and I both snapped our heads in his direction, and he laughed it off, but we knew he was serious only because we knew Kenton wouldn’t part his lips to say some shit like that.

  “Chill out… I’m not marrying, Rita… not yet, but since we’ve been kicking it I’ve been thinking more about my future and I know for a fact I want her in it.”

  I held my hand up to Kenton’s head just to see if his ass was sick and he threw a jab in my chest.

  “Chill.”

  “Nigga, I’m just making sure you good. Fuck she cloned you?” I laughed.

  “Nah, I’m being real right now and you want to fuck around.” Ken really had his face balled up mad because the man I’ve known was changing. I was making sure he was being one hunnid before I wasted valuable advice on his ass.

  “You see what you started?” I asked Mar pointing at Kenton.

  “Don’t blame that shit on me. Believe it or not this relationship shit was in all of us. It just takes a certain woman to bring out that side. Corryn is that woman for me. Kenton is realizing Rita is that woman for him and you?” Mar asked with raised eyebrows.

  “It’s Amena. I feel it. I was just too selfish to come to grips with it.”

  We all fell quiet after my admittance. Amare was slowly but surely accepting the fact I loved his sister, but I knew he wasn’t thrilled about it.

  “See now, doesn’t it feel good to be honest?” Kenton asked now being the one to be throwing out the jokes. I cut my eyes at him and he chuckled; placed the blunt between his lips and sparking it before he pulled on it.

  “It ain’t no other way to be,” Mar added sitting back in his seat. “I say if you really feeling Rita, make that shit official. There isn’t a lot of things that’s real out here, so when you got a solid woman on ya team you gotta keep her.”

  Kenton agreed and I had to as well. The relationship talk motivated me even more to make shit right with Amena. After blowing it down and shooting the breeze with my niggas, I went to check in on Kesha. I was keeping my distance, but she deserved a face to face conversation rather than the cold shoulder.

  Pulling up to her place, I noticed Kesha going inside of her house and slamming the door in this man’s face. Wondering what the fuck was going on, I parked my car and got out. The man turned my way once he sensed my presence. He looked pissed at first, but he relaxed his expression when he saw mine.

  Regardless if I didn’t want to be with Kesha, I wasn’t going to have no nigga harassing her.

  “You lost or something?”

  “You know Kesha?” he asked me pointing towards her front door.

  “What does it matter? I’m trying to figure out who you are and why the fuck you on her property?” I clenched my fist and the guy took a few steps back as I closed in the space between us holding his hands up in the air.

  “I didn’t want no problems. She’s been ducking me, and I found out it’s because she’s been hiding my child from me.”

  My face dropped and my fist unclenched. “Child?” I broke out into a mirthless laugh shaking my head from side to side. “The baby she’s carrying?”

  This time the guy was chuckling and pinched the bridge of his nose. I took the time to size him up and he looked like he was a drummer boy in someone’s church with the skinny leg jeans and shoes on his feet.

  “Let me get this straight, did Kesha have you believing she’s pregnant by you? If so, I'm telling you right now I will stay in Philadelphia until I get the paternity of the child. I have a feeling that the baby is mine which is why she’s in hiding from me.”

  He continued rambling, but I stopped listening when he said the baby is his. Noticing that I wasn’t paying him any mind, he stormed off and got inside of his car peeling off. I then made my way to Kesha’s door and pounded on it.

  She came to the door, snatching it open with anger on her face, but that quickly morphed into a shocked expression.

  “Wes… Wesley… when did you get here?” she stammered with her eyes bouncing around her yard.

  “You looking for ya baby daddy? He gone, after telling me an earful of shit.”

  “Wesley, let me explain,” she whined.

  Walking into her house, I stopped a few feet from the door and faced her with my arms across my chest. Her vibe told me she was stalling to come up with a lie the way she moved back and forth and fidgeted with her fingers.

  I waited for her to say something for what felt like an eternity until I spoke up. “I’m not going to sit up here and wait for you to come up with a fucking lie, Kesha. Tell me the truth so we can move on with our lives.”

  “I don’t know, Wesley!” she shouted not making any sense.

  “You don’t know what?”

  Tears clouded her eyes as she shook her head from side to side finally gazing into my face. “If… if… If I tell you the truth it may jeopardize me having the family I wanted.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose trying to keep myself from snappi
ng on her pathetic ass. “Just tell me if there’s a possibility the baby might belong to someone else. That’s all I fucking want to know.”

  A panicked expression flittered across her face. “I really think the baby is yours.”

  “THINK!” I growled aggressively closing in on her so that she backed up against the door with a thud.

  All this time I was able to remain calm, but hearing her admit that she wasn’t sure if the baby she was carrying was mine took me out of that peaceful mind state I was telling myself to stay in.

  “This gotta be a fucking joke,” I said more to myself shaking my head. I pivoted on my heels and walked away from her dragging my hands down my face.

  “Wesley, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you. But I feel like you’re the father.”

  “Bitch, feel?!” I snapped again. “It ain’t about what the fuck you feel. It’s whether that baby carry my DNA or not. You foul as fuck for that. Had me feeling like I was a deadbeat because of a baby you hid from me and I didn’t accept right away. You can have him any day now and I find out all this love and excitement I had for the baby was a waste of time and goddamn energy.”

  “We can still be a family. I know we can. I don’t want him. It was a mistake. I got tired of not feeling wanted by you. I slipped up.”

  I nodded my head. Not because I understood, but I just wanted to get the fuck away from her ass because I didn’t know what the hell I would do to her if I stayed any longer listening to her lame ass excuse for how she got pregnant and wanted to pin a fucking baby on me.

  “When you have him, test the other dude first. Once you get his results, we’ll figure out what we’ll do.”

  I moved towards the door to leave, but Kesha stood by it with her arm extended out.

  “Kesha move,” I huffed.

  “No, I don’t want you to leave. Not until we talk. You gotta forgive me. All those women you use to deal with, and you’re upset that I slept with one man?!” She went from sad to rage as if she had any right to be remotely upset right now.

  She looked me in my eyes with an unwavering glare and I looked straight back into hers. I knew Kesha for so long I was surprised by her actions. She played victim and then played tough guy once her first attempt to get me to give a fuck failed.