Page 56 of Still Made For You

“I’m not yelling at you, yet. Don’t try me like that again. Let me get off this phone so I can go grab these prescriptions. I love you, beauty.” I froze, trying to make sure I wasn’t hearing things. As much as I wanted to pretend his declaration hadn’t scared me, I’d be lying to myself. For so many years, I thought I’d never hear those words again. Now, here he was saying it for a second time and I had no clue what it all meant

“Get out of your head. Ain’t shit changed on my end. We’ll talk later, though. I’ll send you pictures of Lil’ man in a little bit.” Once he disconnected the call, I panicked internally. I’ve been holding back in order to keep myself from getting my feelings hurt, but Renegade owned my heart. In a perfect world, we’d be together, living happily after, while raising our family. It’s what I wanted more than anything, but was it possible?

“Are you ready to go, beauty? Daddy wants me to sneak him some hot wings before Renegade comes back.” River explained.

“Isn’t he supposed to be on a strict diet?”

“Girl, if you know nothing else about Prosper Graham, it’s that he does what the fuck he wants to do. Telling him no is pointless, because he’ll just send one of his many hoes to do it for him.”

“Alright, let’s hurry up so we can hide the evidence. I don’t need your brother upset with me because your daddy wants to be a rebel.” I fussed.

“Well, since you all are leaving, I’m going to send these tea cakes over there with you. He’s been begging for them, but I knew my son wouldn’t take them to him.” Ms. Tammy sauntered into the kitchen and then brought out a bakery box full of desserts.

“Y’all are terrible.” I hissed. There’s no way he needed an entire box of sweets. Especially considering the face that he was just released from the hospital.

“River wasn’t lying about her father. The man doesn’t take no for an answer. Plus, I felt bad for him. The boys are about to have him under strict supervision starting Monday. I figured this would cheer him up.” Sucking my teeth, I grabbed the box from her.

Renegade already told me they were getting rid of the previous nurse because they found out she’d been buying him liquor and junk food. Prosper was truly a piece of work.

***

“Theprodigaldaughterreturns!”Prosper grinned as I entered the kitchen with his goodies in tow.

“How are you, Pops?” Kissing him on the cheek as he sat at the table.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes? How’ve you been?” He questioned with a mysterious grin on his face.

“I should be asking you that question, seeing as though you still have your hospital wristband on.” He may have been sick, but he was still a handsome older gentleman. I understood why the ladies used to go so crazy over him.

“I’m built for it. You can’t keep a real G down. Now, back to my question. How’ve you been? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen your pretty face. Even longer for my son.”

“I’ve been trying to piece my life back together. You know how that goes.” I uttered, taking a seat next to him.

“That I do. Well, I’m glad you’ve decided to rejoin the family. You’ve been greatly missed.” Prosper always had a way with words, so I expected nothing less from him.

“Here’s your food, daddy. I’m texting Yaya right now, and she said they should be back by six, so you need to make sure this food is gone by then. I’m already helping you break the rules, I’m not trying to hear my brother’s mouths. Here, I brought you two extra cups of blue cheese. Although I don’t know who in God’s name would purposely choose blue cheese over ranch.” River pretended to be sick.

“Gone on, silly girl.” He playfully nudged her out of the way. People could say what they wanted about him, but he was a damn good father.

“Why didn’t you come by here to pick up your money? I thought you said your tuition was due next week?”

“Well, you gave us quite a scare, so my tuition sort of slipped my mind. I talked to my advisor, and they gave me an extension.” River explained.

“Okay, baby, make sure you go in my room and get your check. I can’t have you being late. I need you to get your degree so you can make the big bucks.” He teased. On the outside looking in, you’d never know his health was declining.

“Do you need anything else before I head out? Triniti stopped by our place to grab her overnight bag, so she’ll be here in the next hour.” Prosper rolled his eyes.

“I don’t need a damn babysitter. Y’all are treating me like an invalid. I have enough energy to fuck two bitches at the same time, if I wanted to. The doctors don’t know what they’re talking about.” He spat.

“First of all, eww. Secondly, you need to slow it down before you have another woman trying to pen a baby on you.” River sassed. I’d overheard them talking about the nurse who faked a DNA test on her daughter because she wanted him to be with her.

“Man, I don’t even want to think about that crazy chick. They sent me a letter telling me my restraining order against her had officially been approved. In all of my days, I’ve never gone through anything like this.” He rubbed his bald head.

“You need to be trying to find a nice, wholesome Christian woman to settle down with instead of running through all these crazy women.” River fussed, cleaning off his kitchen counter.

“They’re much worse. The last church lady I messed around with keyed my car after leaving bible study. She wrote “burn in hell” on my windshield with a scripture at the bottom. Every time I see her people, I turn the other way.” I burst into a fit of giggles.

“Pops, what are you doing to these women to make them so crazy?” It’s been this way for as long as I can remember and I still didn’t understand. Yes, he’s handsome with money, but he literally played in these women’s faces.

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