Page 20 of Rhodes to Love

When she stepped out on the porch and saw me, her frown turned into a smile. “I guess I’ll excuse you this time.”

Milana chuckled and rolled her eyes then stood to go saddle her horse. I hated Aunt Tiff interrupted us, because I needed to talk to her about this ratchet ass bullshit I heard about her sleeping with her boyfriend’s brother. Jacob had mentioned it to me because he knew how close we were. I wished she would have told me, but she hadn’t. It had been over five months since that had happened, so she had plenty opportunity to say something by now, whether that had been in person or by phone.

Aunt Tiff sat next to me and asked, “So how did it go?”

“The appointment went well.”

She slightly twisted her lips, causing me to laugh. I knew she wasn’t talking about the appointment. “Heifer, you good and got damn well know what the fuck I’m talking about.”

“Damn, Auntie. I was just picking with you.” She chuckled as I took a deep breath, trying to gather my thoughts. “He’s trying so hard. He almost made me slip. I was feeling so sensitive. I love my baby, and that is the mindset I was in because of the appointment. That love nearly spilled over to him. I was nice, maybe too nice, so he thought I would be comfortable with him being in my space for an extended amount of time.”

“The problem is that youarecomfortable, and you don’t want to be. Why you playing games with him? I did that same shit with Ryder. The man has been without you for four months. If you still love him, give him a chance to prove how much he loves you and how sorry he is. There is nothing he can do about this shit now. It’s done, and a baby will be here in a few short months. Quit being so hard concerning love.”

She slowly shook her head and closed her eyes. “You remind me so much of myself. After fucking around with Reggie, niggas made my skin crawl. Ryder nearly broke my fucking back when he threw me against the wall for trying to run him.”

My eyebrows lifted. She glanced at me and chuckled. “Not in an abusive way, Karima.”

I rolled my eyes and turned my lip up. The last thing I wanted to get a mental picture of was them having sex against the wall. She continued. “I was so guarded. I walked in on what I thought was some fuck shit and beat the shit out of this ho he used to fuck around with and didn’t talk to him for nearly a week because of what Ithoughthad happened. He had to show me the camera footage so I could see exactly what happened for myself. I didn’t trust that he was telling me the truth.”

She grabbed my hand as I rocked slowly, my left hand resting on my belly. “He fucked up. He’s admitted that and apologized repeatedly for it. If you love him and believe he’s being sincere, give him a little leeway. Let him wine and dine you, spend them bands on you. Make that nigga pay for that shit, but don’t turn him away because you’re scared.”

I nodded, hoping I could allow myself to do what she was suggesting as we watched Milana warm her horse up. When a truck turned in the driveway, I looked closer to see it was Uncle Storm. A one-sided smile made its way to my lips. “Your brother is here.”

Aunt Tiff peeked around me and saw Uncle Storm getting out of his truck. “Aww shit. Let’s see what kind of foolishness his ass finna be on today.”

She rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. When I turned back to him and saw the frown on his face, I knew he’d either saw her or heard her. Unc didn’t miss a thing. I chuckled as he approached. “Tiff, fix yo’ damn face. That nigga Z-Ro already got me feeling hostile. Don’t be sitting here acting like I ain’t ‘him.’”

I wanted to laugh so bad, but I knew he was serious as hell. Aunt Tiff frowned. “First of all, you always feeling hostile. Don’t let Z-Ro get yo’ ass fucked up, nigga. You know I ain’t never been one to pacify yo’ ass. You want that, you better go see Chrissy or Jen. Fuck you thought.”

I swore, the older they got, the worse they behaved. “Tiff, quit showing off in front of Karima. ’Cause what the fuck you talkin’ ’bout, I ain’t him? I been him-athan.”

If this fool quoted “HIM” by Z-Ro and CeeLo Green one more damn time. The song was the shit, but Uncle Storm was gonna have me not liking it anymore. He quoted Kendrick’s “They Not Like Us” so much I was sick of it, and I was the patient Henderson. Everyone else was ready to punch him in his mouth whenever he said something about popping out and showing niggas.

I chuckled as I listened to them go back and forth. He finally turned his attention to me and gave me a slight smile. “Hey, Rima. How you feeling?”

“I’m good, Unc. I found out today I’m having a girl.”

“You ain’t been having problems with that nigga, huh?”

“No. He came to the appointment with me. I’m thinking about giving him another chance to get it right, so I’m gonna need you to chill if he starts coming around.”

He frowned again. “When have you ever known me to chill? I only do that at the family smoke sessions.” He looked at his watch and said, “In a couple of hours.”

I slowly shook my head. “Well, I just wanted you to know that you didn’t have to be in ‘go mode’ when he’s around.”

“Girl, I’m always in go mode. The fuck? I think that lil time you spent in Nashville caused you to forget who I am. You better ask Tiff for a refresher course.”

I chuckled and slowly shook my head as Uncle Jasper passed by and honked his horn. Uncle Storm followed his truck with his eyes like Uncle Jasper could see him. “I can’t believe that nigga didn’t stop. I guess I need to go remindhimof who the fuck I am around here.” He looked at Aunt Tiff and shot her the finger then kissed my cheek. “See you later, Rima.”

“Get yo’ long-headed ass off my fucking porch, nigga.”

“Kiss my ass, Tiff.”

I swore, if I kept hanging around Aunt Tiff, my baby was gonna come out the womb cussing people out. I stood from my seat and said, “I’m gonna go too, Auntie. I wanna go see Yendi and the baby before I go home.”

“Okay, baby. Remember what I said, okay?”

“Okay.”

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