Page 38 of Through Treacherous Weather
“She’s such a chill kid. I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with her, but I’ve never even heard her cry. She’s going to Grey this weekend, and Star will be with my mom. You trying to hang out with me? Maybe we can go to Top Golf or something.”
“Sure we can do that. I don’t have any plans this weekend. I went out so much the entire time that I lived in Miami that if I’m not with family, I’m in the house on the weekends.”
“I bet yo’ life in Miami was a movie.”
“Whattttttt?” she squealed. “I had the time of my freakin’ life. Too bad I got close to an idiot. I thought Heiress was the coolest chick ever and that we’d be friends until the end of time.”
“People can definitely switch up,” he sighed. “When I met Sophie, she didn’t smoke or drink. I’m a street nigga that used to sell drugs for a living. I know the signs of an addict bur even when she started acting different, I refused to believe that she was indulging. Pain and trauma will have us doing the unthinkable sometimes. I loved her so much that even though I knew it might be a waste of time, I did everything I could to help her.”
“You will. It’s not even always about material things either. Like, I know we can never predict how a person will turn out. I know women with active fathers that have terrible taste in men, but showing your daughters the way a man should treat a woman is a great start. Wise is a great father, but he often did more talking than showing. He told me and Winter what we should and shouldn’t take from a man, but Natalie is the first woman I’ve ever seen him do right by out the gate.”
“Wise is a different kind of beast,” Esco laughed.
“That he certainly is. He always speaks highly of you. How do you know him?”
“He’s cool with one of my uncles. Wise was already an OG by the time I jumped off the porch. Nigga is a hood legend. Anybody with dope boy dreams knew who he was. My uncle used to havemy ass at this pool hall and shit when I was like fourteen. By the time I was sixteen, I could shoot pool like a pro. Guy came in one night and tried to son me. There weren’t any tables left, and he told me to get my young ass on, so he could play. Before I could put my foot in his ass, Wise bet him $1,000 he couldn’t beat me in a game of pool.”
Fatima chuckled and shook her head. “That sounds just like him. He can be a bully himself, but he doesn’t like them. So, did you win?”
“Damn right I did. That nigga was mad as hell when he had to pay Wise. Best part was, Wise gave me $2,000.”
“He act−“ Realizing what she was about to say, Fatima stopped herself and clamped her mouth shut. Esco eyed her curiously.
“What were you about to say?”
“Nothing.” She looked straight ahead and watched Star and Shai’Ann.
“Nah, you were about to say something. What was it?” Esco was curious.
Exhaling a deep breath, she shook her head. “It’s really nothing. He told me that basically if we started dating, you have his blessing. I told him it wasn’t like that though and when you were working for him you were very professional and never inappropriate.”
Not trying to hide his surprise, Esco’s brows hiked. “Well damn. I didn’t expect you to say that. Like I said, Wise has always been cool and shown me mad respect, but I never would have thought that he’d be saying I was good enough for one of his daughters.”
“I mean everyone should have standards but stop acting like I’m something so unattainable.”
“Shit, to most niggas you are. And it’s not even about what you have. You don’t need these niggas therefore you’re less likelyto take their shit. Most women like you wouldn’t put up with cheating, abuse, disrespect. You’ll leave if a nigga snores too loud, and a lot of men are intimidated by that.”
“Are you?”
“Hell nah. I’m not intimidated at all but at the same time,” Esco paused and stared at Shai’Ann. “I don’t need credit for doing right by Sophie. In my opinion men don’t get cool points for shit like being faithful. But I never once hesitated to treat her like a queen, and she played in my fucking face. It damn sure makes me side eye that love shit. Maybe I’m better off without it.”
“You’re not wrong in how you feel. I’ve had a few disappointments, but I’ve never been heartbroken or betrayed by someone that I loved deeply. I try hard not to judge or give advice on situations that I’ve never been in.”
Esco looked at her and chuckled. “You aight for a spoiled hood princess.”
“Whatever,” she laughed.
“It’s nice to know that we can hang out and get to know one another without your father putting out a mob hit on me.”
GiGi finished the lesson, and Star ran eagerly over to her father. Esco stood up and met GiGi to get Shai’Ann from her arms.
“They did great. Of course, they’d need several more lessons in order to become skilled in swimming. If you want to book another appointment we can but if you’d like some time I can give you my card, and you can book an appointment when it’s convenient for you.”
“I appreciate that. Yeah, we can go ahead and book for next Saturday, but um, this isn’t my home. I don’t want to intrude every weekend.”
“No problem. I give lessons at the Y as well.”
Esco and GiGi set up the next appointment, and he changed the girls into their clothes. “Thanks for this. I’ll hit you up,” Esco assured her.
