Page 49 of Through Treacherous Weather
All he’d wanted was for her to go to rehab and get her shit together, but that moment made him realize that it would always be something with Sophie. Every day he’d be holding his breath waiting to see if she’d relapse. He commended the fact that she actually completed rehab, but he didn’t want her to complicate his life or his kids. It would be a very long time before he trusted her to be alone with the girls, so that meant as long as she was clean, they’d have to spend a lot of time around one another.Again, he didn’t know how he felt about that. He was no longer in love with Sophie. Being around her wouldn’t bother him in that way. But there was still a lot of unresolved issues that he’d probably never speak on because he didn’t want to be the reason she started using again.
Esco went into the kitchen and sat down at the table. He’d been single for two years. The moment that he even considered moving on, she wanted to pull this sober shit. He had never experienced the baby mama drama, and he wasn’t about to start. Since she was in the living room with the kids, Esco grabbed his weed from his bedroom and sat on the back porch. After rolling a blunt, he lit it and shut his mind off. Esco refused to think about anything as he relaxed and smoked.
By the time he finished smoking and showering, more than an hour had passed. He added the carrots and potatoes to the food and told Star she’d be able to eat soon. In the meantime, he gave her and Shai’Ann snacks while ignoring Sophie. Esco went back into the kitchen, and Sophie was able to sneak away from the girls for a moment to talk to him.
Walking into the kitchen and smelling the aroma of the food along with his clean masculine scent had Sophie’s chest tight. This was what she’d given up in order to chase a high. Esco was a great man, and she could have had a great life if she hadn’t chosen drugs.
“Esco, I just asked if she was your girlfriend because she’s around the kids.”
Thanks to the weed he’d smoked, Esco was much calmer. He turned around slowly and eyed her. “Respectfully, for the past two years you don’t know whose been around the kids. You either didn’t give a fuck about their well-being, or you trusted that they were good with me and Grey. So don’t come being overly concerned now. I got this.”
“I completely understand, but I’m clean now, and I don’t plan on going back to how it was.”
“Well, I’d be a fuckin’ fool to take your word for it. Actions speak louder than words. And while you’re proving yourself, there will be boundaries, and structure. We’ll have a set schedule. Popping up at my crib is a no no, and Grey and I share custody of Shai’Ann so you’ll have to get in where you fit in with her. You’re already not listening because your hour has been up. You can stay until they eat dinner, then you gotta go. Star won’t want to go to bed with you here.”
Devastated, Sophie swallowed down a lump. Esco had always been her knight in shining amour, but he was eyeing her like he couldn’t stand her. She knew she’d messed up big time, but she couldn’t take it back. Sophie knew that every day would be a struggle not to use again. She was in for the fight of her life, but she was so tired of living how she’d been living. Once drugs had been out of her system for a few days, and she began to smell herself, even after she showered, she requested a visit with the onsite doctor. Sleeping with men for money had given her more than one STD and no matter how much she showered, she had an odor. As the doctor revealed to her the three STD’s that she had, she blinked back tears. It was only by the grace of God that her HIV test was negative. She was sure that he'd seen it all, but she was still embarrassed.
“Are you going to hate me forever?” Sophie asked in a small voice. Suddenly, she felt dirty and tainted. She’d been out in the streets letting men that were unworthy have access to her body. The woman that was at the house around her daughters and cooking for him, she was pretty and very well put together. That was the kind of woman she left her man to go get. Women like that were more his speed. Not a ran through ex-junky.
It wasn’t like she sold her body excessively while she was strung out. Actually, Sophie had only had sex with six men in herentire life, but only one of them she loved. One of them raped her, and the other four including Grey, were men that she had sex with to get money for her drug addiction. There were women that sold their bodies every day to get high, so she was at least proud that she hadn’t gone that route.
Sophie knew her main focus should be getting acquainted with her children and getting on her feet. She needed a job and eventually her own place. Sophie planned to keep herself so busy that she wouldn’t have time to crave drugs. She liked being sober. Sophie loved looking in the mirror and not being disgusted by what she saw. However, she also knew that it wasn’t that easy. She would for sure get tempted, and it would be up to her to remember everything that she’d been through and what she didn’t want to go back to.
“When would be a good time to talk about how often I can come see them?”
Esco sighed. If Sophie wasn’t going to be consistent, he would rather she not come around, but he knew he had to give her that chance. Star and Shai’Ann deserved to know their mother.
“Hit me up tomorrow, Sophie. I need time to process this shit.”
“Okay. Thank you for letting me stay.”
Only time would tell how things would go with Sophie.
Chapter Twenty-One
Trinity’s jawslacked as Natalie told the girls how she’d beat her cousin Courtney’s ass when she went to Chicago to visit her mother. When Natalie found out her mother had to have emergency surgery, she didn’t hesitate to hop on a plane to get to her mother. The flight wasn’t long, so she planned to fly back and forth rather than taking both of the kids with her. Wise and his mother held the kids down for three days while she was in Chicago. Natalie was going to be home for three days, then she was going back to Chicago.
“I walk up to my mother’s door, and I can hear this bitch because the window in the living room was up. She was talking to someone on the phone, and she was like, yeah, I’m going to be leaving soon because my aunt’s bitch ass daughter is coming today. That fake bougie bitch want to be a real housewife of Diamond Cove so bad.”
“No, the hell she didn’t,” Ryan scoffed. “That hoe was dealing with a man that robbed and killed yo’ nigga and then he shot you. Even after she knew what he did, she continued to deal with him and because of him robbing someone and giving her a stolen ring, she got shot and lost her baby. That hoe is really mad because you bounced all the way back, and she’s still doing bad.”
“When I walked up in that house, the look on her face was priceless. She was like a deer caught in headlights, and the hoe couldn’t say anything. I wasn’t even thinking. I blacked out. I ran up on that hoe and did her dirty until her mother ran in the room and broke us up.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” Ryan stated. “A very long time.”
The group was at Winter’s bridal shower mingling. Trinity had a champagne flute in her hand that contained orange juice. Everyone thought she was drinking a Mimosa. Her doctor’s visit had confirmed that she was fourteen weeks. Trintiy couldn’t believe that she was almost four months pregnant. She wasn’t even sure why she was so hesitant to share the news. She should have known, however, that she couldn’t be secretive around that group.
Trinity looked up and caught Lauren staring at her with her head angled to the left.
“What?” Trinty asked with raised brows.
“Your face is fat.”
Trinity frowned. “That’s rude.”
“Nah, I know you, Trin. You’re in the gym like clockwork. I’m not saying you’re above gaining weight but it’s mostly in your face and titties.” Lauren inspected Trinity’s wrap dress. “And you haven’t been wearing tight clothes lately. You pregnant?”
“What?” Trinity tried to act appalled, but she was lowkey panicking. She really wasn’t ready to spill the beans, but even if she were she didn’t want to do it at Winter’s shower. The day was supposed to be about her.
