Page 29 of Ghetto Heartstrings
Wise allowed Brook’Lynn to shower and snuggle up under the covers in the guestroom. While she slept, he took his own shower before joining her again, as he chose to lie on the futon until he dozed off. If she was more comfortable with him around, then he wasn’t gonna leave her… he made a promise to be his sister’s keeper, no matter what. Since he didn’t have any family like that, he was gonna value who he did have. He knew she was on edge and bugging out over Perfect, but he constantly assured her, that nigga wouldn’t bug out like that. He was as solid as they came; he knew his nigga didn’t just forget about Brook’Lynn.
Meanwhile, back in the Virgin Islands, little did she know, Perfect had snuck and called plenty of times in the past twenty-four hours. But, since she’d put the track phone away in her underwear drawer instead of bringing it with her, she missed it all because she was under the impression that he wouldn’t be calling her, since he hadn’t already.
She didn’t know how long she’d been sleeping, but when she woke up… she woke up to fussing. She adjusted her eyes to focus, as she followed the voices of Wise and his mama.
“Why is it so hard to tell me the truth ma? Like damn, this shit is frustrating as hell; don’t you think somebody owes us something?” He balled his lips in frustration.
“Is everything okay?” Brook’Lynn asked when she reached them; they were in the dining area standing next to the table.
Ms. Fiona’s eyes lit up when she saw Brook’Lynn. “You’re so beautiful Brook’Lynn. I knew you would be though. You were always beautiful, even as a little girl,” she said, tossing another gulp down her throat while frowning her face at the sting she felt when it went down. She then adjusted her eyes on Brook’Lynn’s belly. Even though Brook’Lynn had on an oversized sweater, Ms.Fiona knew. “You’re pregnant, huh? I can tell; you have that whole glow going on and shit.” She smiled.
Fuck all that shit, Brook’Lynn thought to herself. She wanted to know how she even knew who she was and what all did she know. “Um yeah, I am, but I’m trying to be lowkey about it.”
“Well, don’t be, pregnancy is a beautiful thing,” she said with a touch of sadness in her voice.
Wise chuckled, “Beautiful, huh? But you left me as soon as you thought I could fend for myself.”
Ms. Fiona lowered her eyes and eyeballed her drink. “I didn’t just leave you because I wanted to and stop asking for the truth because I doubt you can fuck with it. People always want the truth until they get it, and then, they wished they would’ve just left the shit well nuff alone.”
“Ms. Fiona… how do you know me?” Brook’Lynn asked.
She stood up from her seat, sick of hiding. In her heart, she felt like somebody owed them the truth and she knew Brody’s flakey ass wasn’t going to man up. “Both of ya’ll sit down,” she ordered.
Brook’Lynn gave Wise theshould I run, hit her ass, or sit downlook. He assured her that it was cool, but he spoke up on his behalf. “I don’t wanna sit down, just tell me. Obviously, you knew I had a sister because you calling the girl name out before I even got a chance to introduce her properly.”
“Boy!” Ms. Fiona grilled. “Sit your ass down like I said, and then I’ll talk! You up in my house,” she said, pointing to herself. “Mine… and I’m the only person calling shots.”
He threw his hands up and surrendered, as he clutched the muscles in his jaws with anger and frustration written all over his face. “You right; yo house, yo show.”
“Good,” she exhaled. “Now, I don’t even know where to start, but I guess I’ll start from the beginning.” All of a sudden, she went from going off on Wise to having water in her eyes. “WhenI met Brody, I was a young girl, and I mean young. I didn’t have much to offer myself or nobody else for that matter, so I had to do what I had to do. I lived in the toughest slums of Miami, so when I got a fake I.D. to start dancing in the club, I had no regrets at all. I was sixteen years old and broke, but with my young mature body, I started making more money than the vets up in that bitch.” She took a second to reminisce and wiped a tear with a smirk on her face. “Um, um, um… those were the good old days. I got my own place, my own car, and had my own money. I thought things were finally looking up for me, and then, one day when I was getting off of work, some bitches that were hating on me tried to jump me outside the club. Brody intervened and made them all line it up and give me a fair one on one. The minute he whispered in my ear that he had a thousand a piece for every ass I whooped, I went crazy on them. Hell, it was five of them, so you do the math. I needed that money,” she chuckled and took a seat.
“Now, from that moment on, Brody and me were like peanut butter and jelly, stuck together. He showed me a different life and lavished me with all kinds of shit, so it was easy for me to fall in love with him… only he didn’t feel the same. Brody had other plans for me, and I definitely wasn’t what he wanted. What he did want was to pay me for me to have a baby for him and his lover, and if I did that for him, he would make sure I was taken care of… I had to raise my baby until he was old enough, and then, he would also pay me to leave and live a good life. And because I was young and stupid for his ass, I would’ve done anything that I thought would keep him in my life some kind of way.” She picked up the entire bottle of Hennessy this time and took a swig to the head. Her face was red and full of tears, even Brook’Lynn and Wise could sense the hurt in her heart. “Well, I played my part, and a year and a half later, along cameBrook’Lynn, and I was devastated, especially since it wasn’t supposed to be any other women.”
Brook’Lynn cut her off. “Did you know my mom?”
She nodded her head. “I did… and that’s why it hurt so bad. She was one of the five women who tried to jump on me, so when I found out about you, it was a stab in the heart. He moved your mama out to Atlanta when she was pregnant… the minute he found out it was a girl. But, whenever he would visit Miami, he brought you on a couple of occasions, and then, when he had to handle business, he would leave you with me.” She had a spaced-out look in her eyes now.
“That didn’t last long though. Your mama called me one day looking for him and we had a long conversation. Turned out, she was just as hurt as me because she was sold the same dreams and he told her the same thing. He also paid her to have you. As stupid as we both were at the time, we’d rather have a piece of him than none at all… and besides, he was going to fuck with us both regardless, no matter how much we didn’t like it, so we left well nuff alone. No need in being beefed out with each other.” She shrugged. “We kept in contact until you were about four years old, but by that time, we were pretty much over it, especially because in between that time, we found out about another child. Only I was so stupid, so I still tried to stick around. I learned a big lesson; everything isn’t always what it seemed. Him fucking with us was all for show.”
Wise didn’t understand. “So, you didn’t want me? He paid you to have me?”
“Son, it doesn’t matter how it happened, fact remains that you’re my son and God chose me to be your mother. I love you no different, and that’s why it was so hard for me to leave you in the first place. That man sold me so many lies that I didn’t know my own name anymore.”
Brook’Lynn sighed, she was glad that they were finally getting somewhere. “Why in the hell was he paying women to have his kids?”
“Because,” she said, “he didn’t want to feel like he had any kind of personal connections to us. He didn’t want us to feel like he owed us something. Are ya’ll even listening to anything I’ve been telling ya’ll?” She frowned. “Can you not read in between the lines?”
“Mama, you know I’d never disrespect you, but maybe I’m just a tad bit slow right now because I don’t understand. What was the deal? His girl, or ‘lover’ as you call it, couldn’t have kids?”
She sucked her teeth and shook her head. “You young people are supposed to be the smart ones. There was never a woman Wise! Did you hear me when I said I didn’t have shit he wanted? I’m sorry to break the news to you kids, but your hardcore ass father is gay! He paid us to have his kids, so he can have children to carry on his name or ‘legacy’, in his words.”
Brook’Lynn burst out laughing. Matter of fact, she was laughing uncontrollably, cause she knew that Ms. Fiona had just sold them a bunch of bullshit; she should’ve gotten an Oscar for that story.
Wise and Ms. Fiona both were staring at her like she was losing it.
“Brook’Lynn… I have one question for you… do you know the real reason why you and Perfect were never supposed to be together? Did you know that Brody and Rasta are supposed to be best friends?” she sneered. “Bet you didn’t know that, did you? Wonder why they never let you kids see them together or even mentioned each other?” She tapped her finger on the table. “Ask your little boyfriend where his mother is. I bet she just up and left too, huh? Yeah, I know I’m right… Rasta pulled the same shit that Brody did. Only difference was Rasta married that girlin order to cover up his true intentions. Them hardcore, very well-respected in the street, fake ass best friend ass niggas are booty partners. They only wanted kids for their namesake to carry on the legacy. Do you know how that fucks both of them up to know that you and Perfect are fucking? That wasn’t a part of the plan. Wake up little girl… you wanted the truth, right? Well, checkmate!” she said, slamming her hand down. “There you have it! And that’s the reason why he never did shit to hurt Perfect; he is his lover’s child!”
“Bitch!” Brook’Lynn hopped up. “Stop fucking lying! You a liar yo! I’m bout to fuck this bitch up!” she shouted as Wise grabbed her.
