Page 17 of The Hellcat Barbies: Aubree
“Seafood fried rice. You want to stay for dinner?”
“Sure.”
An hour later, over dinner, I ran down to Brasi all the things he’d need to do to start his channel. The most important partwas getting the content created. Even if his channel didn’t start out doing numbers, all those views would eventually add up. The way I looked at it when I started my channel was that even if I only made $75, it was $75 that I didn’t have before.
“You really think it’s a good idea?”
“Yes! Creating content is hard work. I wouldn’t even be gassing you up to waste your time if I didn’t think it would be good for you. The awesome thing is, you love science. Being able to make money from doing something we genuinely have a passion for is the best thing in the world. I definitely foresee you making at least $1,000 a month after you’ve been doing it for a few months. And that’s at the least.”
“Like you said, I love science, so I wouldn’t even be mad at that. I want more black kids to have a love for science too. I’ve even considered going back to school. I’m not dumb. I just had a love for fast money, and I didn’t have time for school. Or at least I didn’t want to make time for school. I’m starting to feel different now.”
His comment made my heart so full, I couldn’t stop the smile from inching across my face. I was so proud of the man that Brasi had become. That familiar pang came back making a lump form in my throat. My parents nor Brasi’s people would have let me do everything one hundred percent alone. Maybe if I had dealt with being a single mother until he came home, we could have still had a happily ever after with Brianna. Every single time I began to feel okay with my decision to give her to my aunt, the doubt and guilt would always return full throttle. Brasi would have been an excellent father. I knew it.
“I think that’s awesome, Brasi. For real. You’ve always been a dope person, but seeing your growth is amazing.”
His eyes darted around my kitchen. “I’m for sure proud of you. All that you’ve accomplished is a big deal, and you did itwithout a man. You out here driving fast cars, racing and shit, what else do you do?”
“I play football on a girls’ team for fun.”
Brasi’s jaw slacked. “You do what?”
I giggled and shook my head. “Every time I mention playing football men act so shocked. We have games twice a month when it’s not too hot and not too cold out. It’s never super packed, but we have a nice little turnout. And it’s actually fun.”
“Damn. Shorty out here playing football. That’s why those legs are toned as fuck and them thighs thicker than cold oatmeal.”
That comment got a laugh out of me. “I’m not that thick.”
Brasi and I finished eating, and I cleared the table. As I was loading the dishwasher, I wondered what was next. Would he stay? Would he go? I felt a presence behind me, but I was scared to turn around. When he wrapped his arms around me, my heart skipped a few beats.
“What we doing, Aubree?” the vibrations from his words as he spoke against my ear made goosebumps appear like magic on my arms.
I cleared my throat and prayed he wouldn’t move his hands up higher and feel the way my heart was racing. “What do you mean?”
“Us. What are we doing? We just going to have sex once. Maybe a few times and still deal with other people? We gonna try to pick up where we left off six years ago and do this thing the right way this time?”
I hated how bad I had it for Brasi because the happiness that his words caused me was a little shameful. Despite what he did with Alyssa six years before, I trusted Brasi. Before that episode, he’d always handled me with care. He was respectful, honest, and affectionate. There wasn’t anything more that I could have asked for in a man.
Turning around, I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I think trying again now that we’re both mature and older is the way to go. And I don’t have to worry about you going to jail. That means we’re safe from you pushing me away, so I won’t have to wait for you.”
Brasi lowered his head and parted my lips with his tongue. From there, we took it to the bedroom.
CHAPTER 8
BRASI
Sweat drippeddown my back as I punched the bag in front of me. Once my classes were over for the day, I spent forty-five minutes working out on my own. During the classes, I demonstrated each move I wanted them to emulate, but I didn’t go through the entire workout with them. When I finished at the gym, I was going to shower and go move some dope. After that, I was taking Aubree to the movies. Getting back with her was unexpected as hell, but it came naturally. I didn’t plan it or put any thought into it. Once I was in her presence, I just moved off muscle memory. Six years hadn’t done shit to change how I felt about her. Even after finding out, she hid my child from me.
Brianna was still a sore spot for me, but I knew I had to work through it and move on. After Aubree and I had sex the second time, she showed me more pictures and videos of Brianna. That little girl was my literal twin. She looked happy. So despite the twisting of my gut as I watched the videos, I was glad that she hadn’t been aborted. And I was glad that she was being well taken care of. It was a blessing that I didn’t have to wonder if she was being abused or mistreated. I was a little envious that Aubree could know her, and I couldn’t. But there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
In the car, I checked my notifications. My brows furrowed when I noticed I had an email from Aubree, but when I opened the attachment, I smiled. Shorty had already planned a month’s worth of content for me between YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. She said that I should post reels and fun science facts on social media and link my YouTube to the pages. She was the one with a nice car and beautiful home that was paid for by creating content, so I was following her lead for sure.
I shot her a quick text message before pulling off. My trap phone had ten missed calls. Getting money was a past time that I loved, but I didn’t miss the hustle and bustle that came with being a dope boy. Every day I peeped the amount of coke I had left and hoped that I could get off it as quickly as possible. I could have sold all the bricks whole, but I would earn more profit by breaking them down.
When I got out of the shower, I saw that Cook had texted me and invited me to celebrate his birthday at the strip club before his trip to St. Thomas. It was two days away, so I agreed. I had missed a lot of my homie’s birthdays. The way he looked out for me when I came home, there was no way I wasn’t going to celebrate with him. I made a mental note to go to the mall and get him a gift.
Time went fast as hell and before I knew it, I was rushing to Aubree’s house, so I wouldn’t be late picking her up. Back in the day, she hated being late for the movies, and I was sure that hadn’t changed. I had made $1,100 selling dope, and that was cool with me. It was going to be hard walking away from that kind of money, but I’d rather be comfortable and free than being on top for a little bit and then get my freedom taken away for years on end. I had a little money put away when I got locked up, but it was less than $10,000.
Had I used that money in the right way, Aubree may not have been reluctant to keep Brianna. Had I been able to leaveenough money to cover her bills for a year or two, pay daycare, or something, maybe shorty would know me as her father and not another man. Since Aubree and I were supposed to be moving past that situation, I pushed thoughts of Brianna to the back of my mind because I didn’t want my mood to shift.
