Page 20 of The Hellcat Barbies: Aubree
I didn’t spend the entire time chasing men or even being sad about Brasi. I went on with my life, and I had some great times. But having him back in my life made things so much better. I had gone to the gym and done some workouts to test and see if my arm could handle them, and I didn’t have any pain. I was giving it another two weeks, and then I was getting back on the field. The Hellcat Barbies, football, my career, Brasi. Everything in my life was damn near perfect. The only thing that would have made it better was if I had Brianna.
“I’ll never give you a reason to beat my ass. I’m about to head out. The whole time we were doing the video, my trap phone was going off like crazy. I’ll be glad when I move the last of this dope.”
My stomach churned at the thought of him being arrested and going back to jail. “Be careful please.”
“Always. I might need to get your ass to drive me around and make plays. That way if the police try to pull you over, you can lose their asses,” he joked.
Confidently, I stuck my chin out. “And I’d damn sure lose them. The police not fucking with my skills.”
“We’ll never know because I’d never even put you in that situation. I’ll call you when I get in. I don’t care if you’re asleep. Answer the phone and tell daddy goodnight.”
A simple smile was all I offered and after placing another kiss on my lips, he was gone. Brasi, Brasi, Brasi, Lord knows I had it bad for that man!
Three days later, Brasi looked over at me. “You think your mom gon’ be happy to see me?” I had told my mom that Brasi and I were back together, and she invited us over for dinner.
“I mean, she invited you over, so happy to see you or not, I know she doesn’t have a problem with you.”
“Your pops still the same?”
I nodded. “That man can sit in the same room with you for two hours and never utter one word. He walks around like a zombie. So out of touch with reality and just blank. I know getting sick and having to stop work before he was ready probably traumatized him but damn. He’s really not the same. It’s likeGet Outor something. Like I know he’s in there, but he doesn’t act like himself.”
“That’s messed up. Whatever he needed to help him get through the trauma be it therapy or whatever, it’s not going to just fall in his lap. If he’s not active about finding a solution, then nothing will change.”
“I don’t even think he cares if he dies. Like, he just checked out. Last time I saw him, laugh was about nine months ago, and he was laughing at an old Kings of Comedy show. We spent years hoping he’d snap out of it, but he never has. My mom has it the worst. Like, she lives in the house with him, but she always feels alone.”
“I can’t speak for your mom, and I don’t know why she stays. But I’ll bet it’s because she loves him, and she knows something mental is going on. That’s not the man she married, but she can’t leave him now. So, even though she’s not happy, she stays. That’s what I didn’t want for you.”
I gave a slight nod. I’d always understood his logic. I just didn’t appreciate the way he went about it. Maybe I did bite off more than I could chew in thinking I could hold him down for six years. Even if I hadn’t found the love of my life while he was gone, what if I had wanted to date, talk to guys, or have sex just to keep from being alone every damn day for six years. Maybe I would have started resenting him. Who knew?
When Brasi pulled in front of my parents’ house, I noticed that my father’s pick up truck wasn’t parked in the driveway. My mother opened the door for us with a smile on her face and before I even stepped across the threshold, the aroma of whatever she was cooking smacked me in the face. As if on cue, my stomach began to growl.
“Hey, baby.” My mom hugged me then smiled at Brasi. “Hello, sir. It’s so good to see you.” She hugged him too, and my brow rose slightly. My mother wasn’t a mean or rude person, but she’d never been a big hugger either. She seemed to be in a really good mood, and I loved that for her. I just wanted to know what was up.
“Where’s dad?” I looked around the living room like I was expecting him to appear despite his car not being out front.”
“He moved out. We can go into the kitchen. The food is ready, and I’m starving.”
My mother pivoted and went into the kitchen, as if she hadn’t just dropped a major bombshell. I stood rooted in place with a slack jaw until Brasi nudged me. “You good?”
Snapping back to the present, I walked toward the kitchen ignoring his question. My mother was placing bowls of food on the dinner table. There was fried chicken, yams, collard greens, turkey wings, macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob, and corn bread.
“Ma, how are you going to drop a bomb like that then just walk off like what you said was normal?”
Her shoulders hiked into a passive shrug. “It might not be normal, but it happened, and I’m okay with it. Your father and I finally opened our mouths and admitted what we’ve known for years but refused to say. It’s over. It’s been over. His health issues changed him. Somehow, he began to resent that even on a fixed income he had to provide for a family. You girls are grown, and I’m grown as well. You all don’t need him financially, and if he doesn’t want to provide for me, I can certainly do it myself. So now, he’s free. I don’t know about him, but I’m happy. Let’s eat.”
I was still in shock, but I had to admit that my mother did look happy. In fact, she was glowing. I knew life with my father wasn’t a walk in the park for her, so if she was happy, then I was happy. It had been years since my father picked up a phone and reached out to me. He never called to check on me or ask me how I was doing. When I came by the house, he’d engage in short conversation, but he never seemed too interested for real. Shit, when I got my hellcat, he was admiring the car, and that was the most I’d heard him talk at once in years.
Now that I wouldn’t be seeing him at the house when I stopped by, there was no telling when I’d see or talk to my father. I loved him, but he needed to fix whatever issues he had. It wasn’t my job or my mother’s to do. How someone could resent taking care of the family they willingly created was absurd to me, but I couldn’t waste braincells trying to figure it out.
When my mother asked Brasi what was going on with him and he told her about his science channel and going back to school, I couldn’t stop smiling. My mother seemed genuinely impressed, and I was so proud of him. After dinner and dessert which was apple cobbler, I helped my mother clean the kitchen. She said she was going to a nearby park to walk. I didn’t know when she started walking, but I was liking the way my mother was handling her separation from my father.
“Are you going to be okay with the bills?” Suddenly worry crept into my brain. My mother worked full-time, but it was at a retail store, and I was sure she didn’t make more than $12 an hour if that. “You know I can help if you need it.”
My mother smiled at me. “I applied for a manager position at my job, and if I get it, I’ll be bringing in about $1,000 more a month than I do now. In case I don’t get it, I’ve applied for some other jobs as well. I have savings, but it’s not much. I should be okay though.”
“Nope. I’m putting some money in your account.” I grabbed my phone off the table and went to my banking app. I did well for myself and helping my mother was never an issue. Within seconds, I had transferred $2,000 into her account. When she got the notification on her phone, her jaw slacked.
“Aubree.”
