Page 27 of The Hellcat Barbies: Aubree
Brasi grinned. “I am. It’s nice to meet you. I always like meeting other gingers. We’re special you know?”
“Yeap! Very special. People wish they had red hair like us.”
“Yoooo,” Brasi laughed loudly and looked over at me. “I like shorty. Where do you ladies want to go first?”
I looked over at Brianna since I was letting her choose. She had on the cutest denim skirt, white print tee, and matching denim jacket with some J’s. I had done her hair in little twists. She was Brasi’s literal twin, and it was making me sad and happy at the same time.
“The park.”
“Okay cool. We’re going to the park.”
When Brianna walked over and grabbed Brasi’s hand, my heart skipped a few beats. She had literally known him for less than ten minutes. Maybe she felt a connection to him because he was unique like her. The look that Brasi tossed over his shoulder at me further melted my heart. Appreciation, gratitude, joy, it allseemed to be flickering in his orbs. We got settled in his car, and when he went straight to Apple music and only played the clean version of songs my cheeks lifted into a smile. Brasi was going to be a great father one day.
When Brianna started singing along with a Chris Brown song, I glanced back at her. “What you know about this song?” to my knowledge, my aunt only listened to gospel music.
Brianna grinned. “I heard it in grandma’s car.”
That got a laugh out of me. My aunt’s mother was my grandmother, so technically, she was Brianna’s great grandmother, but technically I wasn’t her mother so… One thing about my grandmother, she was unapologetically her, and I loved it. She would pray for you, cook you up a hot delicious meal, then spank your behind in Spades. Granny was always on the go too. One day I called her, and she was at a comedy show with her best friend. I called her the very next day, and she was at karaoke. I legit loved her life.
“Granny said, if he was a little bit older, she’d let him sing to her. I said grandma, why he gotta be older just to sing to you?”
I snickered, and Brasi laughed. Brianna was a character for sure. At the park, I sat on a bench and let Brasi and Brianna play until she found some kids to play with, and he walked over to where I was. “I gotta get in shape,” he sat down breathing hard. “I might never get this chance again, so thank you. For letting me be here.” Brasi was speaking to me, but he was staring straight ahead watching Brianna play.
“Of course. All I ever wanted was to see her happy. Sometimes, I feel like a failure because I didn’t even try.”
“We not doing that. She’s with your aunt, she’s loved, and she’s thriving. As long as she always remembers me as uncle Brasi with the red hair, I’ll be happy with that.”
“The older she gets, I think she’ll be able to put two and two together. You’re my man. Not a blood relative. You don’t thinkshe’ll notice that she looks more like you than anyone in the family?”
“We can cross that bridge when we get there. I’d never try to step on your aunt’s toes. But I do plan to be around as your man, so she will definitely know of me.”
Thoughts of Brianna one day finding out that I lied to her and that I was really her mother made my gut churn. I didn’t want her to be upset with me for lying to her and end up hating me. Only time would tell how things would play out, but all I could do was pray they ended up working out, so all parties involved were happy and content.
“What if I have another child, and if she finds out she’s mine, she resents me for giving her up and keeping the other baby?”
Brasi finally tore his eyes away from Brianna and looked over at me. “Stop. You can spend the rest of the day coming up with scenarios that stress you out, and it’s all a waste of time. We don’t know how things are going to go in the future, so we can’t worry about them. Just chill and enjoy today.”
I nodded. After the park, we went to the same diner I got shot at and had lunch. I wasn’t traumatized to the point where I wouldn’t go back and eat there, but I damn sure didn’t like strangers getting too close to me or staring at me. For that reason, I had signed up for a class so I could become licensed to carry.
After we left the diner, the next stop was Target, and Brianna literally shopped until she dropped. I got five items, and Brasi got three. The total at checkout, however, totaled $649. “My aunt is going to have a fit at all this stuff Brianna is going home with,” I chuckled as Brasi loaded the bags into his trunk. It had been an eventful day for Ms. Brianna because before he even left Target’s parking lot, she was knocked out.
“I’d say she had a good day.”
“That she did,” he nodded.
Back at my house, Brasi carried Brianna inside and lay her on the couch. He invaded my personal space. “I’ll be on my way since shorty has taken my spot in the bed, but as soon as she goes home, I’m punishing yo’ ass so prepare to be walking funny.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”
Brasi chuckled before suckling my bottom lip. “You and Baby Girl sleep tight.”
“Why you starting something you can’t finish?” my words came out in a low moan.
“My bad. I’m out.”
I really hoped that God would work it out so if Brianna ever found out that me and Brasi were her parents, she wouldn’t hate us.
The Hellcat Barbies were sponsoring a little league football team. Two teams were playing against each other at a local park. Since our car club was sponsoring them, we were all in attendance at the game. We wore matching Hellcat Barbies letter jackets. We also brought water for the team and snacks for after the game. We’d also purchased their jerseys and got shoes for the ones that needed it. Two of our members were helping to work the concession stand.
