Page 18 of F*ckin' With Me
His eyes scanned it. “Damn, I see why my wife was pissed about y’all’s villa,” he said before he turned around to face me. “Simone and my daughter came back to the villa, undone that Simonette had her own villa and the wedding party had to share.”
“Oh, shit! All y’all are in one villa?” Rashad asked. “Damn, that’s a lot of people in a villa.”
Mr. Brand snickered. “Not exactly. The parents are sharing one, and the wedding party is sharing another. Two sets of the wedding party are married, so they have their own rooms. Lanette and her fiancé share a room, and the other two single ones are somewhere in the mix. Originally, the party was going to be split between two villas. When I found out that they downgraded my baby Simonette’s plane ticket, I downgraded their accommodations.”
“I respect that. Look, I’m gonna be real with you, and I mean no disrespect to you as a man.” I paused to make sure my words seeped in. “I don’t like your wife or daughter. They treat mywoman like she’s a second-class citizen, and that shit doesn’t fly with me. I’ll admit, I haven’t been as visible, but I’m here now. I never understood why Sim wanted to keep our relationship on the low, but now I understand.”
Shit! I’m really selling this whole fake boyfriend thing.I may have been her fake boyfriend, but I was a real nigga. I didn’t like it when people were mistreated without warrant.
Mr. Brand stared at me for a beat before the corners of his lips drew up. “I respect that, son. I really appreciate you being there for my daughter and taking up for her.” His eyes bounced between me and Rashad. “Let me ask you this, Daylen. Do you like Simonette?”
His question threw me off.Did I like her?“Yeah, I like her a lot.”
“You look confused by the question. Let me explain to both of you why I asked. Also, this conversation is between men, understood?” After he received confirmation that we understood, he continued. “I learned a long time ago that in relationships, especially romantic in nature, it is more important to like your significant other than love them. See, when you love a person but don’t like them, there is no big push to be in their space.
“There is no desire to please them in certain ways. An element is missing, if you will. Now, love will help you to not mistreat or abuse them. I love my wife, but I don’t like her, and I don’t think I ever did,” he admitted. “Simone got pregnant with Simonette when we were in college. The week before she announced the pregnancy, I had plans to end the relationship. I didn’t want my baby to grow up in a single-parent household.”
Rashad’s eyes bucked a little. “Damn, you think she trapped you? That shit is crazy.”
“I can’t say that she did, because she was very vocal about her goals for our relationship from the beginning.” He looked off.“She told me that she wanted to get married, have children, and be a stay-at-home wife. I knew that, and I still moved recklessly, so that was my fault.”
I listened to what he said and really thought about it. I remembered when my mother died, and my father said that he’d lost his best friend. That always stuck with me because that was what I wanted when I found my forever. It was hard to find that, being a professional athlete. When you met females, you had to filter through whether they were with you for the clout, money, or you. Simonette not knowing my status was refreshing, in a sense. It didn’t feel like there were any pretenses.
“Well, Mr. Brand, I can promise you that I like your daughter. She’s different, and that’s what I like the most. Now, we’re working on getting her to come out of her shell more and standing up for herself,” I told him.
He smiled. “I’m not sure if you love my daughter just yet, but I see that twinkle in your eyes, son. Just don’t hurt my baby, and we’ll be alright. Now, y’all get dressed and come to this dinner with me. I don’t want to be around these niggas without a buffer.”
I laughed at the irritation in his voice. “Damn, it’s like that though? Take a load off, have a drink, and we’ll be ready in about thirty minutes.”
Rashad and I went into our rooms to get ready for dinner. It took both of us about forty-five minutes. I wore a nice ass blazer over a polo, dark denim jeans, and a pair of designer loafers. My lineup was fresh, cologne was enticing, jewelry was lowkey but screamed wealth, and my beard was properly connected. I was on.
On our walk to the dinner, I decided to dig a little about this Justin nigga. “At the airport, I heard you say that your daughter’s marriage wouldn’t last three years. Why do you think that?”
He huffed. “Lanette, unfortunately, is a carbon copy of her mother—to Simone’s pride and my discontent. Simone basically trained her to follow in her footsteps when it came to how to set her soft-girl life up, whatever that means. Justin and Lanette went to high school and college together. They dated for a stint in high school and got back together in college. About a year and a half ago, she announced a pregnancy, which was a surprise to even Justin. He didn’t look happy at all.”
I shook my head because, based on what he said, it sounded like his wife did trap his ass on the low. She then taught her daughter how to do the same. The trap gene must have skipped over Simonette, thank God.
Mr. Brand continued as we walked. “A few months later, he proposed. A few weeks after that, she claimed she had a miscarriage.”
“Do you think she lied about her pregnancy? If she did, that would be fucked up in the worst way.” I hoped he would say no to my inquiry.
He sighed. “The father in me wants to say no. The man in me knows and has witnessed how manipulative my wife and daughter can be. One thing I do know is that boy doesn’t really want to marry her. I told Lanette that it was guilt and grief that kept him with her. He claimed that wasn’t the reason when we had our talk, but his father and I feel the opposite.”
Mr. Brand dropped bombs. “Damn, it’s like Simonette has a different mom or something. She’s nothing like them.”
“God knew that I needed a semblance of peace and unconditional love in my house. Simonette Brand is just that for me. When I would come home from long business trips, she was the one that met me at the front door and was the only one excited that I was home.” He smiled at the memory.
We were silent for the rest of the walk to the restaurant. When we got there, the men were excited to see us. It was clearthey were all fans, which was cool to an extent. I never minded male fans, but as a man, I would never be seen on another nigga’s dick because I was a fan.
“Daylen, how in the hell did you meet Simonette?” Chad, one of the groomsmen, asked. “She’s like a damn recluse who watches crime documentaries in her bed with a pot pie or something.”
I didn’t answer immediately, because I wanted to figure out if I wanted to cuss his ass out.I won’t this time.“First, not too much on my baby. You’re not my homie, so don’t think you can say what you want about my woman. I met her in college. We ran into each other some years back and started chilling.”
“It can’t be easy, being away all the time. How does she deal with you being in the league?” Justin asked with a flat tone. Before I responded, he picked his phone up to start texting, I assumed.
He seemed distracted as fuck, but that wasn’t my business. Yesterday when we were at the airport, I noticed how he reacted when Lanette and her mother made the demand about the private jet. He was pissed, and I understood why. Her request was an affront to his manhood, for sure.
“There’s nothing for her to deal with. Simonette has her own dreams and ambitions that she’s working on. When I’m in town, I’m in her skin, and when I’m not, I’m on her line,” I told him. “We have trust and understanding, which makes us work. She supports my dreams, and I support hers.”
