Page 10 of Mahogany 2
“I don’t care where you sleep but you ain’t sleeping with me,” She seriously said, eyeing me up and down like she hated me.
“If you really think I’m cheatin’… why you can’t answer the divorce question Ne? You ain’t never had a hard time answerin’ that question before.”
She laughed and leaned forward, in my face, resting her hand on the cushion behind me. “Because I don’t know!” She yelled. “I don’t know what I want. I don’t know what you do when you leave this house. I don’t know shit! But what I do know and trust is my gut and?—”
“Your gut? Your gut after that bitch opened a door we tryin’ to close? She brought up old shit, got you thinking I’m cheating and shit and?—”
“Mommy.”
With a deep sigh, I looked over towards the stairs and Sparkle was standing on them, tablet in hand, with a confused look on her face. Mahogany didn’t move—she stayed in my face, smiling, like a crazy person. I ain’t gon’ lie… the shit was chilling.
“Yes, baby girl?” She answered, eyes still on me. “Go back upstairs, mommy and daddy are talking, mmkay? I’ll be up there to see what you want in a minute.”
“Okay,” Sparkle said before I heard her little feet patter up the stairs.
“Like I said, nigga,” Mahogany whispered, the smile on her face gone. “You not sleeping with me. Thank you for the gifts, thank you for the food… but ain’t shit changed. Sleep in the man-cave—I don’t want the kids to see you on the couch.” I went to grab her, but she swatted my hand away and stood up straight.“Come on now. You know she at the top of the stairs waiting for me, listening.”
She was. Sparkle was notorious for that. Not because she was nosey but because she was impatient and if she wanted mommy, she wanted mommy. Plus, I was sure she heard parts of our conversation and was worried about what was going on.
“All I wanted to do was talk, Ne. You gotta give me a conversation.”
“Good night, Ducati,” she said before turning to walk away.
With my head tossed against the back of the couch, I watched as she walked away. “I love you, Mahogany.”
“Mmhmm. Yep. I love you too, Duke.”
Shit broke my heart, knowing that eventually… one day… Iwouldfuck it up more than I already had. I trusted that God would see me through. Trusted that all of my efforts wouldn’t be pointless. I wouldn’t lose her. We fit too well. Probably not now but we did. We were good. Best friends, for real. Mahogany was my rib. Not my rib. Ribs were easily broken. She was essential. One half of my heart. And I believed I was the same for her. Otherwise, when I asked if she wanted a divorce she would have answered yes without hesitation. She would know exactly what she wanted. I might’ve been naïve to believe that no answer was the best answer, but I did. Fuck it. We just had a lot of work to do. A lot to repair. Well shit… I did. And regardless of how much it drained me, I was willing to put in more work.
I couldn’t lose the other half of my heart. I’d die. God knew. And since He knew… He’d help a nigga… right?
Hours later,I woke up on the couch in the man-cave. Did I want to sleep down there? Hell naw. I wouldn’t have had I notgone upstairs last night and was greeted with a locked bedroom door. Of course she locked it. I wasn’t surprised. If I was thinking last night, I would have gotten up and beat her to the room. But fuck it. Instead of knocking, drawing more unwanted attention, I went down to the man-cave.
Turning over, I grabbed my phone from the end table, and my heart fell into my ass at the sight of a text message from the DNA company I used. The results were delivered yesterday. Shit, a nigga was slipping. So much happened that I forgot to keep my eye out for the mail. I couldn’t slip. Not when it came to shit like that. I quickly jumped up and slid my feet into my slides. Before leaving the room, I snatched my tee up from the floor, slid it on and rushed out, hoping Mahogany hadn’t decided that today she was in the mood to take the short trip to the mailbox at the curb.
“Good morning, daddy!” Honesty greeted, wrapping her arms around my waist, stopping me with a hug, when I walked into the kitchen.
Me coming up from the man-cave so early in the morning wasn’t alarming. I fell asleep watching TV or playing the game down there countless times.
“Good morning, baby girl,” I said, kissing her on the top of her head, softly prying her arms from around me to get to the mailbox. Shit. Why in the fuck was Mahogany up so early? I always woke up before her on weekends. There was breakfast on the kitchen island and everything.
“Daddy!” Yelled Sparkle, running from the hallway.
I felt like shit, but I rolled my eyes and huffed. I needed to get to the mailbox.
“Spark!” I yelled, as she jumped into my arms.
“You still gon’ get my car detailed, dad? My birthday almost here!” Aubry said, walking into the kitchen, head down, eyes on that phone.
I didn’t know if shit was heightened all of a sudden or if they always bombarded me like this in the morning. Whichever the case, I couldn’t bring myself to just shut them out because I had shit going on. I loved my girls. Still, I was short as hell with all three of them.
“Yeah, Bry. On everything I got you.”
“Okaaay,” she dragged out, doubting me.
I hoped I’d be able to make good on it. If Mahogany got to the mail before I did, the only thing I’d be good for was dying, on some real shit.
“You slept in the man-cave, dad?” Gabe asked, standing at the sink, washing his hands.
