Page 41 of Mahogany 2
“Mm, mmh,” Grunted Luna with an awkward smile and furrowed brows. “It’s a little warm for a mink, isn’t it? I know yo’ ass hot.”
Ricky threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. “Never too warm for the minky-inky, my baby.”
Yeah okay. That nigga sported the same mink every function because that was all he had to show for real from the bread his pops threw him years ago. When I say my family fucked over so much bread, I wasn’t lying. Rick had a crazy amount of money. Lost most of it to dumb ass investments, gambling, tricking off, cribs and car notes he couldn’t maintain.
We laughed and continued through the crowd, speaking to family and friends along the way. Upon walking in, we were greeted by the sound of Frankie Beverly and Maze’s Before I Let Go. With raised brows, I looked around, very pleased with what the decorators did with the place. By the smile on Luna’s face, she was happy too. O wore a look that mirrored mine. Damn. The venue was nice with high ceilings, chandeliers, and white tiled floors, but the way the decorators incorporated the color scheme was nice as hell. There were pictures of her during each stage in her life on the tables, three big ass pictures of her and pops over by the dancefloor, and a photobooth too. Luna did a great job with the planning, but the decorators truly did exceed my expectations. It wasn’t the first party we had, but it was the best decorated. It had a soft luxurious feel to it that moms wouldn’t be expecting. I knew that for certain. We usually just rented out halls and threw parties—never anything like this. Not because we couldn’t afford it but because it was just what we were used to as a family.
“They did a great ass job, Lu,” Orion said as we walked around, admiring everything.
“They did,” she said with a big smile, and tears in her eyes. “Momma gon’ be so happy.”
Because I knew why she was so emotional, I threw my arm over her shoulder, pulled her closer, and kissed the top of her head. Luna hadn’t been stressed just because she was planning a simple birthday party—she was stressed for the same reason I’d been on my shit. It could very well be ma’s last. Orion didn’tpull his weight just because he was lazy—he didn’t want to fuck anything up. All three of us were on pins and needles about it. I just handled it well.
After about five more minutes of walking around, looking at everything, someone caught my eye. Someone who shouldn’t have been at the party. Reign, my ex. Nova’s mother. The minute we locked eyes, she softly smiled, and I chucked my chin before turning away to look down at Luna.
“What?” She asked, confused by the look on my face.
Clenching my jaw, I looked back over at Reign, and she was busy talking to one of my aunties. Luna looked over, looked at me and pulled her lips into her mouth.
“I was scared to tell you,” she blurted out, talking fast as hell.
“You gon be good bro?” Orion asked, eyeing her too.
“You was scared to tell me? Fuck out of here with that, Lu,” I said. How annoyed I was, was obvious. Nodding, I said to O, “Yeah, I’ma be good.”
“Youknowwhy I invited her, Cres’. Don’t be like that.”
Clenching down on my jaw, I looked back over at her.
I wasn’t surprised Luna invited her. It was the significance of it. However, I did feel disrespected. Things with Reign and I went downhill the minute Nova died. Instead of her death bringing us together, it separated us. We got distant. I didn’t know how to handle emotions that were foreign to me and she didn’t know how to handle me, not knowing how to handle them. I recoiled. Stayed to myself. Dealt with my pain on my own and she let me. Distance wasn’t what I needed. It wasn’t what neither of us needed but it was what we gave.
The house we shared together didn’t feel like a home. It was more like a prison, and I stayed out of it as much as I could. Being there was too painful. My daughter wasn’t there and the only sound that filled the space was old videos of her that Reign kept on repeat, or crying. So, to stay out of the house, I spent themajority of my time at the office. Was I working? Barely. Kept the blinds drawn, my door shut, and my eyes glued to a picture of my daughter for most of the day. The bulk of the work went to my nigga Judah. It didn’t matter to me that I wasn’t working. Money was still being made. The only thing I cared about at the time was getting out of the house. And away from her.
I blamed her. Nova was in her care when she drowned. They were at one of her friend’s house. A birthday party and Nova got into the pool. How? I didn’t know. She got in though. Reign said by the time she saw her, my baby girl was face down, floating. I imagined that every day. Thought about how much she struggled. How scary it must’ve been… just about everything that went with drowning. I couldn’t escape the thought of witnessing it. Shit tore me up. Reign did CPR for a while and brought her back before the ambulance could arrive. Didn’t matter though. Nova died not even a week later.
So, yeah. I blamed her. Hated her for real. But couldn’treallyblame her because kids are kids and accidents happen. I searched for that. Looked deep within for compassion but I couldn’t find it. Not at the time. Not while it was fresh. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I ever found compassion. Don’t think I ever found forgiveness. Knew for certain I never would. Which was why we were, where we were.
As if she knew we were talking about her, Reign made her way over to us. I swallowed and brushed a hand down the back of my neck. I didn’t prepare for this. Had I known she was going to be in the building, I would have stopped at the liquor store and grabbed a little shot of something. I hadn’t seen her since she moved out. Seeing her now pulled a lot of fucked up feelings to the forefront.
“You should’ve told him, Lu,” Orion said, shaking his head.
“I didn’t know how to, O. Shut up,” Luna whined.
I didn’t say anything; just watched as Reign maneuvered through the crowd, eyes on me, speaking to everyone who ended up in her path. She looked good. Very good. She was wearing a black, fitted, spaghetti strapped dress that stopped just below her knees and a pair of strappy high heeled sandals. I didn’t need to see her feet to know that her toes were white. She always had white toes. She usually wore her hair short, cut with finger waves but today she wore it long. Bone straight, with a part down the middle, tossed to the back, accentuating her high cheekbones. Her makeup, as always, was minimal. She didn’t need it. Reign was beautiful—our daughter a splitting image of her. Another reason why I stayed away from the house. Reign was a constant reminder of what Nova could’ve been. From the beauty to the brains. And a constant reminder of what was taken from me.
“Hey,” she spoke, finally making it to us.
“Hey,” Luna spoke back, embracing her.
Orion did the same.
When she got to me, we hesitated and did that awkward ass one armed hug.
“How have you been?” She asked, eyes centered on mine, a soft smile on her face.
“I’ve been good. How about yourself?” I asked, genuinely interested in knowing.
Reign played a pivotal role in my life. She was the last woman I was serious with. Damn near married her. Had just started the process of getting her ring custom made a couple of weeks before Nova’s accident. I was serious about her. So serious about her that nobody saw the breakup coming. After the accident things took a turn for the worst but nobody knew. At least I didn’t think they did. I was checked out. Her peoples visited. Mine did too, but… because I was checked out I didn’t pick up on vibes, didn’t pay attention to weird looks, or any of that shit. I was hurt-hurt. Too busy grieving to really give a fuck about what was going onaround me. I appreciated the hell out of Judah for keeping the business afloat. If it weren’t for him, there was no telling where Skylight Industries would be. You’d think it would be Orion or Rah that kept things moving, but nah, they were grieving too.
