Page 70 of Mahogany 2
I climbed into bed with her and wrapped my arms around her. Singing close to her ear, I said, “Happpppppybirrrrrrrthdayto my girl! Happy birthday to you!”
She tried to wiggle out of my grip, but I held on to her tighter. Even placed a big kiss on her cheek that drove her damn near up the wall! I wasn’t the most affectionate person but when it came to birthdays I was. Especially Aubry’s. I know it might seem like I had a favorite, but nobody knew what it was like raising her at fifteen by myself. Yes, Duke was active, but we were children, and he didn’t live with me. You think my momma got up in the middle of the night with me when Aubry woke up crying? You think she gave her them nightly feedings and changed diapers when I was too tired to think? No. Nobody did. I mean… let me not lie… my sisters helped every now and then. Daddy too but for the most part it was just me. On school nights and all. I was in the field.Me. It took a lot to make it through school. Some nights we would be up at four in the morning, crying together. Shit, I used to be exhausted, but I made it. We made it. So, if I wanted to climb in bed and plant kisses on my baby’s face, that’s what I was going to do despite her hating every second of it!
“Okaaaaay!” She complained. “Okay ma!”
I loosened my grip and gestured for Sparkle to hand the balloons to her. “Happy birthday, big sister,” Sparkle said, handing the balloons to Aubry.
“Thank you baby sister,” she said with a crooked smile, eyes partially closed.
“Happy birthday, ugly,” said Gabe. “Can we eat now?”
Aubry sucked her teeth. “Ma, he can’t have none.”
I laughed. “Be nice, G.”
He rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Happy birthday, Bry.”
“Bry-Bry!” Honesty yelled, jumping on the bed. “Happy birthday!”
Aubry was over it at that point, but she didn’t protest when Honesty wrapped her arms around her neck for a hug. Duke did the most as usual. Reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box neither of us knew about. Handing it to her, he kissed her on the forehead and said happy birthday.
When Aubry opened it, she gasped. “Daaaad!” She whined. “A Cartier Lovebraceleeeet? Formeeeee!?”
I looked up at him with raised brows, head tilted to the side, surprised. “Well damn, where that come from?”
He held his hands up. “Surprise, surprise.”
Duke had been full of surprises lately. Expensive surprises which to me meant he’d been dipping in the savings. We weren’t rich by far, but a Birkin and a Cartier Love bracelet purchases back-to-back?
After everybody gushed over Aubry’s birthday gift, we finally headed down to the kitchen. As usual, the house was chaos. Sparkle and Honesty didn’t waste any time getting into an argument. Gabe tried to get back to that game, and Aubry was glued to her phone, recording her bracelet, showing her friends.
“A Cartier bracelet?” I asked Duke as we stood at the stove, making plates.
He glanced over at me. “She deserve it.”
“I know. But you should’ve told me. How much money yo ass been spending?”
He scratched his head. “Not that much. You know I got that bonus. We good, baby, I promise.”
“Mmhmm. I’ma check the bank statements, keep playing,” I joked. “Savings probably damn near wiped out.”
Was it bold of me? To be complaining about a Cartier bracelet when he’d just dropped five figures on a bag for me? Not at all. I got on him about that too. I was frugal as hell.Might’ve owned a few designer pairs of shoes and things but I made more. I didn’t mean it in a disrespectful way, but I did. I was the breadwinner. Duke wasn’t broke. Not by a long shot but the purchases he’d made were far out of his tax bracket. The bracelet, maybe not but after dropping five figures on a bag… ehhh… yeah.
But because it was my baby’s birthday, I kept it light. Didn’t want any friction today. Especially because it was Aubry’s birthday but partially because I’d decided to choose my battles wisely. Duke and I had been good. Very good. Surprisingly good. Sometimes I thought we were so good because guilt had been eating me up but then I’d think about it, and I’d know that wasn’t the case. For the first time since this whole ‘let’s try again’ thing came up, I actually had my entire body in the ring with him.
He sucked his teeth. “Man what?” Pausing he said, “You ain’t even gotta do all that Ne.”
With furrowed brows, I sized him up. “Ugh nigga. I was just playing. Maybe I should. You out here funding another bitches life off the savings or something?”
Again. I was joking but he took me seriously.
“Here we go,” He shook his head. “Bae?—”
“Duke,” I paused. “I swear to God I’m just playing.”
He sighed. “Too soon baby, too soon.”
He thought I was on insecure shit again and technically… I couldn’t blame him. We were fresh into therapy again and I’d just accused him of cheating. I understood his frustrations, and I apologized for triggering him. I didn’t blow up like I would have in the past. Didn’t accuse him of lying or hiding something because he’d blown up. Didn’t do any of the things I would have done a couple of weeks ago. I stayed calm. However, I did make a mental note to check the bank statements for real.
