Page 67 of Church Girl
“Hey, Von, your three o’clock just called up here to cancel their—what the fuck’s wrong with you?” Chelle shuts the door behind her and approaches my desk with a frown.
I don’t even have the energy to curse her out for busting up in here without knocking. Who cares about that now?
“Aye, what’s going on?”
I stare at her, silent, unable to form the words because saying them aloud seems to make the shit real. Not that it matters. This is happening.
“Von, I swear to God—” Chelle growls.
“Sheree is suing me for full custody.”
Her expression blanks, and she falls into the chair in front of my desk. Her gaze roams over my face, probably searching to see if I’m joking, but nah. It’s true. It’s fucking true.
“What? No way in hell.”
“My divorce attorney just called me. She’s taking me back to court to get full custody of Gia and to give me only limited, supervised visitation.”
“That bitch,” Chelle snarls, fury glittering in her eyes. “On what grounds? You were awarded primary physical custody for a reason. What possible cause is there to limit your interaction with Gia when you’ve been nothing but a good father?”
I can’t stop my flinch at the wordfather.
I don’t care if God Himself donated His DNA to Gia, you are her father.
Just days ago, Aaliyah uttered those words to me, and then, I grabbed on and held them close. I’d believed that wound had started to heal that night, but here I am. The scab ripped back off it while it bleeds all over my chest.
The rage that had swirled inside me during Ronald’s call fades under a sheet of ice, leaving me numb. No, that’s not completely true. Fear still lurks, scratching at the ice with long, skeletal fingers.
“On the grounds that I’m not Gia’s biological father.”
Silence booms in the room, damn near blowing out my ear drums. I’d kept this secret for so long. Out of love and the desire to protect Gia. Out of humiliation that my wife at the time had gotten pregnant by another man and made a fool of me, lying to me. Out of terror of losing my little girl. And now look at me. In a matter of days, I’d confided the truth to two people.
And soon, if Ronald couldn’t squash this new filing, everyone would know. And yeah, I don’t want people in my business. But the most important person in my world would discover the truth and be devastated by it.
Gia.
“Von,” Chelle whispers, leaning forward in her chair, her gaze fixed on me. Shock widens her eyes. Clearing her throat, she says, “Von, what’re you talking about you’re not Gia’s biological father? How...? That’s not...” She shakes her head, continuing to gape at me.
Sighing, I fall back in my chair and look away from her. I can’t stand to see the shock and...pity that will undoubtedly claim her face.
“I didn’t tell you Sheree was cheating on me for four years. It wasn’t something recent and short like I let you believe. Nah, she let Malik raw dog her for years, and when she got pregnant, she let me believe Gia was mine. I didn’t find out until much later. That’s why I got a divorce.”
“Does Gia...” She trails off, and I shake my head.
“No, she doesn’t know anything about it, and that’s what Sheree and I agreed on. I’ve been Daddy since she was born—before she was born. I’m all she knows, and though I think Sheree had several reasons for not wanting me to find out the truth, being Gia’s father is one thing I’ve never regretted. Paternity didn’t even come up in our divorce. But now...” I loose a disbelieving, sharp laugh. “This is going to crush Gia and tear her world apart. Sheree’s sole goal is to hurt me.”
I’ve never truly hated my ex-wife. Not after discovering the cheating, the theft and Gia’s true paternity. Did I curse her out? Hell yeah, but I couldn’t hate her because of the years we spent together and because Gia loved her.
But now?
Yeah, I hate her. More so because she doesn’t give a fuck about anyone but herself, her own agenda and pain. It’s fuck Gia and fuck me, so it’s fuck her.
“Hold up.” Chelle puts up a hand. “Is this because of Aaliyah? We all overheard it when she came up in here earlier this week. Is that why Sheree’s doing all of this?”
“She doesn’t mention Aaliyah by name, but she does refer to undue influences and worry for Gia’s safety and emotional state. She’s also requesting a paternity test to prove I’m not Gia’s biological father to bolster why I shouldn’t be the custodial parent. It’s some bullshit, Chelle. And when she threatened this, I thought she’d cool off and wouldn’t ever go through with it. But I underestimated her.”
“Listen, I can’t stand the woman and wouldn’t put much past her, but this? Nah, she got me fucked-up on this.” We fall silent then Chelle murmurs, “What’re you going to do, V?”
“Fight it. Ronald’s going to try to get this and the modification for half my shop dismissed. But in the meantime, I have this fear hanging over my head. Every moment I spend with my baby I’ll be hoarding because the future where she’ll think of me as her father won’t be promised to me.Fuck!”
