Page 69 of Girl, We Go Together
I guess my serving him with child support had stung him, but he missed his daughter more than that. When I came out of the kitchen, I stood against the doorway as I watched the two interact. He had taken her out of the highchair. She had pancake bits all over her face.
“Had company?” he casually asked as he bounced Oriana in the air.
A knot formed in my throat, and I shifted my weight onto one leg as I tried to read him. Just when I was about to open my mouth, he did instead.
“There are two cups on your coffee table.”
I looked at the table and instantly got pissed for not grabbing both before I opened the door for him. Honestly, I shouldn’t have even felt the way I did because we were done. It didn’t matter if I had company or not. It was no business of his.
“Ya mommy had a nigga in ya face, huh?” he asked Oriana in a playful baby voice.
She was showing all eight teeth with a smile, not even understanding what he was saying to her. I started to get that feeling in my chest that he always put there. It was a fire that filled me every single time he said something slick to me. This time, I wasn’t going to let him get the best of me.
“Orion, it’s time for you to go.”
He cut eyes at me and then turned his attention back to Oriana, as if what I just said didn’t matter. Like this wasn’t my fucking place. When my phone vibrated on the kitchen counter, I quickly picked it up.
I intend to, Mama. Ima hit you when I get home.
I smiled at Kassidy’s text.
“Aw, ya new nigga texting you?”
I didn’t know why Orion felt the need to bother me, but I wasn’t in the fucking mood.
“What the fuck did you even come here for? Matter fact, the next time you feel the need to drop by… don’t. You can shoot me a text, and then I will let you know if she is available for a visit.”
He set Oriana on the carpet, which pissed me off because he didn’t even wipe her hands or mouth first.
“Can you wipe her hands before she starts touching stuff?”
I snatched a baby wipe out of the case on the counter and rushed to the hands that she was surely about to place on the wall.
“It’s already a fucking mess in here. And I came over here to see if she could come with me somewhere. My whole family isgoing to be there, and my aunts, uncles, and brother have been asking for her.”
“When are you trying to take her?” I asked as I wiped her hands.
Again, I never wanted to be the kind of female who kept my child out of her father’s or his side of the family's lives.
“This Friday.”
“That’s in two days,” I huffed.
“I’m going to get her something to wear because I want her to match me anyway for what we’re doing. I know ya ass ain’t got it to get an outfit. That’s probably why I’m on child support right now.”
I rolled my eyes at his light jab.
“That’s fine… she can go,” I said, totally ignoring his ass.
He smiled as if my saying no would ruin his day.
“Okay, bet. I’ll be back on Friday morning for her. Oh… I’ll make sure to text before I come if that’ll make you feel better.”
He said the end of his statement sarcastically. He walked over to the door, and when he stood in the doorway of the kitchen, we just stared at each other for a bit. I nodded to the door so he could get the fuck going. He just smiled, showing off his pearly whites before walking out my door. I rushed to go and lock it, and when I did, Oriana started wailing. I just sighed, knowing I would have to calm her down before I could get back to unpacking.
I didn’t have any plans for the day, but Kassidy being over last night put into perspective that I really needed to get back to tending to my house. I had to get all this shit unpacked and put in place. I didn’t even know why I hadn’t done it already. Maybe a small piece of me, the weak piece, thought I wouldn’t be staying here for long. Somewhere deep down inside, I figured that Orion would come back for us. I sighed before glancing overat the corner of boxes and bags that I was determined to go through.
I moved sluggishly around the house and was thankful that I had another day off. After unpacking the rest of my things, I had spent the night prior on the phone with Kassidy. We spoke until I fell asleep on the phone, and when I woke up at 2:00 a.m. to use the bathroom, I heard him snoring on the line. I smiled before hanging up and then putting my phone on the charger. He had asked multiple times if I was off work today, and I felt like I had answered the question a thousand times. When there was banging on my front door, I just knew that it had better not be Orion.
