Page 95 of Girl, We Go Together
I was treating her like a queen and her daughter like a princess because that’s what they were to me.
“I did,” she interrupted me from my thoughts, “for months after he and I broke up. I cried and prayed that he would want to be back as a family. Then, you came along, and all of that changed. You are showing me what it feels like to be loved properly. I don’t want him anymore. I want this. I am so sorry.”
I saw the tears build in her orbs, and that’s when I folded. I promised her that tears would never fall from her eyes when it came to me. Only tears of joy, of course.
“Come here, Mama.”
I held my arms open for her, and her fluffy frame filled the once-empty space.
“I never want to jeopardize this,” she whimpered, and that made me feel like shit for making a big deal about this.
“Shh shh,” I repeated as I kissed the top of her head.
I thought about dropping to one knee and asking her right then and there to marry me, but I decided against it. Cayla made a big deal about me even asking her to be my girl, so I knew the gesture of asking for her hand in marriage had to be grand and intentional.
“Come on, Mama, get it together. We need to finish packing. He probably only did that shit because he saw the boxes and figured something was up.”
Cayla sighed, and I knew that was from relief. She broke our embrace and then wiped her face clean. I kissed her button nose and helped her clean her face.
“You’re right.” I sighed.
Her apartment was boxed up, and I knew that nigga was sick when he walked through the door earlier and saw that shit. She walked away, and I quickly grabbed her booty, which made her smile. That’s how I always wanted to see her. I loved when that small gap between her two front teeth peeked from under those full lips. We were going to load up my car, then get the U-Haul to pick up the rest of the stuff.
“I’m going to run these boxes down. By the time I come back up, the truck should be ready. Okay?”
She stopped packing a box in the kitchen and offered me a smile. “Okay.”
I walked out of the apartment and just stood on the other side of the door for a moment. I was letting my feelings get the best of me, and I hated that shit. My mind was so all over the place that I had forgotten to grab the two boxes on the way out. I quickly opened the door to the apartment and then grabbed thetwo boxes by the front door before letting the door close behind me.
“Come on, Kass, tighten the fuck up,” I coached myself before walking down the stairs with the boxes in tow.
When I made it outside, I placed the two boxes in the trunk of my Maxima. I had moved Oriana’s car seat out of the car the night before. To say that I was heavily invested would be an understatement. I was knee-deep in Step Daddy season, and I didn’t play about my role. I’m pretty sure that I was so salty about Orion kissing Cayla because, in my eyes, Cayla and Oriana were my damn family, and I didn’t want any nigga around them. I didn’t care that Orion was Oriana’s other parent; that little girl belonged to me, and her mother was mine for sure.
Whatever Cayla needed for her baby girl was taken care of. Toys and diapers were paid for, summer clothes were done as well, not to mention the daycare fee was coming straight out of my check as an allotment. I didn’t want Cayla to want for nothing since her bum ass baby daddy wasn’t stepping up and doing what he was supposed to do. When I started to overdo it, she shared with me that she was receiving child support, but I didn’t care about that. I told her to put that money up for college. A piece of me wondered if I was overplaying my part.
In the deepest part of my mind, I felt like maybe I was doing the muthafucking most. But then in another part of my mind, I felt like this is what the fuck a nigga is supposed to be doing when he don’t play with what’s his. I slammed the trunk and sighed in frustration because that was why I never dated women with children. I wasn’t a doubtful ass nigga, and I hated that I was making myself feel as such. The bass from a black Cadillac caught my attention as it slowly strolled down the block. When the truck stopped beside me, the passenger side window rolled down slowly.
I knew what Orion looked like from baby pictures of Oriana that Cayla had shown me. Before he could open his mouth to speak to me, I heard Oriana in the back seat.
“Kassy Kassy.”
Her light little voice caused me to smirk because I could see the vein form on the side of Orion’s forehead as she said my name.
“You must be the boyfriend,” Orion said as he made eye contact with me.
“You must be the baby daddy.”
One thing I wasn’t was a bitch, and I didn’t play all that trying to drag balls shit. I always held my own, and I would never let another man disrespect me.
“Kassy Kassy…” Cayla was singing her little heart out in the back seat.
“She's been singing that shit since I picked her up from school. The doors are unlocked. You can grab her.”
A piece of me wanted to punch this nigga in the face for kissing my girl earlier, but I held that down. What mattered was how we handled things now in the moment. He seemed to be putting aside whatever the fuck happened earlier, so I guess I would have to as well. I gave him a head nod and then popped the back door open.
“Kasseyyy,” Oriana was reaching for me with both her hands out.
“What’s up, little mamas?”
