Page 12 of Dom 4
For a moment, neither of us said anything. It was one of those silences that didn’t need to be filled and the kind that said enough without the noise.Ma?I thought to myself. Dom was really showing me a different side of him. I knew he loved mebefore, but nobody could convince me that he wasn’t all in with actually being my husband now. I had prayed for these days because I’d always been in love with the man.
I decided to break the awkward silence. “I’m headed home,” I finally said, crossing one leg over the other as the driver entered the expressway. “My home… I need to lay down for a little while in my own bed.”
He responded as quick as I spoke like he had to get off the phone anyway. “Alright, get some rest. I’ll finish what I’m doin’ and come through later.”
I could hear him moving around in the background, with noise from whatever he was doing. It was paper shuffling and maybe a gun sliding back into a drawer. Then he said, “I’m not sleeping without you tonight.”
“I’ll keep the door unlocked,” I said with a little smile on my face being sarcastic because he never knocked anyway. He just helped himself in.
“Don’t do that, you know how I do.”
“Yeah, but you like the drama,” I teased. “You love creeping up on me.”
“You right about that.”
We both laughed for a half second. For a man who ruled the streets and a woman who ruled the courtroom, these moments were the only kind of peace we really had and smiling more mattered. I was learning that day by day. I had plenty of reason to smile even through the bullshit.
“Rest that body, Carmen. The baby needs you calm.”
“I will,” I replied, staring out at the bay now watching the sunlight glisten over the water.
“I’ll be there soon,” he said before he hung up. I stared at the phone a few seconds longer before setting it in my lap heading to my sanctuary. I then received another alert letting me know that I had a wire transfer. I saw who it was from and smiled. I knewKilo would get the job done because he wanted the best, and I was absolutely just that.
I’d been at Keondra’s spot all damn day. I knew I shouldn’t have brought my stupid ass over here after leaving my parents’ house last night. I was supposed to make sure her and Amour got home safe, tuck my baby in, and that’s it, but here it was the next day, and I’d fixed the Wi-Fi, rebooted her router, and labeled the cords so she would stop unplugging the wrong one every time the signal blinked. I swapped the AC filter in the AC return, cooked Amour breakfast and even had the maids come over to clean up so the house now smelled like Pine-Sol.
When it was time to bathe Amour for the night, bath time turned into a whole production because she is three and thinks she runs me. I set out her little unicorn pajamas that she requested… the purple ones with the glitter letters, and she said she wanted the pink ones with the hearts too, so I picked the pink ones for her to actually put on. I sat on the footstool by the tub while she kicked water and narrated her whole day telling me everything she did today like I wasn’t here to see it. I washedher up fast and let her pour water from the cup like she was the boss, then wrapped her in a hooded towel with bunny ears.
“Daddy, edges,” she said, tapping her forehead all serious.
“Girl, you three. You ain’t got no edges appointment,” I told her laughing actually enjoying this daddy shit. It was new for me, but I didn’t want to be the daddy who just stopped by a few times a week for a few minutes to see his daughter. Hell nah, not Dique ‘heavy dick’ Royal. I didn’t want a baby, but I was gon’ be here there for mine regardless of what Keondra had going on.
Keondra called me from the doorway. “Lay her hair down a little and put the little silk bonnet on. It be puffing up on the sides.” She had on biker shorts and a tank, with her medium length French tipped nails giving instructions like she ran a nigga.
I sat Amour on the couch and tried my best with her edges. She checked herself in the front camera like a diva and smiled showing all her tiny teeth. “Okay. Pretty.”
“Super pretty,” I said kissing her cheek. She giggled and pushed my face away like I wasn’t supposed to do that. I wasn’t lying when I said she didn’t look like me. She still didn’t if you asked me, but she was a pretty little girl. I kind of felt bad for clowning her lil ass when I met her. It wasn’t really aimed at her, it was more-so aimed at Keondra’s ghetto ass. I wanted her to leave me the fuck alone and stop telling everybody I was the daddy.
I got Amour’s teeth brushed while she sang the ABCs with the wrong letters in the middle and then we said our little prayer. She climbed into her toddler bed with the princess comforter and a whole lineup of stuffed animals. I tucked her in, and she grabbed my chain and whispered, “Don’t leave daddy.”
“I’m chillin’ baby girl,” I replied tucking the blanket tight. “Go to sleep.”
“Okay night night,” she whispered, and then asked for water, a different stuffed animal, a second prayer, and one more story just so she can try to make me stay. I gave her all of it anyway ‘cause fuckin’ with me she could have the world. By the time I stepped back into the living room, the monitor showed her rolling around and talking to the stuffed unicorn like it was her friend.
Keondra was on the couch with her legs folded scrolling through her phone with the music low. She started with the City Girls and then the next song was Jodeci. I didn’t even know what kind of transition that was. Her playlist had identity issues just like her ass. My phone lit up on the coffee table with a text first and then a call that I ignored just for another one to come through. This phone was a phone that only my hoes called. The screen flashed Mya’s name with a kiss emoji next to it. She was on the west coast and had been down with me for years.
Keondra side eyed it without looking up from her phone. “So, who the fuck is Mya kiss face?” she asked rolling her eyes.
“Don’t start,” I told her grabbing the phone and hitting silent. “It’s nobody you need to worry about. That’s my business.”
“I’m not worried, I’m just asking.” She replied with an attitude, finally looking up at me all bold ready to start some shit. “So, this is what family time gon’ be like? All yo hoes calling? Cause I can get my hoes on the line too if that’s the case.”
“We not a family, remember,” I said walking to the kitchen to take a shot of Henny.
She laughed and stood up like she had been waiting to argue all fucking day. “You wasn’t saying that last night when you was laid up in my bed talking about you forgot how good this pussy was…”
I pointed at the monitor. “Watch yo’ mouth girl. Amour still up.” I seized her up and down and licked my lips. “Shit that pussy still good, ion give a fuck I’ll say it again.” I laughed.
Keondra sucked her teeth and dropped her voice a little bit. “I said what I said. You been over here all-day fixin’ stuff, bathin’ my baby, eatin’ my food and then you wanna play single when yo’ phone ring.”
