Page 29 of Low love Low fidelity

Missus:Told the girls I’m tired. No partying tonight. We’ll be on campus for a few more hours but I’m bailing after. Dinner? Maybe somewhere local?

Another text came through as I was reading.

Missus:Unless you’re working

Me: I got you

I looked over to Krista again. “Good looking out.”

“Have you thought more about my proposal?”

I pulled in a breath. “You’re asking me for more money. That’s not a proposal.”

“It’s for a home for your daughter.”

“My daughter has a home already. Two, actually. It’s not for her.”

“She lives in a three-family house, Tobias. That’s basically an apartment.”

“She lives in a unit of the three-family house her mother owns. A house I helped her cop when she requested it. Had you asked for a townhouse, I would have made that happen. If you wanted a standalone, one-family unit, I would’ve helped with that, too. You see where this is going?”

Krista was pretty level-headed. She did right by Elia, which was all I could ask for. So, we’ve had little trouble co-parenting over the years. It took a few years for us to regulate our relationship, transitioning to a platonic one, but even that went over well. Krista dated a few cats over the years, always playing it safe when it came to Elia, something I respected about her. She’d been dating her current guy for about two years. I didn’t know him, but Elia didn’t have any problems with him, and that’s all I asked for.

“I can’t grow, Tobias? What’s wrong with me wanting better for myself and my daughter?”

I turned to fully face her, voice even. “The fact that you’re going into this with a grown ass man.”

“And whose business is that?”

“Mine when he wanna go fifty-fifty on everything.”

“I’m bringing a daughter into this. Your daughter,” she argued.

“My daughter has more homes than she needs. You want her to come live with me? Will that help ease you into a fifty-fifty situation?”

She stepped back, neck readjusting. I’d hit a nerve. “Don’t go there.”

Krista was getting upset, and I ain’t want the smoke. “Look, Kris. I’ve never held you back from reaching your endeavors.” I tried to support her with whatever needs she may have had to always remain independent. Every few years, I paid for a new vehicle. I’d even sponsored her career. Back when Elia was first born, when she jumped up wanting to be a nurse, I paid for her nurse’s aide certificate and then practical nursing license. When she wanted to earn more money, I took care of the tuition for her bachelor’s degree—a piece of paper I was still paying for because she was taking her sweet time finishing the damn program. “You know I’ve got your back. But when a man enters the picture with staple dreams like housing, I gotta fall back. I don’t want to feel like an ATM.”

“That’snot—”

“I’m just being honest, Kris,” I remained calm, not wanting to trip in public. Krista’s eyes swung over to Charlie, who tried to make do in his phone. We didn’t beef, and I didn’t want to start over this issue. I would stand my damn ground, though. “Something about contributing to another man’s life goals feels off to me. Anything I can do to support you and Elia, I’m down. When your life plans start merging with your man’s, I’m expecting him to be your partner and step up.”

Krista pinched her nose, looking frustrated. She shook her head. “I don’t want to do this. He is stepping up. We’re expanding our housing situation. I don’t understand why you can’t see how that involves Elia.”

My brows jumped and head angled. “And I don’t understand how you can’t see this is about me contributing to my daughter leaving a home her mother owns to live with a man who’s carving out his turf in said home already.”

She rolled her eyes then muttered, “Allah will provide.” Taking a deep breath, she straightened in stance. “Anyway. How was Africa?”

Across the tiny table from me, Lennox’s head tossed back, and she covered her mouth as she laughed quietly in the restaurant. “How was Ghana? Is that how she got out of the fight. That shit was smooth!”

I nodded, smirking at that truth. “That’s Krista for you.”

“But she’s pretty level-headed. Nothing like the unreasonable baby’s mothers I’ve heard of.”

Shaking my head, I argued, “But this is unreasonable.” Lennox didn’t react, just looked at me. “It’s wild for her to think I’mma shell out cash…pouring shit into another man’s home.”

“Makes you feel some kind of way, huhn?”

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