Official Girl 2 (10 page)

             
“Well Reneice, that’s not true. In fact, I was ecstatic when I found out Joyce was pregnant again, especially when I found out you were a girl. I did some bad things that caused me to go do a lengthy bid, so I went away before you were even born. I was the one who named you and everything. I beat myself up for not being there for you or Mone. When I got out, I went to Grand Rapids to look for you but I was informed that you had moved. It took me a while to track y’all down, but I did.”

             
“So you didn’t run out on Mama because you didn’t want me?”

             
“Not at all.”

             
She walked over to me and punched me in the chest. “Jerk, why you lie to me? You had me thinking I was the reason I didn’t have a father.”

             
“I’m sorry Ladybug, I was drunk.”

             
“That’s no excuse,” she chastised me.

             
“Mama, juice,” Romell said.

             
She walked over to Romell and picked him up off Pops’ lap. “Romell, this is your grandpa. Say hi.” He looked at him for a minute then smiled and reached for him. “He likes you.”

             
My dad, I mean our dad, held Romell in his arms, and smiled. “How old is he?”

             
“He’ll be one next month.” She smiled proudly.

             
“Wow, my son’s 29, my daughter’s 21, and I have a grandson that’s about to be one. Y’all make me feel old.”

             
I was happy that Ladybug took that well and accepted him. I just knew she was going to act an ass when she found out, but she shocked the hell outta me. My next step was to get her to go to therapy with me.

              I was so happy about my reunion with my dad. All those years, I thought he was a deadbeat and was so angry with him. Now I knew I was mad for nothing. I remember not one time did my mom bad talk him, dog him out, or any of that stuff. She sure wouldn’t allow us to do it and now I knew why. I wished I would have known that sooner.
Better late than never.
I’d been spending a lot of time with him since we met. I guess you could call it making up for lost time.

             
“So Dad, why did you leave us?” I asked trying to figure out where he was all my life.

             
“I had got into some legal issues.”

             
“Like what?” I asked, wanting him to go more in depth. 

             
“I went to prison for murder. I took a plea for 18 years and that’s what I got, but I also had to do an extra two years for the firearm.”

             
“Wow, who did you kill and why?”

             
He was silent for a minute. “I killed a man for putting his hands on your mother.”

             
I could tell that it was a touchy subject for him so I left it alone.

             
“You really loved her didn’t you?” I asked referring to my mom.

             
“Hell yeah, she was my first love. I would’ve done anything for her, which is why I got locked up and if I had to do it all over again, I would still kill him.”

             
I could see the love in his eyes when he said that. “I want that one day,” I said.

             
“What?”

             
“Somebody who loves me unconditionally and that would do anything for me.”

             
“What happened with you and Romell’s father?”

             
“He just couldn’t seem to be faithful. Hell, when he was trying to get with me, he already had a girlfriend that I didn’t know about. I know I should have taken that as a sign to leave him alone, but I fell for him anyways, no matter how hard I tried to fight it.”

             
“Do you still love him?” he asked.

             
“Honestly, yes I do, but I don’t think I’m in love with him anymore. It just feels different now.”

             
“Do you love your boyfriend you’re with now?”

             
I had to think about that one for a minute.
Do I love Kamil?

             
“I mean yeah, I guess. He was there for me when I needed him the most and he was always a really good friend.”

             
“Do you feel obligated to be with him?”

             
“No, I’m with him because I want to be with him.”

             
“Or are you with him just to forget about Mykell?” he asked.

             
I got quiet. I really didn’t know how to answer that, or if I even wanted to answer that. Maybe I was with Kamil to keep my mind off Mykell. I really did like Kamil, but sometimes I wondered if I jumped in a relationship with him too fast. Especially after everything that happened with Mykell.

              My dad and Romell got along perfectly fine. I guess he was enjoying being around him since he never got to do it with me and his time was cut short with Ramone. “So. How does your boyfriend, I mean fiancé feel about Romell and when am I going to meet his father?” he asked out of the blue. It kind of threw me off because I wasn’t expecting that. “Well Kamil is fine with Fat Fat, he doesn’t treat him any different, and he already knows if he wants to be with me, he has to accept my son. It’s not a problem for him.”

             
“And his father?”

             
“He’s very active in his life. He spends time with him and he does stuff for him. But lately, he hasn’t seen him as much because we’ve become distant since I got engaged.”

             
“When can I meet him? Mone already gave his approval but I would love to meet my grandson’s father.”

             
I thought,
what harm could it do?
“You can meet him now if you would like.”

             
“Sure, why not,” he said playing with Romell. I took out my phone and dialed Mykell’s number. I didn’t know why, but for some reason I was nervous. “Wassup?” he answered sounding like I was bothering him.

             
“You busy?” I was hoping he would say yes.

             
“Naw, me and MJ just woke up from a nap.

             
“Well Fat Fat and I are on the way, I have somebody I want you to meet.”

             
“Well come through.”

             
“Okay.”

             
I looked at my dad and noticed how handsome he was. Prison makes some people look old but it didn’t age him a bit. “You ready?”

             
“Yeah, let’s go.”

             
I hadn’t seen Mykell in three weeks, since the night of my birthday. I was avoiding him because I wanted the relationship with Kamil to work. I didn’t want Mykell getting in the way of me being happy. Yeah, Kamil and I had some issues we had to work out but what relationship didn’t?

             
We pulled up to Mykell’s house. I got a nervous feeling in my stomach and I wished it would go away. I grabbed Fat Fat from the backseat, and all three of us headed for the front door. I took out my key and unlocked the door. “Oh it’s like that?” my dad chuckled.

             
“It’s not what you think.” I shook my head.

             
I put my son down and opened the door. He took off running the moment it opened. “Daddy,” he ran for his father.

             
“Wassup lil man.” He pulled his son on his lap.

             
I cleared my throat and he looked up at me and then at my dad. “Mykell, this is my dad Ramone Sr., Dad, this is Mykell, Romell’s father.”

             
Mykell stood up and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you sir.”

             
“Likewise, I’ve wanted to meet you since I found out about my grandson.”

             
“Oh yeah?” Mykell looked over at me and I looked away.

             
“MJ! Come here.” I tried to avoid the confrontation I knew was coming. MJ came running down the stairs and right into me, hugging me tight. “Hi Mom! Long time no see, but it’s okay. I forgive you.”

             
I chuckled because he was just too grown. “I want you to meet my Dad, knucklehead. Dad, this is Mykell Jr., MJ, this is my dad.”

             
“Ohhhh! So you’re like my grandpa?”

             
He smiled, “I think so lil man.”

             
“Um, Neicey can I holla at you real quick?” Mykell asked.

             
“Sure you can. I will stay here with my grandsons,” my dad said before I could answer. I just looked at him. “Gon’ head girl,” he urged me.

             
I sighed because I already knew where that was going. I had been trying to avoid all that, but I supposed it didn’t work.

              We walked to the back bedroom. “Wassup?” I asked.

             
“Can you at least shut the door?” he asked. I stood there with my arms folded.

             
He sighed and walked over to the door and closed it. “What’s yo problem?”

             
“What makes you think I have a problem?” I got defensive.

             
“Maybe because I haven’t gotten to spend any time with my son since you decided to play the loving housewife.”

             
“Are you mad because you haven’t seen your son or because you haven’t been able to get in my panties?” I asked with an attitude.

             
He chuckled, but I didn’t see shit funny. “Baby girl, please, yo pussy is the furthest thing from my mind. I ain’t never had a problem getting it from you or anybody else, so stop acting like you’re the only one walking around with one. Now as far as my son goes, that lil bullshit you on keeping him from me; it ends today. I don’t give a fuck if you marry the fucking Prince of England, I better be able to get my son. Or that’s yo ass, now play with me if you want to.”

             
We stood there in a staring match for a few minutes. I was shocked that he had just said that shit to me. Maybe he was finally moving on and realizing that we were over. That was exactly what I wanted, or was it?

              It was Romell’s first birthday. Neicey was driving herself crazy making sure everything was in order. She decided to have the party over at her Pop Pop’s house. We weren’t expecting anybody but family because Neicey’s lil mean ass didn’t like anyone. It was going to be a family get together and birthday party. I really wasn’t in the mood to be around her bitch ass baby daddy, but it wasn’t about him. It was about lil man. If he did step out of line, I had no problem putting that nigga in his place. There was no sense in acting like a bitch when he lost her fair and square. If he would have been doing right from jump, she wouldn’t have come to me. In the words of Drake, “I know he messed up but let a real nigga make it right.”

             
“Neicey, chill ma. You gonna drive yo lil self crazy,” I said.

             
She sighed. “I know Kamil, but I just want everything to be perfect. I just can’t believe my baby is one year old already. It feels like I just had him.”

             
“I know. Before you know it me and lil man will be out riding around picking up girls,” I laughed but it was cut short when Neicey punched me in the chest.

             
No lie that shit hurt like hell. Her lil ass could pack a mean punch.

             
“I was just playing baby, damn,” I said rubbing my chest.

             
“Yeah well you play too much,” she said pouting.

             
“Awww, my baby mad?” I asked pulling her close to me.

             
“Move Kamil,” she laughed.

             
“Give me a kiss and I’ll move.”

             
“C’mon Kamil, I have to finish getting stuff ready for the party.”

             
“Give me a kiss.”

             
“No,” she said trying to move.

             
I grabbed her by her waist and pulled her closer to me. She finally gave in and gave me a passionate kiss. After what seemed like forever, she broke the kiss. “That’s what I’m talking about.” I laughed.