Page 11 of Merci

“I don’t want to hear your bullshit-ass excuse. Your battery hasn’t been dead all day, and even if it was, that was intentional. You either think I’m dumb, or you’re the dumb one, because I know you’ve been out cheating, or you just don’t like and care about me enough to communicate. Either way, neither of those are acceptable for me, so you can leave.”

He stared at me like I was speaking a different language before scoffing. “So you basically don’t give a fuck about me, huh? I’m trying to explain to you what happened, and you ain’t even trying to hear me out.”

“David, unless you’re going to tell me you were kidnapped, in the hospital, or in jail, there’s no excuse for you going ghost today.” My head tilted as I shifted my weight to the right. “If you’re going to waste my time, at least tell me the truth. You were with another woman, or you just don’t give a fuck about me and what we have going on. There’s literally no other option or explanation.”

Knocking sounded off again, and for a brief moment, I considered it being Neptune. I’d mentioned to my brothers earlier that I was worried about David, so when I talked to his mom, I let them know what she said. They believed what I did—that he was with another woman—so it wouldn’t have surprisedme if Neptune had been watching my camera feed to see if David would show up.

“Who is it?” I asked, walking the short distance from the entryway toward the door. When they didn’t respond, I knew it wasn’t my brother. Looking out of the peephole, I chuckled at the sight of an angry woman. Seeing as I had no earthly idea who she was, she had to be here for, or with, David. Opening the door, I kept it halfway closed so she couldn’t come in. “May I help you?”

“Is my baby daddy here? Actually, I know he’s here. Can you tell him to come outside please?”

“Cori?” David called in disbelief, taking long strides toward the door. “The hell are you doing here?”

“No! What areyoudoing here?” she yelled, trying to push her way through the door unsuccessfully. “Your baby is at the house, sick, and you leave me alone to take care of him so you can come and lay up with your side chick?”

“Baby?” I repeated, looking back at David. “So not only do you have a whole other woman that you’ve been hiding, but a baby too? Really, David?”

Sucking his teeth, David ran his hand down his face. “Mannn, say. It ain’t even like that. Me and Cori ain’t together. I do have a baby with her, but?—”

“How old is the baby?” I asked, purely to satisfy my curiosity. I was done with his ass regardless.

“DJ is only seven months old,” Cori replied. “But I am pregnant with our second child because he couldn’t keep his hands off me.” She smiled like she was actually proud of that shit before adding, “I felt like David was cheating on me since I had the baby, but I didn’t have proof. His family lies for him for sport and makes it easy for him to get away with his bullshit. When he offered to get the baby’s prescription, something told me to follow his lying ass, and I’m glad I did.”

Scratching my eyebrow, I released a shaky breath, hoping it would calm me down. I was so tired of people I trusted betraying and disrespecting me that I didn’t even have the energy to yell at David. I just wanted him out of my home and my life.

“Get the fuck out,” I muttered, opening the door wider.

“Merci, please. Just let me explain?—”

“Out!” I yelled, smacking the shit out of him. Truthfully, that was an accident. He was standing too close to me while I was trying not to be upset, and I couldn’t control myself.

His dumb-ass baby mama thought she had to protect the nigga who had been lying to us both, so she called herself swinging on me. I dodged both hits before grabbing her by the back of her neck and punching her five times before David was able to yank her away from me. Now that I’d been activated, I knew it was going to be hard as hell for me to calm down. The more I yelled and tried to get her again, the faster she ran to her car. David held me back, unsuccessfully blocking my hits until she was safe, then he jogged to his car as well.

I paced outside, contemplating hopping in my car and following them, but I ended up crying and yelling and yelling and crying. I’d hoped Emmy’s betrayal would be the last one I had to deal with for a while, and now this. I was so tired of feeling like no matter how hard I worked to protect myself, people I let get close to me always chose to take advantage of me or betray me. That shit was played out, and I was starting to believe being a good person was played out too.

Once I calmed down, I went back inside my home and showered before crawling into the middle of my bed and crying all over again. Not because I was so in love with David and didn’t want to lose him, but because he was yet another reminder that men these days really weren’t shit. Every time I dealt with a man, I lost a little more faith that I’d ever get the life and love my parents had. I grabbed my phone to block David andrealized I’d never finished my text to Hammer. Not wanting to start something new that would only end in heartbreak or disappointment, I simply thanked him for the gifts and told him it was probably best if we didn’t speak again. I sent the money back, then blocked his number.

I was officially done with dating.

8

HAMMER

Tugging my bottom lip between my teeth, I found it difficult to take my eyes off Merci as she made her way over to me. She looked good as hell this morning, dressed in a silk two-piece set. Her brown and black braids were pulled into a bun, showing off her beautiful, caramel-brown skin. When she realized who I was, her slanted honey-brown eyes widened slightly before she smiled a beautiful smile that I couldn’t help but mirror. Merci was slim, toned, and still short in comparison to my six-two frame, but she was tall enough for me to not have to crane my neck too low to lock eyes with her.

“Morning, Ms. Merci,” I greeted, extending the Starbucks in her direction. “Figured if I got your breakfast, you’d have a few minutes to spare before going into the office.”

She chuckled with a shake of her head as she accepted the oatmeal and latte. “Let me guess. Ariel told you my Starbucks order too?”

“Perhaps.” I let a beat of silence pass before I asked, “Why you block me?”

A soft sigh escaped her as she licked the corner of her mouth and avoided my eyes. “That was… a decision made based off nothing you did,” she confessed.

“So why am I being punished?” I asked, resisting the urge to grip her waist and pull her close. When she took a sip of her latte, I grabbed the oatmeal and set it on the trunk.

“I just… I called things off with David last night and decided I don’t want to date any time soon.”

As much as I wanted to be happy that she’d called things off with him, the fact that she wanted to not date led me to believe he must have fucked up. If she was hurt, that was nothing for me to be happy about. My plan was to take her after showing her a better option.