Page 33 of Session 25

I left the apartment in a hurry. Traffic was gonna pick up soon, and the last thing I needed was to be stuck on I-95 with a crying newborn.

I rushed out the building, nearly stopping in my tracks when I spotted Drew walking up.

“Nigga don’t fuck with me. I got my kid, and I don’t have time.”

“I ain’t worried ‘bout your pussy ass. I did my cousin a solid. Take that as a warning. Play with my family, and Ima come see you every fucking time.” If I didn’t have Ashton with me, I would have probably stalled off on him.

“Whatever yo. You fighting for your cousin when your sister is the bitch behind this shit.”

“If you weren’t holding my nephew right now-”

I walked off on him mid sentence. I didn’t take light to threats. Drew was only big and bad if he was with Duke or like right now, where I couldn’t press him. Either way, he was gonna see me soon.

I strapped Ashton in the car seat, secured him, and drove off. New York was too hot right now. A change in scenery and pace is what I needed, while Rika laid her foul ass up in ICU and Koi laid up under some no name nigga.

“These bitches are wild,” I mumbled to myself, cutting on my car stereo, zoning out.

Two hours later, I was pulling into my mother’s driveway. She must have heard me because she was outside with her AirPod in her ear, rushing off the phone.

“Yerr, who you on the phone yappin’ with?”

“Ya ex,” she laughed. I ain’t see shit funny. Her calling Koi my ex was grounds to get cursed out, but I respected my mother too much.

“That ain’t even funny.”

“It wasn’t meant to be. I hope you ready cus between me and you, she ain’t coming back, Marcel. You done made her reach her breaking point.”

“Listen, I’m gonna let her cool down for a few. Me and Koi are locked in. She knows what it is.”

“The thing is you don’t know what it is. She’s done. But scratch that, let me see this baby.” She walked over to the side of the car where Ashton was. He had fallen asleep about fifteen minutes ago, and the last thing I needed was for her to wake him. I warned her, but that shit fell on deaf ears. “He is so cute. Looks just like you.”

I looked over my shoulder as she took him out of the car seat, cradling him.

“Yea.”

“And Koi saw him in person?”

“Yea. Why?”

“That’s why her ass is done. He is the spitting image of you, and well, that wack ass chick gave you something that Koi hasn’t.” She pursed her lips together. “I don’t blame her. That shit gotta hurt Marcel. Place yourself in her shoes. What if Koi came home pregnant by another man?”

“I ain’t thinking about that shit,” I huffed. “I fucked up, I get it. You ain’t gotta keep telling me in multiple ways.”

“I’m just saying, anyway.” She turned on her heels. “I’ll be in the house.”

I sat out front for a while, lit a blunt, and leaned up against my car. Part of me wanted to call Koi, but I already knew she wasn’t gonna answer. But just knowing she had called my mother had given me some kind of hope.

Did I expect her ass to come around right away? Nah but we both did wrong. This wasn’t a hurdle that I didn’t think should or could break us. I’d keep Rika and Ashton away from her as much as I could.

My phone chimed with a message. A weak smile showed when I saw Koi’s name pop up on my phone.

Koi: I’m moving out. You can keep the fucking condo since you won’t leave. I hope your karma bites you twice in the ass and snips ya dick off too.

With a raised brow, I had to reread the text a few times. Koi was definitely not the same girl I had met and watched grow into a woman. She was lethal, and this aggressive side to her was pissing me off. Whatever that nigga was whispering in her ear to make her feel like she was this crazy bitch was gonna be her downfall.

Easily influenced and naïve, I could only imagine how that nigga was playing my baby. Vexed, I ran my hand down my face before thinking of a response. I fucked up but at this point God was punishing me. I didn’t expect Koi to want to move on this fast. She wasn’t giving us a chance.

Instead of texting, I tapped her name, waiting for the call to connect. She declined my first two calls. When I heard her voice on the other end I wanted to pump my fist in the air.