Synergy (36 page)

He knew
there was never going to be an easy way to introduce the idea to
her, because he already knew that she had a stubborn nature. She
didn’t take orders or suggestions from anyone else, she was her own
boss and she did things her own way. If she said no, it probably
meant no, and he knew he was going to have a challenge on his
hands, however, if he wanted things to go his way he knew it might
take time to convince her. Though she’d had a bad night, and he
could tell she was stressed enough already, he decided to just come
out with it. He figured her mood couldn’t get any worse to what it
already was.

“
I know what you
can do
” he told her, and she looked up
from her slump, her eyes looking intrigued as she waited for him to
speak again.

“
Move into the
house I bought
”

“
What
?” she said instantly, before
her brain had chance to think about it properly. Suddenly, Jason
realised she may think he meant with him, and he thought that could
be pretty creepy to her, considering it was so soon in their
relationship. Plus, it wasn’t what he meant at
all.

“
I don’t mean with
me
” he explained. “
I mean with Tushaun
.”

“
What are you
talking about
?” she asked again, her brow
furrowing as she looked at him.

“
I bought you a
house, to live in with Tushaun. It’s in Detroit, and it’s
yours
.”

This time, Dee frowned even harder. Jason knew she must have
heard him right, but maybe she just couldn’t get her head around
it. “
Again, what are you talking
about
?” she asked.

Jason
smiled slightly.

“
So, I suggested
this to you ages ago, back when we were baby shopping, and you told
me no, but, I want things to work out for you. I want Tushaun to
come live with you, he’s a great kid, and he deserves to be with
his mom. You’re gonna need more space when the baby arrives and I
need somewhere to come visit you. Without sounding conceited, I’m
famous, so, there’s only so long we can keep hiding out at your
place before someone finds out this is where I am all the time.
When the baby gets here, people are gonna want to catch a glimpse,
sell photos, be up in our business. I just want to protect our
family, and there’s more security at the other house, it’s
safer
.”

Jason
couldn’t lie that he was surprised when Dee sat and listened
through his whole speech, and even more so when she continued
sitting silently after he’d finished, creating a little bit of an
awkward silence. Awkward for him, considering he couldn’t gage her
reaction. After a little while of looking at him, she finally
spoke.

“
You’ve really
thought it through haven’t you
?”

“
Yeah, I
have
”

“
Do you really
think people are gonna be up in our business with the
baby
?”

“
Dee, I wouldn’t
lie about stuff like this. Those people can be animals, and I just
don’t want you to get caught up in that. Who knows what kind of
crazies will find out, they might start knocking on your door,
trying to get in, you just don’t know
.”

“
Is it
close
?” she asked, and Jason frowned this
time.

“
Is what
close
?” he asked.

“
The house. Is it
close to here, coz I don’t wanna move away from
everyone
.”

“
It’s real close,
but it’s safe
.”

Dee
nodded.

“
Is that a
yes
?” Jason asked. “
Are you gonna move in
?”

“
I don’t
know
” she said, and Jason
sighed.

“
What’s there to
not know
?”

“
It’s weird, like,
somebody buying you a house. You ain’t just bought me a purse, it’s
a house
.” She emphasised, causing Jason to
chuckle.

“
I know what it
is, but it’s important. It’s more important than a
purse
”

“
I just don’t
know
” she said again, looking mentally
distressed by the situation.

“
You look
tired
” Jason observed, and Dee
nodded.

“
I am. It’s been a
long night
.”

“
Tell you what.
Let’s go get some sleep, and we’ll talk about it again
tomorrow
.”

Dee
agreed, and the two of them made their way up the stairs to her
bedroom, Jason following behind. 

Chapter 33 – Maybe

Jason meant business
when he’d asked Dee to move in to the new house. The next day,
after much discussion, he’d convinced her that’s what they were
doing, and even as they were packing up her stuff days later, she
still deliberated whether they were doing the right thing, though
he constantly reassured her and never let her change her mind. Dee
told all her family and friends what Jason was ‘making her do’ and
they were all happy for her, some of her girlfriends even telling
her they were jealous she’d found a man to take her out the streets
and look after her. Dee couldn’t help but feel a fool, like some
woman caught up in a stupid love story or a gold digger that only
wanted him for what he could buy her. Though he’d bought her the
biggest gift of all, a house, as well as baby essentials, he’d
never turned up with anything materialistic, such as some shoes or
a purse. She knew it wasn’t through wanting, but because he knew
how she’d handle it. She didn’t like the idea of people buying her
things, she felt guilty, as if she didn’t deserve it, that they
shouldn’t spend their money on her.

Dee had been to see
the house before they started moving things in, and she couldn’t
deny it was absolutely beautiful. It was like a show room house
that she’d see on the TV or in one of those fancy magazines, and
she couldn’t believe it was now hers to live in. She felt guilty
again thinking how much it must have cost, and the fact it was
already furnished saved a lot of work. As she looked at the
beautiful sofas, she knew she no longer needed hers, but Jason
insisted he would find a good home for them. Dee was starting to
realise that though he had a ridiculous amount of money and fame,
he had a kind heart. He didn’t throw money away, and rather than
getting rid of the unwanted items from Dee’s home, he drove them
all to charity that could use them, and she loved that side of
him.

Outside of Dee’s new
home at the front gate was an intercom system that people had to
press to get through to her. It meant no one could turn up on the
doorstep unannounced, which was a lot safer than having random
people knocking at all hours, something she was used to in the
hood. Now she was in her new house, she was close enough to home
that she could walk or drive around whenever she wanted, but she
was also further away from trouble. She was excited to get her
license back so she could drive around whenever and wherever she
liked, making the convenience easier than having a long walk,
especially now it was getting cold outside. It took a good few days
to get everything moved into her new place, but once it was all
done, Dee couldn’t believe it was finally hers. She gave her
landlord notice she was moving out, but gave him the keys back
straight away. Jason said he would pay the next month’s rent for
her due to the short notice, and everything was sorted. She finally
had a home of her own, and her son was living with her.

Monique was sad to see
Tushaun move out of her house permanently. Though she complained
about having to raise her grandkids, she’d grown used to having him
around, and really, he was never any trouble. He was a good boy,
and she was proud of her grandson immensely. Dee told her mother
she’d still bring him round most days to see her, something that
Tushaun wanted too. He was extremely close to his nana, and she’d
been like a second mom to him, so he was happy to visit her all the
time. Most of Dee’s friends drove; Tip did, Shaneeka did, Keisha
did, and Jenai’s boyfriend did, so they were happy to come round
and see her new digs, they couldn’t believe it almost as much as
Dee did.

They’d moved into
their new home in time for Tushaun’s 3rd birthday, which meant
calling everyone who’d already received an invitation and changing
the address, but Dee was excited to christen the house with such a
perfect event. Jason had even done some groundwork with his family,
and organised for their visit to fall the day before Tushaun’s
party so his mom could set out baking a cake and some food for the
kids. Dee not only had a room for herself, one for Tushaun, and
another for the baby, she also had two other spare rooms in the
house, so she’d made them into guest rooms, meaning Joy and Paul
could stay over at hers and be involved with the party too. Joy
went shopping the minute she arrived in Detroit, and bought all
sorts of ingredients to cook with. She made herself at home in
Dee’s kitchen, and even gave her some tips and got her to help out
with the baking. For Dee, it was the first time she’d ever helped
bake a cake, as her mother had never done anything like that
growing up. She felt comfortable with Joy, and enjoyed her company.
While the women baked, Jason and Paul relaxed in front of the
TV.

When the day arrived,
there was more food than could feed an army, and they all woke up
early to get ready for everyone arriving. Though it was
predominantly a kids party, Shaneeka and Dashal came with their
boys, and she invited Tip and a couple of her other friends over,
just so the adults could have their own time while the kids played.
J had pulled through on his promise of making a piñata, and he’d
filled it with all sorts of candy and toys.  Joy had made way
too much food than would fit on the table, so in between getting
ready the adults snacked on the rest of the food that was left
over.

Though Dee had told
Trey where they were living now and still made it clear he was
allowed to see him, his visits were getting more and more sporadic.
Though Dee didn’t exactly want to invite him to the birthday party,
she had for the sake of her son, and though he’d agreed to come, he
turned up late, so late, he’d missed him blowing out his candles.
Everything inside Dee wanted to smack him upside his head the
minute he’d arrived at the party, but she had to keep it together
for everybody there, and most of all for Tushaun. Despite Trey’s
actions, the day had been perfect; the perfect start to a new life
in a new home.

Jason had finally met
the elusive Trey, and once everybody had left, Jason told her he
didn’t like him, and that he too, in fact, had wanted to smack him
upside his head. It made Dee laugh to hear him say it, and she
actually appreciated the unity of the hate, rather than him trying
to be nice about it. Just maybe, things would work out between
them, just maybe. 

Chapter 34 –
Labour

A week
passed, and the 1st of October came. Dee was starting to feel like
a real family for the first time in her life. She had the perfect
house and the perfect son, and now she had a boyfriend that
supported her and loved her. His family accepted her as their own,
and she could finally be one of the rare people out there that
could say she had nice in-laws. She routinely mentally pinched
herself just to be sure this had actually happened and she wasn’t
dreaming it all. Now she had hit seven months pregnant, Jason had
released a statement to his fans to tell them he was taking a
little time off from everything until his baby arrived, something
most people were supportive of, though there was always some that
would hate on the fact he was having a baby out of wedlock with a
stripper.

They
hadn’t managed to keep Dee’s private life out of the tabloids for
too long, and though Dee was a strong woman, it still hurt to read
some of the things they were printing, as well as the comments
people replied to online. Jason had warned her not to read the
comments; he told her how nasty and brutal people could be. He
reminded her that these people were behind a keyboard, and faced
with her in real life they probably wouldn’t say anything. Dee knew
that was probably true, but she couldn’t help but read them anyway.
She’d never been in a situation in her life when her private life
was advertised anywhere. No-one had ever known she’d existed
outside of her hometown so to have random people mentioning her
name was intriguing, and she couldn’t tear herself away from
looking.

Most
comments derived from the fact she was a stripper by trade, and
most people couldn’t get their heads round why a respectable man
like Jason would shack up with a stripper. It was funny to her how
people were judging her just by her job, because that was something
that had never really happened at home. People got by any way they
could in the streets, so to judge somebody for what they did for
money was ridiculous. If anything, you would judge them if they
weren’t working or hustling to make a living, and sponging off
somebody else for example. Right now, that was exactly how she
felt; that she was sponging off Jason’s money and generosity. No
longer did she have to pay bills, or sell drugs to make money. He
told her he would continue to support her financially until she’d
decided to get back into work, though he wasn’t sure she could go
back to the club now she was ‘famous by association’ as he put it.
That was crazy to Dee, because it had always been her plan to get
back working once she’d had the baby and got her figure
back.