When He Cheatin' and You Still Love Him 2 (5 page)

After his burial, my mother and I found out that even in death Brian made sure we were taken care of.  He had left us both a substantial amount of life insurance money, as well as a beachfront condo that he owned down in Florida. To say that we were grateful would be an understatement. Those things alone surprised me, but the shocker was the fact that Brian had left the house to me. When I heard that, I was so emotional because even though I knew that he loved me and looked at me as his daughter, I had no clue that his love went that deep. Once I got pregnant with Kendrick, I moved out of the house and got my own apartment because even though I owned the house I wanted my own independence. My mother lived there up until she was admitted into the nursing home, and soon after that I packed up, and Kendrick, Terry, and I moved in.

Just thinking about Brian brings tears to my eyes. It’s been over ten years, and his death still affects me. On the other hand, I realize that it’s been just as long since I’ve spoken to my father. That hurts a little, but I guess over the years I’ve gotten used to it and expect nothing more. Looking back, I think I would have loved it if Brian was actually my father.
I wonder if there’s some truth to what my mother was saying. Nah, because I know that she wouldn’t hide something like that from me for all these years,
I rationalize.

Pulling up to my house, I kill the engine and sit in my truck for a few minutes, before climbing out. As the warm breeze of the wind softly brushes past my face, I look up at the sky and smile, silently thanking Brian for all that he’s done for me. He’s the reason why I’m able to take off of work for so long. With the house being paid for and the large insurance policy—that I still have—I don’t have to work for a few years if I don’t want to. That is something that I will forever be grateful for. After blowing a kiss toward the sky, I walk into my front door happy to finally be home.

Terry

I watch as Terrance Jr., and Kendrick jump and bounce around as they attempt to do all of the tasks that the characters on the Kinect Sports game do. The serious looks on both of their faces crack me up, as they battle to see who the winner is. This is their third game and with each of them winning once, this win will have the final say as to who is really the victorious one. With the boxing competition over, it’s now on to track and field which is the last event. Once the gun is shot, both boys crouch down and take off running in place, as they head to the finish line.

“I see y’all don’t be playing about that game,” Shanair laughs as soon as she walks through the door. Neither of the two responds they just keep running.

“Hey baby,” I greet standing up and walking over to her. When I’m close enough, I lean in and kiss her softly on the lips. “How was your day?”

“Pretty good,” she replies walking over to the couch. She continues once she’s sitting down. “I went to see my momma, and the visit was good all the way up until the end.”

I take a seat beside her before asking, “What happened at the end?”

“Well, she started talking about my daddy not actually being my daddy,” Shanair reveals leaning over to remove her shoes. I stop her, and instead bring both her feet up and place them on my lap. She leans back as I unhook the straps and slide them off her swollen feet. “Oh my God, that feels so good. Thank you, baby,” she moans when I start to massage them.

“You know I got you.” I wink. “So what were you saying about your mother?”

“Oh yeah, at the end of the visit she started talking about my father being someone else. I was so confused. When I went to ask her what she was talking about, she was already sleeping.”

“Do you think she was telling the truth, or do you think it was just one of her episodes?” I ask while applying more pressure to the sole of the left foot.

“That’s the thing I’m trying to figure out. She actually used my father and step-father’s names this time. She said that my step-father is supposed to be my biological father.”

“Damn, what are you going to do?”

“Nothing, maybe ask her next week when I go see her.” She shrugs. “She asked about Kendrick, so I’m taking him with me.” At the mention of his name, Kendrick finally takes a break from the game to come over and speak to his mom. “Don’t be hugging on me now, you were too busy for me a minute ago,” Shanair jokes.

“No, I wasn’t mommy,” Kendrick smiles, “I was just trying to beat Terrance.” He says looking back at my son who’s now sitting on the loveseat out of breath.

“Well, did you?” Shanair asks.

“Nope, he beat me again.” Kendrick pouts.

“I told you I was a beast at Kinect.” Terrance brags with a cocky smile on his face.

After joking around for a few minutes, we all retreat to the dining room to eat dinner. On our way home the boys and I stopped at Papa Johns to grab a few pizzas so that Shanair wouldn’t have to cook. I know the visits with her mother drain her, and fixing us dinner would be the last thing on her mind. Once we ate, we spent the remainder of the evening watching movies until I looked up and saw that not only were the boys knocked out, but Shanair was as well. I carried each of the boys upstairs and placed them in Kendrick’s bed, before coming back down to grab Shanair. Laying her on top of the bed, I removed her dress and underwear and slid her under the covers. She doesn’t even stir, just rolls over and continued to catch her Z’s.

As I get undressed myself, I watch her, and I can’t help but think of how lucky I am to still have her in my life. Just thinking about how close I came to losing her makes me realize just how things could not have worked out in my favor. The day Brittany showed up, I thought that I would be able to handle the situation without Shanair finding out, but I was dead wrong. With all the noise she was making, I was surprised that Shanair hadn’t come outside sooner than she did. I remember how my heart dropped when Brittany told her that she was pregnant. The look on Shanair’s face let me know that without a doubt she was heartbroken, and I felt like shit for being the reason. My plan was to leave Brittany’s ass out there acting a fool by her damn self, and come in the house to comfort Shanair, but then Brittany swung on me and hit me square in the face.

My next movements happened so fast that I didn’t know what I was doing until I saw her flying backward to the ground. It was then that I knew I had fucked up. With her father being a judge, I already knew I was going to jail, and that’s why I tried to smooth things over. Only Brittany wasn’t having that, and within an hour, I was on my way to lock up. I was only there for a few days before the charges were dropped, and as soon as I got out I headed home. Well, at least I thought it was still my home. I quickly found out that Shanair had packed up all my shit and put me out. Of course, I tried to give her my usual sweet talk, but it didn’t matter what I said, she wasn’t going for it. Eventually, I just took my shit and left.

I checked into a hotel once again thinking that I would be back home soon, but after a month, I couldn’t take that shit anymore and decided to do yet another pop-up. It just so happened that as I was about to turn onto her street, I saw Shanair and Kendrick driving away in her truck. With nothing else to lose, I decided to follow them. We ended up at the grocery store, and after waiting a few minutes, I walked behind them and ‘accidentally’ ran into Shanair. It all seemed to work out in my favor after that, and later that day I was blowing her back out. Slowly I begin to move back into the house until it was once again my home. Since then everything has been going great. Shanair and I are expecting our first child, and we plan to be a family.

Yeah, I know that I have two babies on the way at the same time. It’s fucked up, but there’s nothing that I can do about it now because what’s done is done. Brittany is keeping hers, and Shanair is damn sure keeping ours. I guess I’m just going to have to step up and be prepared to buy double the diapers and double the formula. It ain’t no way around that. As you can see, I’m trying to be a better man. I’m not only doing it for myself but for my kids as well. I’m about to have five, and I don’t want them to grow up thinking that it’s okay to do the things that I’ve done, just like I did with my father. I don’t want any of them to follow in my footsteps. I want them to be better than I am.

I also know that Shanair deserves so much, and I want to be the one to give it to her. I’ve cut Katrina completely off after the shit she pulled. The only time I see her is when I pick up Shad, and even then I don’t go inside her apartment because I already know how slick her ass can be. Of course, she doesn’t like it one bit, but like I’ve told her numerous times, it’s her fault. If she had kept her fucking mouth shut, things wouldn’t have to be this way. It’s like what I say goes in one ear and out the other because in the same breath she asks to suck my dick. No matter how tempted I am, I don’t let her because I know how much drama comes with dealing with Katrina and I don’t want any of it.

When Shanair turns on her side with her back to me, I climb under the covers and pull her closer in the spooning position. She moans and pushes her butt back against my joint which instantly becomes hard. I hope like hell that Shanair is up for at least one round because I’m not trying to handle it myself. I did that enough when we were separated. Scooting back a bit, I reposition myself so that my dick is brushing against her ass cheeks. With it in my hand, I slide it further down and rub it between the moist slit between her legs until I hear her moan again. Gripping her hips, I ease inside her slowly.

*****

              It’s Monday, and after eating the big breakfast that Shanair cooked, I gathered Terrence Jr’s things and drove to the other side of town. I kept him for an extra day because he didn’t have school due to it being a ‘staff day’ or something of that sort. Once in front of his house, my baby mother, Toya, walks outside to meet us. Toya and I used to be an item back in the day. We grew up in the same neighborhood when I was younger. We never really talked much, but that changed once my father died. When he passed, my aunt came to raise me. She figured that it would be less of a transition for me if we stayed in the home that I grew up in. I remember Toya being so nice to me the first day that I returned to school once my dad was buried. At first, I pushed her away because I didn’t want anyone’s pity party, but after a while I realized that it was nice to have someone to talk to. We started to be around each other more and more until eventually we became an item.

Later that year we found out that we were expecting a baby. As soon as Toya told her parents they gave her an option. Get rid of the baby or get the hell out of their house. Since she didn’t believe in abortions, she was stuck in a very tight spot. I remember the night she came over crying her heart out. She looked so vulnerable and helpless that I knew I had to do something because I refused to have my girl and baby living on the street. After speaking to my aunt, she gave us the green light and Toya moved right in. Nine months later, Toya gave birth to our daughter, Terrionna. At the age of sixteen, neither of us knew anything about raising a child, but we tried the best we could with the help of my aunt.

It was hard trying to balance school life with a baby, and as time went on I begun to stay out in the streets more, totally forgetting about my mini family at home. It was around that time when I started to smell myself because all the chicks at school wanted me. I’m not sure if it’s because I was handsome, or because I was already taken. Either way I didn’t ask any questions. Instead, I fucked everything moving, and whenever Toya found out about it, I lied.

Once I turned eighteen and finished school, my aunt prepared to move back to Kentucky. She said that she had done what she’d promised my father she would do, and that was raise me. She was heading back, and she let me know that if I needed her then she would only be a phone call away. That move didn’t come because the evening before she was preparing to leave, Toya found out that she was once again pregnant, this time with our son. Once again, I distanced myself and started being gone more. My aunt ended up staying because she knew that I wouldn’t be of any help raising the kids because I was rarely there.

I continued to do my thing because I knew Toya would never leave me. We had two children together. I was safe. Well, that’s was what I thought. I had started to kick it with this chick that used to go to school with us. We’d creep off whenever we could, and she ‘claimed’ to be cool with the fact that I had a girl at home. Everything was going good until one day she called me talking about she was pregnant. I was sick with it. It didn’t take long for word to make it back to Toya, and when she found out she went the hell off before packing up her and the kid’s things and left my ass high and dry. Come to find out she had a close friend who just happened to need a roommate at the time of my fuck up, so she and the kids had somewhere to go.

After she left I begged her to come back thinking that just like the many times before she would believe my lies and we would go back to being a family. Unfortunately for me, she wasn’t trying to hear it. Instead, she promised me that our relationship was over before telling me that I needed to grow up. I felt like shit, not only because my family had left me, but because I was officially alone. Once Toya and the kids left, my aunt didn’t need a reason to stay and soon after she headed back home. If I wasn’t pissed before, I damn sure was when I found out that the chick had lied about the entire pregnancy. So basically I’d lost my family over nothing. Since then Toya has moved on. She’s even gotten married to some square named Greg. He’s a veterinarian who according to my children treats them all very well. I’ve always thought about how things would have turned out if Toya and I had gotten back to together because just like Shanair she’s was a good woman.

“Did you have fun with your daddy?” Toya asked Terrance Jr. as he ran up to give her a hug.

“Yep, he said that I can come over next week too.” He answered looking over at me with a huge smile.

“Is that right?” Toya eyed me. “Well, we’ll have to see about that.” She says. “Go inside while I talk to your dad.”

“Okay, mommy. See ya daddy!” Terrance Jr. yelled as he ran up the driveway and into the house with his book bag threw over one of his arms.

Toya watched him until he was out of sight before turning back to me. “How have you been Terry?”

“Good,” I shrug. “Just taking it day by day.”

“And Shanair?” She asks lifting her eyebrow.

“She’s good.”

“Uh huh, she better be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean,” I ask laughing.

Toya rolls her eyes.

“Nothing, just tell her that I said hi.”

“Will do. Where’s my baby girl?” I question wondering why my daughter hasn’t come out to see me like she normally does when I drop by.

“She went to get ice cream with her friend from down the street. I’ll tell her to call you when she gets back home.” Toya tells me before turning to walk away.

“You do that.” I respond with a smirk on my face.

“Stop looking at my ass Terry!” She yells over her shoulder, and all I can do is laugh because I was straight busted.

Climbing into my car, I turn the key and prepare to pull off when my cell phone rings. When I look down at the caller ID, I sigh because it’s Brittany again. She’s been blowing my phone up for the last few days, and I have yet to answer or call her back. I know she’s pissed, and going to threaten me by claiming that she’s going to reinstate the domestic violence charges, but I’m not trying to hear none of that shit right now. It seems like every time her spoiled ass doesn’t get her way she resorts to threats, and I’m tired of it. This is a totally different side of her then I saw when we first met. She used to be so cool. Now she’s clingy as fuck, and that irks the shit outta me.