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Brooklyn let herself in through the front door. A frown covered her face. “Y’all don’t hear my baby crying?”
My ears began to ring as she passed me and rushed up the stairs. The only thing that kept me from reaching out for her as my eye twitched was the fact that I wanted to hear Peyton tell me the truth. The pitiful look in his eyes did nothing to sway me. In fact, it only pissed me off more.
“You fucked a child,” I whispered, eyes watering and threatening to pour.
“I didn’t know she was underage,” he replied quietly, using my arm to pull me into the living room and away from the stairs. “When we met, she told me she was twenty-one. She was in a club downtown, so I didn’t have a reason not to believe her. I didn’t find out she was underage until she got pregnant, and her mama put her out.”
“Has any of what you’ve told me concerning her been true? Because you clearly aren’t related to her, so how have you been working with a caseworker for her?”
“Everything I told you about her family has been true. I’m the older man in the church that she didn’t want anyone to know about. She is trying to get emancipated, and I lied to them, too, and told them I was a family member to avoid the legal trouble. All the caseworker cared about was them being in a safe environment. She didn’t ask for any proof that we were related.”
“And Jereka?”
“Jereka knows we’re not related. She’s one of her friends from the church, so she was willing to go along with our cover story with you. She told her parents she was staying with her all this time. That’s why they backed down. They thought she and Destined were with her. Brooklyn was supposed to stay with Jereka until she graduated then go back to Chicago for college. That way, her dad would be able to help without having to uproot his wife to come back to Memphis.”
I was speechless. As I headed to our bedroom, my feet grew heavier and heavier. Tears rapidly poured from my eyes. These weren’t sad tears; they were angry tears. My emotions were all over the place. I felt like a fool for trusting him. For ignoring my intuition. For not asking more questions. For looking at that baby and seeing Peyton and thinking it was because they had strong genes.
Strong fucking genes.
“Malaysia, please. I’m sorry for cheating, and I for damn sure wouldn’t have cheated with someone who was underage. She lied to me.”
“That doesn’t justify you bringing her in this fucking house!” I yelled, turning to face him. When I got this angry, I could barely control myself. It hadn’t been my intention to, but I smacked the shit out of him. “You brought her in this house! In our home. You’ve had me bonding with her and her baby… your baby. And you’re planning to replace me with her?”
“I was only saying that to pacify her and keep my baby close,” he said quietly. “She didn’t have anywhere else to go. I couldn’t have my baby out here homeless.”
“So what was your plan, Peyton? How did you plan to keep your baby close and get rid of Brooklyn? Did you think I would never find out?”
He sighed and ran his hands down the back of his head and neck. “Baby, if we can just calm down and talk about this when they are gone—”
“No.” Chuckling, I lifted my hands in surrender. “If anyone is leaving, it’s me.”
“Malaysia—”
“I have given this relationship everything I had. Literally my all. But this? This is unforgiveable. Trust me when I say there’s nothing you can say to make this okay.”
As I continued to our bedroom to pack my bags, he was still talking shit. The more he tried to excuse and talk away what he’d done, the more irritated I got. My irritation turned into rage when Brooklyn came into our bedroom.
“How long are y’all going to be here? I’m trying to see what time I need to tell my friend to pick me up.”
“Now’s not a good time, Brooklyn,” Peyton said as I charged out of the closet.
“I should beat your ass,” I told her. “The only reason I’m not is because you’re a child. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get the fuck out this room and go to yours. And lock the door behind you in case I change my mind.”
She looked from me to Peyton as she asked, “What’s wrong? What did I do?”
“Other than fucking my man and bringing y’all baby in my house? Y’all been having sex while you’ve been here too?”
Her body deflated as she took a step back. “Y-You know?”
“Yes, I know. So like I said, you need to get the fuck out of my sight… right now.”
“All right, now that’s enough,” Peyton said, stepping in front of me. “Now I get that you’re upset, but that’s no reason to threaten her.”
Scoffing, I took a step back. “Are you really going to stand here and defend her? I should beat both of y’all asses.”
“I’ve had about enough of your mouth,” Brooklyn said, feeling tougher now that Peyton was between us. “Let her leave, baby. I’m glad the truth has finally come out. Now we can finally be a family with her ass out of the way.”
My eye twitched again. I wished I could say I blacked out and didn’t know what I was doing. I wished I could say my memory fogged and my brain detached from this fuckery. But that wasn’t the case. I was fully in my mind, body, and heart when I charged toward them both. My fists were flying in both of their directions. I landed two on her face and tried to get one on him, but he grabbed me and flung me around the room.
