Page 20 of Session 25

“Aight, but if Koi starts beating your ass, don’t call me. I warned you.” He leaned up off the car. “Let’s go get this kid then.”

Not far from the hospital, I hopped in the car with Bear in tow. We pulled up in five minutes.

“I’m here to bring my son home,” I told the receptionist.

“What’s your son’s name? Where is his mother? I need some ID.” The ghetto bitch rambled off question after question before turning her nose up at me.

“Rika Boyd, she’s in ICU, and I’m waiting on her to wake up to sign his name on the birth certificate.” I slammed my driver’s license on the desk. “Anything else?” I grunted.

“Give me a minute.” She typed some shit on the computer before looking up in disgust. “You got his car seat? You won’t be able to take him home without one.”

“Are you kidding me? We going across the street. So, it looks like I can’t carry his little ass?”

“Protocol. I don’t care if you were going to the corner. You cannot leave this hospital without one.” She stated snidely. “So go on and get one then come back.”

“Ain’t this about a bitch.” I threw my hands up, yelling in Bear’s direction. “They saying shorty needs a car seat.”

“Shit. He needs more than a car seat, but what do I know? I ain’t the one with a kid and no baby moms.” I hit Bear on his arm, mushing him out the door.

As soon as we were out the door, I called Belinda’s number. “What nigga? You not about to be blowing me up.”

“Why you ain’t tell me I needed a car seat? What else I need? Tell me before I get back to this hospital.” My voice was stern. Belinda must have thought what I said was a joke because she began laughing into the line. “Something funny?”

“Hell yea. You were the nigga who my niece raved about, but now knowing what type of useless muthafucka you are, it’s amusing.”

“A new word? You must have just heard that word, congratulations, now keep the smart comments to yourself. What do I need?”

“You the smart one right-.”

“Belinda, not right now. What the fuck do I need to buy!” The vein in my neck popped out. “Hurry up, I’m by Cookies.”

“Not mister money man going to Cookies department store to get my grandson stuff. Why you ain’t at one of those upscale stores? You better not put any of them clothes on him.”

“Don’t you shop there for your kids? Your broke ass ain’t too good for Third Avenue.”

“I ain’t got your money. Koi is dripping in Gucci and gold, so I expect the same treatment for him.” Tired of hearing her voice, I ended the call.

“Let’s just go up in there and ask someone to help me get some shit. Belinda a bird.”

“So is her daughter, but that didn’t stop you from fucking her.” Bear countered back. “Taj told you to keep playing with fire, and you gonna get burned. Luckily your dick still working fine but now you got a little shorty and a failed fucking relationship. And then you went and knocked up the ghetto cousin.” I cut my eyes at him. “Shit is wicked. You wild bro,” I didn’t see shit funny, but obviously Bear did.

“Just shut up and help me get this shit so I can go get him from the hospital.”

Two hours later, I was driving to my condo in Yonkers with the baby strapped in the car seat. His crying had a nigga ready to pull over and put his ass out. I turned up the music to drown out the wails, but it only became louder. A few minutes from the house, I pulled over, got in the backseat, and looked at him.

His facial features were that of mine. There was no denying that I had fathered him. A DNA test was a joke if I knew one, but I still had to be sure. He looked at me, bottom lip trembling before opening his mouth wide to cry. I unhooked him, scooping him into my arms. I existed to feel no attachment to him because of the hatred I had for his mother, but that shit was proven to be false. Although he didn’t stop crying, he did latch on to my finger, gripping it as tight as he could.

“Damn boy. Ima do right by you, I swear,” was all I said. When he was calm enough, I strapped him back in, drove, and parked in my designated spot. I carried him and most of the shit I had brought to the apartment.

Koi was going to lose her mind when she found out I brought him home to our house, but there was literally nowhere else for me to go. Plus, I needed her help. She would probably curse me the fuck out first, but I didn’t doubt that she would turn down an innocent baby.

My mother had moved from The Bronx to Pennsylvania, making it harder to get help from her. Besides, I didn’t even know if I could jump state to state with him, since he was such a fresh newborn. I didn’t know much about babies, but I did know they needed their shots before anything.

I laid him on the bed in the spare bedroom that I had been sleeping in, looking at him, while trying to figure out a name. Rika’s ass didn’t look like she was coming to anytime soon, and he couldn’t just go by the word baby, so a name was gonna have to come sooner or later.

“Amir, Ashton, hmm, MJ?” I squinted, “nah, I can’t name you a junior. What name do you like, my boy?” I was talking to him as if he could respond.

“I know you didn’t bring that damn baby in my fucking house, Marcel!” Koi’s voice boomed from behind me. I hadn’t heard her enter the house nor walk down the hallway. She must have been trying to catch me doing something or wanted to eavesdrop.