Page 9 of When It’s All Said And Done

We placed the couch next to the loveseat but center to the fireplace where the TV would be mounted. After I’d ran down on Nessa, I took the next day to get my living arrangements situated. Juan was able to clean the money so that it looked like a payout from some kind of accident. Once it was in my account without the headache of it being flagged, I wasted no time getting my shit together. With me having a child I needed her to have a space to grow and thrive in, so a cash sale on a house within twenty-four hours was mandatory.

Thinking of my daughter made me excited, mad, pissed, and nervous all at the same time. I couldn’t believe that Nessa really had my baby and hid her from me while I was in prison. The fact that my family knew and didn’t tell a nigga fucked with me too. But if I had to be honest, I couldn’t blame anybody but myself because I did end things with her. Plus, I wasn’t in a position to help with our child at all. My family stepping in on behalf of me eased some of my frustration, but the fact that I missed four years of her life would never sit right with me.

Luckily, Nessa had her thinking that I was doing some honorable shit like protecting the country while in the military.At first, I didn’t want to lie but when she explained that she wrote letters to Nyla on my behalf, I couldn’t bring myself to shatter my daughter’s spirit like that. My mind drifted to me being deep in Nessa’s guts the other day. When she opened the door, I almost took a page out of her book and fainted at how good she looked. Having my child put weight on her body in all the right places. Her mocha-colored skin seemed to glow when she stood in the doorway. Her thick hips curved how I liked and that fat ass sat up nice in them shorts. Her ass was so fat I had to hit from the back to enjoy the view.

“Earth to fuckin’ Nas,” Chance called out before throwing something at me.

“Aye cuz, don’t be throwing shit,” I expressed before pickin’ up the pen top and throwing it back at him.

“I called yo’ name a few times but yo’ ass seem to be in LaLa Land. You good?”

“Yeah, just over here thinkin’ ‘bout Nessa and Nyla.”

“How’d it go after you followed them home from the park?”

“It was hard to be so close to them and not interact. Then, while I was staking out the place with Fernando, some nigga came over. My finger was itching to kill his ass when he left but I wasn’t trying to move irrationally and shit.”

“So, what you did?”

“I went back to Mama Eva’s house until the next day. When she came back home, I ran down on her ass. After I fucked the shit out of her, we talked ‘bout Nyla. Then I left.”

“Wait so you haven’t officially been reunited with her?”

“Nawl, Nessa want to do it like I just came home from the military to keep up with her lie.”

“Oh, yeah. Nyla does believe you’re in the military. That was actually a smart move. Because tellin’ a child their parent dead or in prison will hurt a child deeply.”

“Right. So, that’s why I ain’t even trippin’ on havin’ to get all this together so it can really feel like that, ya know. But I do want to thank you for being there for my daughter even while raisin’ yours alone.”

“You know it ain’t nothin’, fam. If the roles were reverse, I know you’d do it for me. Plus, I feel like you got locked up due to my bad info I was given so the least I could do was help hold you down in that department.”

“Listen, I told ya I don’t blame you. I could’ve fact checked that shit but was movin’ fast and reckless but not anymore. Now we about to take over the streets of Miami strategically.”

“You know I’m ready to make this paper,” he agreed as he slid his hand in his pocket to retrieve his ringin’ phone. “Speakin’ of Nessa this her ass callin’ me now.”

“Answer but put it on speakerphone.”

“What’s good, Nessa?” He answered the phone before putting it on speaker.

“Was he out when you came and met me at the park?” She hissed through the phone.

“Huh?”

“Chance, you heard what I said. Was he?”

“I mean does it matter, Baby Mama?” I questioned her as I took control of the conversation. “I told you to call me if you need anything. So, what you callin’ cuz for?”

“Because I had questions that he needed to answer, but with you takin’ over this phone call that let me know everything I need to.”

“Nawl, what you need to know is to drop that nigga because Daddy’s home.”

“Bye, Nasir.”

She hung the phone before I could say anything else. As I handed Chance his phone, I laughed at her trying to play hard ‘cause in person it’s a different story. We went into the kitchen to get something to drink, and my phone started ringing from an unknown number.

“Yo’” I answered trying to see if it were Nina or Juan.

“It’s me,” Nina clarified. “I’m in the city and we’ll meet up later.”