Page 49 of Stand on That

“If Darius wants to choose you over his child that’s his business, but I will never have mine around a hoe that doesn’t like me.”

“And why don’t I like you, Bree?” I took a step forward. “Don’t act like you’re innocent. You are a goofy ass hoe. I would never, ever mistreat a child because their parent was an idiot. If you don’t want your daughter around me, that’s your right as her mother, but Darius is her father, and he’s a damn good one. You’re really that bitter that you’d hurt your daughter by keeping her from her father? Darius loves me for sure, but I know that if he even caught me looking at that little girl wrong, he’d drop my ass like a hot potato. Stop being goofy.” Once again, I looked her up and down with a slight curl in my lip. Going out this sad over a man was a shame.

“Save the speeches, bitch. Darius has two minutes to bring my daughter to me, or I’m calling the police. We both know how he makes his money. Unless you want to be a prison wife, I suggest you tell your man to bring me my daughter. Jail bird ass bitch. I guess birds of a feather flock together.”

All the growing, maturing, and healing I’d accomplished over the past year went out the window when I balled my fist up and popped Bree in the face so hard her head snapped back. She was too comfortable standing in my face disrespecting me. I would just have to apologize to Darius later. I made every effort to have some self-restraint, but Bree was a bold one. Running up on her, I pummeled her face a few more times while she screamed and tried to get away. Her scary behind wasn’t even fighting back, so I eased up off her.

“Girl, beating you is too easy,” I eyed her with disgust. “Whooping you isn’t even fun with yo’ weak ass. Leave this house, and I’d advise you not to come back.”

“I got a trick for you and Darius. Just watch,” Bree seethed while back peddling to her car.

“Yeah, yeah, abra cadabra, bitch. I’m trying to spare you. On God I am. You aren’t making it easy, either.”

Bree finally got her dumb ass in the car. She backed out of the driveway so fast, she ran up on the curb behind her and almost hit our neighbor’s mailbox. All I could do was shake my head as I watched her drive away. My heart lurched when I recalled her talking about how Darius made his money. Bree couldn’t have been that heartbroken and out her mind that she would play police games with Darius. The entire thing was a certified mess. Remembering Dymand, I rushed back inside the house praying that she wasn’t crying and scared. When I pushed the door open and saw that she was still sound asleep, a sigh of relief made my shoulders loosen.

Biting my bottom lip, I stared at her and hoped when she was old enough to understand she’d never have to witness her mother crashing out over a man. I was still standing in the living room staring at the sleeping beauty when I heard Darius punching his code in the door. Whirling around, I was prepared for him to be pissed off when I told him what went down.

When he opened the door and his gaze landed on me, he shook his head. “Bro, what the fuck?”

“Huh?”

“I saw the whole thing on the camera. I heard it too. Bree is really trying to get on my bad side, Vani. Swear to God I’m not even that kind of nigga, but she talking about police and shit. I’m not even that kind of nigga for real, but she’ll lay down before I will.” The threat in his tone and the malice in his orbs made it perfectly clear what he meant.

“She’s just talking,” I attempted to calm him down, but I wasn’t even sure I believed that she wouldn’t do what she said.

“She doesn’t have too many more times to just talk. I take all threats seriously. Especially when the person threatening me isn’t playing with a full deck. Vani, I have not led that girl on. Not one time when you were away or recently have I ever gave her half of an indication that I wanted her. The crash out is not valid.”

“I believe you, Darius. Anybody with clear vision can see that Bree is gone over you. I could always see it clearly, and the fact that she always managed to be in your life for some small reason made me feel like she did hold some kind of weight in your life. I’m a woman and at that time, I couldn’t fathom a woman being that consistent with a person that wasn’t entertaining her. If today didn’t show me anything else, it showed me that shorty is coo coo for cocoa puffs.”

Darius’ gaze landed on Dymand. “I never keep shit in the crib, but she has me wanting to chill for a minute when it comes to riding dirty.”

I couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped me. “Darius, I know you have a plan in place. I know being robbed set you back a bit, but you don’t think it might be time to exit stage left? Baby, we have too many plans and too much stuff to do for something bad to happen.”

“Vani, I get what you’re saying, but it doesn’t quite work like that, ma. I have bricks to move. I have classes to pay for. I’m mad close to getting my degree. I’ll start moving smarter. But I can’t leave this money on the table, ma.”

No matter what I said, Darius wasn’t going to leave the game until he wanted to.

“I’m going to keep Dymand for the night and take her to Bree’s mom in the morning.”

I simply nodded. Having to walk on eggshells and hold my breath waiting to see what Bree’s simple behind would do next wasn’t the way I wanted to live. Prayerfully, she would come to her senses and stop playing childish games. It wouldn’t matter if she sent the police to the house because there wasn’t anything there but money and if I had to lie and say it was mine from braiding hair that was what I’d do. They couldn’t tell my ass that I wasn’t saving money over the years from working for myself. The fact that I might even have to do that was sick.

Darius took a shower and just as he was getting settled on the couch Dymand woke up I fixed them both something to eat. Never in life would I try to take Bree’s place or act like Dymand’s mother, but I was going to be her stepmother. And being there with her and Darius gave me an indication of what it would be like when we had a child, and I was digging it for sure. I was cleaning the kitchen when I heard Darius on the phone. The questions he was asking with slight panic in his tone made me turn the faucet off and walk over to him. There was a look of disbelief in his eyes that made my heart drop.

“Okay. Keep me posted.” Darius ended the call with a shake of his head. He looked up at me and just stared for a bit. I was anxious to know what happened because I could tell he was spooked. “Bree was in an accident. She was driving drunk. Drunk as shit, and it’s not looking good. Shorty is on life support.”

When I said the past two weeks had been crazy, I wasn’t exaggerating. After four days on life support, Bree improved enough to be taken off. She was conscious and breathing on her own, but she was fucked up. There had been minor swelling on her brain, her left hand was broke, her right foot was broke, two of her ribs were broken, her right lung had collapsed, and she had a grotesque cut that started at her temple and ended at the corner of her mouth. She could barely speak and even when she was on strong pain medication, if anyone even touched her, she’d scream and cry.

I’d only gone to see her twice. Seeing her like that wasn’t easy, but I did want to at least keep a check on her. No matter what had transpired between us, she was Dymand’s mother. I let all the threats and dumb shit go, but my main focus was Dymand, school, and getting money. Bree’s family and friends were there for her, and I felt like that was who needed to be there.

Vani had stepped up to the plate a lot and was helping me with Bree. Shit, when a nigga was dead tired or ripping and running, she did my homework a few times for me. I was stretched real thin. Thin as fuck, but she was holding me down, and I appreciated it. Dymand was very young, and I didn’t think her seeing her mother looking the way she was looking would traumatize her too badly, but I at least wanted Bree awake and alert before Dymand went to see her.

Bree’s mother was going to pick Dymand up from daycare and keep her for two days since she’d been with me since Bree’s accident. While Bree was healing, I wanted primary custody of my daughter, but I could definitely use a short break. She was in daycare, and Vani helped, but I didn’t want the load to be on Vani. Dymand was mine, and I wanted to be the one doing the most for her.

I was meeting Mya’s dumb ass to get the money she had for me from the insurance money she got from the fire. Her Maybach had been wrapped, the VIN had been scratched, and I sold that muhfucka to a guy in Virginia for $160,000. Mario didn’t have anything worth taking, so it was all on Mya. I arrived at the designated meeting spot which was a Starbucks. Energy was for sure something I needed, so I ordered an expresso while I waited. Just as I was growing impatient, Mya parked beside me in a white Camry. I wasn’t sure if it was her car, but it was a far cry from a Maybach. Her beloved house was gone. The car she liked to stunt in, gone. The $10,000 a month I was giving her, gone. If Mya didn’t feel like the dumbest person walking the streets, then something was wrong.

She emerged from the car with bags underneath her eyes. Shorty’s shoulders were slumped, and she appeared exhausted. I gave no fucks. I was about to be out of the game. All she had to do was be solid for a few more months, and we could have parted ways on good terms. She’d still have her car, house, and dignity. She let a bum get in her ear, and he caused her to lose everything she had.

Mya was dressed in white sweats, and a wrinkled, baggy, white Nike shirt. Stray hairs from her messy ponytail blew slightly as a breeze eased by. When she approached the car, I rolled the window down.