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“Nothing,” she giggled. “I know what it is between us, so it’s nothing I need to discuss with you. Our relationship will never be the same and I’ve made peace with that. I still love and care about you, but it’s not mutual, and that’s why I can’t fuck with you or have you in my space.”

“Well we’ll have to be around each other because we’re family.” I didn’t bother to address the other shit she said because it was stupid. She was my cousin, so I definitely loved her, but I didn’t care for the bitch and she didn’t care for me either. She proved that time and time again.

“I don’t have to be anywhere I don’t wanna be, Lyss. Family or not. Now if it’s you and your baby at a family gathering, cool. I have no ill feelings toward baby Kash. But if his daddy is present and welcomed then I won’t be fucking with it.”

“So if my mama has a birthday party what are you gonna do? Not come because Kenny might be there?”

“I had a long talk with Auntie Luna about everything a few days ago and she made it clear that she doesn’t even like Kenny enough to make me uncomfortable by inviting him to anything she throws.”

“Oh yea, you’re mad as fuck,” I replied heatedly. My mom made it no secret that she didn’t like Kenny, but it was always because of what he wasn't paying for. She never attempted to get to know him as a person to have a genuine dislike for him. I really didn’t need Lourdes poisoning my mom’s mind against him even more.

“Am I mad? Or are you just delusional? I don’t fuck with Kenny at all. He pulled some bitch shit by lying on my name and it really complicated my life last summer. I would never be around a person that evil, and if I were you I’d be careful. Then again, maybe you and him are equally yoked. I don’t know…because I would have never guessed that the girl that I grew up with like a sister would fuck my boyfriend behind my back. No one could pay me to slime you out like that. Even now, there’s not a piece of me that wants to bring you harm or see you hurt. So if anything I’m disappointed in you. But pleaseeee, believe and receive that I’m not mad about a damn thing. In fact, I’ve never been happier. I hope you get the help you need so you can heal and be happy, too.”

I wanted to go off on her because she had me fucked up! But when I opened my mouth, no words came out. She had silenced me and I was so frustrated that I wanted to slap the smug smile off her face.

“Alright, cousin, I’m finna get back to partying” she laughed. She fucked my head up even more by giving me a hug before stepping back up into the section.

“AYEEEEE! This my shit!” She jumped back on the couch with her hands up. “So many niggas! It’s so hard to pick one! But if I got to…I want the rich one!” She turned around and made her ass jump like a stripper.

I was in disbelief with how that interaction had gone and I felt stupid, so I got the fuck on. I was almost back to my section, when someone tapped my shoulder extremely hard. I spun around with an attitude and my heart dropped when I saw Kayla’s big sister, Kamesha, and their cousins.

“BITCH, what was all that shit you was saying to my sister?!”

Damn. Kayla and I had exchanged words right after she gave birth. She was calling me so I could make Kenny go be with her at the hospital. I basically told her that I couldn’t make him do shit if his heart wasn’t in it. We got into a big argument where we cursed each other out from A to Z, and that’s when she started throwing shots at me on IG. Of course I threw my fair share of shade back at her, but I was simply responding.

“Look, she came at me crazy over my nigga. I don’t have no issue with Kay-”

I was silenced with a hard fist to my face and before I knew it all those bitches had jumped on me. I was only 5’2 and I was still slim after having my son, so it was easy for a bigger bitch to overpower me. I damn sure couldn’t take on three big bitches at once. Knowing that I wasn’t too far from the section, I expected the twins to run up and help me out at any second. I was on the ground being stomped and punched on, and I couldn’t even shield my face with my arms because one of those bitches had purposely grabbed them. It felt like I was getting my ass beat for an eternity before security decided to show up and save me. One of the big security guards lifted me off the ground and held me over his shoulder. I made direct eye contact with my so-called “work bestie.” She offered me a measly sympathetic look before turning away.

“Let me go! I’ma fuck that bitch up!” Kamesha screamed while trying to break loose from the security guard who was holding onto her. Getting jumped by Kayla’s people was never a thought in my mind. Her family was like my family and vice versa. If anybody jumped me tonight I thought it’d be Lourdes and her lil friends. I glanced back towards the section she was in, wondering if she saw me get jumped. If she did and didn’t do anything then that was crazy. She was just claiming that she still loved me and didn’t want to see me hurt. So where the fuck was she when I needed her?

“Bitch…I know you lying,” I muttered. She was on a head stand on the couch, making her heels click to Mellow Buckzz “Move.” I guess she wasn’t lying when she said she wasn’t worrying about me.

Chapter 27

Armias

“Bubby, are you coming to my 10th birthday party? Mommy is throwing me a Hello Kitty sleepover at an Airbnb!”

All of my siblings, including Aspen, had pulled up my house for Sunday dinner. Lourdes had done the cooking this time and she invited my siblings. She cooked a feast that consisted of cabbage, cornbread, fried chicken, baked chicken, white rice, and baked macaroni. I don’t know what had gotten into her, but I was with whatever it was. I was even more impressed that she whipped up a dinner like that after a night out with her friends.

“How many times you gon’ ask me that, Milan?” I chuckled. “Yea, I’m coming, baby.”

“One thing Milan gon’ do is yap about her birthday when it’s coming up,” Aspen giggled.

“As she should,” Lourdes smiled. She stopped braiding her hair to hug her from behind. I don’t know how she still had any energy to braid Milan and Icelynn’s hair after we ate dinner. After getting in late last night, she pulled me to the shower with her so we could have sex. Then we went for another round in bed. A few hours later she was up early tending to Alouri and then she started cooking by herself. Granny had spent the night and offered to help out after she finished doing laundry, but Lourdes insisted on rolling solo in the kitchen. She was only running on about five hours of sleep, so she should’ve told my lil sisters to sit their asses down somewhere. I was about to tell them no for her, but as usual she was quick to jump up and entertain them. Somebody had obviously sent them to do their dirty work though, and that somebody was Rahesha.

My sisters always wore their signature black girl hairstyles and Rahesha was the one who’d do them. She was really good at combing hair, but she always complained because all of her kids had thick, long hair in different textures. I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to do all that hair, but she had decided to have all those kids so that was on her. Sometimes she’d seek out breaks by sending the girls to the hair salon. Ever since Lourdes entered our lives she started having her do the girls hair whenever she didn’t feel like it. But Lourdes hadn’t done Milan and Icelyn’s hair in a few months, so I honestly thought that ship had sailed. I believed she would’ve stopped sending Zee to Lourdes, too, if dealing with him and his hair wasn’t too difficult for her. But the girls showed up today with their hair washed and blown out. Rahesha never sent them somewhere without their hair done, so that was alarming for me. Before I could question it, they were asking Lourdes if she could do their hair after we ate. She was happy to do it, but she told them they had to check in with their mom first. They claimed Rahesha said it was okay, but Lourdes still made Aneesah call and ask so she could hear it for herself. When Rahesha said “Yes, she can braid their hair in any style she likes as long as it lasts for a while. I’d really appreciate it,” I knew that it was her who set this all up. I was annoyed on Lourdes’ behalf because she’d already done a lot today. Then Rahesha sending the kids to ask instead of asking herself rubbed me the wrong way. It’s like she knew we’d never say no to them.

“I don’t mind her talking about her birthday,” I clarified. “I’m just trying to see why she keeps asking me if I’m coming. I never miss a birthday.”

“You’re also always the one in charge of her birthday, Bubby,” Aneesah said.

“That’s not true. We all chip in for birthdays,” I responded. Hell, all I ever really did was foot the bill.

“Yea, we all have a hand in the planning. But she’s used to telling you everything that she wants,” Aneesah pointed out, and I had to acknowledge that it was true.

My siblings usually ran and told me what they wanted to do for their birthday. I’d pass the information over to Rahesha, Aspen, and Aneesah so they could plan it all out while I paid for everything. This year, things had changed because I wasn’t talking to Rahesha. I would have still stepped in and taken care of my younger siblings' birthday celebrations. They were never going to suffer because our mama wasn’t shit. But apparently Rahesha had taken Milan’s birthday festivities into her own hands. This was a first, so I was sitting back and letting her have it and I hoped it continued with the rest of her young kids. Aspen and Aneesah would probably continue to deal with me for their birthdays because all they had to do was ask me for money. They’d been in charge of their own birthday plans for years and now that they were both legal they really didn’t need anyone overseeing their birthday festivities. Aspen’s 19th birthday had already passed in January, and she had a girls night at her team mates apartment in BR. She only asked for a few hundred to make it happen, but I sent her a lot more. I couldn’t just give money to my younger siblings and let them take matters into their own hands.