Page 12 of When I Thug You Like That

“I’m here. And yes, I remember. Why you breathing all hard and shit?”

“Just finished a workout. Hold on, shit.”

“Keeping that thang right and tight. That’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout.

“Boy, shut up.” She laughed.

“Damn, can’t even give you yo’ props. Anyway, what you callin’ to remind me about picking up Justin for?”

“’Cause you know how you get.”

“What you mean?”

“Extra. You’ll get busy, and the plan will slip your mind, then you’ll be blowing my phone up actin’ like I kidnapped my own child.”

“I resent that,” I replied, grinning.

“You can resent it all you want. You won’t say I’m lying though.”

I went silent.

“Exactly.”

“Whatever, man.” I chuckled. “I know the schedule.”

“And I know you, which is why I called.”

“See, this why we ain’t together. You keep thinkin’ you know a nigga every move before he make it.”

She busted out laughing. “Jamison, please. We not together because I like you better when I can choose when I want to deal witcho ass.”

“Yeah, that too.” I laughed with her.

This was me and Kyesha in a nutshell. We could talk shit to each other all day, and neither one of us would take it personal. It had always been this way with us, even when we were together. Kyesha was more of my dawg than anything, which was why I respected her decision when she decided she no longer wanted to be in a relationship with me. There was no question that she loved me, and I had love for her, but I wasn’t the man to give her what she deserved emotionally. And because I valued her peace and a healthy co-parenting environment for our son, I let her go.

“Did you do the tour with Baby Jay?” she asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Yeah, we just left.”

“How’d you like it? I hope you didn’t go in there tellin’ them people how to do they job. You know how you are when it comes to your sons.”

I looked in the mirror again. “Nah, I know how y’all say I am. I’m just a father who don’t fuck around. And it went good.”

Baby Jay’s eyes immediately lifted from his iPad. “Don’t fuck around, Daddy.”

“Aye, man, stop cussin’,” I said to him, and Kyesha cracked up laughing.

“Stop cussin’ around him and he won’t be pickin’ up those bad habits,” she checked me like she always did. “Hey, JJ,” she called through the speakers. “Can he hear me?”

“Yeah, he can hear you.” I shook my head. “You hear Esha talkin’ to you, man?”

“Hi, Esha,” he said, waving.

“You heard ‘em?”

“Yeah. You should’ve told me I was on speaker. I wouldn’t have cussed earlier.”

“For some reason, his ears only hear when I cuss, so you good.”