Page 19 of When I Thug You Like That

“It’s lasagna, baby.” She giggled. “Who made it? You?” she asked me.

“Nah. My moms.”

“Oh, okay. You take a bath?”

“Nah,” I answered for him. “He been wearing these same pajamas since Monday when you dropped him off. You know how us niggas do,” I said sarcastically.

“Shut up. Jay, go get your bookbag, so we can go, baby.”

“It’s in the kitchen on the chair, champ,” I advised. “Pick up your toys in the living room first then go get it.”

I waited until he headed that way before addressing India again.

“In case you were wondering, the tour went well, and our son liked the school.”

“Okay. Why you gotta say it like that?” she questioned with an attitude.

Her whole nonchalant demeanor brought me back to how I was feeling earlier, irritated.

“You so fuckin’ bogus.”

“Oh, my God, here you go.” She dropped her head back dramatically.

“Nah, I don’t go here enough.” I thought back to what my mother said earlier. “If I didn’t show up the way I did for him, what would you do?”

“What you mean?”

“What I say?”

She sucked her teeth. “I don’t know what you getting at, but whether you were around or not, Jay would be taken care of.”

“Would he? Because I can’t even get you to commit to going on a fucking school tour so that he can get into a learning environment that not only meets him where he is but helps us with tools for him to move forward.”

“You’re making this a big deal when you were able to go and do the damn tour. He has two parents, Jamison.”

“Exactly,” I said, lowering my tone. “So, why the fuck am I always the one showing up when it’s time to do the shit that ain’t so pretty, India?”

She let out a deep sigh. “I was out of town. I didn’t intentionally not make it. Stop trying to make it seem like I don’t care about my son!”

“First off, keep ya fuckin’ voice down. I never said you didn’t care. I know you care about him, but I also know you didn’t make an attempt to come up to that school either. So, you can miss me with the dramatics.”

“I di…”

“Here, Mommy.” Baby Jay’s voice was a welcomed interruption for whatever she was about to say.

He handed his bag to her, and she put it on her shoulder.

“Thank you, boo. Now, you gotta grab your shoes, and we’re gonna head home.”

I picked his shoes up from the shoe rack behind me and helped him put them on.

“Aight, champ. Daddy see you in a couple days.”

“See you lata, Daddy.” He gave me a pound and a hug.

“See you lata.”

Opening the door for them, India put his hand in hers but didn’t move.