Page 41 of Passion

“Your dad. He doesn’t want y’all to live with me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, baby, but I’m not going to let him win. I can’t live without y’all. It was a mistake letting him dictate to me what should be done a month ago. I was trying to be understanding.”

I knew she didn’t have the slightest clue what I was talking about, but she hugged me around my neck. When I felt her tears against my neck, I pulled away to stare into her eyes. “Mommy won’t let go, okay?”

“Okay.”

Just like that, we were back in the funk we were in before. I wanted to go to that nigga’s house and fuck him up. I wished Giselle would have taken action when I first told her to. She was being too nice to that nigga. The kids had been with us for a week, but once again, Gentry was on the back burner. It was like I didn’t exist, no matter how often I tried to insert myself.

I’d just gotten back from washing my car and getting my oil changed. When I walked through the back door, I could smell the Pine Sol. She’d been cleaning. I didn’t hear the kids though. Maybe they were taking a nap. I walked into the kitchen to get a bottle of water and noticed she had something cooking in the crock pot.

She used the fuck out of that thing, but I could see how it would be convenient when you had a lot to do. Just as I was about to lift the lid, she joined me in the kitchen. “I cooked a beef roast with potatoes. There’s cabbage and cornbread on the stove and potato salad in the fridge. I umm… We’re going to my mama’s house. We’ll be back later.”

“Oh, so I’m not invited?”

“I just… I need?—”

“Let’s talk about needs. I need my wife. The kids are here, and I still don’t have you. I’m supposed to be the man you lean on and trust to handle your heart, but you keep taking the shit back, Giselle. What do you want me to do? Shy said he would do his best for you. Why are you worried?”

“Because my claims don’t have evidence to support them. His claim that I married a man I don’t know does.”

I lifted my brows. My anger was boiling, and it was about to overflow all over her ass. “Well, we can solve that shit. You don’t seem to want to be here anyway. You never terminated the lease on your place either, like you were expecting us to fail. I’ll go get this shit annulled Monday.”

I halfway expected her to say something back… something to say she didn’t regret marrying me. Instead, she walked away and headed toward the steps. I couldn’t deal with this bullshit. Drama was a nuisance, but if she wouldn’t shut me out like I didn’t fucking exist, it wouldn’t be as hard to handle. We weren’t united in this. At this point, it seemed like she was going to leave me anyway to prove she deserved custody of her children.

I refused to follow after her. I grabbed my keys and burnt off, heading to my grandparents’ farm on Herold Hill Road. It was the place that gave me the most solace. As I drove, I couldn’t help but think about the time we spent in Honolulu. That was the best time of my life. We fucked all over that damn island. Her drive was just as strong as mine, if not stronger. The walks on the beach, visiting Pearl Harbor and other sights on the island, and taking surfing lessons only brought us closer that week.

It was perfect. We’d asked as many questions about each other as we could think to ask. Our get to know you phase was beautiful… only to descend to the depths of hell when we got back to Tallahassee. I hated this. I slammed my hand on the console, wishing she would have handled this shit better. Now I was back at square one, craving a family, but this time I was grieving the loss of one too. Turns out her pussy wasn’t enough.

When I got there and saw my mama’s car, I nearly turned around and went back home. I didn’t want her to see my failure. She had reservations about the whole thing, and this was proving that she had every reason to doubt what Giselle and I had blindly embarked upon. I got out of the car and made my way to the fence to go in through the back of the house.

After walking through the fence, I saw my mama and my daddy sitting at the picnic table with my grandparents, sipping tea and lemonade. My mama wasn’t a big tea drinker. “Heeeyyy! Look who the breeze blew in!” my grandfather exclaimed.

I chuckled as he approached me. After hugging my mama and slapping my dad’s hand, I hugged my grandpa. When he released me, I hugged my grandmother. “How y’all old people doing?”

They all chuckled as my grandmother said, “I got your old, nigga.”

I laughed. She was always a firecracker, the total opposite of my mama. I sat next to my mother, and she asked, “What brings you out here? Still having issues?”

“Yeah, but I think it’s over. I told her to leave.”

Her brows lifted. “Really? Giselle was so good for you. I saw a side of you I had never seen after you married her.”

“It’s her, but it’s mainly how she’s responding to the turmoil the father of her children have her in.”

“I thought the kids had moved in.”

“They did, but he filed for custody, something I’d been begging her to do. Just when she was finally gonna do it, he beat her to the punch. I’m tired of being ignored in my own house. She still cooks and cleans, but I can get you to do that.”

She frowned, causing me to laugh. That was what I needed. I didn’t come here to talk about Giselle. I came here to relax. Before she could respond, I said, “I’m going to the barn.”

“Of course you are,” my dad said with a chuckle.

I chuckled too and stood from the table, making my way there. My phone rang as I walked, so I pulled it from my pocket to see it was Giselle. I ignored the call and continued to the barn to spend time with the ones who understood me best.

When I got home, it felt empty as hell. Giselle had done just what I told her to do. She was gone. I noticed the crock pot was gone and Tupperware sat in its place. I walked over to it to see the roast in it and a note beside it. I closed my eyes, willing my emotions to stay in place. After taking a couple of deep breaths, I grabbed the note and opened it, seeing a slip of paper and the house key fall to the floor.