Page 21 of Where Is the Love

“You had an amazing game. Congratulations.”

He bit his bottom lip then brought his lips to mine and kissed me tenderly. My eyes fluttered shut, and when he pulled away, I opened them slowly to see his gorgeous smile. I couldn’t help but smile back whenever he smiled at me. He grabbed my hand and led me back inside the box to where Noah was.

They slapped hands and hugged like they’d known one another forever. After they separated, Noah’s eyes landed on me. “This your lady? Why didn’t you say anything to me?”

“Jess is my friend. I’m working on getting her to be my lady though.”

Nate kissed the side of my head. “I didn’t want to bother you. Enough people were doing that. I’m Jessica. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” He turned his attention back to Nate and said, “Damn. You look even taller in person. David would have been so proud, man.”

We all sat in chairs as they talked. Noah only had a few more minutes to spare, and they talked about David for every second of that time while I looked on in excitement. Seeing them connect and Nate get familiar with who his dad was as a person was heartwarming. When Noah told him of David’s dad still being in Houston and taking him to meet him on his next trip to Houston, Nate looked like he wanted to explode inside.

What took the cake though was Noah telling Nate that he reminded him so much of David. I hated this for him. The way Noah described David, it seemed he would have been an amazing dad to Nate. The fact that his mother denied him that privilege irritated me. He and Noah talked for another few minutes, then we stood to leave.

“Ms. Jessica, it was nice meeting you. For the record, I know you’re a model. I’ve seen you around. Be looking for a call, shorty.”

My eyebrows lifted in shock. I didn’t know entertainers were looking for big girls these days. These rappers always wanted their models to be slim in the waist with big, fake ass titties and BBLs and shit. He chuckled at my reaction then asked, “Have you seen my wife? Don’t be surprised. She doesn’t want to be in every video, so I need somebody close to her body type. I think TAZ will appreciate my efforts.”

I smiled and said, “I appreciate that. I’ll be waiting.”

I was way too excited. Shylou was gonna be excited as hell, and I was gonna text him as soon as we were out of Noah’s presence. Carter wasn’t as involved in hip hop culture. He was more into R&B and jazz, but I knew he liked Noah. He wore his R&B album out. Nate and Noah hugged one another again and promised to see each other again soon. When he left out with his bodyguards, Nate dropped to the chair and brought his hands to his face.

I sat next to him and pulled one of his hands from his face. When I saw how red his face was, I gently stroked his cheek for a moment. His emotions were on the verge of spilling over. I pulled my hand away from his cheek and placed it on top of our joined hands, caressing his hand between mine as he stared at me.

“Jess, hearing how much of a father David was to Noah angers me. I could have had that same thing. Knowing that my mother denied me of that hurts. I told her I forgave her for that, but this shit is hard. It’s hard not to feel animosity toward her after hearing about all the times he was there for a man he called his son, when he had a son he didn’t know about.”

I lowered my head. It seemed we had similar issues. Deciding to share, I said, “I blamed my mother for a long time for what I went through with my biological father. He was abusive, mostly verbally. My mother knew what was going on because he was abusive to her too. While she tried to build me up to help me forget about the insults he hurled my way, I felt like she didn’t protect me from him. She should have left him long before it even got to that point.”

Nate began rubbing my hands now as I continued. “I came to the realization that she did her best and what she thought was best at the time. She made a bad decision by staying, and it could have destroyed me, but it didn’t. It shaped me into who I am now. There’s nothing she can do about it now but apologize, and she’s done that more times than I can count. It’s in the past. Your mother made a bad decision by keeping you away from your father. But what can she do about it now?”

He closed his eyes for a moment. While I was trying to help him cope, I’d actually helped myself. That situation with Brix angered me, but what could anyone do about it now? Not a damn thing. I was only working myself up all over again about Joseph being a bullshit ass nigga. I knew that was what he was before Uncle WJ took his pathetic ass out of here and before I moved to Houston. Nothing he did should surprise me or affect me to the point where it took control of my emotions.

Nate took a deep breath and said, “You’re right, baby. Let’s get out of here.”

He helped me from my seat and draped his arm over my shoulder as we left the room to head to his car. As we walked down the long hallway, he asked, “Was your mother defending her actions at first?”

“No. She explained why she made the decisions she did. She was disgusted with herself and the mistakes she’d made. I believed her explanation was more for herself than for me. Listening to her talk freed me from the anger in my heart. We all handle situations differently. My mama had the feistiness beat out of her, and she became a different person after that. She was way too submissive and secretive, because she didn’t want her brothers to get in trouble for whatever they would have done to Joseph had they found out.”

“My mother got angry that I was questioning her. All she kept saying was that David was a ho and that there was no way he would have been ready to take care of a child. Listening to how he took care of a child that wasn’t his contradicts everything she’s told me about him.”

I squeezed his hand, forcing him to stop walking. When he turned to me, I said, “People can be different with different people. Chances are that David wasn’t the same person with your mother as he was with Noah and his mother. I’m more than sure he wasn’t perfect, and maybe he hurt your mother more than what she’s admitting. From what Noah said, he never remarried, and none of the women he messed around with were at his bedside when he died. Maybe he left a trail of broken hearts in his wake. Unfortunately, that could have affected his ability to be a good father because your mother didn’t want to be reminded of how he treated her.”

“How did you become so wise?” he asked as he stroked my cheek.

“Hmph,” I voiced as I looked away. I turned back to him and said, “Jenahra Henderson Wothyla… my mother. Despite her mistakes in life, she imparted her wisdom in me.”

He kissed my hand then nodded. We continued down the hallway, and his guards opened the door for us and escorted us to the car. When we got in, Nate pulled me to his lap, causing me to straddle him, then laid his forehead on my shoulder. I brought my hand to the back of his head and let him be as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

The anger had dissipated, but I could still feel his pain. I stroked the back of his head, allowing him a moment to pull himself together. The moment he did, he kissed the side of my head and said in my ear, “I’m sorry. Thank you for your encouraging words, Jess.”

“You don’t have to thank me. This situation has helped me too. So, thankyou.”

His hands slid to the small of my back as he sat back in his seat and lifted his head to stare into my eyes. No words were spoken, but the intensity of the silence was overwhelming. When the tears fell down my cheeks, he gently wiped them away, and I wiped away the couple that had fallen down his cheeks as well. At this moment, we were kindred spirits and needed one another tonight more than we could have ever imagined.

CHAPTEREIGHT

BRIXTON