Shootin' Shots: Black Boy Joy Imagines

Drowning | Bradley Beal

He levelled with her as he got out the car.

"I love you Bradley Beal the 1st." The playfulness in her tone settled him as he let out a breath and prayed that this meeting wouldn't be like all the ones before it.

However before he could even close his door. Kamiah's figure appeared at the door with their two year old son standing next to her.

"DADDY!" BJ yelled as he jogged over to Bradley , his Spiderman backpack bouncing off is back.

As Jailee watched , a small smile graced her face. BJ was a namesake alright , he looked exactly like Brad. She wished she could've given him that but this was one thing Kamiah would always have won , could always hold over her and she did every day.

"Hey little man!" Bradley smiled before he picked him up "Oooo what are you eating , you packing on them pounds fat man!"

He began to tickle his son's chest while the little boy chuckled.

"He eats everything." Kamiah replied smiling kindly at the scene "Reminds me of someone."

She teased Bradley as she got closer. For some reason seeing them standing together , Jailee's stomach dropped. They looked like the perfect little family.

That was what made her hate Bradley sometimes, he'd shattered one of her dreams with his irresponsibility. She'd tried to move past it , tried to be cordial but this would always feel like a stab to her. She treated BJ like her own , loved him like he was but he wasn't.

Suddenly the little boy was put down and raced towards the passenger side before knocking on Jailee's door.

"LEE LEE!" He squealed out bringing all attention on her as she carefully opened the door and the little boy crawled into her lap and hugged her neck.

"Hey BJ! I missed you"

She hugged him close as a smile spread across her face. Who wouldn't smile looking at those big brown eyes of his, Bradley's eyes.

"I missed you too!" The little boy confided.

"Ah well , we're together now and we're going to have so much fun okay? Let's get you in your seat."

Jailee allowed him to crawl off of her before she placed BJ in his booster seat. Their family days always started like this , every other Saturday at Kamiah's house. However BJ noticeably was growing each time they came for him. Jailee knew that soon enough he'd be dribbling a ball too.

As she shut the back door after making sure he was secured she looked up to see another commonality.

Kamiah silently bitching while Bradley rolled his eyes , scratched his head and tried to pacify her.

Kamiah hardly tried Jailee in person, she was notorious for her twitter fingers. Bradley often took the brunt of the fire and they merely would occasionally exchange insults as he pulled off.

Today that wasn't going to happen , today Jailee had time and whatever was being said could be said to her face.

Kamiah pressed her pointer finger into Bradley's chest only spurring Jailee to speed over and join the conversation.

"Is there a problem Kamiah? It's not like this doesn't happen every other Saturday."

The sarcasm dripping from her voice was thick.

"Yeah , I don't want you around my son."

Crossing her arms over her chest , Kamiah looked Jailee up and down while Bradley braced a hand around Jailee's waist locking her to his side.

It was for Kamiah's benefit.

"Kamiah , Jailee's my girl she has to be around him because she's with me. She's a part of his life too , always has been from day one."

His voice sounded exhausted as he tried to navigate this carefully.

"She's your current hoe Brad , that could change any day. You could get tired of her,"

The way she talked and stood made Jailee bristle and Bradley's grip tighten. There'd no doubt be fingerprints embedded into Jailee's ribs, she was used to having them under different circumstances.

"Actually Kamiah , she's my fiancée , she's not going anywhere."

The news floored her as she furrowed her brows before she stared at them daftly. Clutching her chest Kamiah stepped back as if she had been burned.

"You're what Bradley?"

"ENGAGED" Jailee provided waving her huge ring in Kamiah's face. The girl swatted her hand away and Jailee lunged forward only to be spun around and put behind Bradley.

"No one was talking to you bitch!" Kamiah shouted "Bradley you better get her off my property. I don't give a fuck if she'd your fiancée , I don't want her around my son. I'll take you to court."

The threat hung in the air making Bradley freeze as he stared at his ex.

"Kamiah , you know that's foul!" Jailee reasoned but Brad put up his hand silencing her,

"I got this Jai" He moved a bit closer to Kamiah as he continued to stare at her furiously "I've been there for my son from day one , made sure you two were straight. You don't need for anything and you want to throw this shit in my face because you're jealous. Let me remind you Kamiah I'm not the one fighting people in front of our son or pawning him off on people because I'd rather be partying. You may not like Jailee but I love her , she's my future and she's our son's step mom. We've done nothing but try to be respectful towards you but your bitterness is making this shit hard."

Kamiah opened her mouth to interject but looked at his facial expression and thought better of it.

"If you love BJ like you say you do you'll grow the fuck up and accept that. We're never going to be together again Kamiah but we created that blessing in there and we owe him more than this. If you can't do it for our sake do it for him. Don't ever refer to Jailee as a bitch again either. She treats your son like her own and you haven't made that easy for her."

"AMEN!" Jailee chimed in as Bradley ended his speech earning a cut eye from Kamiah.

"Whatever Bradley , I'll get him on Monday."

Turning on her heel , Kamiah proceeded to her door while they got back in the car. She glanced back from her mahogany doors and let out a ragged breath as Bradley's words sunk into her skin. Tears threatened to roll down her face as she watched her son beam at Jailee. She felt like her family was stolen from right underneath her but she couldn't change that. Resigned, she waved weakly to her son once she caught his eyes. Disappearing behind the door , hot tears escaped her eyes.

Bradley kissed Jailee's hand as he reversed.

"I'm sorry about that , it shouldn't always be like that baby."

He began to frown but Jailee kissed his cheek and waved it off.

"It's okay , at least we didn't fight like last time. I whopped her bougie ass."

"Jailee!"

"What? It's facts , anyway you stood up for us and that's all that matters to me. We'll be good B."

"We'll be amazing big head."

Smiling at his son in the rearview and then his girlfriend Bradley nodded happily. He couldn't think of a better way to spend Saturday afternoon than with his family.

-

I'm so sorry this is uber late but I hope you enjoy it. Dedicated to  Jailee.