May 20th, 2018.
Ivory
" Boss lady, you're looking spectacular in the red today!" Tyler says as I walked passed him. I thanked him, smiling still at the compliment. I was feeling good today, mainly because today was the day that marked the beginning of the getaway trip my family was taking.
The flight for New York was scheduled this evening, right at 7:30. For there, we'd stay at a hotel for a day to visit with Trina and Frank, then go down to Philadelphia to meet with Cairo's family. I already had all of my things packed, so I was just waiting for Cairo to get himself to together. He and Amira were supposed to be here at 6:30 to pick me up so that we could head straight to the hanger.
Coming back from the bathroom, I went back to my office as I heard the phone ringing. I nearly screamed as I got there, seeing who was there. I didn't know how he even got here in the first place. I made sure to prohibit him from ever coming into the office. I told Tyler, my receptionist...I even hired security to make sure that was set and in place.
" What are you doing here?"
" you look nice today."
" Damon, what are you doing here?"
" What happened to coming to visit me on Saturday? Hm?" he asked me, and I grew silent.
"...what happened? Hm? And why...why in hell did you block my number? You didn't think I was gonna figure it out?"
"...what? cat got your tongue? You can't speak now?" he fumed at me. I backed up, my hand touching the door knob.
" Ivory. Do you not wanna find out the truth? Huh?"
" I do."
" Then why can't you just follow my simple instructions? Why?"
" Damon, whatever you're into, or whoever you work for...I can help you. I just...I just can't— I can't-"
" you just can't what? you ain't tryna leave him?"
" I don't want to leave my family Damon. I mean, who would?"
" You already did though."
" But that wasn't permanently..." I state, not understanding how he hadn't understood me yet.
"...I can help you Damon. We can help each other. You tell me what's going on, and I—"
" and you what? you can't help me Ivory. The only thing you can do is come with me...be with me."
" Damon, I—"
" I said what I said." he says, cutting me off. " I wanna see you sometime next week. I would say this week, but I'll be out of town. Make it happen, will you?"
I didn't answer him, and only looked at him. He was insane if he really thought I was going to see him. I was doing anything I could to avoid him, little did he know. Did I think he had something to tell me? Maybe so. Maybe he wasn't bullshitting me and trying to coerce me...maybe there was something that he knew that I didn't. It felt like it to me, and I wanted to trust my gut.
This is just another thing I'll have to tell Cairo. As if he doesn't already feel some type of way about Damon. Although I don't expect us to, we could all figure it all out together. Or maybe I'm just tripping.
___
En Route to New York City. | 8:43 p.m.
Ivory
" Cairo! Stop!" I yelled in a whispering tone. He wouldn't stop with his little games, and it was getting annoying. And he knew it too.
" Babe. What I gotta stop for? It's just us."
" Really? It's just us?" I questioned, looking over at our daughter and over at the closed doors ahead of us.
" Them people don't give a damn about us Ivy...and Amira, she's sleep."
" And you see how long it took us to get her there...I don't wanna wake her..." I say, and watch Cairo heavily sighed. He leaned his head into my chest, mumbling words that I couldn't hear.
"...Cairo, why don't you just go to sleep? We can all be like Amira."
" I'm not sleepy." he says in a defiant way. I roll my eyes and chuckle. " I can't sleep knowing that I didn't put you to sleep first. That doesn't sit right with me."
I rolled my eyes and chuckled, looking out the window. We were ways away from New York City, having nearly five more hours on the plane. That was a lot of time, a lot of time to talk. And I knew Cairo loved late night talks.
" Cairo."
" Hm?"
" You wanna talk instead?"
" Of course we can talk." Cairo tells me, as I expected him to. He scooted closer toward, practically being underneath me.
" What's on your mind?"
" I...I saw Damon again. Today. He came up to my job."
" What the fuck does he want?"
" He wants me. He wants me to leave, you know— go away, with him. He's telling that he has something to tell me though, something important."
" Fuck what all he has to say that's important! I wanna know why this nigga is still coming around. You ain't give him the boot?"
" Baby, I've tried...b-but he's—"
" The nigga is obsessed with you. That's what the fuck it is." Cairo fumed, his strong distaste for the man coming out.
" Just let me go Ivy...let me go out there and whoop the shit outta of him. He'll leave you alone then."
" I know her would baby...I'm sure he would." I reassure him. " But look— I wanna hear what he has to say. I truly do."
" Give me one good reason why."
" Because...I just feel like he's connected to all of this mess that's been happening with us. I feel like he was like sent to mess with me, you know? I don't know why I'm feeling this way, but I am. And I want to trust myself..."
Cairo sighed, rubbing the temple of his head. I could tell that he was thinking hard about what I had said, and I was just hoping that he would truly understand at least part of what I was trying to say, despite of how he felt.
" Ight."
" What?"
" A lady's intuition never fails, especially my lady's." Cairo said, making me blush.
" So what?"
" I feel what you're saying Ivy. You wanna know the nigga's true motives before I molly wop his ass. I get it."
I couldn't help but to laugh at what Cairo had said, and he didn't hold back either. I shook my head, letting him know that we were on the same page. I'm glad we were. Now, we just had to figure out how to handle all this from here.
As I continued to smile and grin, just being satisfied with the fact that Cairo and I were on the same page, I noticed that he had his eyes dead on me— looking at me with his eyes being hooded.
" What baby? You tired now?" I asked him, but he shook his head no.
" Well, that's not what it looks like. Come on, let's get some rest for later on...and move your phone, or whatever that is in between us." I tell him, trying to move from off his phone.
" That's not my phone."
I sat up and looked up awkwardly, not knowing what to say or do. Nothing was said actually—-the only thing that happened was a sudden movement done by Cairo, as his hands got themselves underneath my clothes.
There was no escaping him, especially being on the type of time he was. Oh, what a night this was gonna be.
___
Following day, 3:45 p.m.
Cairo
" How about this one baby? You like this?" I ask Ivory as we stood over the glass in the store.
" It doesn't matter to me Cairo...they all look good." Ivory says, shrugging her shoulders. My baby was never the materialistic type— but I loved that about her.
With that answer, I ended up getting two new matching CDC Hermès bracelets— getting one for Ivy, and the other for Amira. It ended up being more than I planned on expected to spend, but the price never bothered me when it came to spoiling my two girls. I loved them too much.
" Here. Let me put this on her wrist now..."
" Wait baby...just wait until we get in the car. You see how she's sleep." Ivory assured me. I nodded, and kept Amira laying on my shoulder as I carried her.
Now that we were pretty much done in this outlet mall, it was time to head out toward my mom's and 'nem. I told her we'd be around there by 5— so we needed to head out now, especially with how bad Philly traffic could get during after work hours.
I couldn't lie, I was still feeling a bit weary about this whole thing. I didn't know how things were gonna turn out, and I was feeling like it wasn't gonna be the way Ivy anticipated. Even with my daughter around, my family would still act a fool. I guess the best thing for me to do was to just control my temper, and to not let them get in my head.
The hour went by quick, and soon— we were already at the destination. It felt good to be back in my childhood town or whatnot, but again; that feeling of weariness shot back thru me.
" Cairo, you okay?"
" Ye-yeah...I'm good. You ready?"
" Mhm."
" Good...what about you baby girl? Hm? Are you ready?" I asked Amira. All she did was nag and stretch herself out of her car seat, making me grin.
I carried her on my side and held Ivory's hand, thanking the driver for taking us out here. Going up to the door, I pressed the door bell and knocked a few times. The door opened— and there stood my mother. My first time seeing her in like 2 years. She smiled instantly, greeting and inviting us in.
" Oh, I've made a nice good meal for us to eat and I've made some homemade lemonade too...Cairo, I know you'll like it. It's your favorite."
My mother spoke, being friendly. It was the mother I was always used to seeing. The mother I once had before she got married and signed her life over to my step father. It was the same mother that grew me into the man I am today. She seemed a lot different to Ivory, but this was the mom that I was used to.
As her and Ivy continued to talk, I stay involved with the conversation— but I kept my eye out around the house. I was really just wondering if Joe and Caleb were around— I needed to know for my own good, really.
" I really thank you guys for coming out...you know, there were times when I thought you all would cancel out on doing this, like last minute or something. But I'm glad you didn't...I'm really glad you did."
Ivory responded to my mother...all I did was smile. She was seeming genuine, but I couldn't just give in all the way. I needed more time.
" So, my granddaughter. How old is she?"
" A year old. Turns two in a few months." Ivory says, taking a sip of her drink as we sat down at the table to eat.
" Oh, the terrible two's. She's gonna eat you guys alive." My mother says as she grins. " She's the perfect of you both." the woman says, looking over at the couch that Amira was sleeping on.
"...Ivory's complexion, Cairo's eyes...she's beautiful."
" What's the real reason we here mom? Be honest." The question ran through my mind, and I couldn't help but to ask her. Seeing this sentimental shit was doing enough for me. Ivory looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn't care. She knew what was up.
" Cairo, son. I just wanted to...to reconnect again. I wanted to see you, your family. I want to be apart of this, honestly. What you all have going is amazing, and I'm proud of it... I'm proud of you."
"...and I know, you're skeptical because of what happened the last time you and Ivory came over. And you have right to be feel what you do...but just know this— things have changed. At least for me...just let me in son. Please."
I didn't why I had this wall built up against my mom. I mean, it was my mom. I knew she was blinded by Joe— and it was always gonna be like that. I couldn't make her see otherwise. But the fact that she seems genuine and intrigued to involved in Amira's life was good...and with the heart I had, I couldn't completely turn away from her. She was my mom. The woman who birthed and took care of my by herself. Raised me into the man that I am today. I couldn't block her out, despite of how my other family members acted.
" Ight." I finally said, seeing my mother's immediate reaction. Just as that all happened, Amira had seemed to have waken up. I got up and carried over to table, seeing the excitement spew from my mother's eyes.
" Amira, this is...this is-"
" GiGi...short for granny." My mother said as she smiled down at Amira. I nodded, saying the name to Amira.
" Hi baby...I'm GiGi." my mother said toward her, sticking her hands out. Amira was hesitant at first, but eventually she went into the hands of my mother. It was refreshing and nice to see the two bond...and it was crazy too. I wouldn't never thought I would see my mom be this way.
" Here, I'll clean this all up. That way you and Amira can spend some time together."
" Oh no, hun. I can hel—"
" Go ahead ma. We got it." I reassured her, and she nodded. Amira already her going, pointing out towards outside. I grinned, watching they went to explore. Now, my attention was all on Ivory. She looked good, like always...but there was something about her today.
I crept behind her, pressing myself against her to let her know how a nigga was feeling. She was washing dishes, but it was obvious that she got distracted.
" Cairo..."
" Keep sayin' my name like that."
" Baby...uh uh, not here."
" Why not?"
" Um, excuse me! We are in your mother's house." Ivy says, turning her head to me.
" This ain't nothing new."
I kept my hold on her, kissing her neck as she finished up the dishes. I could tell she was finally giving into all of the temptation that I'd already fell into.
" Not here. I can't do this..." Ivory says, trying to fight me off. I grinned, my hand moving between her hands.
" You don't have to do anything Ivy....let me do it." I whisper in her ear. I was aroused to the core, and wanted to lay it out on her right here. Right now. But I couldn't disrespect my moms and her house like that.
" Come on baby...follow me."
" Cairo, I told you I can't do this in her--"
" I heard you Ivy. Just follow me." I say, looking over to the door. She caught on to what I was trying to do, and simply followed along. But everything stopped as I heard a voice that knew too well.
" Now would look what we have here? The two freak niks."
____
thoughts?