"Hey, Jojo, you busy?"
I peaked in her office after knocking and cracking the door. Her sweet smelling perfume welcomed me firstly. She was in a different outfit from earlier. She changed in a nice, velvet, off the shoulder cocktail dress with a ruffle side drape. She looked as if she was leaving somewhere, and not home.
"You look edible." I complimented and she chuckled, "Where are you going?"
"A little...meet up." She responded and glanced at her watch, "in about half an hour. What's up?"
"Well," I walk in and shut the door, "you're known in our group for keeping it...honest. Brutally honest sometimes, even when we don't ask."
Joie chuckled softly. "This conversation must be a serious one."
"I think I ruined me and Jade's relationship and her getting custody of Margo."
Joie brows lifted. "And how did you manage to do that?"
I sighed and sat in the chair. "I gave Dia advice the other day about getting her parental rights back..." the expression on Joie's face made me further explain, "Listen I didn't intentionally mean to hurt Jade. You know that. But Claudia's Margo's mother at the end of the day. Yeah, she made her mistakes, but she deserves to be in his life. That accident wasn't her fault. He wanted to go with her to spend time with her. She deserves to at least get supervised visitation. Anyways, she got mad since Claudia filed the papers and put me out her house with my microwave dinner."
Joie laughed at the mention of microwave dinner. "She was mad then. I mean, I can see it from both views because I know how it feels to grow up in a toxic household with addicts for parents. Jade doesn't technically, but Cairo does. They both want what's best for that little boy because Claudia can fall off the deep end at any moment and hurt him again. They're protecting his heart. But then, I get what you mean. Margo does deserve his birth mother in his life because they don't want him to resent them for keeping her away and not even asking how he feels about it.
"Supervised visitations would definitely be the best place to start. We all know Claudia was the outcast of the family, so they're gonna make it very hard for a judge to grant anything for her pertaining to Margo. They gonna do everything they can to make sure that don't happen. As far as you and Jade's friendship, let her breathe for a lil bit. You know she going through a bundle of shit right now and looking for someone to put that anger on. She'll come around."
I marinated on Joie's advice, nibbling on my lip. "Right... I just want everybody to get what they want."
"Can't please everybody."
"You got that right." I said, breathing out. "I'm gonna head out and let you get ready for this meet up of yours. Just tell me it's not with—"
She realized who I was about to mention and cut me off. "Kut? No. Absolutely not. This is an old friend."
"An old friend?" I repeated and narrowed my eyes, "Mmhm. Be safe. I love you."
"Love you, too, Care."
I got home and was there alone since my mother has barely been home lately, the kids were with their father, until he brings them home, and Claudia was out, I assume, handling business pertaining to getting her life together.
I took that peaceful and quiet time alone to soak in a bath. By the time I got out and searched for something to eat on in the pantry, the kitchen entrance door opened and Claudia came in.
"So, I found an apartment." Dia announced as soon as she entered.
I came out the pantry with a smile. "That's great. Where at?"
"In the Hollows."
My smile dropped. "Those drug-infested apartments? No. There's no way someone will approve of you getting supervised visits there."
"Well, I mean, it's the only thing I can afford on a minimum wage salary."
"I get it—"
"Do you really, though, Caren? You married a basketball star that now owns half a NBA team and your kids set for life. You might've grew up in the South, but you grew up in a two-parent household with a crib that y'all own. Let's be real, you and Kae never had to struggle. Shit was handed to y'all."
"True, and I'm not gonna apologize for the life I had. But just because you had it hard doesn't mean you can't achieve more in life, so let's drop that mentality. FedEx I heard is hiring for a lot more."
Dia made a face. "You want me to lift boxes?"
"For sixteen, seventeen dollars you fucking better."
The amount made her perk up. "Hmm, I guess I can lift a few boxes."
I chuckled at her sudden change of heart. "Yeah, so apply online."
"Will do."
"Have you heard anything else about Margo?" I wondered.
Dia rolled her eyes. "Nothing. Not since I heard he was in a coma. Have you? You know from Jade."
It was best to stay out the middle, especially with Jade being upset with me. "Nope. Nothing."
"What about the fact I'm filing for my parental rights back? I know she heard about that."
"Listen, you can't—I can't be put in the middle of you and Jade and Cairo's situation. That would put me in an awkward position that I don't want to be in. You're grown. You got this."
"Right."
"Come to the store with me. I need some food."
We went to the grocery store, purchased a few groceries, and filled them in the car. I was coming back from returning the shopping cart when I noticed Dia and an unknown man having a brief conversation before he walked away. Passing by me, I locked eyes with the unknown man shortly to see if I recognized him, but I didn't.
"Who was that?" I asked Dia as soon as I approached him.
"I don't know. He bumped into me, apologized, and walked away."
I looked at her for a while, finding that weird. But I let it go and drove home. I just so happened to pull up at the same time as Xavier with the kids and we got out at the same time.
"What's up, Xavier?" Dia greeted, carrying groceries to the house.
"Sup, Claudia." Xavier said, looking at me with a certain face. "I thought her staying here was for a day or two. She live here now?"
"Just until she gets her own place. Are the kids sleep?"
"Yeah. I'll carry 'em up and help y'all wit those groceries."
After he helped us and laid the kids down I walked him back out to his truck. "So, the team won tonight. We going to the playoffs next week."
"I heard. Congratulations."
"'Preciate it. So, that mean I'll be outta town majority of the playoff season."
I chuckled. "You forget I was your wife? I know how it goes. Your nanny will help me when I have to work and weekends to where you are on the Jet. Well, the kids. Not me."
"You can still come, Caren."
"No. We need to help the kids become familiar with me not being there, especially for Calen because he still thinks we're together."
"Well, technically we are still together. Our divorce isn't final."
"But it will be soon. Calen has to get used to it. Even Zay. We've been together his whole life and now he has to adjust to something different."
Xavier nodded. "You right. But I feel we can be cordial with each other. You can still come on trips that I take the kids on and us not be together."
"No, I can't. This is something you need to get used to as well. Me too. We're about to become single parents to our kids now. Let's accept that."
Xavier let out deep breath. "How do I accept losing the woman I spent majority of my life with?"
"I don't know, Xavier." I shrugged, "It's something you gotta accept because you done this to you. Nobody else. You're losing me as a lover and wife. But we have kids. I will always be your friend."
I could tell that was something Xavier didn't want to hear, but could also tell it was no changing my mind. I'm burnt out of chances to give and I was tired. I'm done.
He nodded. "Right. I can accept that."
"Yeah. Goodnight."
Xavier stared at me and took a minute to respond. "Night."
I return inside the quiet house and released a deep breath. I locked the front door and pushed forward to the living room where I found Dia. She looked as if she was in deep thought. "You all right?" I ask.
"The guy that bumped into me, I didn't know him."
"Yeah," I crossed my arms, eyebrow arched in a skeptical raise. "You mentioned that already."
Dia paused, then reached into her pocket and pulled something out. "But I didn't tell you that he gave me this."
My expression dropped at her drug of choice in her hand. "Did you do that shit in my house?"
"No, I swear." Dia said immediately, "I didn't tell you in the car because apart of me wanted to really, really run out of here and do it. I still want to do it so bad. And telling you about this is fucking hurting me."
"You telling me about it is the right thing to do. If you really want to be in Margo's life." I held my hand out for it and Dia struggled for a long moment to even let it go. She swallowed so hard I could visibly see the lump in her throat go down. She manages to let it go and I cuffed it in my hand.
I gave her a look and she knew what it meant. "That's all of it. I promise. I got clean and I want to be in Margo's life. I can't allow myself to go back to what I used to do."
I believed her genuinely. "You will get through this."
Dia sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. "It's just so weird. He came outta nowhere and bumped into me, and—Cairo!"
"You really think Cairo would send a stranger to–"
"Hell yes!" Dia responded looking at me, "This is freaking Cairo. You told me he would do anything to make sure I don't get the chance to be in Margo's life. This is all him! I'm calling that fucking jackass."
While she done that I sauntered into the kitchen and poured the drugs down the sink. When I came back Dia was cursing Cairo on his voicemail. "You thought you had me you sick son of a bitch! You send a stranger to give me drugs? Guess what? You failed!"
Dia laughed and continued, "It's dumped down the sink. You already forced me to sign my parental rights over. But that's not stopping me, Cairo. I will be in my son's life. Fuck you and Jade."
Dia hung up and held a smile of triumph as she looked at me. "Was saying fuck Jade necessary?"
"Yes. She has the same goal as Cairo: keeping me outta my son's life. Do you think it's necessary for them to do that to me? No, to Margo."
I breathe out and sat on the arm of the couch. "Okay, Dia, I love you. But let's not act like you were this great mother to Margo. You weren't. You done shit that could've gotten him killed. Could that have been Cairo who had that all planned? Of course. It's a high possibility. But you can't just act like at a point in time you didn't deserve to get Margo taken out of your life. If it wasn't Cairo and Jade, then it would've been the State. Which one would you prefer?"
Dia scoffed. "I see what this is. You're working with them."
"Working with—" I cut myself off to chuckle. "Are you kidding me? My best friend is mad at me because of all of this, so how would I be working with them?"
She shrugged. "They could've told you to say that. Cairo has the money. He probably paid you."
"Can't nobody pay me to do anything, especially Cairo. You just have to be real about this."
"I'm being real. Very real. And now that I am, I can't trust you either."
I chuckled and shook my head. I was tired of being in the middle of something that had nothing to do with me. "Then if you don't trust me leave. Bye. I have my own mess I'm dealing with and you, Cairo, and Jade is just adding to it."
Dia stood there as if she was in disbelief that I said what I said.
"What exactly are you waiting for? Bye." I gestured to the door, "You don't trust me. Get out."
Dia hardens her expression. "Fuck you Caren."
"Mmhm."
Soon the front door was slamming behind Dia's exit and I let her. I can only focus on my children and this divorce, and hoped Xavier doesn't revert back to his petty side.
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