𝐊 𝐄 𝐈 𝐓 𝐇
I walked into the house and saw a bunch of boxes sitting in the foyer. There's was no explanation needed, I already knew it was my stuff. Crystal is very serious about this separation and I'm okay with that. Whatever will give her time and space to heal, I am willing to do. So I just decided I'm gonna stay at another house Crystal and I have here in Atlanta. Not too far away from Crystal and the kids, but just far enough so that we can have real space. I don't wanna be one of those weird ex husbands that move up the street from my wife after we get a divorce.
"Crystal!" I called out.
"What?" I hear from the kitchen.
I walk in the kitchen to see Crystal sitting at the kitchen island. She was on her laptop, drinking a Starbucks coffee.
"You packed my stuff?" I ask her.
Crystal looked up at me, "Some of it." She mumbled. "I figured you'd get the rest and be out by this weekend." She said staring me in the eyes.
"You giving me a move out date?" I ask crossing my arms.
"Uh yeah.. I don't see why you can't have all your stuff out by this weekend. You got the lake house right?" She asked me.
I chuckled, "Yeah I do." I say in disbelief. "Can we talk a little bit?" I ask Crystal.
"I'm trying to do some work." She said shaking her head.
"I don't really give a fuck. I want to talk to my wife-"
"Well you better find her." Crystal chuckled. "I just said I am working." She repeated.
I sit down next to Crystal and grab her MacBook. She looked at me and blinked slowly. I closed the laptop and slid it to the end of the end of the island.
"Now can I get your attention?" I ask her.
"What do you want to talk about it? It's over Keith." She said. "I don't wanna be with you anymore!" She told me raising her voice and clapping her hands.
I ran my hands down my face feeling frustration. My anger already got the best of me last night, so I am trying not to let her smart remarks get to me. But Crystal just has a way of pushing my buttons.
"Why are you so eager to divorce me now? You could've did it when the shit first happened." I shrug my shoulders. "Must be that nigga that was sucking on your neck." I said pointing to dark red hickies on her skin.
"Is it Michael?" I ask scooting closer to her.
"Are you for real right now? No, it's not Michael since you wanna know so bad." She said playing in her curly hair.
I sat back and I could literally feel my chest start hurting. It doesn't feel to hear my wife was with another man. I don't care what I did in the past, I never thought Crystal would be the one to play the tit for tat game.
"So you really cheated on me?" I ask Crystal.
She looked at me and smiled, "Do you really wanna know the answer to that?" She asked me.
"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't be asking." I say to her. "Did you cheat on me Crystal? Again?" I ask her more clearly.
Crystal moved her chair back and stood up. She slowly stretched, avoiding my question. Her silence was enough for me. I asked because I wanted to see if she would tell me the truth. If I'm being honest, I would prefer not to know what she did.
The first time I found out about this Michael guy, it was after she found out about the baby. So, I forgave her for that because I knew she was just acting off of emotion. This time she was just doing it out of spite, just to hurt me. But, I fucked Eva and I hurt her, so we're even.
"We're too grown to be going back and forth. Can't we just love one another, raise our kids together, and be happy?" I ask Crystal.
She didn't respond to me. All she did was open the dishwasher and begin to unload the dishes and put them up.
"You ain't got nothing to say?" I ask before standing up. "Fine." I said before walking out the kitchen.
I went to the foyer where my boxes were and opened the front door. I started putting my things outside so I could take them to my car. At least she put my stuff in boxes for me, it's the least she could've done.
𝐂 𝐑 𝐘 𝐒 𝐓 𝐀 𝐋
"Girl you're better than, I would've just threw his ass out without nothing." Savannah said. "No box, no clothes, nothing, just himself." She said sipping on her wine.
"He's still the father of my kids." I remind her.
She tossed her head back and sighed.
"What?" I ask sitting up.
"Don't let that be an excuse for you to keep being nice to him." Savannah said. "Cause were you the 'mother of his kids' when he was making someone else 'a mother of his kids'?" She asked using air quotes.
I rolled my eyes and put my wine glass on the coffee table. I didn't even respond to her remark because to be honest, I'm tired of talking about him. My parents popping up today really exhausted me. I didn't even tell Keith that their in town, but it's probably for the best. I'm glad he's leaving soon because I don't want him and my dad to bump into each other. Keith will be held at gun point again, not by me, but by my father.
"I didn't invite over here to talk about Keith and I." I tell Savannah.
"Okay... Why am I here?" She asked me.
I take a deep breath before turning my head towards the stairs and yelling, "Lyric!" A few times.
I'm ready to get this announcement out the way. The girl is three months, it's now or never.
"Yes ma'am?" I hear Lyric say as she slowly walked down the stairs.
"Look who's here." I say pointing at Savannah.
Her eyes widened and she just stayed at the bottom of the stairs. A part of me feels bad for blindsiding her, but she needs to just tell Bronny's mother first and then tell him because I don't even know how he's gonna react. I barely know how my friend is gonna react.
"Hey Mrs. James." Lyric said walking into the living room. "How are you?" She asked practically whisepring.
"I'm good." Savannah said sitting up. "You need to tell me something-- What'd he do? Just tell me-" She said getting annoyed at her son already.
"Who? Bronny? Oh no! We're fine!" Lyric said. "Well I think." She sat down on the couch and stared at me for a little bit.
"Can you tell her?" She said to me.
I flare my nostrils getting irritated. "Why would I tell her?" I ask sitting up. "Don't piss me off." I tell Lyric.
"I'm too scared." Lyric said shaking her head. "Tell her mama." She begged.
"No." I simply responded.
"Somebody please tell me before I smack both of you guys." Savannah said putting her wine glass to her lips.
Lyric took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak, "Mrs. James you know how much I care about your son and we've you know, started dating. I don't really know how to tell you this but a few weeks ago, I found out I was pregnant." She told Savannah.
Lyric quickly stopped talking. Savannah just kind of stared at the both of us. I couldn't really tell how she was feelings. The was no type of emotion on her face. It started scaring me a bit.
"Well congratulations." Savannah said shocking me. "But I don't know why you're telling me this, you need to be talking to my stupid ass son." She said nodding her head.
"I just wanted to tell you first because I'm not sure how he's gonna take it." Lyric admitted.
"You'll never find out if you don't tell on him." Savannah said to Lyric.
"Can you talk-"
"No." Savannah said. "You got it. Go call him." She said pointing to the stairs.
"You think I should tell him over the phone?" Lyric asked Savannah.
"No. You shouldn't." I say nudging Savannah.
She sighed, "Yes you should because you don't want his facial expressions to hurt your feelings. So tell him over the phone. He might accept it, he might not, but that's just for now." Savannah told Lyric. "I know my son is a good young man and he'll be respectful about it." She said.
Lyric nodded her head. "Okay." She whispered. "I'll go call him." She stood up and walked upstairs.
I turned my head and Savannah was burning a hole into my head.
"What?" I ask her.
"Eveyrtime I come over here it's some bullshit with this family." She said making me roll my eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked.
"It's not my business to tell you." I tell Savannah.
"Yeah okay." Savannah said rolling her eyes.
"Are you really mad at me?" I ask her.
Savannah shrugged, "I'm not mad." She said. "I'm not mad at all--"
"Girl hush for a second." I said as my phone started ringing.
I pick it up and see that it was Keith calling me. I answered the call and put it to my ear.
"Hey.." I said.
"Aye can you get Amani from soccer practice, I had to go to the hospital." He said making me squint.
"Why? Is everything okay?" I ask him.
He sighed, "Can we talk about it when I come by?" He asked.
"Yeah sure." I mumble. "Bye." I said hanging up.
I stood up and looked at my phone and then back at Savannah.
"I have to go get Amani from practice. Keith is-- I don't even know." I said shrugging.
"Okay.." Savannah said. "I'll be here when you get back." Savannah said.
I shake my head, "Weren't you just giving me attitude?" I ask her. "Go home, your man is waiting for you." I tell her.
"Girl bye." She waved me off.
I grabbed my car keys and went outside. I hope everything is okay with Keith. We're not even separated yet and he's already in the hospital. Hopefully, he's not about to fake sick so I can come take care of him and lure me back in because as long as he's not dying, he can stay in the hospital for all I care.
𝐊 𝐄 𝐈 𝐓 𝐇
I walked into the ER and in the waiting room was Jade. She was leaning down with her elbows on her knees, her legs were trembling. I quickly walked over to her.
"Jade," I said quietly.
"Keith!" She said sounding relieved. "You came." She said.
I nod my head, "Are you okay?" I ask her. "What happened?" I sit down next to her.
"Well I went to the doctors Sunday because I was spotting a little bit and they said nothing was wrong with me, then earlier today I couldn't stop throwing up and now I'm still bleeding but even heavier— Keith I'm so scared." She said crying.
"You're gonna be fine." I said rubbing her back. "Are you stressed about anything?" I ask her.
She looked at me and sighed. The answer was obvious. I seem to be the cause of stress for all the women in my life.
"Don't be scared. It's gonna be okay." I console her.
Jade threw her head back and wiped her face. I could see the redness in her eyes.
"Calm down okay.." I whisper. "You're gonna be fine." I say rubbing her back.
"Jade Alamontez!" One of the nurses said.
Jade stood up and started to walk in. She noticed I was still sitting down and waved me over to her.
I sighed deeply and stood up, walking over to the room. The nurse closed the door and instructed Jade to sit down.
"What brings you in today?" The nurse asked her.
"I'm three months pregnant and I was spitting earlier this week and the bleeding is getting heavier." Jade said.
"Okay so typically, when heavy bleeding is the case we wanna make sure we get you checked into a room immediately and start some testing. So let me go get you a room and I'll be right back." The nurse told her.
Jade sighed deeply as the nurse walked out. She looked at me and smiled.
"Thanks for coming but you don't have to stay. I'm gonna be here all night." She said.
"It's fine. I can stay." I tell her. "I don't have anywhere else to be." I mumble.
"Except for at home with your wife and kids." She seriously joked.
I glare at words, "Like I said, I don't have anywhere else to be." I repeat.
"Is everything okay.. with Crystal?" Jade asked me.
"No it's not. We're getting a divorce." I announce to her.
Jade frowned, "Is it because of me?" She asked.
"Partially." I side eye her. "But don't worry about. You're the entire reason why and I'm not even going to use our situation as the reason for her decision. You were not my last fuck up." I tell her.
Neither Jade or I said anything else. We just waited for the nurse to come back. Within five minutes the nurse came back and rolled Jade to her room in her wheelchair. I stepped in the hallway while she got situated in her gown and everything. I tried to call Crystal but she didn't answer. I figured she was driving to get Amani. So instead I called Kelly. It took a few rings but eventually she answered.
"Well hello stranger." She said sarcastically. "I thought you were dead." She joked
"Nah I've just been busy. But how are you?" I ask my sister.
"I'm good." She said. "I've been working on some music and stuff but that's about it— You need to come see your nephews. They're getting big." She said referring to Titan and Noah.
I sigh, "Yeah I know. It's just every time I'm in LA it's because I'm dealing with some mess." I tell Kelly.
"With who? Eva?"
"Yes. But she's in Atlanta right now." I rolled my eyes.
"Why?" Kelly asked me.
"I don't know." I partially lie.
Kelly just hummed as if she had something to say but she didn't say it.
"How'a crystal?" She asked me.
I sigh deeply, "She is doing better. But she put me out." I inform my sister.
"Oh." Kelly said. "For what?" She asked.
"You know why." I mumble.
"I thought you guys were moving on?" She asked me.
"Yeah I thought so too." I say looking at Jade through the door.
Kelly sighed, "I'm really sorry you guys are dealing with all of this. It's never good to have chaos in your home." My sister said. "Maybe I can try to talk to her—"
"Nah nothing is gonna change her mind. I know when Crystal is done." I say shaking my head.
It's a shame that even after I thought we were moving forward Crystal still wasn't able to start forgiving me. I know that trust takes time to rebuild, but she said she was going to work on it. After her birthday and after she found out she isn't able to have kids, she switched up on me. But, I tried to be there for her. She wouldn't let me be there so it is what it is.
"Hey I gotta go but I'll call you tomorrow." I tell Kelly as I see Jade waving at me through the glass.
"Okay good night." She said.
"Good night." I say before hanging up.
I knocked on Jade's room door before going. She was laying down with a blanket over her, sipping on a bottle of water.
"What's going on?" I ask her.
"I don't know. They just took some blood. But Keith if I'm being honest I think I'm having a miscarriage." Jade said laying her head on her pillow.
I sigh deeply and shake my head. "Don't say that. Don't think like that." I say rubbing her head.
"I just want everything to be okay." She whispered.
"And it will be, just relax." I encourage her.
Jade took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was falling asleep until she heard me moving my chair.
"Can you come lay with me?" She asked quietly.
I look around the room and rub my neck. A part of me felt bad because she was in pain, another part of me didn't want to disrespect the little bit of my marriage anymore than I already have.
"How about I sit right here?" I suggest as I sat down near the bottom of her legs.
Jade nodded her head. "Thank you." She whispered.
"I will be here all night okay?"
"Okay." Jade said holding onto her blanket and pulling it close to her body.