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Chapter Five
Timothy Anderson
The Next Day
Getting up from my couch, I went to the front door to see who was knocking. A confused look fell over my face at the sight of all my siblings. After undoing the locks, I pulled it open. "What I do?"
"Nothing dummy, let us in." Mariah said while pushing me out the way. She's such a bully.
"Damn, rude ass."
"Hey Noaaaah." Kayla said while giving him kisses.
"Aye! Do not put them lips on my son, you might've did something strange for a piece of change this week."
"Fuck you." She flipped me off, while sitting on the couch. "Tim you really living in the slums. I hate that for you."
"Bi— why y'all here?"
"Well we're all flying to Miami tonight for dads birthday we would really like it if you joined us. We haven't been together since he died." Brian said.
"All of as in Mya included, right?"
"Yeah...she's already in Miami so we decided to fly to her."
"You know she hates me right and I'm legally obligated to stay 500 feet away from her and her children. I can't really afford to go to jail right now."
"We talked her, she's cool."
Exhaling, I rubbed my forehead. "I don't know man."
"Tim just come, please." Kayla begged. "We're all bringing our kids. We rented a big house, it's going to be fun."
"Mourning our dad is fun?"
"Tim."
"Alright, alright. How long we gone be there?"
"A week."
I nodded. "Send me flight details."
"We already took care of that." Mariah said while pulling her phone out her purse, then a text came through mine and it was two tickets.
"I could've bought my own tickets Mariah."
"I know but since I did it, you have to go so you won't be wasting my money. Now go pack, I'll take care of Noah's bag."
"Whatever." Getting up from my seat, I went to the back and grabbed my suitcases and started packing. They could've gave a nigga a 48 hour notice at least!
Once that was done, I let Syren know that me and Noah were leaving. She said okay and asked if I could take him by her parents. Her dad never liked me and honestly I didn't give a fuck. I wonder what their reaction was when she told them I was Noah's dad.
Pulling my bags into the living room, I sat them by the door. "Alright, I'm ready. I hope this ain't no sneaky shit y'all on and Mya knows that I'm coming."
"Nigga she knows, now come on. We gotta go to mamas."
"On some real shit, how would y'all feel if mama started dating?" I asked as we walked out the house and I don't even know why I brought this shit up. They all turned and looked at me like I was insane.
"Date for what?" Brian asked.
"She's technically single, ya know. And I don't think it's cool if she has to be single forever because of how dad died."
"She does." They all said.
"I'm shocked you're bringing that up. When everything happened you hated her for ruining our family, now you want her to date?" Mariah asked.
"He gone, what can we do about it? Nothing at all. I just don't think she should have to be alone for the rest of her life, using our kids to keep herself busy. Y'all really think that's fair?"
Nobody responded so I just let it go. I know how everybody felt when we lost our dad and I thought we all moved past it but I guess not. Maybe they think she should suffer for what happened. But I don't. I think about what my grandma said all the time. My dad could've reacted differently, he could've still been here. Yeah, she was wrong for cheating but his reaction got him where he is.
Miami Beach, Florida
"AHHHHH! You're heeeere!" I heard Mya scream as soon as the door to the house opened. I saw her jump on Brian like she always does. "Oh my god I missed you guys!"
"Mya, you almost forty, it's time for you to stop jumping on me." Brian said while trying to get her off but she wouldn't budge.
"I don't care if I'm 100 I'm still jumping on my big brother. And I'm no where near forty nigga." She thumped his head before climbing down and hugging everyone else. I made sure to move to the side.
I watched as she talked to Noah. He barely knows who she is and it's crazy because when he was born, she was basically his second mom. Soon, her eyes met mine. I expected a snarl or to be attacked but she smiled and waved.
Letting out the breath I was holding, I waved back.
"Y'all coming with me to do Caresha Please tomorrow, right?" She asked Mariah and Kayla.
"You know we are." Mariah answered. "You gone answer everything she ask or act all bougie and persevered."
"I'm with all the smoke, I'm ready."'
"Better be! Daddy ain't raise no pussy."
"Mariah!" My mama yelled making us all laugh.
"When Chris flying down?" Brian asked.
"He's not." Was all Mya said before waking off towards the back. Everybody looked at each other. I decided to take me and Noah's bag to a room and go to bed.
I was in the middle of getting settled when there was a knock on my room door. Walking out the bathroom, my eyes grew at the sight of Landon.
"Wassup Bam."
"Hey uncle Tim."
I couldn't believe this was the same little knuckle head kid. He was tall as hell, which was bound to happen, since every male in his bloodline is tall and he looked just like Chris but with caramel skin
"Come in man, you ain't gotta stand at the door." I laughed.
He came and sat on the bed. "So, what have you been up to?"
"Nothing much, just trying to get everything straight. What you been up to? I heard you out there killing it in baseball."
"Yeah. That's all I really do, and work with my dad sometimes."
"Oh you wanna be little C. Breezy?"
Bam laughed. "Maybe. I actually googled my dad a while ago and saw a lot of stuff that he's been through. I don't know if I wanna deal with that."
"Damn, ya moms and pops know you did that?"
He shook his head. "No. It's a lot I want to ask him about though."
"Mm, so if you don't become the next King of R&B what you wanna do?"
"I don't know. Maybe a baseball player."
"That'll be cool even though, that comes with fame too. But I'm sure whatever you decide, your parents gone make sure you handle ya business."
"Yeah....I've missed you Uncle Tim."
"I've missed you too kid. Hopefully this is the first step to us getting back to how we used to be."
"I hope so. Don't say anything but mommy misses you too."
"And I miss her, trust me."
"We're about to go swimming, you coming?"
"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute."
"Okay." Landon got up and left out the room.
I'm hoping this trip has a positive outcome. I'm tired of all the negativity and everybody being mad at each other.
Time for some peace around this motherfucka.
Omniscient
Virginia - 11:37PM
"It is so beautiful out here." Nia said while staring at the view. Only she and Chris were in Joyce's backyard. Nia on a floaty and Chris sat on the side of the pool with his feet in the water, smoking a blunt.
"Yeah, one thing I've always loved about the country is how clear the skies are and you can see all the stars. Compared to the city and all the pollution, it's so peaceful."
"Very." Nia looked at him and smiled. She was enjoying her time here and being the only woman that had Chris's attention for the first time, ever. She didn't want to put everything on Mya but Nia knew how quick Chris would cut her off if he knew the truth. She came up with the idea to keep everything from Chris. Mya wanted to say something but she reminded her how Chris would lose his mind, Mya ended up agreeing.
The two women never had any issues, but Nia would be lying if she said she didn't feel some type of way about how Mya's life was compared to hers. Another thing that bothered her was how the outside world often made it seem as though Royalty was Mya's. She hated how easily they forget she was the one who carried Chris's first child, that she was first.
Climbing out the pool, she took a seat close to Chris. He made sure to eye her bathing suit or lack there of.
"So what's going to happen between you and Mya?" She asked, not really caring.
"I don't know for real. I love her, but I'm not sure how we can move past all the shit that happened."
"She was just trying to look out for you Chris."
"I'm so tired of hearing that shit." He laughed. "Whether I went and killed the motherfucka or not, she should've told me. She's my wife, we don't hide shit like that from each other. Let the roles have been reversed, Mya would've lost her mind."
"True, but she was just doing what Ro asked too. I was on the fence about it. I felt like you should've known and I wish we could've dealt with this together because we're her parents."
"Why did you run to Mya then?"
"Royalty asked, she said Mya would understand. Did something happen to her when she was younger?"
"Yeah, her uncle."
"Oh." Nia put her head down, pretending to care. "That sucks."
"It does. It's some sick as people in this world."
"Well this may not mean anything but, Royalty has both of us here now. We can focus on helping her heal. She used to always ask me when she was younger would we ever be a big happy family. I hated telling her no."
Chris didn't respond to that, just took a long pull from his blunt.
"Sometimes I wish we would've been able to experience us being a family. I think we compliment each other well." Nia played with his wedding band.
Shaking his head, he blew the smoke from his mouth. "Don't do this."
"Do what?"
"You know what."
"I'm just talking about what could've been Chris, what's so wrong with that?!"
"I'm married, that's what's fucking wrong."
"Barely." Nia laughed. "We're friends right, so let me be real with you. Your marriage is toxic. Every time you look up, y'all into something."
"Marriage ain't a walk in the park."
"Oh I know, but it's still not supposed to be this crazy. Y'all always separated, always mad at each other. Ain't that tiring?"
"I love Mya."
"I know that." She rolled her eyes.
"So you think I should give up on her?"
"I just think it's pointless to keep fighting for something when it clearly ain't working. That's all I'm saying."
"Yeah, we got our problems but it still ain't another woman on this earth that I'd rather do this with."
That made Nia cringe for some reason. "Just think about consistent happiness Chris." She said while moving even closer. Her finger gently pulled at his ear, she remembered his spots and what gets him going.
"Chill."
"You should let that awful relationship go, then maybe we can finally give our daughter that family she's been asking for."
"Nia."
Upstairs, Royalty had just finished FaceTiming Mya and Landon. She's missed her step mom a lot and wished she could've went to Miami with her.
Looking at the time, she wondered where her mom was. They were supposed to start their movie night a while ago. Getting up from get bed, she went and searched upstairs before making her way back downstairs. "Mama!" Royalty called but didn't get a response.
Lifting her phone, she got ready to call Nia but that came to a quick stop when she saw her parents in the middle of a heated make out session. Gasping, she covered her mouth as tears filled her eyes, she couldn't believe what she was seeing and that her parents would betray Mya like this.
"Meme!" She screamed while hurrying to the back where Joyce's room was.
Joyce jumped from her sleep hearing her grand daughter call for her. She hurried out, thinking it was a bad dream, but ended up seeing what Royalty saw.
"How could they do this to Mya?" Royalty cried.
Joyce rushed out the door causing the pair two quickly split apart. Chris stood up, wiping his mouth as if it could get rid of what he had just did, while Nia tried to keep a straight face.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now?!" Joyce yelled. She looked at both of them. Chris was now pacing the floor, trying to keep calm. "Nia get your shit and the hell out of my house. I knew you had something going on when you put all the blame on Mya and Chris like a damn idiot, you fell for it!"
"I'm just trying to be here with my daughter—." Nia started before Ro cut her off.
"I never wanted you here, he did." Royalty said. "You can go."
"Royalty."
"Meme, if Mya says I can come, can you get me a flight to Miami?"
Chris quickly looked up at Royalty. "You're not going to Miami."
"Respectfully, don't say shit to me." She held her hand up to her dad then looked back at her grandmother. "Meme, please. I don't want to be anywhere near these two disgusting people."
"Of course." Joyce said.
"I can't believe I was cursed with two pathetic parents. Ma how you tryna play side chick to ya own baby daddy? That's sad." With that Royalty walked away to pack her things.
"I want both of you out, Nia you have to go tonight, Chris leave by the morning and I hope this time you're man enough to tell your wife what you did."
Chris didn't know what to say or what to do. Nia tried to touch him but he quickly snatched away. The fact that she could see the regret all in his face made her angry.
Chris knew there was no coming out of this.
It was officially the end of an era.