Guys, I know EXACTLY what I'm gonna do for the next book. My Mom helped me out with the details lol but you guys are gonna be mad at me for the way I'm gonna end the next book and for what else will be coming lol
And I figured out the characters for the next book:
Theodore: bnettles
Aubrey: ericdaagod
Theodore III
Grandpa drove me down to his old neighborhood in Compton so I could get in contact with some of his 'top flight security' and get used to this life I'll have to live in a few short months. He claimed spending the day down here would really open up my eyes to everything I've been protected from all of my life.
Grandpa turned down a street and slowed down his car. There were kids playing at almost every house on the block that wasn't vacant. It was a decent neighborhood except for the abandoned houses, but the people still living around here kept their yards looking nice. Grandpa continued on down the street, sometimes waving at some of the older people we passed by until he stopped in front of one of the worst looking houses on the block. It looked like the house had caught on fire multiple times and all of the windows and doors were standing wide open, but a guy was sitting on the porch. He's probably a crackhead.
"You see that house right here?" he asked, pointing to the house we were in front of. I nodded my head. "That's the first house I bought when I was like 19. Back then, it ain't cost nothing to afford to live on my own 'cause I didn't need much. I had my little thing going with my nigga Harlem and I had some money continuously coming in. Life was good in this house."
"What about Grandma? Did she live here with you too?"
He nodded his head. "Yeah, she lived here with me for a long time. This was the first place we stayed in together. We made some memories in that house."
I turned to him. "All good?"
He shook his head. "Of course not. Most of them were fucked up but they're still memories and they're what shaped me and Sincere to be who we are now. We went through a lot of fucked up shit when we were younger, and I don't want you having to experience it. What we did to each other wasn't healthy."
I nodded my head. I've heard the stories plenty of times from my family about how Grandma and Grandpa used to get down. I know they used to kill people, sell drugs and get around with people. And I even know that they liked to get physical with each other majority of the time. I know about all of it and that's why I respect Grandpa. I know he had his addictions but he overcame them, and the negativity down here, and made something great out of himself.
"I've heard about what y'all used to do," I replied. "Am I gonna have to do that too?"
"Do what?"
"You know, kill people," I whispered.
He shrugged his shoulders. "You think I got in the game thinking I was gonna have to kill people? I thought I was just gonna sell whatever my boss gave me and that would be it. You never know what's gonna happen, so if you need to kill always be prepared to do it. And in your case, there's gonna be a lot of people looking to take you out. How you think they gon' feel when a young nigga just pops up on the scene with three clubs in Atlanta that he's using to launder money and an empire that's been brewing for years? Niggas are gonna be pissed, especially the niggas who've been in the gave for a long time and haven't made it far. Niggas are gonna hate you, and you better get used to it."
"Niggas hate me now. I can get used to a couple more," I laughed but he didn't laugh with me. He just shook his head.
"Your little beef with Aubrey ain't gonna compare to the beef you're gonna have with some of these niggas down here. You're gonna have to be on your guard all the time and you're gonna have to get some protection, that's why we're meeting with my security team today and a few of the guys that are gonna be working for you in Atlanta. I won't be around all the time to protect you so you're gonna have to learn on your own. That's why I got you somebody I can trust that will be your right hand."
I scrunched up my face. "Nah. Hell no. I thought you said I was going on alone? I gotta split my money or something?"
"No, and shut the hell up. Damn. A right hand is like somebody you'll have to help guide you in your important decisions, they'll be your extra protection and it will be somebody that has your back."
"Well I don't know anybody like that except for Jaz, and I know you don't like her."
He scrunched up his face. "You already know I don't like that scheming bitch and you better watch your back around her. It's only a matter of time before she runs back to Aubrey since one of my boys did see them kissing the other day in the school parking lot. He's got her on lock my nigga, so you better not get yourself too involved with her. And you better stop catching feelings."
I scrunched up my face this time. "Catching feelings?" I asked, confused.
"Uh yeah, don't act confused boy. I may be old but I'm not no fool. If you just tryna smash, strap up, smash and be on to the next but don't let these bitches linger because then you'll catch feelings like you're doing now. Catching feelings over bitches that come and go is for the weak and I didn't raise no weak grandson. You can find a bitch down here on every street corner but getting caught up over a bitch that doesn't have good intentions for you is gonna fuck you up the same way it did me. You're either gonna be hooked on drugs, got baby mamas all over the city, in jail, afraid the bitch is gonna snitch on you or your ass is gonna be dead. And that Jazmine bitch don't got good intentions for you. She's probably plotting on you on the low."
I just nodded my head. I'm not going back and forth with him about this. Jazmine isn't like Aubrey. She won't just turn her back on me, even though her kissing Aubrey is pretty suspicious, she wouldn't intentionally hurt me. She's got my back more than the rest of these niggas do.
"I understand," I replied.
"Good, now you see this nigga sitting on the steps here?" he asked, pointing to the guy that was sitting on the steps of the abandoned house he and Grandma used to live in. He rolled the window down and called for the guy to come over to the car.
"Yeah. You know him?"
"Meet your right hand. Adonis."
I looked to my right and watched as he approached the car. I couldn't really make out his face since he had his head covered with a towel and dark shades. All he had on was a t shirt and jeans, but from the looks of things when we first pulled up, I assumed he was some kind of crackhead who lost his way or something. But that's my fault. Maybe I shouldn't be too quick to judge people around here like Grandpa told me.
Once Adonis approached the car, he leaned across me and gave Grandpa some dap. "What's up King?" He stuck his hand out and gave me some dap. "You must be Theodore Reed."
I nodded my head. "Yeah, I am."
Adonis shook his head. "First things first kid, don't go giving out your government to anybody. If a nigga you don't know approaches you and knows your full name, he's obviously down with the Feds. So don't give them any of your information but those are the niggas you wanna feed from a distance. Don't fuck with 'em but be cordial enough with 'em so that if they go running their mouth to the police, you won't get caught up in nothing."
"Alright."
"Thanks for schooling this dummy, man. He just don't understand anything," Grandpa shook his head as he unlocked the doors. "Get in, we got somewhere to be soon and we can't be late."
Adonis climbed into the back of Grandpa's car and Grandpa pulled off from the house.
"You know, we gotta get him a new name. He can't be walking around with that Theodore shit," Grandpa pondered as he rubbed his beard. "Niggas will know who he is off bat."
"Yeah, I feel you. You got a nickname?" Adonis asked me.
"Yeah, it's T3 but everybody calls me that."
"Right. Niggas will automatically know it's him from that too. Y'all gotta think of something before we meet these friends of mine. They won't take him seriously with a name like Theodore."
I glared at Grandpa out of the corner of my eye, not know if he was throwing shade or the whole tree. I knew I couldn't go by Theodore once I got down to Atlanta because niggas will know who I am and who my family is. My Dad and I already look alike, so they'll be able to link us together.
"What about Prince?" Adonis spoke up after several minutes of silence.
Grandpa scrunched up his face. "Prince? That sounds like some weak shit."
Adonis chuckled. "Nah, but check this. You're the King, he's the Prince and his daughter is the Princess. Smart shit, right?"
I wanted to laugh right along with him and Grandpa but I couldn't. I don't feel comfortable with him knowing all of my information. How does he knows about my daughter. I turned around in my seat so I was facing him. "Hey, how you know about my daughter?"
"Because I do. In order to survive in this gave, you gotta know the ins and outs of everybody you're working with or affiliated with. And I'm supposed to help your young ass out, so I gotta know a lil 'sum 'bout you. Plus it didn't hurt to have your Grandpa tell me everything I needed to know about you," he laughed. "Chill. I'm not here to hurt y'all. I'm family."
I scrunched up my face. "Family? I've never seen you before."
Grandpa sighed. "He's my cousin Marlon's Grandson. You probably don't know him but Marlon and I go way back and Marlon used to live with me and Sincere in that house we were just at for a few months. Marlon's my only cousin that I'm cool with and he married Sincere's cousin Tiara. He's been helping me run the business down in Atlanta, and that's where Adonis comes in. He's the son of their only child that's alive and he's been helping to run the business in Atlanta as well."
"So, you're from Atlanta?" I asked.
Adonis nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm just visiting right now to see my favorite cousin King."
"Once Malaysia, Marlon and Tiara's oldest daughter, was killed, they packed up and moved to Atlanta and they've been living there ever since. That's why I take those frequent trips out to Atlanta. I'm checking up on my empire and my family. They're the only family we got, so we keep them on our side. They're always gonna have our backs."
"Yeah," Adonis smiled. "I got your back Prince."
Grandpa pulled up into a parking lot full of cars. The front of the building had no signs on it. It was just a blank, all white, four story building sitting in the middle of nowhere. The building itself was crowded but the area around it was deserted. Grandpa parked in a reserved parking spot near the back door.
"Now when we get in here, y'all two stand behind me and watch how I do things," he instructed. "And don't y'all say nothing either. Y'all strapped?"
"Always," Adonis smirked.
I nodded my head. "Yeah." I didn't have my gun since I knew they would pat us down and take it, but I did have a knife stuffed in the side of my Timbs.
"Alright, let's go."
We all got out of Grandpa's car and Adonis and I followed him into the building like he told us to do. We passed right by the security guards and front desk and went straight back to the elevator. I guess they didn't need to check Grandpa since he's a regular here. He approached the elevator buttons and motioned for us to stand around him so we could see what he was doing.
"First thing to know when coming here, even though we're going to the basement, always press the 'up' arrow since it's the only one here." Grandpa pressed the 'up' button and almost immediately, the elevators doors opened up and we stepped on. "If you two notice the list of buttons on here, you can only go up to the second, third and fourths floors but we're trying to go to the basement. In order to keep things looking nice and pretty around here for the cops, they don't offer a 'down' button so we have a special code we do." Grandpa pressed each button as he said the sound, "Down, down, up, down, down and hold the down button."
The elevator doors closed and it took us down to the basement within seconds. The basement was completely different than upstairs. The lobby upstairs looked like the lobby of a five star hotel while the basement was completely black and it wasn't finished. There were concrete floors in the basement and only a few lights to light up the main area. As soon as we stepped off of the elevator, a huge guy dressed in all black appeared from the darkness with a pair of Latex gloves on.
"Y'all know the drill," he barked, letting his deep voice carry throughout the empty basement. "Weapons on the ground and arms and legs spread wide. This is a search down!"
I did as he said since Grandpa warned me about this. We took the guns off of us and placed them on the ground but I was sure to keep my knife tucked away in my boot. Each of us spread our arms and legs out and let the guy pat us down for anything else we might have on our bodies. He didn't notice the knife in my boot and he didn't notice whatever Grandpa was carrying on him. I saw him put a knife in on of his boots and he had another gun but I don't know where he hid it. The big guy stepped to the side and Grandpa led the way down the long hallway.
"Hey, King, how long is this gonna take? I kind of have somewhere to be," I told him. Grandpa told him I couldn't call him by his real name. He told me to call him King because he doesn't want everybody in our business.
Grandpa abruptly stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to me. "Nigga, is you serious? We're in the middle of business right now. You ain't never gonna be able to handle this life if you're too busy worried about other shit."
"It's something important."
"This, right here, is more important than anything else you doing kid. And you better remember that. Now, stop worrying about the outside and worry about what we're doing here and keep your mind focused. You never know when some of these niggas might sneak you."
I nodded my head and continued following Grandpa as Adonis walked beside me. Grandpa turned a corner that led to a huge room where one guy sat behind a desk while two others stood beside him.
The guy sitting behind the desk smiled. "King, just the person I've been looking for. And you bought guests. These two little niggas in trouble?" The guy asked as Grandpa approached him and gave him some dap.
"Nah, just some kids I'm training. Prince is gonna take over my cartel down in Atlanta and Donny is gonna help him out."
"Don't you think they're kind of young?"
"Yeah but I gotta give my inheritance to somebody before I die. I wanna keep my money and business in the family, you know? I can't have no outside niggas tryna come in and take over what I built."
The guy nodded his head. "Yeah, I feel you man. So, which one is family?"
"Both of them. Donny is my little cousin and Prince is my Grandson. I gotta keep it in the family."
"Right and that's the best thing to do," he replied before he turned to Adonis and I. "Well, if y'all didn't know, I'm Chris. I used to work for King back in the day before he got out of the game and I started doing my own thing. I never sold drugs or anything, I'm more into the spying and investigating Theodore Reed and Adonis Fleming."
"How you know my name?" Adonis spoke up.
Chris chuckled. "'Cause, like I said, I do the spying and investigating. You don't think I didn't know who y'all were when y'all first walked up in my building? I got cameras everywhere and I got my guys out there watching everywhere. Adonis, I know who you are because you've been running the business down in Atlanta. I mean, it wasn't hard to figure out since you're so reckless with the way you handle things whether it be with the money, distributing goods or flaunting off the shit you got and Theodore, you already got a name for yourself around the city. I heard you used to fuck with MJ's crew when he was still alive and I heard you owed him some money. But lucky for you, him and his entire crew came up dead, right? And I heard you just got your ass beat a few weeks ago."
"I was winning before I got jumped by ten niggas."
"So, I assume that's why you're here. You need back up, right?"
I shook my head. "Nah. I like to fight one on one. I need security that can hold back niggas that wanna fight me ten deep."
"Fair enough," Chris nodded his head. He looked down at the papers sitting in front of him. "Well, I have seven off duty right now that are looking for work. How many you need?"
"One for my sister Lindsey, one for my nephew Daniel, one for my daughter and baby mama, two for King's house and two for me," I listed off. "So, 7."
"You know my services are expensive. You sure you can cover it rich boy?"
I frowned. I hated when people would call me that. "Yeah, I got it covered, just make sure you got your niggas ready and don't have my family without security. And you can send me the bill since you so smart my nigga. And don't call me rich boy again 'cause that's not my fuckin' name."
Chris held up his hands defensively. "Woah. Chill out, it was a joke."
"Well I don't have time for jokes. When can you have security watching my family?"
"My boys will be ready to go tomorrow morning. Is that good enough for you Prince?"
"It's reasonable but make sure they're ready. I don't have time for no fuck ups from you or anybody you got working with you. 'Cause if any of my family gets hurt, I'm coming for you and your business nigga. I'm wiping you out clean so you won't have your business, no money or this building. Don't fuck with me."
Chris smirked. "Anything your highness and I never fuck up."
"You better not. I'll be looking for your men bright and early."
"Alright, need anything else?"
"Not from you. If you need anything else from me, you got my number and you know where to find me."
Chris nodded his head. "Alright, I'll get in contact if I need you. Prince and Donny, give me a minute with King. We need to discuss some business."
"Any business you got with him, it's my business," I spoke up. "What's up? What'chu tryna hide from us?"
Chris shook his head. "You just don't stop, do you kid?"
"It's his business, he's just trying to figure out what's going on in these streets man," Adonis spoke up.
"Yeah, they can be around to know since they'll be running things soon," Grandpa replied.
Chris smirked. "Well, since you're entrusting these children with this confidential business, I found out who's been keeping all this trouble going in these streets and he's actually the same person that killed MJ. One of my men is working down in Compton with them and actually it's your son, EJ, some kid named Aubrey, your Grand daughter Ava and some guys who used to be a teacher named Stephen. That's the group of lunatics that have been terrorizing this city."
It didn't surprise me about EJ, or even Ava since she likes to follow behind everything she does but I didn't think Aubrey would be working with them or Stephen. Aubrey and Stephen don't even get along so I don't know how they're working on the same team.
"That nigga Aubrey is a p*ssy ass bitch. He's only working with them to hide how weak he is. Stephen included. That was my old teacher. His weak ass ain't about shit," I spoke up.
"Yeah, they're weak but they're working with two crazy motha fuckas. I don't think we know how much EJ and Ava are capable of. I mean, shit. EJ brutally killed his own mother and shot his own father in front of his entire family. There's only a matter of time before he does the same thing to everybody in y'all's family since his main goal is to kill everybody off until all he's left with his King, Victoria and Deonte. Y'all niggas to to watch y'all's backs."
"We always do," Grand added.
Chris scoffed. "I know you do King, but Prince and Donny, watch y'all's backs. But I'll let y'all in on a tip. EJ said he's killing off starting from the youngest and he's making his way up the family tree. I don't know if he knows about Princess but my guys did see him and Aubrey lurking around the school Daniel attends for several days. They haven't done anything but they've just been watching every day at recess. My best bet is that he's next. But with my security around, he'll be all right."
"He better be. C'mon, I'm ready to go," I said.
Now that Chris has given us this information, it'll be easy to take all four of those traitors down. EJ killed MJ, so I'm more than positive they're still working from MJ's old warehouse. Since EJ wants to play dirty, he'll be easy to take out and he'll be the first one that's dead. Because with him dead, the other three won't stand a chance. Ava won't know what to do with herself since all she does is take orders from EJ. Stephen won't be able to defend himself because he's a weak son of a bitch. He doesn't stand a chance against me. And I'm saving Aubrey's ass until the end since he's the biggest back stabber of them all.
I walked out of the room and down the hallway with Grandpa and Adonis following behind me. I'm pissed off. I'm more than pissed off, I'm heated. Not only with who the four people are that are trying to hurt my family but who they're trying to kill. I don't understand the point of bringing Daniel, even Princess into this. This has nothing to do with them and they're kids. How does EJ and his crew expect them to defend themselves? And who kills children? One thing Grandpa taught me when I first started learning from him was that there's no rules on the streets except to never kill a kid. EJ and his crew got me fucked up if they think they're gonna get away with killing another one of my family members. I already lost my Grandma and Andre, I'm not ready to lose anybody else.
Teddy
"Alright, keep your eyes closed baby," I told Milan.
Today is the day that she's moving in. Victoria moved out and took her things with her a few days ago so my house has been pretty empty. I've just been waiting on Victoria to leave so Milan can move in and we can finally start our family. Milan was persistent about not moving in until either Victoria or I moved out because she wasn't going to share me. I understood her completely, so I'm glad Victoria got the hint to just leave even though I'm gonna miss her. But the two of us need to move on with our lives. We can't keep harping on our failed relationship, so I'm glad the both of us are finding the courage to move on from each other.
Milan smiled. "They're closed."
"I don't believe you."
I wrapped one of my arms around her waist to help guide her and I used the other to cover her eyes. I wanted to show Milan our master bedroom. She's been in the room plenty of times before but I figured things needed to be changed since I'm going to have a new wife living here. I got rid of all of my old furniture and got new things for our room. And I wanted to make Milan feel right at home, so once Victoria moved all of her clothes and stuff out of the room, I bought Milan new clothes, shoes and jewelry and filled the room up with all of her new stuff. I want her to feel welcomed into my family since she rubbed everybody the wrong way the first two times she met them.
"Okay, it's just a few more steps," I instructed her as we approached the master bedroom.
"You're not trying to set me up to kill me, are you?" Milan laughed.
I chuckled. "Nah, of course not but you can open your eyes now.
I removed my hands from Milan's face and she opened her eyes. At first she wasn't aware of the surprise until she looked at the double doors of the master bedroom. Each door had me and Victoria's initials on it but now that she's gone, I replaced Victoria's initials with Milan's. Her smile widened as soon as she saw how I changed the decor.
Milan reached out for the door handed but she stopped and turned around. "Don't tell me you redesigned the room. Teddy, I told you already that you didn't have to do this. I told you I'm fine moving the stuff I have in my apartment into your house."
I sighed and grabbed her hand. "Look, I told you I wanted to do this to show my appreciation to you. I know you got stuff back at your crib but I wanted to get you something new. If you're going to be my wife, expect to have the newest shit all the time. And expect our baby you're carrying to have the latest shit too."
She pushed me. "I'm not even pregnant Teddy."
"No yet," I smiled. "Just wait until the honeymoon."
That's one reason why I'm marrying Milan and that's for the sex. So far, she's been pretty persistent with this whole celibacy thing. Usually I can convince females to just give it up to me after a few dates but Milan kept it going and that innocent act is what's drawn me closer to her over the years. Yeah, we give each other oral and do other shit to each other but I've never been inside of her and I'm just waiting on the honeymoon so I can experience her.
Milan smirked. "Just give it a few more months and I promise you can have all of me whenever you want me baby."
I smiled and wrapped my arms around her as I placed a kiss on her forehead. "That's what I like to hear. You ready to go into our new bedroom now?"
She nodded her head. I pushed open the double doors and let her get a taste of the way I like to live. See, I'm not a bad person. I'm not a bad father and I wasn't a bad husband to Victoria. My family just got spoiled and money hungry because they liked the way I was living, and I didn't have a problem with spending money on my family at first. But being greedy and selfish turned me away from my family, especially when they would just abuse my money. I worked my ass off to get where I am today. I spent almost 20 years playing professional basketball, and I get no thanks for it and for everything I've done for this family. But Milan is different. She's not after my money. All she wants is to see me happy, and with her, I'm the happiest I've ever been in a long time. She truly makes me happy.
Milan walked through the entire room admiring the new bed, the new design and layout of the room, the new wall and floor colors but most importantly the closet. She pulled the closet door open and stepped into what used to be Victoria's master closet. I wanted Victoria to feel good, so I came out of my pockets and made sure she had her own closet built inside of our room. My closet size was cut in half to accommodate for her large closet that resembled something out of a movie. Clothes and shoes lined the circular closet while a large makeup table sat in the middle. Victoria was never grateful for the shit I got her, and over the years, her greediness became a big turn off for me.
Milan smiled as she turned to me. "Is all of this for me?"
I chuckled as I leaned against the closet door watching her eyes light up. "Yeah, it's all for you baby. You deserve it."
Her smile widened even more while she gazed through the clothes int he closet. She ran her fingers against the clothes and even looked at the expensive shoes and jewelry I bought for her and it looked like she was about to cry. Milan walked up to me with tears in her eyes and her arms wide open for me. She threw her arms around my torso and used this as her opportunity to cry.
"Teddy, thank you so much. Nobody has ever done anything like this for me in my life. You're such a good man and you deserve so much better than what you've gone through. No offense to your ex, but I hope our marriage lasts a whole lot longer and I hope we can be able to grow old together and be happy doing it. I love you Teddy."
I smiled. "I love you to Milan."
She lifted her head up from my chest and laughed. "I'm sorry. I got makeup all over your shirt. I'm just so happy."
I didn't even bother looking down at my shirt. I've had plenty of shirts ruined by makeup before so it doesn't even matter. I shrugged my shoulders. "It's cool. As long as you're happy then I'm happy."
"I'm extremely happy Teddy but something has been bothering me for a few days now."
I scrunched up my face. "What's going on?" Damn. Just when I thought things were going good, she springs some nonsense up on me just like crazy ass Victoria.
"Well, the other day when Theodore, Lindsey and Daniel came over for the second time so they could get to know me, Theodore kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I know you told me to be weary of him because of his past, and I was but I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt since he's just a kid. And I'm not trying to snitch on him, I'm really not, but when we were in the back getting our food, he was hitting on me and he kind of slapped my butt."
I scrunched up my face. "Excuse me? You let him smack your ass?"
"Well, I didn't let him. I was trying to stop him from doing it but he kind of tricked me and did it anyways. I'm sorry for keeping it in for so long, it's just, I didn't know how to tell you without you getting upset."
I shook my head. "Either way you tell me, I'mma be pissed off. How do you think I feel about my 17 year old son smacking my fiancee's ass? I'm pissed off. And you should've told me the day it happened so I could've beat his ass that day. Now I don't know when I'm going to see him again so I can beat his trifling ass. What was he saying to you?"
"Nothing really. He was mainly looking down my shirt but it was just the way he was acting around me. It's not how my fiancee's son is supposed to act around me. I promise I'm not trying to get him in trouble or anything, I just wanted you to hear the truth from me before anybody else tried to make up any lies about what truly happened. You believe me, right?"
"Believe you over my own son? Hell yeah. I know Theodore and I know how he likes to get down. This isn't much of a shocker to me since he's been trying to do anything he can to tear me down for almost a year now. He's just like a little puppy fucking with a pit bull. He keeps bothering me, and I'm trying to hold my composure with him now, but one of these days I'm gonna snap and I'm gonna beat his ass. Milan, don't even worry about that little bastard. Just tell me if he does anything else to you and let me handle his ass since he wants to be grown."
She nodded her head. "Alright."
I've dealt with a lot of shit over the years from my children but this has to be one of the worse. Where does Theodore get off thinking he can hit on my fiancee and get away with it? Theodore is playing a dangerous game and one of these days, everyone he's crossed is going to catch back up to him and he's gonna be in for a world of trouble. He already started his life off badly by having a kid at 17, now he's running the streets with Mr. McDonald doing Lord knows what and now he's trying to get in good with my fiancee. He's playing a dangerous game and somebody bigger and stronger than him needs to stop him before he ends up dead.
Theodore III
I pulled up in the parking lot of the doctor's office with no time to spare. I wasn't just rushing Grandpa earlier for something that wasn't important, Princess has a doctor's appointment. It's one of her first doctor's appointments since Nicole had her and I want to be around for every single appointment. I wasn't around while Nicole was still pregnant, so I'm just trying to make up for everything I missed within the past year.
I climbed out of my car and rushed into the building, just so I can make it here on time. Aside from just wanting to be present today, I haven't seen Princess in over a week. Nicole won't let me see her, and every time I go over her house to see Princess, Nicole and Tee Tee won't let me inside. They keep saying they're going to call the police on me, and one day, I almost slipped up and let them call the police on me but I knew I couldn't do that. I wouldn't get custody of her. I'm just trying to keep myself out of trouble so I can get custody of her once I move to Atlanta because I don't have time to play these games with Tee Tee and Nicole. All I want is to see my daughter and spend time with her but they're stopping me from doing that with their nonsense.
As soon as I got up the elevator to the pediatric wing, I saw Nicole sitting with Princess in the waiting room. I took a deep breath, trying to control my anger, as I walked up to them. I really wanted to start some shit with Nicole today but I knew it wasn't the right time nor was it the right place.
"Princess," I called out once I was close enough up on them.
She quickly turned around with a huge smile on her face once she heard my voice, making me smile too. I swear, her smile just lights up my entire day. I plopped down next to Nicole and reached out for Princess but Nicole pulled her back.
"Nah, don't try to act like a good father," she said, pulling Princess to the other side of her lap, purposely trying to create distance between us. "You haven't seen her in over a week."
"You never let me see her!"
"If that's your excuse to be a dead beat, then go on and leave. Me and my baby don't need you, we'll do just fine without you. My Daddy was never around growing up, so I already knew I was gonna have to play Mama and Daddy. Go on and fuck around with other bitches if that's what you're out doing but you're not gonna come back to my daughter when you're done doing whatever the hell it is you do."
I scrunched up my face. "What the hell are you talking about Nicole? I came by your house every single day last week trying to see her but you never let me see her. You and Tee Tee kept the doors locked and the curtains closed so I couldn't see her. Every time I came over, you threatened to call the police on me and get me locked up. I called you several times a day trying to set up a time where I could see her. Don't act like I'm not a good father because I am."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Go on and believe the lies you're telling me. Yeah, you came over everyday last week and I didn't let you in for a reason. You kept my daughter away from me for three weeks, can't I get a chance with her?"
"I kept her for three weeks because you were out fucking dudes left and right. And you never once called about seeing her or checking up on her in any of those three weeks! You're a fucked up mother."
"I'm a good mother to Princess."
"Stop lying to yourself. You don't even buy any of the shit she needs. When have you once bought her any clothes or toys or fuckin' formula for her bottles? I've bought her everything she owns and I take care of her. Do you even know how expensive that formula is? You're working, so I don't know why you can do shit for her. If you aren't gonna buy her any of the shit she needs, the least you can do is make sure she's getting fed and cleaned up. When is the last time you fed her?"
"Last night."
My eyes widened. "Last night? Seriously? It's the middle of the fuckin' day!"
She rolled her eyes. "I understand that but she won't eat anything. I've been trying to tell you that but that's the reason why we're here. Every time I try to give her something to eat, she won't eat it. She drinks like half of one of her bottles everyday, if she even eats at all during the day."
I sighed. "How long has this been going on?"
"Since you bought her back. I bet you did something to her, you and your crazy ass family probably poisoned my baby."
"Fuck you bitch, I didn't do anything to her."
"Fuck you Theodore. This stuff with her didn't just spring up. It's been going on for awhile now and you know it. You know she barely sleeps at night, she barely eats, she barely pees and when she does it's bloody and you know she's been throwing up a lot. This didn't just start happening. You know this has been going on for like two months now."
I scrunched up my face. "None of that shit was going on when I had her. Of course she wouldn't sleep through the night, most babies don't. She always ate when she was with me and she never just peed. She always shit too, and it was always some weird color. And babies spit up all the time when they eat. I didn't know anything was wrong with her but if you even thought something was wrong with her two months ago, you should've told me when it started and you should've taken her to the doctor weeks ago."
"Princess Reed."
Nicole looked up at the nurse standing in the door way. "We're right here."
Before Nicole could even get up, I snatched Princess out of her arms and laid her against my chest. Damn. I wish she would've told me sooner that something was wrong with her. If I had known, we would have been back to the doctor months ago. I don't want Princess to be hurting because we neglected to do anything to help her. Nicole grabbed her diaper bag and car seat and we followed the nurse to the back where the patient rooms were. She led us down a long hallway before stopping us at the last room on the left.
"Alright, you guys can just take a seat anywhere in the room but I'm nurse Shantell and I'll be your nurse for the day. How old is Princess?"
"Five months," I responded.
I sat down on the bed with Princess in my arms while Nicole took the seat next to the bed. She was too busy on her phone to even pay attention to the nurse. Nicole just thinks she's a good mother but she ain't shit. She doesn't do anything for Princess.
"Well she's beautiful. Are you the father?"
"Yeah."
"Even though he doesn't do shit for her. He's only pretending for the day," Nicole mumbled.
Shantell slid the latex gloves up on her hands and quickly turned to Nicole. "Excuse me?"
Nicole shook her head. "Nothing."
"You must be her mother?"
"Yup and I'm the only one that does anything for her."
"Well since you do so much for your daughter, I have some paperwork for you to fill out." Shantell grabbed her clipboard from off of the desk and handed it to Nicole. "The first four pages are what you need to fill out. It's just important information about you and the father, your daughter and any questions or concerns you have for the doctor when she comes in. Can you fill those out?"
"Mhmm. I'll see what I can do," Nicole rolled her eyes.
Shantell shook her head as she turned to me. "Alright. What's your name, sir?"
"Theodore."
"Alright, Theodore, I need you to hold her still so I can check her eyes, ears and heartbeat."
I tightened my grip on Princess, who was just laying back in my lap, as she got her tools out to check up on Princess. I don't know why Nicole makes it seem like Princess is just out of control. Every time she's around me, all she does is sleep, eat or chill in my lap. Princess is always calm with me, so I don't believe Nicole when she says Princess won't sit still. And she's only five months old. You can't expect her to sit still all day long because eventually, she'll be crawling and trying to walk around by herself. And if Nicole can't deal with Princess doing nothing now, I can't imagine what she'll be like when she's trying to walk.
"Alright, do you two have any questions or concerns about Princess, because she seems all right except for her heart beat."
I scrunched up my face. "What's wrong with her heart beat?"
"It's a little slow. I mean, it's nothing to be too concerned about but I'll write it down for the doctor to go over when he gets in here. He can explain it to you all."
"Well, I do have some concerns," Nicole spoke up. "She doesn't really eat or sleep, she barely pees and when she does it's bloody and she's been throwing up a lot. I know babies are supposed to throw up but she's been throwing up a lot more than she's supposed to. I try to feed her after she throws up and she won't even eat."
"When is the last time she ate?"
"Yesterday."
The nurse sighed. "Alright, well I'll notify the doctor so she can know everything going on when she gets in here. How long has this been going on?" she asked as she wrote everything Nicole was telling her down.
"Like two months," Nicole replied, causing the nurse to scrunch up her face.
"You guys should've bought her in a lot sooner than this. Anything could've happened to her within all of this time. I know you two are young parents but if you guys are confused about anything going on with your child, then you need to get in contact with your doctor. That's what she's around for."
"I wasn't aware any of this was going on. Princess acts normal around me."
"Stop fucking lying, no she doesn't," Nicole butted in.
I shook my head. "Will you stop making yourself look like a fool? This appointment isn't about you, it's about Princess."
"Shut the fuck up Theodore."
Shantell sighed. "Alright, please don't argue. I'm sure you two are under a lot of stress right now but please don't start arguing with each other here, and especially in front of your daughter. Whatever is going on with her, whether it was seen by one parent and not the other, is concerning and needs to be bought up to her doctor. Now, I'm going to get Doctor Ramirez, and while I'm gone, you two please don't start fighting."
The nurse grabbed the clipboard from Nicole and exited the room. I looked down at Princess, who was just looking around the room. You can't tell me there's anything wrong with her. She's acting like a normal baby is supposed to.
"When this doctor gets in, don't make it seem like I'm crazy or anything," Nicole spoke up. "I know what I'm talking about and I know my baby isn't acting normal. Just let me do all the talking and you just shut up before I have to check you again."
I looked over at her and couldn't stop myself from laughing. "Check me? Think again bitch."
"You're the bitch ass nigga. Any nigga that can sit back and call the mother of his daughter a bitch, is a bitch made nigga himself."
"I only call you a bitch because that's all you are to me. I don't give a damn if you are Princess' mother. If you're a bitch to me then you're a bitch. You act like a bitch. Every time something comes up with Princess, you always start calling me out of my name and belittling me to make yourself seem better. I know I wasn't around when you were pregnant with her but I'm around more and I'm acting like more of a parent than you are. Maybe Princess wouldn't be having these issues if you'd just feed her and bathe her like you're supposed to."
Within the first couple of weeks of Nicole having Princess, Lindsey came over to Nicole's house with me. She hadn't bathed Princess in days and was only feeding her once a day. Princess would cry and be covered in vomit most times we'd come over. I didn't know anything about babies at the time but Lindsey helped me and she tried helping Nicole too. She came up with a schedule for Nicole to feed Princess and times when she'd be able to bathe her throughout the week. She even sat down and talked to Nicole about being a mother and trying to put Princess before herself but Nicole didn't listen. Everything Lindsey told her went in one ear and out the other.
"I feed her when she wants to be fed."
"Princess shouldn't be drinking half a bottle of milk everyday. She needs to be drinking more than that so she can grow."
"Tell her that. It's up to her to decide when she wants to eat," Nicole rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat once she heard the door opening.
Dr. Ramirez stepped into the room and shook me and Nicole's hands. "Alright, now what's wrong with Princess?" she asked as she cleaned her hands. Nicole told the doctor everything she had told me and the nurse but the doctor didn't seem too shocked by anything Nicole was saying. "Well have you been giving her water like I told you to? She needs to drink water because she's getting dehydrated. The last time she was here, I told you she was very dehydrated and I can tell just by looking at her that she's dehydrated and being deprived of the nutrients she needs."
Nicole rolled her eyes. "I keep telling y'all that she won't eat or drink anything. I've tried giving her water but she won't drink it and she won't drink her bottle anymore."
"So just because she doesn't eat or drink anything, you let her starve?" I asked.
"I don't think she has an appetite."
Dr. Ramirez sighed. "Well something is wrong if a baby her age doesn't have an appetite. When we spoke last time you were here Nicole, I told you that we'd run a urine and blood test since she's been so dehydrated. My nurses have been trying to call you for almost a month now and you haven't returned any of their phone calls about her results."
I scrunched up my face as I turned to Nicole. "Seriously? You told me you haven't taken her to the doctor."
Nicole waved me off. "It's not like they even did anything and I haven't received any calls from nobody so y'all can stop lying about what I've been doing. I know how to take care of my daughter."
Dr. Ramirez looked down at her clipboard, shaking her head. "Your number is 555-0121, right?"
Nicole nodded her head. "Yes."
"Well that's the number my nurses have been using to call you."
I sighed. "Look, it doesn't matter. She doesn't care when it comes to my daughter. Can you just tell me the results?"
"Well her Glomerular Filtration Rate is about 68, which means she's in stage 2."
I scrunched up my face. "Stage 2 of what?"
"Chronic Kidney Disease. There are five stages to the disease, and she's just a little over the average for stage two. Stage two is normally between 60-89 GFR which means she has a mild case of reduced Kidney function. For a baby her age, that's a pretty big GFR but that was about a month ago when we tested her. If she's still continuing to have the same symptoms then that number most likely increased at this point."
I looked to my right and saw that Nicole was trying to make herself cry. I know she really doesn't care but I do. "So what does this mean? Does she need new Kidneys and how did she get this? Was it just because of dehydration?"
"Well, dehydration plays a major role in it. And with the disease already effecting her from birth, it didn't help that Nicole hadn't been making sure she was hydrated."
"From birth? How long has this been going on?"
"You didn't tell him Nicole?"
Nicole looked up. "No I didn't tell him. I didn't know how to," she cried.
Dr. Ramirez sighed. "We've been watching Princess' Kidney's for months now. As you're aware, she was born a few weeks premature, right?"
I nodded my head. "Yeah but Nicole said she was all right."
"Based on our tests results from Nicole, she has the traits for the disease. Someone in her family also has the disease and passed it on to her but she got the recessive allele for it. She passed it on to Princess, who just so happened to get the dominant allele for the disease. Based on the way her Kidney's are deteriorating, we don't know how long they'll last."
I sighed. "So what does that mean?"
"Based on our data, she'll be lucky if she reaches the age of 10. She'll most likely live to see five, if that. Her Kidney's have been progressively getting worse and at this point, they'll eventually fail since she's so young."
"Well, I mean, there's something we can do right? We can't just let her die," I questioned.
"Because she has the disease, her Kidney issues are going to progressively get worse but she's too small to have any surgery and she's too young for the doctors to even be able to determine if she needs to have a Kidney transplant but she might need to have one if her kidney's continue to get worse once she gets older."
I looked down at Princess as tears streamed down my face. How come this shit keeps happening to me? It seems like no matter what I do, something bad always has to happen to me and my family. All I want is a healthy child and a decent relationship with Nicole, but I can't even get that. It's like everything bad always happens to me and my family.
"Well what do we have to do to have a transplant done when she's older?"
"When her condition starts to get worse. Which one of you will be willing to donate to her?"
"I will," I spoke up as I looked over at Nicole, who wasn't even crying. It looked like she could give less than a damn about what was going on.
"What about you Nicole? Will you be willing to donate a Kidney or even blood, if you're a match?"
Nicole shook her head. "I don't like needles."
I sighed. "Will you grow the fuck up? Princess is dying."
"I don't like needles or blood and I need my Kidney's too!"
"It will really help your daughter Nicole," Dr. Ramirez told her.
I shook my head. "You don't need to explain anything to her. If she's as good of a mother as she claims to be then it should be no issue for her to donate something since she did get the disease from you. But if that's how you feel about my daughter then get the fuck outta here. You're a waste of space just sitting over there trying to make yourself cry because it's obvious you don't give a shit about her. You're the reason it's gotten worse. You're a dumb ass bitch."
"You know what, fuck you. Fuck all of y'all niggas."
Nicole snatched her purse from off of the ground and stormed out of the room. I can't stand that bitch. I hate her so much.
"So what's next doc? How am I supposed to help her?"
"Since her red blood cell count is low, she'll need to take medication for it. The medicine she'll need to take is Erythropoetin, which will increase her red blood cell count and her growth. It's an injectable medication that needs to be taken everyday, which often improves energy and activity levels in kids with Kidney disease. Making sure she's hydrated if very important and making sure she eats a balanced meal with a low sodium and dairy intake is important while she's young. While she's older, she'll need to be more active, she might need to take medication to balance her emotions, she'll need to take vitamins for her dietary supplements, bone marrow stimulant and a calcium reducer and once the disease gets more severe and she has about 80% Kidney failure, then she'll need to begin Dialysis or get a transplant."
I nodded my head. "Alright."
"I know it's a lot to take in right now but the nurses will give you more information on caring for her once you leave. It's not hard to take care of her. And if you follow everything we tell you, and if you don't act like Nicole, Princess may be able to live a lot longer than we're expecting her to."
I just nodded my head. I didn't know what else to say. I mean, what else am I supposed to say about Princess only having a few years to live?
"And before I go, I would suggest trying to get custody of Princess. Nicole really doesn't know how to care for her, and based on Princess' condition, it was worsened because of Nicole not calling us back about treatment, not informing you about Princess' condition and not feeding her properly. Princess will be okay."
"I hope so," I mumbled.
~~~
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How do you guys feel about this chapter? Does Theodore have potential to be as good as Effrin was or even better? How do you guys feel about Adonis helping Theodore out? Will Adonis eventually turn on him the same way Jason turned on Effrin? How do you guys feel about the exchange between Theodore and Chris? How does Chris know so much about EJ, Aubrey, Ava and Stephen? Is he affiliated with them? How do you guys feel about Milan and Teddy's relationship? Will it last long? Is she just in it for the money? How do you guys feel about Milan telling Teddy that Theodore was hitting on her? Do you guys think she liked flirting with Theodore? How do you guys feel about Nicole as a mother? Should Theodore have custody of Princess? How do you guys feel about Princess' condition? How long will she be able to survive?
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