Excuse any mistakes. Naomi in the mm.
Houston, Texas
Monday afternoon
"Girl I'm in love with you, this ain't the honeymoon. We've passed the infatuation phase."
John Legend
—
"Mommy, I'm hungry." Jamila breaks the silence in the car. She and Naomi were currently sitting in traffic. They were on their way to Naomi's childhood home to see her mother.
It's not often she sees her especially since the two never really mended their relationship. However, Naomi allows her to see her grandkids every once in a while.
"Maybe your grandma cooked." Naomi looks at Jamila.
Jamila looks back at her. "Can I be honest, Mommy?"
"Always." Naomi looks back at her phone.
"I do not like Caty." Jamila wastes no time. "This is the one time where I would have liked to be in the Chi with Daddy and the peasants."
The driver laughs, snorting in the process at Jamila's comments. Naomi shakes her head at her daughter.
"She's your grandmother."
Jamila shakes her head. "No, Gramma Senaya is my grandma."
She's an ex crackhead
Naomi drops her phone into her purse and looks back at Jamila. "Why don't you like Caty?"
"Because you don't."
Squinting her eyes, Naomi tilts her head slightly. "How you figure that?"
Jamila shrugs. "You don't even call her mama like I call you mama. And it's like she try so hard and I don't like it. It's natural with Gramma Senaya."
"Listen," Naomi turns to her. "Just because my mom and I have issues doesn't mean it should interfere with y'all's relationship."
"What happened?" Jamila asks. "She hurt you?"
Naomi nods. "Something like that. If I tell you now, I'm not sure you'll be able to understand it."
Jamila frowns a little. "I'm finna be twelve in two weeks! I'm a big girl."
Naomi laughs slightly, reaching over and running her hands through Jamila's curly hair. "Okay Grace, I'll tell you when you're twelve."
"I'm gonna hold you to it." Jamila points at her.
"Yes ma'am."
Jamila looks out of the window then suddenly back at Naomi. "What are you and Daddy getting me?"
Naomi shakes her head. "It's Chase's birthday, too."
"We two different people, Mommy. We came from the same egg and split. See, two."
Naomi leans her head back. "Why did I put you in that sex ed class?" She asks herself.
"Sooooo?" Jamila still awaits an answer.
"Girl, I am not telling you." Naomi waves her off. "It might be nothing if you keep getting on my nerves."
Jamila kisses her teeth. "Mommy, I'm your favorite."
Naomi side eyes her. "Saint is my favorite."
Jamila gasps dramatically and places her hand over her heart. "Oooh, Mommy, that cut me deep."
"Saint cleans up without me asking him to do so. Do you?"
"I clean up all the time." Jamila says. "Saint just takes all the credit."
"You let a nine year old finesse you like that?" Naomi shakes her head again. "I'm disappointed."
Jamila sits back and thinks on it causing Naomi to laugh internally. Traffic finally began moving again and Naomi sighs in relief.
She always hated traffic, especially standstill traffic.
Her mind went back to her mom. She always wondered if she was doing a disservice to herself and her kids by not having a relationship with either of her parents.
But, she learned that forgiveness didn't always mean that you have to allow people back into your life.
For years, she fought to have that closeness with them. For what, though? It was only hurting her in the end and she always found out new things about them while doing so.
She definitely didn't enjoy the fact Caty admitted to hating Naomi at one point because Sam was more attracted to Naomi.
Naomi almost threw up in that therapy session and that had been the last therapy session they went to. It was only the second one.
However, Naomi could see a difference with Caty when it came to Chase, Jamila and Saint. She blew her relationship with Nia, but it seems that she came to a realization.
Naomi wasn't sure what that realization was.
For the most part, Naomi believed that the three of them loved Caty. Now she knows Jamila's true feelings, and she wondered about the boys'.
After about another ten minutes in heavy traffic, they were finally on their way to the house. They weren't going to stay long because Naomi only came here for business.
It took all of twenty minutes to get there and they pulled into the driveway. The house looked different mostly because renovations were done.
She knew that Amir was still financially supporting Caty. Naomi didn't care, though. Like Jamila said, they were two different people.
The driver gets out and opens their door. Rhonda's daughter, Ava, walked out of the house to meet them as they walked from the truck. This was the child that she had from when she was raped by Sam.
Unfortunately, the girl looked just like him. Rhonda even admitted to hating Ava because she only reminded her of him. However, Rhonda eventually got help and moved past that point in her life.
Naomi hears that the two are very close.
"Hey Mimi." Ava greets excitedly before looking at Jamila. "Jamila." She quickly changes her tone.
"Girl, you too old to be acting like that." Jamila says as she rolls her eyes and brushes past her.
Ava was thirteen years old, but to Jamila, she acted like she was two. The two cousins never got along because they both had a smart mouth.
Naomi shakes her head at the two and hugs Ava. "Hey Ava, how are you doing? How's school?" She holds on to her as they both enter the house.
"I'm fine." Ava shrugs. "I hate school. Nothin' new."
"Hm, I hope those grades doesn't reflect that." Naomi side eyes her.
Ava shakes her head. "All A's. I promise."
The door closes behind them and Naomi smiles at Ava. "That's what I like to hear. Where's your mom?" Naomi looks around the house.
"She's still at work. Ever since you got her that job, she been a workaholic."
"Rhonda is just trying to give you a better life than what she and your brothers had. You know that right?" Naomi lifts up her eyebrows.
Rhonda's sons were always in and out of trouble. They went down the same path of crime as their fathers despite Rhonda's efforts to create a better environment.
What Naomi didn't understand, however, was why Rhonda was so comfortable leaving Ava with her Naomi's mother. Naomi didn't care if Sam was dead.
Naomi didn't trust Caty and neither should Rhonda.
"I do." Ava nods.
"Good."
Ava leads Naomi out to the backyard where everyone was. Her family was always shocked whenever she came over, which was rare.
Naomi went over to hug her aunts, uncles, and cousins. Caty sat, not expecting an affectional greeting. Jamila and Ava went to play with their other cousins, allowing the grown people to converse.
"Hello Caty." Naomi nods in her direction before sitting in the empty chair.
"Hi Mimi." Caty gives her a small smile, a little disappointment and guilt written all over her face.
Naomi took off her shades as Amir appeared from the house with a case of water.
"TeTe Mimi!!" Sunny and Storm both ran towards her.
Naomi scoops them up and kisses them repeatedly as they giggle. Caty watches with a hint of jealously in her eyes. Those were her grandkids and they didn't react to her that manner.
Neither of them did. She felt Naomi was the better woman in all aspects. That Naomi was the matriarch of the family. Not her, the grandmother.
And she came to realization that maybe Naomi had been the better woman all along. Maybe she had always been jealous of Naomi and that's why she allowed those horrible things to happen.
This was the ultimate consequence, having to sit and witness the truth in the flesh. To know that her daughter can be around and not love her as she wish.
She even lost part of Amir.
"Hey sis." Amir hugs Naomi and places a kiss on her forehead.
Naomi smiles at the gesture, hugging him back tight. "Hey big bro."
The two pull away as Sunny and Storm take off to where Jamila and Ava were. Amir takes a bottled water, and plops into the chair next to Naomi before chugging the bottle.
"No beer?" Their Aunt Elise asks.
Amir shakes his head no. "A month sober."
Jacob, one of their cousins, kisses his teeth and goes into a cooler to grab a cold one. "Aw cuz, you kno' you want one." He says, attempting to hand it to Amir.
Amir looks up at him with an unamused look on his face. "Get that shit outta my face before I break yours."
"Never change." Naomi says to herself.
Jacob quickly obliges and cracks open the bottle for himself.
"I'm proud of you, Amir." Caty speaks up.
"Thanks ma." Amir looks at her. "You should put them damn cigarettes down." He nods at the cigarette in her mouth.
Caty blows a puff of smoke into the breezy fall air as Naomi looks over at her. Naomi wondered when she picked up that habit because Caty couldn't stand the smell of them.
"I would, but life is hard." Caty answers as she looks back at Naomi.
Naomi gives her a confused look. "So, smoking will solve what exactly?"
Amir touches Naomi's knee. "Mimi."
"What?" She looks at him. "I'm just asking a question."
"I didn't think you cared so much." Caty answers.
"Oh, I don't." Naomi looks back at her and shakes her head. "Trust me, I don't. Just trying to find the logic in the decision."
"Uh oh." Jacob snorts. "Y'all kno' Mimi got them strong ass opinions."
"And you have none because you still living with Auntie Elise." Naomi smirks at him. "You're 40 now, cuz."
Amir shakes his head and laughs. He leans over and whispers to Naomi. "I bet he still ain't told her that he gay."
"She should know because he has never brought a woman home."
"What y'all whisperin' about?" Jacob asks.
Amir looks at him. "This an A, B conversation so.."
"C your way out." Naomi finishes it.
"I never liked y'all." Jacob shakes his head.
Caty looks at them. "When did you two get so close again?"
Amir looks over at her, and shrugs his shoulder lightly. "Me and Mimi always gon' be close, ma. We had our issues, but this my lil sis. I'ma always go hard for her."
"You just mad cause they don't like you." Her sister, Iris, says before downing the rest of her adult beverage.
"Fuck you, Iris. Always got something to say." Caty roars back.
Naomi gives her mother another look of confusion. This was definitely not the woman she used to know.
Caty may not have been right on the inside, but she carried herself a certain way on the outside. When it came to looks and mannerisms, you would have thought she was an angel.
Maybe this was the real her and Naomi was just too blind to see.
"You have so much anger, guilt, bitterness inside you and it's really making you ugly. Do you hate me that much? Because I can see it." Naomi says.
Amir throws his hands up. "Here we go." He says lowly to himself.
"I try to be really nice and let you see your grandkids. But, if my presence makes you like this, I don't have to come back at all."
"Mimi, this is your mother. Regardless." Elise jumps in.
Naomi looks at her aunt with a look that told Elise that she could care less. "My mother died when I was sixteen." Naomi references her grandmother. The emphatic tone in her voice made Elise know that she was serious.
"I don't hate you." Caty speaks up causing Naomi's eyes to shift back to her. "I envy you. Despite everything you went through, mostly because of me I admit, you beat all of the odds. You are better than me at everything. You are, by far, a better mother. A better wife. A better sister. A better provider. A better protector. A better woman, through and through."
Amir shifts in his seat, now intrigued to where this was leading. Naomi, as well. She wasn't expecting her mother to admit her pain.
"I envy my daughter because she has everything I always wanted and is everything I wished to be." Caty quickly wipes the tear that was coming down her face.
Naomi turns in her chair and looks her mother directly into her eyes. "So be great at something I'm not yet." Caty looks at her, wondering what she could be hinting to. "A grandmother. Be an amazing grandmother to your grandkids who are not quite as old to form an opinion about who you are at this moment."
"Damn, that was deep." Jacob blurts out.
"Shut up, boy." Elise glares at him.
"You've lost Nia." Naomi continues. "You're on the ropes with Jamila. You have Saint, Chase, AJ, Sunny, and Storm. You have a clean slate to do it right."
Amir nods his head in agreement. "I agree. We grown na, ma. I mean you can keep comparin' yourself to Mimi. Yea she is amazin', but that's a hard person to put yourself up against. Or you can change, forgive yaself and love your grandkids the way you want to love them."
"I've lost you two?" Caty looks at them.
Naomi briefly glances at Amir before looking back at Caty. "I can't speak for him, but you and I..." Naomi shakes her head. "We will never have that mother-daughter relationship. That's me being realistic. Too much time has passed and so much has happened. That's the truth and the truth hurts sometimes."
"We solid." Amir keeps it at that.
"Stop wondering if we forgive you or not. Forgive yourself and get all of that envy out your heart." Naomi sits back in her chair.
"Amen, sista Mommy." Jamila blurts out as she reaches into the cooler for some water.
..
Seattle, WA
Ashton Brooks (slightly altered his character)
Marc Brooks
—
Nia walks into the house after a brief run around the neighborhood. She flew into Seattle that morning, and was really excited to spend some time with her Dad.
However, Ashton was working late that night so he wouldn't be home until later.
Marc was able to pick her up from the airport, though. Nia and Marc weren't close. Not that Marc wasn't a good person. Nia just felt a little weird about the entire thing.
After Naomi and Ashton told her what happened, she just didn't care for Ashton and Marc's relationship. She didn't enjoy feeling that way because Marc is a really good guy and husband.
"How was your run, Nia?" Marc asks with a smile on his face. He washes his hands before he prepares dinner.
Nia gives him a small smile as she removes her airpods. "Great. Now, I can finally wash this flight and run off."
"Do you remember where the towels are?"
Nia nods her head. "Yea, I think so." She walks into the kitchen. "What are you about to cook?"
Marc perks up at the question. Partly because he was shocked that Nia was interested in anything he was doing. The other part was the fact that he was a big time chef.
"I am making chicken leg quarters paired with lemon and white wine sauce, sautéed asparagus, and southern scalloped potatoes."
Nia nods, liking what she was hearing. She feared that she was going to have a plant based Thanksgiving week. So far, so good. "Yummy."
"Have any requests for dessert?" He asks. "I know cupcakes are your favorite."
Shaking her head, Nia grabs her bag off the floor. "No thank you. Don't really need it." She says before turning to go to her room.
"Wait, Nia." Marc calls out. Nia turns around and looks at him expectantly. "I never got a chance to apologize."
Nia's lifts up her eyebrows. "For what exactly?" She tilts her head to the side.
"Ash told me a while back that he confessed to you about what he—"
"Marc, I really don't want to talk about that." Nia interrupts him. "I'm here to spend time with my Dad. What happened in the past is in the past. And if you want to apologize, then maybe start with the other person who got hurt in the situation which was my mom. Sure, it hurts to know you played a part in it, but it all worked out right? At least you didn't lose him how you got him."
The last sentence slipped from her mouth, but it was the truth. Marc clears his throat as the front door opens, and Ashton walks inside the house.
"There's my princess!" Ashton quickly closes the door and runs over to greet Nia, who shows the same enthusiasm.
"Hey Daddy!" She wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him tight as he lifts her off the ground. "I've missed you so much!"
"I missed you, baby girl." He puts her back on her two feet, and kisses her forehead. "I told them knuckleheads at work that my daughter was in town. A nigga had to bounce, ya feel me?"
"Daddy, stop talking like you're young." Nia jokes.
"Oh you got jokes." He says before he begins to tickle her.
Nia quickly hit his hands to make him stop, but it wasn't working. She was laughing so hard that she snorted a few times. "Daddyyyy." Nia pleads.
Ashton laughs at her as he stops. He looks over at Marc and smiles. "Hey boobie."
"Hey sweetheart." Ashton makes his way over to greet Marc with a kiss. "What's wrong? You look like someone pissed in your cereal."
"I'm gonna go shower." Nia quickly dismisses herself.
"Okay hurry up!" Ashton yells out. "I need to talk to you about your lil friend!"
Nia drops her head as she heads to the room. "Oh lord."
..
"Daddy, Shiloh isn't that bad." Nia says in Shiloh's defense.
"He cut that boy's face and while I agree with what he did, I'm just tryna make sure you're not in any danger." Ashton licks the wine sauce off his fingers.
Nia uses her fork to place an asparagus in her mouth. "I'm sure. He'll never hurt me or put me in any danger." She says as she chews.
Ashton nods. "Alright. I'ma trust you and my baby mama on this. More importantly, do I need to make a trip to your school to actually get rid of that Leon cat?"
"I just wanna move past it, Daddy."
Ashton puts his hand on top of hers. "Are you sure? You know it's not your fault right?"
Nia nods her head. "Yes, I know. I'm fine. I promise."
"You would tell me if you weren't?" Ashton asks seriously.
"One hundred percent." Nia answers honestly.
Ashton nods, liking that answer. "Good." His phone rings in his pocket, and he puts down his fork to fish it out. Marc looks at him before glancing at the clock on the wall.
It was late, and Ashton only talked to Nia at this time. And Nia was here in the flesh.
Marc looks at Ashton as he decides to ignore the caller. But before Ashton could put his phone up, they called again.
"Sheesh, hold on. Important call apparently." Ashton answers it, but dismisses himself from the table.
Without thinking much of it, Nia goes back to eating her the rest of her food. "This was really good, Marc. Put your foot in this chicken."
Marc, still thinking about what just transpired and Nia's comments ringing in his head, didn't say anything. Nia looks at him, seeing that he was spaced out.
"Marc?"
Marc comes back to reality. "I'm sorry Nia, what'd you say?"
"I said the food was good. I really liked the chicken and wine sauce combination." Nia repeats her comment.
Marc smiles at the compliment. "Thank you. I'll give you the recipe so you can make Shiloh fall to his knees." He winks.
"Sold!"
"Un uh!" Ashton reappears back in the room. "Ain't no knee dropping going on."
Marc shakes his head. "Your mind is so dirty. I wasn't even talking about that." He laughs.
"She doesn't even know what I'm talking about." Ashton says confidently.
"Oral sex, Dad. You're talking about oral sex." Nia bursts his bubble.
The look on Ashton's face made both Nia and Marc laugh out loud. He looked like he was traumatized. "You're acting like Nia isn't a mature young woman."
"Thank you, Marc." Nia smirks at Ashton.
"Nia, babygirl." Ashton sits back in his seat. "Don't get Shiloh fucked up."
Nia laughs harder, and decides to keep it to herself. Thankfully, this was one thing her mom hadn't told him. At least not yet.
"A'kiki." Ashton mocks her. "What's so funny?"
"Nothingggg, Daddy." Nia points at his plate. "You want your chicken?"
"Hell yea I want my chicken." Ashton smacks her hand. "Marc made more than enough. Go get another piece."
Nia frowns. "I want yours."
Ashton's phone vibrates on the table as he's trying to keep Nia off his plate. While the two are laughing and joking, Marc just can't seem to get Nia's words out of his head.
Up until this point, he hadn't worried about losing Ashton.
Now, he was wondering if maybe Ashton was going to do him the same way he did Naomi. Would he actually lose him the way he got him? Or was he just paranoid?
Will Caty get that envy out of her heart? Has Naomi actually forgiven Caty? Did Nia shake the table? Is Ash cheating on Marc? Would Shiloh actually put Nia in harms way? Find out on the next episode of dragonball Z!