Chapter 17
LaToya ran from the front porch of her grandmother’s house to meet her father as he approached. Her tiny body moved as fast as her little three-year-old legs would carry her. Oh, how she loved her daddy, and her daddy loved her equally. Antonyo’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest whenever he would see her.
“Hey, baby girl,” he sang as he scooped her up in his arms when she reached the end of the walkway. “Did you have a good time with your grandma today?”
“Hi, Daddy. I had fun with Grandma, but I’m glad you came to get me. Are you taking me home to my mommy and Greg, or are we going over to my other house with you again?”
Antonyo smiled broadly at his daughter, happily announcing, “You get to stay with Daddy this weekend. Mommy and Greg will be back on Sunday night, just in time to get you off to your first day of preschool on Monday.”
“Yeaaaahhh!” LaToya squealed.
“Yeaaaahhh!” Antonyo joined in.
Clarke had gotten married a week ago to one of her former professors at Wayne State University, and they were currently away on their honeymoon. Greg Martin was a straight-laced brain who graduated from high school at aged fifteen, received a bachelor’s degree by age eighteen and his master’s at twenty-one. Though he was once Clarke’s professor, only one year separated them. The two of them were perfect for each other. They were very smart, good-looking, and ambitious. Clarke was now in her second year of medical school. In addition, they were also now members of Trina’s church, where they were married. Antonyo respected Greg. He was great with his daughter, and LaToya loved him.
For Antonyo, life had pretty much remained the same. Aside from having become a wonderful father, he kept up his practice of being playa-playa. Antonyo and Clarke agreed that he would have custody of LaToya every other weekend and every Wednesday, or on the Thursdays that preceded his weekends.
With LaToya, he acted completely responsible. He read to his daughter, and along with her mother and new stepfather, he taught her to how to count, how to recite her alphabet, how to spell all of her names, her address, and so on. On very rare occasions—thank goodness for the rarity—he even administered necessary discipline, which he hated as much as he loved LaToya.
Together, they attended church with his mother on his weekends. This might have been the only time he “misbehaved” while in his child’s presence. During these times, he flirted shamelessly with the still single Minster Keisha. Antonyo was determined to one day at least take the beautiful clergywoman out to dinner. This would accomplish two feats: first, getting her to agree to go out with him, and second, him paying for dinner. Antonyo still rarely ever paid for anything with his own money.
In his personal life, when away from his daughter, however, he was just a bit more reckless. Antonyo currently found himself involved with three different women. Claudia was a bored, married housewife with a set of twin sons the same age as LaToya. Her husband played professional basketball as a third-string power forward for the Detroit Pistons. Jessica, also married, worked as an accountant at a firm in the same building where Antonyo still worked for KLR. Jessica’s husband was a gym teacher at a Detroit public high school. Then there was the ever-present, always annoying, yet forever spending Lynn.
He would see none of these women before Monday. He never mixed his time with LaToya with the women in his life. Not even Lynn had met his child.
Antonyo carried LaToya back into the house so that he could visit with his mother for a little while.
Life for Trina had changed almost as much as it had for Clarke. Trina Simms was engaged to be married to William Rucker, the man from her church she had begun seeing four years ago. Their private wedding ceremony was due to take place on New Year’s Eve, just before the beginning of the Watch Night service at the church.
Antonyo guessed he liked William all right. He seemed to really care about his mother and he always treated her like a lady. William opened doors, never let Trina do heavy tasks or lifting, and he never spent the night.
Although he had accepted him, Antonyo still had not become accustomed to seeing his mom with a man. It was a good thing Trina or Toya would never have to worry about getting used to the same thing with him, he thought to himself as he entered the house and called for his mother.
“Hey, Antonyo,” she responded as she appeared from the back bedroom, where her grandbaby slept when she visited. “Your daughter is sweet, smart, lovable, adorable, and I love her so much, but she is messy.” Trina walked to the garbage and dropped in the armful of junk food wrappers that she pulled from the bedroom. “I’m so glad you are still here, Toy-Toy. Grandma needs you to go into your bedroom and put away all the toys you left scattered on the floor.”
Antonyo put his daughter down and she scampered off to do as she was told.
“She had me sitting here at this kitchen table pretending to play Uno, knowing she was really just wanting to watch the window and wait for you to get here. Sometimes I think that little girl is just too smart for her age—a result of good genes and environment, I guess.” Trina smiled at her son.
She still totally disapproved of his womanizing lifestyle, but she was completely proud of him as a father. His only example of fatherhood had been a lot less than shining. Sheldon had not been in contact with his son in eight years. The lowlife pig did not even know he had a beautiful granddaughter. Trina had forgiven Sheldon for his treatment of her and her son a few years ago, letting go of the pain. Having the opportunity to watch her baby be a good dad and do right by his child despite the circumstances was such a blessing for her.
“Ma, what is that grin all about? Are you sitting over there thinking about your boo?”
“Yes and no. I’m thinking about my baby all right, just not the one you’re referring to. I’m thinking about you, Antonyo, thinking about how, aside from the way you treat the females in this world, you turned out to be a great man. More specifically, how great a father you are, even though Sheldon has never really been there for you.”
“Ma, why is it that every blue moon you bring up that bum? You have a great guy of your own in your life right now, so I know you are not still pining away for that fool.”
Trina made the face imitating a gagging motion. “Antonyo, please. I have not pined for your father in more than twenty-five years. I just wanted to pay you a compliment. Yuck!”
Antonyo laughed as his mother made the face again, this time pretending she was choking on her closed fist. “In actuality, though, Ma, Sheldon did play a role in how I parent my daughter. The way he treated me made me determined to do it different, better. I remember when Clarke was pregnant with LaToya. I used to dream that Sheldon was taunting me, telling me I would be a chip off the old block and things like that. Those nightmares helped shape me into the father I am today.”
Trina smiled again then added, “Too bad he never took you around the hoards of other women he mistreated right along with me. Perhaps you would have determined to be different from him in that regard as well.”
Antonyo decided not to engage in this dialogue with his mom. “On that note, I’m going to get my daughter and go home. What do you have planned for the evening? You and William getting together and hanging out on this fine Friday night?”
“No. I am actually going to hang out with my sister tonight. We are going to have dinner at Red Lobster, then catch the new Tyler Perry movie.”
While it seemed that everyone else had made forward progress with their lives, LaTreece Simms had remained exactly the same. No better. No worse. She even still lived just two blocks from her twin sister. Aunt Treecie now rented a modest little house in the same neighborhood where Trina bought her home. She continued to play a variety of men, using them to pay her rent, car note, insurance and the like. It mattered not if these men were married or single, cute or ugly, black or white, gainfully employed or day to day hustling. As long as they had cash they were willing to share, Treecie was willing to spend time with them. She was still Antonyo’s hero, and he hers.
Her children had managed, however, to make moderate to major improvements in their lives, depending on which child you were talking about. Darnell had not returned to jail since his last stint for his role in the car theft ring. He worked a blue collar job, but barely managed to make ends meet because he had three children with three different women. All of them “ganked” him for a percentage of his paycheck to pay child support. Whenever he wasn’t living with one woman or another, he crashed at Antonyo’s house because he could never manage to keep the rent paid on a living spot of his own.
Taraija had earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and worked in public relations for the top local news station in Detroit. She married her college sweetheart, who was an attorney. The couple was expecting their first child in three months.
Tianca had recently decided to go to college and earn a degree in early childhood education. Her classes would start the next coming semester. The turnaround in her life came after giving birth to two children in less than two years, just after finishing high school. Her ex-boyfriend, the father of both her children, was currently serving five to ten years in the state penitentiary for armed robbery of several neighborhood pizza parlors.
“Sounds like an entertaining evening, Ma. I hope you two have fun,” Antonyo stated.
LaToya returned to the kitchen after surely only half-cleaning the bedroom and announced, “I’m all done. Are we leaving now, Daddy?” She was probably looking to escape before her grandmother discovered her sloppy work.
“Yes, precious. We can go now.” Antonyo reached for LaToya’s outstretched hand. “Thanks for picking her up from daycare and keeping her this week while I worked, Ma.” He reached into his pants pocket with his free hand, pulled out a designated wad of bills, and handed them to his mother. “Here is a small token of my appreciation—and reimbursement for gas money. I know you would have preferred to come home and rest once you got off work.”
Trina accepted the money, stating, “I love spending time with my granddaughter. You know that. But I will accept your token for gas reimbursement. I also love assisting you in being and doing the responsible thing for your child. Thank you, Antonyo. Now I can treat my sister to a night out instead of us going Dutch as previously planned.”
Antonyo kissed his mother’s cheek, smiling, filled with pride.
He hugged and kissed his daughter as he put on her sweater. Clarke stood there in the living room watching the exchange between father and daughter. She had always loved watching the two of them interact. When they initially broke up, Clarke often toyed with the idea of using Antonyo’s feelings for his daughter to blackmail him into coming back to her. She loved him so much and suffered with a broken heart for quite a while when they separated. But seeing the way LaToya responded to her dad, even in the beginning of her life, made Clarke know that she would hurt her child as much, if not more than she would hurt Antonyo by playing games.
Once Clarke returned to school, she had become so busy with studies and being a mother that there was less and less time for crying over losing the then love of her life. Then she met Greg, and before she knew it, all traces of romantic feelings for the father of her child had disappeared. Clarke attributed Greg’s entrance into her life as an answered prayer. She’d been working on and improving her relationship with God since the birth of LaToya.
“Okay, you two. Enough of the lovey-dovey,” Clarke announced. “We have to go so I can get the little one into a tub and ready for bed, so she is refreshed and ready for her first day of school tomorrow.”
“Mommy is right. After two more kisses, I have to let you go. But I promise I will be at the school in the morning to meet your teacher.” Antonyo kissed his daughter twice, buttoned her sweater, and kissed her once more before picking her up and delivering her into her mother’s arms.
“I missed you and Greg, Mommy,” LaToya said.
“We missed you too, little dove. Greg can’t wait until I get you home.” Clarke hugged her daughter as she exited Antonyo’s house with him right behind her.
“I’ll walk you all out to the car so I can strap my princess securely in her car seat. I want to see her face until the very last second before you drive away with her,” Antonyo stated.
Antonyo worked at putting his daughter snugly in her car seat while Clarke locked her suitcase in the trunk of her Ford Focus. Just as he closed the rear door of the vehicle, he lifted his head to find Lynn pulling her Lexus SUV into his driveway. Clarke had not yet gotten into her car, so she, too, saw the truck pull up, but was not totally sure of its driver. She soon would find out, however.
Lynn bounced out of her truck and over to the parental unit as if she were a welcomed visitor, paying little attention to the scowling glare on Antonyo’s face. Clarke’s features were none too pleasant either. Both were giving Lynn dirty looks for different reasons. Antonyo’s anger came as a result of Lynn showing up forty-five minutes early for their scheduled date. She knew he did not allow women at his home while his daughter was there. Clarke stared angrily because she still held animosity toward Lynn for the drama she caused her while she and Antonyo were still in a relationship. She was a growing Christian. Forgiveness, especially toward this sneaky serpent, was still an area she had to work on.
“Heeeey, boo. What’s the matter? You look angry. Did Clarke do something to piss you off?”
Before Antonyo could speak, Clarke went on the defensive.
“Look, tramp—” Clarke started.
“No, Clarke. Don’t go there with her. Remember our daughter is in the car,” Antonyo reminded her.
Clarke took some deep breaths to calm herself, suddenly feeling very glad Antonyo intervened before she clowned in front of her baby. Lynn had the absolute worst effect on her. She realized, after coming close to having her daughter see her in a very ugly situation, she needed to pray down the hatred she had so deeply embedded in her soul for Lynn.
“Antonyo, your daughter and I are out. We will see you at the school in the morning.” Clarke got in the car and made ready to leave. As an afterthought, she added out of the window, “You have a blessed evening, Lynn.” Then, she drove off without waiting for Lynn’s saucy reply.
“What in the world are you doing here now? You were not due at my crib for another forty-five minutes. You knew I would be here with my daughter, and you know I don’t want you anywhere near her.” Antonyo was yelling at the top of his lungs. He was furious with Lynn for her immature intrusion. He stomped away from her, heading toward his house, intent on leaving her outside.
“I’m sorry, boo. I just happened to be over this way already and decided we could get our party started early. I totally forgot that your daughter would be here,” Lynn offered as she jogged behind a quickly moving Antonyo, who was doing his best to get away from her.
Suddenly, he stopped, causing Lynn to run into his back, just before he turned to face her.
“You are such a conniving liar. You make me sick, Lynn. Get away from my house. You have crossed the line for the final time. Leave!” He turned again and continued his hasty trek to his house.
Lynn stood stunned for a moment, feeling like perhaps Antonyo finally meant it this time. He had always been adamant about keeping his kid away from her and the other women he dated. Maybe, just maybe, this time she had gone too far with her games. Then she remembered her ace in the hole: the thing she had in her purse that made her feel confident enough to show up unannounced while his ex and his daughter were still at his house. Yes, Lynn knew Antonyo loved LaToya, but he also loved the trinkets she always used to woo him and/or make up with him. Lynn removed the beautifully wrapped gift box from her purse just before Antonyo crossed the threshold of his home.
“Tony, wait. Don’t leave without this,” Lynn announced aloud as she silently hoped he would react as she wanted him to.
Antonyo stopped just before closing the door. He stared at both Lynn and the box. At that very moment, he hated the materialistic creature he had become. In his right mind, he knew it would be best to slam the door in Lynn’s face, but his head screamed for him to take the box he knew contained fabulousness. He believed that Minister Keisha described this as his spirit being at war with his flesh. Wow! What an awkward moment for him to think about the one woman who could probably settle him. Wait! Where the heck did that come from? Okay, back to the matter at hand.
“Lynn, you play too many games. Whatever you have in that box is not worth you breaking the rules when it comes to my daughter. You cannot buy my trust or my forgiveness this time. I want you out of my life. Go!” Antonyo walked in the house and slammed the door behind him. It took everything in him not to turn around and ask Lynn to give him the gift. He knew it was the Rolex watch they had seen when they were at the mall together last week. He really wanted that watch. But, like he said, no matter how much he wanted the watch, getting rid of Lynn and her devious antics was more important to him right now.
Lynn stood outside of Antonyo’s door for more than five minutes, confused and stupefied. He had never, ever, ever, ever turned down a gift. She loved Antonyo, had loved him for the past five years. She wanted his love in return, and believed that eventually, after all the time and money she invested in him, she would one day receive it; but now she was scared. Perhaps she would now, after all her games and manipulations, have to face losing him for good.
Lynn began reasoning with herself, trying to figure the best way to handle her current predicament. In order to keep up with his change in behavior, she realized she too had to do something different. She was a brilliant attorney, for goodness’ sake. Surely she could out-think a working-class stiff, even if he was a charismatic, devastatingly gorgeous working-class stiff.
Then it hit her. Lynn ran back to her car to fetch a piece of writing paper. She jotted Antonyo a brief note.
Tony, again I apologize for my unwelcomed intrusion. After all these years, I’m sure you know me well. And as such, you know that I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you. It is my sincerest wish that you forgive my indiscretion today. Your friendship means the world to me. Please accept this gift as a token of my heartfelt admission of guilt.
Lynn
She folded the note and slipped it, along with the wrapped package, into his mailbox. As she mentioned in the letter, the two of them knew each other pretty well. Lynn was therefore positive that she would be hearing from her future husband real soon.
Antonyo admired the watch as it gleamed brightly on his wrist. Lynn had really outdone herself this time. She had been generous throughout the run of their relationship, but this watch was the icing on the cake.
Antonyo had not thought much else about Lynn after he slammed the door in her face yesterday evening. In fact, he took his mind completely off her antics by inviting Jessica over. The way Jessica would lie to get away from her husband whenever Antonyo called was a turn-on in itself. The girl could work miracles to get out of the house to come and get with him. Antonyo had, of course, been with married women before. Most of them at some point had been willing to leave their husbands if he had given them the word that he wanted an exclusive relationship with them. Since Claire, though, he had not met a woman as eager to get away from her marriage as Jessica.
The thing about it was Jessica didn’t necessarily want to be with Antonyo permanently. She just wanted to not be with Scott. She never talked about her husband in a negative manner; she actually didn’t talk about him at all. So, Antonyo had no idea why Jessica resented her husband as much as she did. The fact that she didn’t talk his ear off about it intrigued him. But what the heck? As long as he benefitted from her broken relationship, who cared why it was broken?
Antonyo had woken up this morning, washed away last night’s indiscretion in the shower, and prepared himself to meet Clarke, LaToya, and possibly Greg, at LaToya’s preschool. As he walked out of his front door, he had noticed his mailbox slightly ajar. At further inspection, he’d found Lynn’s note and the beautifully wrapped watch he now gazed lovingly upon. Lynn was a headache, a nuisance, a prima donna, a spoiled brat, a jerk, but she sure gave great presents. The watch had been the best thus far.
After gazing at the diamonds on the wristwatch for several minutes, Antonyo pushed forward with his day, heading to the preschool to meet LaToya’s teachers and to take plenty of pictures. Eventually, he would forgive Lynn. He always did. He would simply make her suffer a little longer than usual as punishment for the severity of her actions. The rules set regarding his child were non-negotiable. Lynn being silly and reckless in this regard was a serious breech of their friendship, definitely warranting the ending of their association. The watch, however, went a long way in assuaging his anger.
Antonyo continued on his trek to get to his daughter’s preschool, beaming brightly as he drove the streets to get to his baby girl. When he arrived, he spotted LaToya and crew, then immediately made his way over to the classroom, where they stood outside speaking with an older, white-haired black woman. She looked as motherly and as nurturing as anyone Antonyo would have hand-picked himself. This day thus far was working out great.
“Hey, gang,” Antonyo spoke as he approached the group as they chatted with the teacher.
“Daaaaaddyyyyyy,” LaToya screamed and leaped into her father’s arms.
“Girl, you are so dramatic when it comes to your daddy,” Clarke said to LaToya then turned to her daughter’s teacher. “Please excuse her, Mrs. Collins. My daughter is a certified Daddy’s girl.” Clarke laughed at her ex and her child as they loved all over each other.
Antonyo took a moment off from kissing and squeezing LaToya to acknowledge her stepfather. “What’s up, Greg? How was your honeymoon?” Antonyo approached Greg while still holding LaToya in his arms. He shifted his daughter in order to shake Greg’s hand.
Greg felt a little awkward talking to his wife’s ex-boyfriend about the beautiful time he had on his honeymoon, but in keeping with the history of this entire relationship, he decided to keep in line with the status quo. The three of them usually got along pretty well. Greg didn’t want to begin rocking the boat. “The honeymoon was absolutely fabulous.” For emphasis, he cuddled up next to his wife and gently kissed her cheek.
Antonyo watched the exchange, wondering if Greg was attempting to make him jealous. If that were the case, it was a wasted effort. Antonyo couldn’t care less who or what Clarke did. As long as the two of them never tried to keep him from seeing his baby or hurt her in any way, he was cool with whatever.
“I’m sorry. Mrs. Collins, is it?” Antonyo asked.
“Yes, Mr. Simms. I’m Mrs. Collins,” LaToya’s teacher replied.
“I apologize, Mrs. Collins, for our rude behavior. I assume we are keeping you from starting your class.”
“This is quite a cute scene, but you’re right. I do need to get things started. Since it’s the first day, you all are welcomed to sit in for the first twenty minutes or so, but then I need you to leave. I need the kids to get used to being in class without Mommy and Daddy . . . and Stepdaddy.” Mrs. Collins smiled at the unconventional family and then walked into her classroom.
The clan of parents belonging to LaToya made their way into the classroom, joining the other parents. The presence of Clarke, Greg, and Antonyo as LaToya’s parents was probably an oddity. She then realized how very blessed both she and her daughter were. She was married to a man secure enough to handle being around the only other man she had ever genuinely loved. God had taken what started out as a crazy situation and turned it into a wonderful family for her innocent baby.
Once parent time had nearly ended, both Antonyo and Clarke became a little anxious, each worrying if LaToya would be okay with them leaving her in the classroom without them. Greg glanced at his wife as he felt the tension begin to ooze from her body. With a quick look at Antonyo, he realized the biological unit wore twin expressions. It was during times like these that Greg felt like such an outsider. He loved Clarke; he loved LaToya; he even liked Antonyo. Usually he was quite comfortable with their irregular situation; however, there were times like this when he had to pray for control over his see-sawing emotions and insecurities. Greg knew Clarke loved him and him only, but his wife shared a bond with another man that he could not compete with. For the hundredth time, he wished for two things: that LaToya was his daughter, and that he and Clarke had a daughter or son of their own.
“Okay, mommies and daddies, it’s time to say good-bye so the children can get back to learning,” Mrs. Collins announced to the parents as discreetly as she could. She did not want to alarm the children.
Antonyo stood and walked toward LaToya, who played contently with colored alphabet blocks along with another little girl. “Hey, Toy.”
“Hi, Daddy. Hi, Mommy,” she added as Clarke trailed behind Antonyo, Greg a few feet away.
“We all have to leave now. So I want you—”
“No, Daddy. I’m not ready to leave. I want to stay here with Stacey and play.”
“Well, sweetheart. You don’t have to leave,” Clarke jumped in, “but Daddy, Greg, and I have to go. This is your school now, remember, so you will come here every day and one of us will come and pick you up. Do you remember how I explained that to you?” Clarke said to her daughter.
“Okay. I’m glad I don’t have to leave right now. I’ll be ready to go when you come back to get me,” LaToya announced confidently.
The trio of parents stared at each other, all visibly relieved there would not be a scene about them leaving LaToya with her teacher and classmates on her first day. Again, Clarke inwardly praised God for blessing them with such a special child. Each adult took turns kissing the baby, then all filed out of the school.
Once outside, Antonyo said his good-byes to Clarke and Greg. “This seems like a good school. LaToya is comfortable, Mrs. Collins is cool. All is well.”
“This is a nice school, and I am so happy our daughter is happy.” Clarke smiled broadly at her ex.
Greg, again, became aware of that small tinge of jealousy. In order to not feel so left out, he added his two cents to the conversation. “Yeah, it seems as if preschool is going to work out well for our little LaToya.”
Clarke absorbed her husband’s discomfort and decided to get him out of there. Never before had she noticed Greg being uneasy around Antonyo. For some reason, today he appeared bothered by the relationship the four of them had established. Once they were in their car, she would question him about it, hopefully finding out she was completely off base.
“Tony, thanks for coming by this morning. LaToya loved having her daddy here. Why don’t you call me—or us tonight so we can work out a pick-up schedule? As far as drop-off, we’ll drop her off on the days we have her. You can drop her off on the Wednesdays you have her. Cool?”
Antonyo felt the tension and realized it was the reason behind Clarke’s rambling. “All right, I’ll call later. I’m gone. Talk to you later.” Antonyo headed to his car, turning once to glance at the couple walking awkwardly toward their own vehicle. That type of drama was one of the reasons he had tried his best to avoid monogamous entanglements. He was at least glad that his one attempt had been with someone as special and as sweet as Clarke. He thanked God she was LaToya’s mother. He also hoped things worked out between her and Greg.
When he got to his car, Antonyo realized his cell phone had fallen from his pocket. He picked it up from the driver’s seat before sitting down, noticing he had five missed calls and one voice mail message. He incorrectly assumed all the calls and the message were from Lynn. In reality, only four of the calls were from Lynn. The other call and voice mail message was from an unrecognized number. Antonyo listened to the message, re-listened, and listened one more time to be sure he had heard correctly. The smile spreading across his face grew as wide as the attraction he felt for the caller.
“Hi, Antonyo. This is Keisha Hearn, young adult minister of Trinity Star. I am hosting an event, actually a focus group, this Thursday for young adults between eighteen and twenty-nine at the church. I’m hoping you will attend this first of three sessions. We will begin at seven P.M. I understand you are not an official member of the church . . . yet, but I’ll work on that later.” Keisha giggled; Antonyo grinned harder. “But membership is not required for this meeting, so please come. I’m praying I’ll see you on Thursday. Have a very blessed day, Antonyo.”
Wow! Antonyo didn’t even know Keisha had his phone number. She must have gotten it from his mother. At any rate, Antonyo knew beyond a shadow of a doubt where he would be spending his Thursday evening as he drove away from his daughter’s school. He could not remember a time when he so eagerly anticipated being with a woman. Sure, it wouldn’t be an official date; they would more than likely be in a room with several other people. Make no bones about it, however. He resolved to make Minister Keisha Hearn an imperative part of his personal life.