One month later

DIONTE ‘MR. MAN’ REED JR.

“D ang . This is niceeee,” my son let out as we stepped out of the car to see the mural that they’d dedicated to Siri in downtown Miami .

We’d seen online that they’d created it in her memory and had made the time to fly down today and see it. My son was in Cali with me now because I knew Siri wouldn’t want it any other way. She actually told me that shit days before she took her last breath. She loved her parents dearly, but she knew they were getting older, and they spoiled Kari rotten. They would let him get away with murder. She knew there was a chance that he might have asked to stay in Miami , so he could go to high school with his friends, especially his basketball friends. That would mean he had to live with his grandparents, and Siri nor I was going for that shit. Before she even told me, I was already preparing for my son to live with me full-time out in Cali . I loved Serenity’s parents to pieces, but nobody was raising my son but me, especially since I was alive and well to do it myself.

Once Serenity and I separated, the decision was made for Kari to live with his mom full time, and I would get him every summer, spring, and winter break, or honestly, whenever I felt like it. I was back and forth to Miami , and with that came me getting my son and spending time with him. It was never an issue with Serenity because he belonged to both of us. We equally loved him and wanted to be in his life.

“Damn . Really is nice. They took their time with this,” I stated, walking over to one of the images of Siri back in college.

She was in the stands, and the rest of the girls on the dance team were blurred out, but she was front and center in her blue uniform. The painting portrayed her in the middle of a dance step. She was smiling as she danced because we all know that whenever she danced, she was in her happy place. Right before that was a similar image, showing her in the stands dancing, but it was from her high school days. The dance uniform was white in that one. Front and center again because she was captain for two years when she was in high school. There was another image where she was about ten, and she had on a black leotard, doing ballet. Before that one, I smiled at her little chocolate self when she was four years old and had on a pink leotard with all that big, thick hair in two ponytails as she stood with her hands on her hips, smiling.

That picture was at her parents’ house. It was the first day her mama took her to dance practice. There was a shit load of other images of her from coaching, dance images of her with my jersey on, and even some costumes she’d worn on tour with various music artists. One of my favorites was the one of her with Kari around her neck when he was two years old, and he was dunking the ball in the basket. Miami had really paid homage to Siri , and I had to pull my phone out to take a video of all this.

“I’m grateful to know that I came from her,” Kari let me know after I finished filming the video.

I pulled him to me and wrapped an arm around him. It had been a month since the funeral, and my baby boy was slowly but surely coming around. He had his days when he was to himself, didn’t really want to be bothered with anyone, and would want to sit up in his room and just cry that shit out. I wasn’t opposed to my son getting therapy, and I even recommended that shit to him. At thirteen years old, that shit had to be a lot on him to have witnessed his mother in her last days. To actually see her talking while she was in the hospital and for her to die like that only a couple of hours later would be devastating for anyone.

The shit fucked me up, so I could only imagine how it had done him. For now, he said he was fine, but later down the road, therapy was definitely a conversation that I wanted to revisit. Other than that, he was cool. That man was going to get into beast mode as he was about to enter high school in the upcoming school year. We’d visited a few high schools in Cali , and he’d already made up his mind about where he wanted to go. Knowing his mama had set some high expectations for him, and he wanted to make her proud, even as she was up in Heaven , I knew my baby boy was going to be alright.

“Who was that man at the gravesite who said something to you after the funeral? I been meaning to ask you that for a little minute,” he let out, and I laughed.

“That was your mama’s corny ass ex-boyfriend from when she was in high school. Lame ass nigga,” I threw out, and my son cracked up laughing.

“That was your competition, Pops ,” he joked.

I playfully put him in a chokehold and then let him go.

“That wasn’t no competition for me, son. You saw who your mama was with all these years,” I let him know, and he nodded.

Kari then looked at me with a serious expression, and I could tell he was about to ask me something serious.

“Since she’s no longer here, do you live with regrets that the two of y’all divorced?” he asked.

“Nah . That shit had to happen. If me and your mama had stayed together, I think we would have ended up hating each other because it had gotten to a point where it felt like the main problem we had in the marriage wasn’t able to be fixed. Your mama wanted to live her dreams and be a dancer, and with that, she couldn’t be in Cali . At the time, I didn’t want to accept that shit, but looking at it in retrospect, she was entitled to live her dreams just as much as I was entitled to live mine. Did I want Serenity and I to get a divorce? Hell nah. I truly believe that your mother was my person. I might have lost the marriage, but I always had a best friend, so it never really felt like I lost her, you know?” I asked, and he nodded.

“You think you going to move on? You still think so highly of Ma that I don’t see you having anyone replace her,” he stated.

“That’s because another woman can’t replace her. There will never be another Serenity Reed . I’m at a point in my life where the only thing that matters to me right now is family and ball. I have four years left with you in my space like this before you’re off to college, and I want to soak up all this shit. I might entertain a few women later with time, but son, I can’t answer that right now if I’ll ever move on. Even with your mama up there in them skies, she has my heart with her, so it’s going to be hard to give it to someone else,” I let him know some real shit.

I wasn’t dealing with any women. Those thirsty ass women be in my inbox, trying to take Serenity’s place, but at the moment, I was just chilling. Lia uploading them fuckin’ nudes to the blogs still had those women on me heavy. I would never fuck with her again after that bullshit because it just made me lose a lot of trust in her dumb ass. Truth be told, I wouldn’t know if she tried to reach out to me because I had her ass blocked from everything. Once a person showed me that they were disloyal, I saw no purpose in having them in my life going forward. I wished her the best with everything, but I couldn’t be around anyone like that.

Gotta start taking those bitches’ phones when I got around them because they would really be on some corny shit that Lia was on. Good thing I didn’t have no little ass dick because bitches would have had a field day with me on the internet.

“Good . Stay single. That crap was embarrassing, having to see my pops’ jimmy all on Twitter ,” Dakari stated, and I laughed.

“Shit like that is why I be telling you to leave these little girls alone. Don’t be in a rush to have to go through those kinds of problems. Play ball, do good in school, and the rest will fall in order, aight?” I said, pulling him to me one last time.

I kept my arm wrapped around his shoulder, and we stood facing the mural, taking the images in together one last time. No tears from either of us. There was still a lot of sadness, but I meant what I said at that funeral—the two of us were going to be okay. Serenity’s legacy would continue, and her Starlets would live on. Dance was something Serenity and Brooklyn shared a common interest in before she passed, and one of the things she had in writing was for Brooklyn to own the business.

Although Brook wouldn’t necessarily coach and shit like Siri used to because she had a life of her own, she would just be the owner, and Adria would be running shit, as she should. She had been mirroring Siri for years and would make a damn good head coach. That studio would continue to be one of the best things to come out of Miami .

Although Kari was in Cali with me, Miami wouldn’t be foreign to us. This was where Siri was from. She still had family there, and I would make sure my son continued to have a close bond with his grandparents, great-grandmother, his aunt, and his god mom in Miami . That’s what Siri would have wanted, and ultimately, it’s what I wanted too. He still had friends there, and I would make sure my son still kept in contact with them and whatnot.

For now, though, we would live our lives and continue to strive for greatness. Standing there, looking at that mural, will forever remind me that Siri was a legend in her own right. She left her mark, she touched thousands of souls, she inspired, she lived, and now she was getting her rest.

At that moment, it sure as hell felt like I was drowning without her, but I found peace in knowing that she and I would meet again. I meant what I said at her funeral about her having to square up with me once it was my time to go and join her in Heaven . I just needed one good round with her because she brought a nigga down to my knees with this one.

We’ll meet again, though. I’m sure of that.

The end