part0027

“Rich, baby please answer the phone,” Anaya begged for the fifth time in less than an hour. She’d been calling him for two days straight and he hadn’t answered any of her calls. They were supposed to spend a few days together since her girls were with Tigga, but Rich had been avoiding her. He wanted them to spend time at her house, but Anaya suggested that they get a room. She had just started working at their local Family Dollar, so she even offered to pay for it. Instead of being happy about their plans, Rich went off on her. One month of separation from Tigga had turned into two, and nothing between her and Rich had changed. Anaya still wouldn’t let him come to the house and he was done playing the same game with her. She thought for sure that he would have come around by now, but he was still ignoring her. Tigga had dropped the girls off home the night before, and Rich was still nowhere to be found.

“Mama, can we have some ice cream?” Anaya’s oldest daughter, Tia, asked when she walked into the living room.

“Okay baby,” Anaya answered.

“She said okay!” Tia yelled to her other sisters. She was about to run back into the other room before Anaya stopped her.

“Who was at your daddy’s house when y’all were over there?” Anaya asked her daughter.

“Nobody,” Tia replied, just like always.

“He didn’t have a lady friend over there or nothing,” she continued to pry.

“No, but he talked on the phone with her,” Tia said, making her mother’s heart skip a beat.

“With who? What’s her name?”

“I don’t know, but my daddy said that we’re going to see her soon,” Tia replied.

“Has she ever been there when y’all were there?” Anaya asked.

“No, but she got clothes and stuff in my daddy’s closet. And my daddy let us use some of her soap that was in the bathroom,” Tia revealed before she walked away.

Anaya was happy when she left because the tears fell as soon as she did. Her mother was right. Tigga broke up with her and moved out to be with somebody else. That hurt more than anything, especially after she did so much to try to keep him there. She did Rich dirty behind a nigga who didn’t even give a fuck about her. She knew without a doubt that Tigga had loved her once before, but he seemed to have no feelings for her at all anymore. And if that wasn’t bad enough, thoughts of Rich being with somebody else were starting to drive her crazy as well. Picking up her phone once again, Anaya decided to give her best friend, Erica, another call.

“That bastard still didn’t answer the phone for you?” Erica asked when she picked up.

“Nope,” Anaya sighed in defeat.

“His ass is right outside. I just told him that you were looking for him,” Erica replied.

“And what did he say?” Anaya questioned.

“He didn’t say anything. He just walked outside and started talking to his friends.”

“That nigga must take me to play with. I’m about to put some clothes on and come over there. He can’t ignore me if I’m right up in his face,” Anaya snapped in anger.

“Come on through girl. I’ll be home,” Erica said.

Anaya was about to reply until she heard her daughter’s screaming in the other room.

“Mama! Something is wrong with Amari!” Tia yelled.

“She’s shaking!” Talia screamed.

Anaya jumped up from the sofa and ran into the room with the phone still glued to her ear.

“Oh, my God! Amari!” she yelled frantically when she saw her baby girl on the bedroom floor shaking violently.

“What’s wrong Anaya?” Erica yelled.

“Send an ambulance to my house, Erica. My baby is having a seizure!” Anaya yelled.

Her other girls were crying hysterically, as she led them out of the room and into the living room. Once Amari stopped shaking, Anaya laid her on her side just like she’d been instructed to do once before. She was able to breathe a little easier when Erica sent her a text, telling her that an ambulance was in route to her house and so was she. She covered her baby girl up with a blanket and immediately dialed Tigga’s number to let him know what was going on. When she got his voicemail three times in a row, she dialed Tessa’s number and prayed that she would answer.

“Are you mad?” Keller asked while looking across the table at Tigga.

They were out eating dinner at one of her favorite soul food restaurants when she hit him with some bullshit about getting her own apartment. Keller loved that she could talk to Tigga about anything without reservations. Unlike Leo, he asked her what she wanted to do, instead of telling her what she was going to do. He valued her opinion and that meant a lot.

“Nah, I’m not mad; I’m pissed,” Tigga replied.

“But why?” Keller asked like she didn’t already know.

“You’re not making sense to me right now Keller. Why would you go spend money to rent an apartment, when I’ve offered to let you stay with me for as long as you want to?”

“I know, Tigga, but I need to be settled. I have clothes at four different houses and that just don’t make sense,” Keller replied.

Aside from his house, Keller had belongings by Kia, Tessa, and Mo’s houses. She divided her time up with all four of them, but she was with Tigga the most.

“That’s your fault though, Keller. My girls already know you. That was your decision to leave and go sleep somewhere else when they come over there. You think I give a fuck if they tell Anaya anything? She gon’ find out sooner or later anyway. That shit don’t make a bit of sense,” Tigga argued.

“I didn’t bring it up to start an argument. I just wanted to know how you felt about it,” Keller replied.

“I don’t want to argue with you either baby, but I don’t agree with you getting your own apartment. You just told me not too long ago that you be scared and nervous when you’re by yourself. Why would you want to get an apartment that you’ll probably never sleep in?” Tigga questioned.

Keller looked away because she knew that he was right. She would probably be paying rent in a place that she would hardly ever sleep in. But, she didn’t want to smother Tigga by being in his space all the time either. He said that he loved her being around, but she wasn’t so sure.

“Look at me, Keller,” Tigga said as he gently turned her head back around to face him. “Now, tell me what’s really going on?”

“You would tell me if you needed your space, wouldn’t you?” Keller questioned.

“You can’t be serious right now,” Tigga replied while grabbing her hand.

“You know how I am Tigga. I just have to be sure,” Keller said.

“You need to stop with all the doubts Keller. I agree, we did move fast, but you can’t put a timer on everything. It’s not like we just met. We just decided to be in a relationship. I’m almost thirty years old and I don’t have time for the games. I need to know right here, right now. Are you with me or not?” Tigga asked while looking her in her eyes.

“I’m with you, baby,” Keller said, making him smile.

“Cool, so that means no more sleeping out when my girls come over. That’s your house too and you don’t have to ever leave it if you don’t want to,” Tigga replied.

“Okay.” Keller smiled.

“Maybe now you can start claiming me as your man,” Tigga teased her.

“I always claim you as my man,” Keller replied, right as his phone started ringing.

When Tigga looked at his phone and saw that it was Anaya, he declined her call and gave Keller his undivided attention once again. Anaya had been calling him all night and he didn’t have time to be arguing with her.

“You can answer it baby,” Keller said when the phone buzzed on the table a few seconds later.

“I’m good. I don’t have time for Anaya and her bullshit. She’s always calling for dumb shit, just to piss me off. Her stupid ass called me for some washing liquid the other day,” Tigga said, making Keller laugh.

“Stop lying,” Keller chuckled right as her phone started ringing, displaying Tessa’s phone number. She answered with a huge smile on her face, but it disappeared when Tessa started talking.

“What’s wrong?” Tigga asked when he saw Keller’s facial expression.

“Okay Tessa, I’ll tell him right now,” Keller said right before she hung up the phone.

“What happened?” Tigga questioned.

“Tessa said that Amari just got rushed to the hospital. She had a seizure,” Keller replied, while giving him all the details that Tessa had just given her.

“Shit!” Tigga yelled as he jumped up from the table. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some money and threw it on the table. Keller grabbed her purse and was right behind him, as he rushed out of the front door and headed to his car. They were about twenty minutes away from children’s hospital, so Tigga wasted no time making his way over there. Keller could tell that he was nervous and she understood why. Tigga ran red lights and stop signs trying to get to his destination. Keller not only prayed for Amari’s health, she also prayed for them to get there in one piece as well. She was happy when they finally pulled up to the hospital and parked in the visitor’s parking lot.

“You want me to wait downstairs for you?” Keller asked, once they walked through the front doors.

“No, come on,” Tigga replied as he grabbed her hand and walked up to the nurse’s station.

After getting Amari’s room number, they got onto the elevator and made their way to her room. Amari’s room was at the end of the hall, but Tigga could see a few people standing outside of the room as they walked in that direction. Donna was the first person to look his way and she was pissed when she saw Keller walking up with him. She remembered Keller’s face from seeing them out at the restaurant not too long ago. Before Tigga could utter one word, Anaya stepped out of the room and rushed right over to him.

“What the fuck is this bitch doing here with you?” Anaya yelled while pointing to Keller.

“Where is my daughter?” Tigga asked while tightening his grip around Keller’s waist.

“Don’t worry about where she is. Answer my fucking question!” Anaya yelled.

“Calm down Naya,” one of her aunties said, as she walked over and rubbed her back.

“Fuck that! This bitch got me all the way fucked up right now. I knew something was up with y’all when we went to Florida!” Anaya continued to yell.

“That’s enough Anaya. Security is gonna throw all of us out here if you don’t stop screaming!” her mother yelled.

“I don’t give a fuck! He’s a disrespectful ass nigga for even bringing that hoe here.”

Tigga wasn’t in the mood to deal with Anaya’s stupid ass at the moment, so he just ignored her. Keller didn’t seem fazed by her ranting either, but that didn’t stop her from going off. He was happy when he saw Tessa and his mother walking down the hall and he was sure that Keller was too.

“Bitch, I know you knew about this too. You’re probably the one who hooked them up!” Anaya screamed at Tessa as soon as she and Christy walked up.

“How is Amari?” Tessa asked while ignoring Anaya. It wasn’t the time for pettiness and it definitely wasn’t the place.

“I don’t even know. She’s too busy acting a fool to tell me anything,” Tigga answered.

“Where are the other girls?” Christy asked to no one in particular.

“Erica picked them up and took them home with her,” one of Anaya’s aunties spoke up.

“Y’all can leave. I don’t want you here to see my baby with that bitch. I’m calling security!” Anaya yelled.

“What’s going on with Amari?” Christy asked.

“I don’t know nothing ma. I just got here too,” Tigga replied in aggravation.

Anaya was serious about calling security and they assured her that they were on their way up. When the elevator down the hall chimed a few minutes later, she was happy when she saw two officers step out and head down the hall towards them.

“What’s going on? Is there a problem?” one of the officers asked as soon as he walked up to them.

“No officer, everything is fine,” Christy replied.

“Everything is not fine. I am the mother of the patient and I want them gone,” Anaya said, pointing at Tigga and Keller.

“Why are you doing this Anaya? You should be ashamed of yourself,” Christy fussed.

“Fuck all that dumb shit! Where is my daughter? That’s all that I’m concerned about right now!” Tigga yelled angrily, making people come out of their rooms to see what was going on.

“You need to calm down sir. This is a hospital and there are other patients on this floor. I can’t have all of y’all standing in the hallway like this. I’ll let the parents and the grandparents stay. Everybody else needs to go to the waiting room,” the officer informed them.

Anaya was heated when she saw Tigga whispering something in Keller’s ear. She almost lost it when he bent down and kissed Keller on the lips, right before she and Tessa walked away. Anaya’s aunts and cousin followed behind them, but they bypassed the waiting room and went outside instead. That left Tigga and Christy alone with Anaya and her mother. Security hung around, just to make sure everybody stayed calm.

“Can I see my daughter now?” Tigga asked calmly, right as the elevator down the hall chimed once again.

“Awe shit,” Donna mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.

Everyone looked in the direction of the man and woman who were walking towards them, but not everyone knew who they were. Anaya’s heart started beating fast and her palms were sweating like crazy when she saw Rich and his mother walking in their direction. As bad as she wanted to see him earlier, she wished he would just disappear right now. Talking to Tigga about anything was out of the question at the moment. She was heartbroken when she saw him walk up with Keller, but she still wasn’t ready for him to find out about Rich.

“Rich, let me talk to you for a minute,” Donna said, trying to lead her daughter’s past mistake back down the hall.

“Nah, we don’t have nothing to talk about. What’s up Anaya?” he said while looking over at her.

“Nothing is up,” Anaya replied in almost a whisper.

“So, you’ve been trying to call me day about nothing?” Rich questioned with a scowl on his face.

He knew without a doubt who Tigga was, but he didn’t know by looking at his pictures that he was so tall and buffed. Rich was pretty tall himself, but he was damn near looking up to Tigga. The nigga’s look screamed money, which made Rich even more intimidated by him. Just by looking at him, he could see why Anaya chose Tigga over him. He was fooling himself thinking that he could compete with the other man, and he was done trying. He knew that the other woman standing there with him was his mother because Anaya had pointed her out to him on several occasions.

“We’ll talk later Rich. This is not a good time,” Anaya mumbled nervously.

“Y’all can do this on your own time. I need to go see about Amari,” Tigga said as he and Christy walked over to the hospital room door.

“This is not the time or the place Rich. Just leave and let Anaya call you later,” Donna suggested.

“I’m not going nowhere!” Rich yelled in anger.

“Keep it down sir,” one of the security guards warned. “Now, y’all can either leave or go sit in the waiting room down hall. Only the parents and grandparents are allowed back here right now.”