“I am. I trust you, and if you want me to get you your own place until you finish school, I do it. I want you to be happy.”
“Me too!”
“So, if you did move to Cali with us, would this be a problem for the baby’s father?”
“Remember how you just said, it’s a lot of stories that haven’t come up? Well, you and Kingsley’s relationship may get closer than what it was before.” I nervously smiled. My dad’s forehead wrinkled, and he crossed her arms across his chest.
“Well, get to sharing.” He said then titled his head.
Epilogue
A Year and four months later….
October
2017
32. Bre
“She is so precious and stays quiet during the service. Such an attentive baby.” Ms.Joyce said as she pinched Jenelle’s fat cheeks. She just smiled and giggled a little, but I could tell that she was ready for us to go.
“What I tell you about touching my baby like that.” My mother joked as she walked up to us. She laughed, but I knew she was very serious about her touching Jenelle. I just smiled and faked laughed with them.
“Oh, Aretha, you do know Bre gave birth to her?” Ms. Joyce shaded.
“And?” My mother countered.
“That’s your grandbaby and Bre’s baby.”
“They both are my babies.” My mother rolled her eyes playfully. She and Ms.Joyce grew up together, so that was how they interacted with each other.
“Well, Ms.Bre is no longer a baby. She has blossomed into a beautiful and mature young woman.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“I know, and did you hear the announcement that she finished high school a year early and even has some college credits. And she’s now the manager for one of her dad’s many businesses. She’s also starting her music career back up.”
“Mama…” I whispered. She was talking too much, and was lowkey bragging in front of the church; we just got out of service. Since having Jenelle, I knew I needed a strong sense of guidance and started going to church once Jenelle was about four months. We’ve been going since then, and eventually, my mom would join us. It was a part of our path of healing, and things have been really been good. We have been thinking about going to counseling as a family as well. We haven’t been able to be on one page, but slowly but surely everybody was opening up to the idea.
“Well, she’s thinking about it.” She sucked her teeth. I couldn’t help but smile because she’s been doing that lately. She was always telling somebody about my recent accomplishments. It’s probably because I’ve expressed that she never acknowledged the things I was doing right but was quick to tell me what I was doing wrong. She quickly fixed that by always communicating with me and telling others about what I’ve been up to. I was so happy to be done with school because now I had more time for Jenelle and working. However, I was interested in higher education, so I signed up for UDC part-time. I was only seventeen now, but I felt like I had the perfect head start to get college out of the way. For now, I was undecided because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I mean, I wanted to make music, but I didn’t know how realistic that would be. I wanted to have a career that I loved and one where I could financially take care of Jenelle. Recently I’ve been posting little videos of my singing to Jenelle on social media, and the feedback was good. Still, it wasn’t enough to persuade me to make it a career.
“Well that’s good Aretha, you seem really happy about her accomplishments even though she had a baby before schedule.” Ms. Joyce voiced. I rolled my eyes because she was one of many people who just had to throw that in a conversation.
“Didn't the pastor just preach about things being on God’s time? Jenelle came right on time and has been the peace my family needed during some uncircumstantial times. And even if it seems like she was made out of wedlock, my daughter hasn’t missed a beat. She finished school, has a full-time job, a car, and is working on getting her own house now. Bre can actually be a role-model to your twenty-seven-year-old daughter who didn’t finish middle school and is still at home with you.” My mother said. I had to place my hand over my mouth, so Ms. Joyce wouldn’t see the smile on my face. My mother read her ass, and all she could do was smirk then act like another member wanted her attention.
“Mama, you didn’t have to read her like that,” I said as we started to walking to my car. And you heard my mama right, I had my own car. It was a white 2015 Jetta that I paid for on my own a few months ago.
“Hmph, that was nothing. I could’ve mentioned how she wasn’t even married when she had any of her kids. Or how the man she claims is the father of her grown kids, got a whole family, and don’t even claim her children.”
“Mama, we just left the church. Don’t let the devil tempt you,” I said as I placed Nelle into her car seat.
“I’m not. I’m good, God got me and knows my heart.” She said as she placed her hand over her heart.
“I know.” After making sure Jenelle was good, I pulled her bottle out of her bag and gave it to her. Homegirl only let me breastfeed her until she was like ten months, then stopped wanting my milk. I was hurt but also relieved because she didn’t rely on my supply anymore. I felt my phone vibrate in my coat pocket and rolled my eyes.
“Chastity?” My mother asked, already knowing who was calling. After we met in the hospital, Chasity kept her word about wanting to be Nelle’s
