G.A.B.O.S. (Original Version)

Chapter XIX

Lynise rolled her eyes as she leaned against the driver's side door of her rental car. She took a sip of the daiquiri in her hand and turned around. "Tremaine, I'm leaving. Now. Move." She watched as Tremaine looked up at her for a brief moment before disregarding her statement and directing his attention back to the back seat of the car. Growing impatient with Tremaine and his attitude, Lynise walked over to the other side of the car and slammed the back door shut, causing her sons to jump on the inside.

"You didn't just see me talking to Jay and Rae?" Tremaine asked in a hostile tone. He clenched his jaw and attempted to reopen the door, but she prevented him from doing so. "Lynise, move. I'm serious."

"You move. I'm ready to go. I could have been on the turnpike by now."

"You can't even drive right now. You've been drinking."

"I had a drink, Tremaine, and it was only half a glass. Go in the house so I can leave. You said you were saying goodbye to the twins. That doesn't take twenty minutes. You're lucky I even gave you that long. We're leaving whether you want us to or not."

"Not if I change my mind about letting them go."

"You think you're letting them go?" Lynise chuckled. "No, baby, these are my kids. For nine months, I carried them, and I nearly died while giving birth to their big-headed asses. Maybe Angelique let you call the shots when it came to Heaven, but you know I don't play that shit. We have joint custody, and that means that I can take my kids whenever I damn well please, and you can't do anything about it. Not unless you want me to call my lawyer and request full custody, and you know that any judge will give full custody to a concerned mother who can show exactly where her money is coming from. Now, I'm about to leave and take my kids to Georgia. For the next few weeks, they're mine, and you can bring them back down here the day after my wedding. Understand?" Without looking away from him, she opened the door. "Jay and Rae, say goodbye to Daddy."

"Bye, Daddy!" Jay-Sean exclaimed happily from his booster seat. Raequan, who wasn't developing as quickly as his brother where talking was concerned, only waved.

Tremaine looked at his kids and smiled. "Me and Heaven will see you two in a few days. Be good for Mommy, okay?" Tremaine closed the door. "Get out of my driveway."

Lynise grinned and handed him her cup. "I don't care about your attitude, nigga."

"I bet you'll care when I call that fuck-boy Julian and tell him what you do down here in your spare time."

"As if you'd purposely give this up." Lynise walked back around the car. "I can feel you staring at me," she said with a smile. She got into the car and turned it on. "I'll call you when we make it to my house."

"Don't bother."

Lynise stuck her middle finger out of the window and backed out of the driveway. Tremaine watched the car until it was in longer in sight before shaking his head and going into his house.

"Are Jay and Rae gone, Daddy?" Heaven asked, looking up from her coloring book.

Tremaine nodded. "It's just me and you, baby." He picked her up and kissed her on the forehead. "What do you want to do today? You sure you don't want to go see Noodle?" he asked, referring to the hamster that Heaven's teacher had made a class pet for the enjoyment of the kids that attended the summer camp the school offered.

"Can we go to Tania's house?" Heaven asked enthusiastically.

"Tania's house... no. What else you got?"

"Why not, Daddy?"

Tremaine sighed. He couldn't explain to her that she couldn't see her friend because he was upset with Tamia. If he did that, he'd have to explain why he was upset with Tamia, and he couldn't even explain that to himself. For that reason, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed December's number.