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"Don't talk at him," Tae instructed following his wife.
Ignoring her husband while he carried their newborn, Shantey pulled open the door to Cruz rushing her into a hug. She found a reason to smile, crouching down to him and hugging her son tightly. Ameer wiggled down from his father's hold, squeezing between his mother and Cruz to hug her.
Cruz face frowned at his kid brother. "Dang! Bruh, move."
"Be nice." Shantey beamed at them both, "You guys are getting big. Romeo's home. Go upstairs and say hi. I'm gonna talk to your dad."
The boys race upstairs, as Shantey stood fully at her expression flattened at the sight of Dave. "Let's talk outside." She moved him out closing the door behind her.
"How you doin'? How you processin'?" Dave rushed out questions to lower the tension wafting off the mother of his sons.
"I'm processing very well. I even remember you snatching Cruz from under me when I was in rehab, on slick shit. And you're tryna do it again."
"I'm glad you informed." Dave leaned on the SUV. "But I'm not tryna do nothin'. I'm doing. You OD'd and literally died. Not once, but three or four times and we had a agreement; no fucking drugs. Period. I told you if you do it, I'm takin' 'em. Whatchu done was selfish then a mufucka and 'cause the decision you thinkin' bout yo' self, my son's had to deal wit that aftermath. Y'know Cru seen that shit on TV and balled his eyes out 'cause he thought you were dead. You not finna ruin my son's witcho' shit."
So many thoughts raced her mind as she stared at the father of her son's. She fell into a silence that made Dave prepare himself for what she was about to bring his way, even if it so happens to be her fists.
Shantey sauntered forward making Dave say, "Don't start yo' shit."
Shantey lifted her hands in defeat. "I'm not going to act out. Quite frankly, the only reason I'm not is because my kids are inside. This just like you, waiting on the sidelines for me to fail just so you can swoop in and try to pull my son's out of my life. And I'm not letting that happen this go around. I have custody, David, remember that. It's gonna take you to kill me before I allow you to take them back with you. You're more than welcome fly yo' ass back to Jersey without Cruz and Ameer."
Dave narrowed his eyes at Shantey, smirking. "Listen, ain't nothin' mo' than I want for you to be in our son's lives. But I'm not gon' allow you to hurt 'em wit this shit. I kno' you Shantey. You good now. But you really think yo' body not finna want whatever the fuck it was you snorted weeks ago? I kno' this part of you. You might not remember the day, but yo' body do. You gon' start feignin' for it, you gon' find a way to cop, then you in the same position. But this time, you gon' actually succeed in endin' yo' fuckin' life."
