Seasons of Change

56

Shit with Madi was going pretty good, they'd gone out a few times. Just food and a movie but it was aight. Fernando hadn't never really taken no girls out like that so it was a good change. He hadn't asked her to be his girl but she was his girl and she knew it.

And that brought up a hard conversation that he was unsure how she would take it because a lot of females would take it wrong. Fernando let her know that she can tell people close to her about him, that she could post him up on Facebook privately but what they had going, he didn't need out for the world to see.

Not for no shady reasons, he stressed to her, but that they could never be sure who was watching behind the scenes. Though Fernando was no longer active in the streets, that didn't mean that any enemies he may have made would give a fuck. Shit, people he'd had issues with when he was down may be harboring grudges against him. After what happened to Adriana or his baby momma house being shot up, he wasn't trying to put Madison or her daughter in harm's way.

Madison was understanding thankfully, asking that he keep their relationship out of the shop as well so Brad don't find out, something Fernando had planned on doing anyway.

Working with Brad, knowing he was seeing that whack-ass fool's baby mom was hard as fuck because he knew what kind of man Brad was. And he knew how that muhfucker had treated Madison too. Not just that, he had to bite his tongue when Brad ran his mouth about how Madi was a "money-hungry cunt" who was trying to take his hard-earned money in their divorce.

Hearing those words had the old Fernando boiling beneath the surface, he wanted to pop off at Brad, instead, he calmly told him, "Aye, shouldn't be talking about your kid's momma that way."

Brad disregarded it, asking him how he'd feel if one of his baby mommas didn't work and tried to take a grand from him every month. Fernando had ignored the question knowing damn well that fool didn't even buy his kid no diapers. Which reminded him of what a hypocrite he was for thinking that 'cause be ain't do shot for four of his seven kids a good chunk of their lives neither.

Beyond that, Brad having his new bitch meant he was in a slightly better mood most days. Guess Brad just needed to bust a half dozen times a day to be somewhat decent to people. And when Fernando said half a dozen, he meant legit half a dozen. He knew this because Brad talked nonstop about all the sex he be having.

His bitch even came into the shop "for lunch" daily but it didn't take a rocket scientist to know the only thing getting gobbled was Brad's cock. He'd come out of his little room, sweaty, a smug smirk on his face and her eyebrows would be half gone, her mascara runny.

Fernando kept those observations to himself though. Even though Madi was his girl (but not his girl), Brad was his boss and he wasn't trying to come off like some lame doing everything he could to fan the flames on their issues. It wasn't his place.

And speaking of child support, being that Fernando had a legal job, Monica, baby mom number three had hit him with it. He was paying $761 a month which included back pay for her son, their son. He couldn't really even be salty about it, it was a long time coming.

Kid's name was Hunter. What kind of white ass name was that? Hunter? He was...how old? Nine? Ten? Younger than Victor, Fernando knew that much. He met him once and it had been weird as hell. Monica said, "Hunter, this is your dad, your bio dad." Hunter looked up from his iPad, disinterested, "Oh."

He favored his mother in skin tone, white as hell. Green eyes. Brown hair. Had dimples, big ears, and a big ass head like all Fernando's kids.

Fernando had asked if he wanted to meet any of the other siblings, he got six from him. Hunter's eyes raised from the iPad, he shrugged and returned to it. And that was about it.

Fernando told Monica he would be down to get to know him or take him to meet up with some of his other kids but nothing had come of that.

His other son, the oldest, Xavier, was officially a dad as of November 24th. He and his little baby momma had a boy named Zeke. Fernando had gone to see him at his momma's house. Baby came out ten pounds with a head full of straight black hair.

"Man, how that kid come out your lil ass?" he asked Isabella who weighed all of ninety pounds and stood around 4'11.

"Had to have a c-section," she replied, baby in one arm, phone in the other.

Xavier and his little homies were all crowded in the already cramped living room, taking bong rips with the baby in the room.

"Y'all gonna make that baby sick," Fernando scolded them, stupid muhfuckers. He wanted to tell Xavier just 'cause his momma ain't raise him right didn't mean he needed to act like a pinche Pendejo around his own kid. The boys ignored him but lil Isabella and her big ass eyelashes looked embarrassed and left the room.

One of the little homies, lil Edgar hair cut fool with braces and a fake Cuban chain said, "You big Reaper, ain't you?"

"That's me," Fernando replied.

"Man, I heard all about you. I thought he was lying when he said you was his dad," lil Edgar muhfucker said, "You know Payaso? He my uncle."

Fernando clicked his tongue, "Ah, shit, yeah, I know Payaso."

"He's always lecturing me about shit, telling me what I'm doing wrong," the kid told him.

"Pshhh, you should listen to him, he know what he talkin' about."

He'd slipped lil Isabella a hundred bucks before he left, telling her to spend it on that baby. Fernando knew that baby daddy of hers would blow it on dope.

Getting old was a trip to him, especially after seeing all them dumb-ass youngsters. He'd been dumb like that too, though Gladys sure the hell wouldn't have let him and his boys kick it at the house the way Xavier was, but then again, Gladys was a good momma. She wasn't out tricking in the streets or stripping like Xavier's momma.

That same day, he made sure to stop by Marisol's on his way to see his other kids, his youngest kids, Rosie and Nando. Rosie had run to him and called him "Daddy!" climbing up on his lap.

"What's up, Batman?" He laughed.

Nando ran a toy car along one of the wheels on Fernando's chair, grinning shyly at him.

"How you doing, lil man?"

"Tia let me and Rosie make cookies," he told him proudly.

"Well, damn that's what's up," Fernando said.

Marisol fed him dinner, a fat plate of carne guisada with beans and rice, sitting at the table to fill him in on all the recent gossip. He'd known some of it, that Karla wrote Nina some bullshit and Fabian was talking to her shady ass in prison. What he didn't know was that Nina was pregnant again, stressing not to tell anyone. Not that Fernando planned on it.

It had been a good day, felt good to chill with his family like he used to and to be out and about on his own. He was feeling more and more like himself again and adapting well to life as a paraplegic. Of course, he missed the full freedom he'd once had but he could finally say he was becoming happy with his life.