I woke up to sloppy, wet kisses on my face. I was too tired to open my eyes and I just wanted to get a little bit more sleep.
"Baby!"
"Mommy!"
"Siani wake up." Quan nudged me.
"No. Y'all gone leave me alone and go to work and school!" I pulled the cover over my head.
"But it's your birthday." Juju said after a while. "Why you not happy?"
I wanted to so badly ignore her but I couldn't do that to my baby. "I'm happy, I'm just tired though." I let her know.
"Did King Julian do this to you?" She wondered.
"Can you stop calling him that?" Quan huffed.
"But that's his name." She said.
"It is not."
If I wasn't up before then I definitely was now.
"Listen either y'all are going to leave and wish me a happy birthday now or stay and wish me one later on when I wake up."
"Happy Birthday!" They both yelled making me cringe.
"Thank you." I smiled before laying back down. "Now get out."
"Okay! See you later!" Juju kissed my forehead. "I'm going to Gigi's house after school."
"And we have plans." Quan chimed in.
"Noted." I yawned before drifting off to sleep.
I was probably knocked out for another three hours before I woke up feeling a whole lot less cranky. I handled my hygiene after emptying my bladder and dressed comfortably in a light sweatsuit.
I made me a small fruit salad and drowned it in honey before plopping down on the couch. I had to finish the rest of Greenleaf on Netflix and this was like the only time I could watch it in peace.
While the tv was loading I responded back to some birthday texts and social media shoutouts.
Just as I was to the last scene of the second season, the doorbell rang. Quan had probably ordered something for me. I opened the door to reveal the mailman.
"Hello ma'am. I have a certified letter that requires a signature."
I took the pen and paper and signed. "Thank you." I said as I took the letter from him.
"Have a nice day." He waved.
"You do the same." I closed the door.
I noticed the letter was from the courthouse and figured it was our new marriage certificate since they had misspelled my name on the original.
I opened the envelope and looked over the contents. If my heart could escape my body then it definitely would be on the floor right now.
—
"So what does this mean?" Chris asked as we sat in his and Shy's living room.
"It means that I'm going to kill him." I shrugged. "Take care of my babies for me will you? Their mom is about to be in jail for murder or at least attempted murder."
"Don't say things you don't mean."
"I've killed plenty times before." I waved him off. "This shit ain't new to me. You know that and so does he."
Chris didn't say anything. I looked at him and I could tell that he was a bit creeped out.
"Okay maybe I won't kill him. I can just do what Angela Bassett did to her husbands shit in Waiting to Exhale." I looked at the wall in thought. "But killing his trifling ass would be so much better."
Chris was too silent for my liking. I turned my head and looked at him. "You knew about this didn't you?"
"What? Hell no!"
"Don't lie to me Christian!" I yelled.
"Okay, you need to calm down before your ass ends up having a premature baby." He said in a hard tone. "I didn't know the man was married already. I put that on my brother's grave."
I knew he was serious about not knowing if he put it on his brother. He didn't play about him.
I sat back on the couch and my knee was bouncing up and down. My body began shaking so badly as if I was having a seizure when it was really just my blood boiling.
I felt as if I was about to have a panic attack.
I broke down in tears as soon as Chris pulled me into his arms. Everything hit me at once and I was glad that I was here instead of home by myself. I didn't know what I would've done then.
"Why would he fake this whole thing?" I asked through my tears. "I'm out here flaunting like I'm a fucking married woman, I allowed him to adopt my daughter and change her name, moved out of my apartment and into a home with his goofy looking ass just to get played the fuck out."
"Si, I don't even know what to say to you." Chris rubbed my back. "I really don't."
"And it's my birthday." I sniffed. "I don't even care about it right now because I just want to kill him."
"Stop saying that because if you kill him, I don't want to know anything about it."
"I wouldn't drag you into it." I rolled my eyes. "Besides I wouldn't get my hands dirty. It can take one phone call."
"I don't want to hear it." Chris shook his head.
"I can't continue to live with him because I'm not doing the cohabitation thing anymore than what I've already done. And I know this is going to affect Juju because their bond is tight and her mom has to snatch that away from her."
Because I was going to kill him. Of course I didn't say it out loud again. It was going to be sad because she already lost her biological father and now her adopted one was soon to be swimming with the fish.
One might say I was overreacting but have they been in this situation? Thinking that something is true when it's really not?
"Where are you going to go?" Chris wondered.
"I never got rid of my apartment." I admitted. "If my mom ever taught me anything, one thing that stuck was always have your own just in case. Quan can take that brand new house he closed in on but he can't take my little apartment."
"The house is in your name."
"And?" I looked up at him. "That house was put in my name based on lies. My last name is McCoy, not Daye."
"What are you going to tell Ju?"
"Nothing but the truth. Her dad is a liar." I simply stated.
"Are you going to confront him tonight?"
"Ugh! I don't know." I admitted while running my fingers through my hair. "I kinda want to see what he got me for my birthday besides a fake marriage."
"Or you can just-"
"Murder him."
"Cut that shit out."
"So Lorena Bobbit his ass?"
"Siani, stop the crazy talk."
"Fine. I'm going to make him a big breakfast tomorrow morning and mix dog food in that shit since he wants to be a fucking dog ass nigga." I looked at my nails with interest.
Chris held in a laugh before running his hand down the length of his face. "I can't stand you."
"Well," I stood up. "I have to go and get ready for tonight. But first, I have to pee because this little boy just loves to dance on my bladder."
After I handled my business, Chris walked me out to my car.
"Happy Birthday bestie." He hugged me. "Please just forget about this until morning and enjoy the rest of your day."
"Thank you and I'll try." I hugged him back.
