My Heart Belongs To You|The Jodeci Collection|Aaliyah & Devante Swing

Chapter 6:When Sunny Gets Blue

It was late and I had just put Calvin down for the night. I was sitting in bed, looking through this stuff that Suge gave me. Kidada was on my mind the whole day. I felt bad about what my parents did to her and I wanted to make it right. I kept thinking about her baby, that was the first thing I wanted to do.

I know she would be happy if she had her baby back. Then I wanted to get her out of Afeni's house. I know that she's a sweet woman but with Kidada not bring in any money, I bet she's tired. So that meant a place to stay. Then, a job.

I wanted to help her get her life together so I asked Suge if he knew what I should do. He gave me all of these papers and pamphlets that I could look at. Devante came out of the bathroom in his pajama pants, rubbing his eyes. He got under the covers, laying next to me as he wrapped his arm around my waist. He kissed my arm, "Watcha doin"he said.

I put down the papers, laying against the headboard. He laid his head on my chest as I ran my fingers through his hair. "I was thinking about Kidada"I said. "What about her"he said, pulling me closer to him. "She's living with Afeni, just like me she hates my parents, she has a child that was taken away from her and she's broke"I said.

He looked up, "So what does that have to do with you"he said. "I wanna help her babe, I just don't know how"I said, looking down at the papers. Honestly, none of the information was relevant to what was going on with Kidada. "What about this, we got that condo in Atlanta and I got a cousin who's a social worker, I can see if she knows anything about the baby"he said, I thought about it. "What about a job and my parents"I said.

"Well, see what she does. I'm pretty sure there's jobs that she could get. About your parents, we all know what happened the last time I talked to them. That's something you and her gotta figure out"he said. I sighed, it wasn't really the hardest thing to do. He then moved the papers, putting them on the nightstand. I chuckled, "Now that we got that figured out, we can get down to business"he said, getting on top of me. I laughed as he kissed my nose before going to my collarbone.

"baby, Calvin is right next door. I'm not trying to wake him up"I said. "Bite a pillow baby, I'm getting some tonight"he said. I smiled lightly. Project help out baby sis is in progress, right after tonight.

THE NEXT MORNING

I was waiting in a diner towards downtown Baltimore, a city favorite. I was sipping on a sweet tea, waiting for Kidada. Devante had a lot of family connections that could help her with whatever problems she had. I wanted to talk to her and see what was going on with her. On top of that, I haven't seen my sister in years and it would be nice to meet outside of a depressing setting.

"Hey JJ"I heard as I looked up, seeing Kidada. I smiled, "Hey KK"I said getting up and hugging her. She pulled away and sat down, I followed. A waiter came up, asking her if she wanted anything to drink. She asked for water.

I sighed, trying to think about what I was gonna say. I started simple, "So, how have you been"I said. She shrugged, stirring her water with the straw. "This time for me is usually pretty hard"she said. "Why"I said.

She sighed, "My daughter's birthday is in two days. It'll 5 years since I've seen her tomorrow"she said, running her fingers though her hair. I cleared my throat, "What's your daughter's name"I said. She smiled lightly, "Harmonee, Lashawn named her that"she said. She reached into her bag, pulling out her wallet. She reached in and pulled out a picture, sliding it across the table.

"She's 10, she looks just like Lashawn"she said, a bright smile on her face. She wasn't wrong. She had is big brown eyes, rosy cheeks and high cheekbones. She had to be about 3 in this picture. "Mani has never known anybody else as her mother, since she was a baby, I was her mother"she said.

I flipped the picture over, seeing her full name and birthday. Harmonee Latrice James. Born October 1, 1985. This was enough information to find her. "Do you mind if I keep this picture for a little bit"I said.

"Why"she said. I sighed, "I think I can your daughter back"I said. She chuckled, "Jamila, I really appreciate it but I've been trying to get Mani back for 5 years. They're not gonna give her to me"she said. I thought about, they wouldn't give Harmonee to Kidada, but they would give her to me. "Why don't I adopt her"I blurted out.

She looked at me like I was crazy. "Devante has some connections with a social worker. If they can't give her to you, I'll adopt her and I'll be her legal parent. Once I have her, I'll give her to you"I said. "Jamila, I can't do that. I'm still living with Afeni and she's getting older and weaker. She can't help me take care of a 10 year old who's been in the system"she said. The Atlanta apartment. "Me and Devante have an apartment in Atlanta, it's completely paid off so you don't have to worry about rent. Me and Devante just have it there so you can move in and take care of your daughter"I said.

"What about money, I don't have an education and I don't have a job"she said. I thought about it, "Okay, what do you do"I said. She sighed, "I used to do hair when I was younger. It was something I did to make a little bit of change"she said. I thought about it, I did just fire my hairstylist since he kept stealing my stuff. "I don't have a hairstylist, you can do that. I'll pay you every week"I said.

She sighed, "Jamila, I don't know"she said. "Kidada come on, everything's right here. You just say yes and everything will be put in place"I said. "And you're sure I'll be able to get my daughter back"she said. "I promise, she'll back to you in just a few days"I said. She sighed, "Keep the picture, it'll probably help"she said.

I smiled. I'm getting my sister's daughter back.