Page 108 of Just Listen
I ended the call, before checking out the posts they’d shared in my dm. These were the posts that Paisley had allegedly made…and I could see why they didn’t want to let it go. That bitch made a post claiming that my fat ass baby’s neck gotta stink with all the rolls and folds she has. There was post afterpost, roasting me and my child. One post even said that my parents had a tenth child, but my fat ass had eaten it.
“What the fuck,” I grumbled, as I scrolled through the numerous posts, wondering where it would end.
“What happened?”
Lifting my head, I found Malice and Khari now standing before me.
I inhaled. “Your girl has made a burner page to antagonize me.”
He frowned. “Paisley?”
I nodded, before handing my phone to him. He then scrolled through the posts, as a frown gradually graced his face.
“The fat, sour, bastard baby?” He grumbled. “Mannn,” he drawled. “This bitch done crossed the line.”
“Yeah, she really has,” I agreed.
Nodding his head, he sat in the chair next to mine, while Khari was energetically bouncing in his lap. “Okay. I guess she didn’t respect when I was trying to handle her with kid gloves. So, now, I’m finna show her how shit can really go.” He handed my phone back to me.
With a raised brow, I sat back and listened, as he called three different banks. Three credit card companies. Then change the codes to the house he shared with Paisely.
“Okay,” I stressed. “I know that you changed the codes to the house to be petty, but I’m sure that she’ll find a way to get into her house. Legally.”
“Nah. Legally, she’s a tenant, at best. And if she calls the laws to get back in, then I’ll just serve her with a eviction notice.”
I squinted. “Wait. So, her name aint on the deed?”
“Nope.”
“Damn…that’s kinda foul, Malice. Cause if a nigga goes through the buying process with me, and bought it while we’re together, then I’d want some type of security.”
“I feel you. And depending on the circumstances, you could be right. Because there’s a lot of women who hold it down for their man. With a ring or not. But in Paisley’s situation, she had other people in her ear. Then a situation came up, right before I closed on that house. My right-hand was in a jam and needed collateral to bond out. His mama ended up putting her house up, and Paisley made a comment about not taking that type of gamble for nobody. Like my nigga wasn’t the one who’d bought that house for his mama, in the first place. It was some more shit she said too, and I never argued or tried to get her to see my point of view. I just knew right then that I wasn’t putting no real assets in her name, because if my back is against the wall, and I gotta put it all on the line, then I’m not finna wheel and deal with a muthafucka who don’t wanna sign on the dotted line, while my freedom is in jeopardy. Especially when I’m the one who paid for it.”
“I hear you. You’re the type to let people show you who they are, with no interference.”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
“Yeah, I’m sort of like that too…but it can also be problematic.”
He furrowed a brow. “How is that?”
“Because…sometimes the tactic is manipulative. Especially if you’re looking for an issue. That means that the first time aperson messes up, you don’t address it, because you’re moving to quietly respond to it. Or use that as an excuse to do something behind their back. The issue is that not everything is malicious. So, when you really care about individuals, you gotta give them the benefit of the doubt. If it’s something that you don’t like, then address it. But to convict somebody when they’re unaware of being on trial is a slippery slope.”
He lightly chuckled. “Why do it always come down to you defending Paisley in one way or another?”
“Truthfully, I’m not defending her. I’m defending logic. When a person uses emotions to problem-solve, then they’ve already lost. I’m not going against what’s right, just because I don’t care for the person it’s happening to. Because I can never look past the fact that it could one day be me. That’s like having a baby with a deadbeat nigga, and being cool with it, until it’s about your baby. Nah. That nigga already showed you who he was, and that wasn’t a dealbreaker.”
He nodded. “No, bullshit. But on another note, I don’t think that I’ve ever loved politicking with a woman, the way that I love having these types of conversations with you. That emotionally intelligent shit is so sexy.”
I blushed a bit, while playfully rolling my eyes. “Boy, whatever.”
“I’m for real. After what I just saw on that burner page, there’s not too many women I know that would’ve handled that with the same level of composure. You didn’t let Paisely shake us up. And I appreciate that, because that was something that she never mastered.”
I snickered. “I hear you, but don’t get it twisted. You and I both know that I can get ignorant. I just gotta care.”
“So, you’on give a damn about Paisley, huh?”
I shrugged. “I guess not.”
