Page 26 of Whatever It Takes
Blessing giggled, standing from my lap. “First of all, mind your business. Glad to see you’ve finally come up for air.” She said, pulling Chanel into a hug. “Hey, Dru.”
“You literally saw me Monday, Bless. If you miss me already, just say that. Anyway, hey Moo! Hi tattoo man!”
“His name is Zan. Zan, this is Chanel. You already know Dru.” I said, shifting in my seat as Zan turned his tattoo gun off. He greeted them before cleaning and taking a few pictures for his social media account. “Thanks again, man. I wired you the money for the session plus the tip.”
“You know I got you, hit me when you’re ready for that leg sleeve.” I dapped him up then stood from my seat, stretching. Once he was done cleaning his equipment and wrapping my tattoo, I helped him load his stuff into his truck. The food arrivedjust as I was walking into the house. I tipped the driver and placed the food on the island in the kitchen.
“Food’s here,” I announced to everyone seated in the entertainment room. I pulled the paper plates from the pantry and placed them next to the food on the island. Blessing stood next to me, making plates for the girls.
“I wanna go out. We haven’t been to a club in soooo long.” Chanel said, groaning. All the adults were seated on the back patio while the girls had retired to their rooms.
“It really has been so long. Too bad I don’t have a babysitter. I don’t wanna leave Sage with the girls all night.” Blessing sighed.
“How about this? I can have my mom watch the girls while we go out. It’s only nine, so that gives y’all at least two hours to get ready. We can go to Rumors. They have a private entrance, so I can avoid paparazzi and keep us off the blogs. I’ll get us a section too.” I responded, pulling my phone out.
The women squealed and clapped. I knew they hadn’t been out since the night Blessing’s fiancé was murdered from a previous conversation. She wanted our situation to stay lowkey until I was no longer a patient, so using the private entrance would work perfectly. Rumors is big on privacy. The owner was strict about who he let in the club. You had to know the right people to get access to the club.
Me: Hey ma, can you come over and watch the girls so Bless and I can go kick it tonight?
Ma Dukes: Of course, Moo. I’ll head that way in a few.
Me: Thanks, Ma. I appreciate you
After texting my mother, I sent a text to my security team, the owner of Rumors, and Kam, so he can drive us for the night. Dru, Chanel, and Blessing left to get ready. I straightened up the kitchen and put all the leftover food away. By the time I was done cleaning, my mother was walking through the front door.
“Wassup Ma. Thanks for coming.” I greeted, pulling her into a hug, placing a kiss on top of her head.
“I wasn’t doing anything anyway. The house gets lonely sometimes. Most of the time, your granny is sleeping or does not want to be bothered. You know how she is. Then your sister is barely home on the weekends. I miss your father so much.” She let out a sigh, shaking her head.
“When you gonna find you somebody else, ma? It’s been 17 years. You deserve to be happy, too. Ren graduates next year. Then she’ll be going off to college. I think it’s time for you to move on. I miss pops, too.”
“I know Moo. Your father is the only man I’ve ever been with. Not knowing what happened to him really hurt me. We don’t know if he’s alive or dead. I can’t move on until I have some closure. Enough about this. Now what’s going on between you and Blessing? I wasn’t going to see anything, but I did see you two kissing the other day during your session. You don’t think it’s too soon for you to be moving on?”
I sighed, taking a seat at the island. “I know it seems like I’m moving on too fast, but c’mon, ma. You know Mariah and I haven’t been on the same page for a while now. Even before my injury, we weren’t good. I was willing to work things out with her, but she’s the one who decided to end things. I’m not going to chase her, and I’m also not going to miss out on a great woman. Ma, Blessing makes me feel new things. I can’t even explain it. She’s just special to me. We’re taking things slow right now, but she’s the one, Ma. I can feel it.” I tapped my heart with two fingers.
“Oh Moo.. I can see it all in your face.. You really like her, huh? I’m not against it. Blessing is great. Before she started working with you, you were angry all the time. Miserable as hell. I haven’t seen you smile this much in so long. Just please be careful. Don’t use her as a rebound. I raised you to always love and respect women. Do right by her, Moo.”
“I hear you, Ma. I got this. I promise I know what I’m doing. This won’t be another Kynnedi situation.” I said, standing from my seat. “I’m about to go shower and get ready. The girls are in the living room. Sage’s diaper bag and travel bassinet are in the guestroom across from mine.”
My mom nodded before leaving the kitchen. I followed behind her, heading into my bedroom. I needed to move my things from this room back upstairs to the master bedroom since I was walking better and didn’t need my crutches anymore. I only used my knee brace most of the time. I planned on shopping for all new furniture. If I wanted to move on, I needed to cleanse my home of everythingMariah.
It didn’t take me long to shower and brush my teeth. Once I was finished handling my hygiene, I went into the closet to find something to wear. I decided on a pair of loose-fitting black pants to hide my brace, a crisp white designer t-shirt, and an oversized, cream and black jacket. I threw on a pair of whiteAirForce Ones. I sprayed myself with my favorite, woodsy-scented cologne and brushed my waves. I threw on a gold rope chain and my goldPatek Philippe. I hadn’t stepped foot in a club since before my injury, so I had to make sure I looked good as hell. When I walked back into the living room, Dru, Chanel, and Blessing were walking through the front door.
“Shit. You look good as hell, baby.” I said, wrapping my arms around her. She was dressed in a black mini dress that stopped mid-thigh. That shit fit her like a second skin. She had on a pair of blackshark boots. She was carrying her small blackFendipurse. Her hair was parted down the middle, with face-framing curls.
“Thank you, Moo. You’re looking pretty good yourself.” She pressed a quick kiss on my lips before pulling away from me. I couldn’t help but watch her as she entered the living room to greet my mom.
“We invited Symone, Taryn, and Rome out, too. They’re meeting us there. Rome is still hype as hell about that win on Monday.” Dru said. Monday, the team played our rivals. The Newcrest Pirates. They had a good ass defense, but they weren’t better than us. They hadn’t won a game against us in over a decade. I hated that I didn’t go. Coach agreed to let me attend away games once Blessing gave him the okay.
“Shit, that’s cool. The more the merrier.” I shrugged. We said our goodbyes to the girls and my mom and headed to the Tahoe. Kam was standing outside the truck with the back passenger door open. We allowed the ladies to go in first to sit in the back before we climbed into the first row.
The ride to Rumors was quick. The girls spent the entire ride snapping selfies and gossiping. I knew that in a couple of years, this would be Journey and Serenity. When we arrived, the owner, Ronnie, was waiting at the private entrance to take us directly to our section. I grabbed Blessing’s hand as we walkedthrough the club. Our section was located close to the door, making it easy to come and go without being spotted by the paparazzi. My security wasn’t far behind us.
“Wassup y’all?” I greeted Rome, Taryn, and Symone as we entered the section. There were already bottles of champagne, cognac, and tequila on the table, along with two hookahs for the ladies.
“Y’all played y’all asses off the other day. I can’t wait to get back on the field.” I said, taking a sip of my drink. The ladies were off to the side, talking among themselves, leaving the guys to ourselves.
“Man, you know we gotta go hard when we play against them Newcrest niggas. The game was close as hell. Shit, the end of the season is only a couple of months away. You’ll be back before then. I can tell.” Rome responded, leaning back in his seat.
