Show Me You Care (5 page)

I woke up at 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday, only to find Trey sitting on the couch by himself. I walked right past him and went to the kitchen. I decided to cook breakfast, or at least attempt to cook breakfast. I looked in the fridge and realized that I was going to have to go grocery shopping. I pulled out the last of the eggs and some bacon and waffles. I guess I learned a little something from working at the Waffle House. Once I put everything on I decided to go get dressed for work. It never hurt to be early on your first day. I pulled out the True Religion shirt and jeans that I got yesterday and threw my hair into a messy bun. Forgetting about the food, I ran downstairs to find that Trey had already turned everything off.

“Thanks for almost burning down the house,” he said with a smile on his face.

“You’re more than welcome! What are you doing up this early anyway?”

“I just got back in the house, actually but seeing that you sleep kind of hard you probably didn’t hear me when I walked out. But we need to talk about what happened yesterday.” I sighed and sat in one of the chairs in the kitchen. He pushed the plate of food in front of me with the syrup already on it.

“Well, I made enough for two people so are you going to eat, too?” He shook his head and made himself a plate.

“Jordyn, stop trying to change the subject. Alright, so what happened yesterday?”

“Well, let me start from the top. I woke up and you weren’t home. I was bored so I called Kayden since Shy is out of town. After we made plans to go to the mall, I took a shower then went to your room to get lotion. I saw some papers on your dresser. When I was going to be nosey, I heard the front door open and decided to wait it out. I ran to your closet and heard two men talking. One of them walked in my room and seen my clothes laid out on the bed. I found your gun in one of the boxes and when one of them came in your room I shot him. Then like the dummies they were, the other one followed suit and I shot him, too. Then I called you and went to the mall with Kayden where I got a job at True Religion.”

“Okay, but how do you know that TaKiera knew them?”

“One of them said that TaKiera told them that you were out of town and that was the reason you didn’t have his son today.” He just nodded and grabbed his car keys.

“Come on, I’m going to drop you off at work.”

Shyla:

I don’t know, maybe my mother lost her damn mind ‘cause who told this lady that we were going to allow this man to move into our apartment? I was just glad to be on my way back to Atlanta. I finally was going home. In a couple days my father was going to be home and my best friend was going to turn 17 next Friday. I just wanted to go back to ATL and that’s what we were doing.

“Shyla, were you listening to me? Gregory is coming down to Atlanta with us for a while.” I just nodded my head. It was as if she didn’t know me at all. Shit, after my father left all she did was run around looking for his replacement.

As soon as we landed in ATL the first thing I was going to do was go to the mall. The best thing about the situation was he had money; not as much as my dad but enough for me to spend. We pulled up to the house and I noticed a black Toyota Camry sitting across the street from the house. I popped the trunk and pulled out my suitcases. I looked at the car one more time and this time the door popped open. I thought my eyes were playing games on me.

“Oh my goodness, DADDY!” I jumped into my father’s arm and just that quick I could see the supposed love my mother had for Gregory fade away. “Daddy, I missed you so much, you don’t understand.” My mother walked over and hugged my father.

“Nice to see you home, Quentin. You were missed obviously.”

“Are you staying with us? Please say yes.”

“Nah, baby girl. I got my own spot but this is what we can do. You can go pack some clothes and stay with me over the weekend. That’s if your mother is okay with it.” I looked over at my mother, praying that she would say yes.

“Yeah, Shyla, you could go with your dad this weekend.” I smiled and went in the house to pack a bag, leaving my parents there to catch up. The look on my mom’s face told me she had totally forgotten about Gregory.

              Kayden:

Dealing with Ivy for the past day and a half had made me regret getting rid of what would have been my kids. I still remember the first time I had to go to the clinic with my mom. She cursed me out all the way there, only to tell me she was doing what was best for the family. She was trying to keep everything a secret to Dad, but he knew. I could tell when he looked at me. It was as if I was a disgrace to my parents. A at 22 I had yet to achieve anything important besides graduate high school. But how is it so great to graduate on time when your little sister is graduating a whole year early? I wished I could go back in time and redo the last five years of my life. Before meeting Jordyn I was satisfied with what I had achieved; now I felt as if I really hadn’t done anything special. All these years my father said I didn’t have to work for nothing so I wasn’t. I didn’t have to move out because he would still be paying my bills so why leave? I walked down to his office to tell him about Jordyn’s birthday party.

“Hey, Daddy!” I said, sounding like the spoiled brat that I was.

“Hey, baby girl. What’s going on?”

“Well, your other daughter has a birthday coming up and I wanted to throw her a surprise party, you know something to cheer her up since her mom left her.”

“Kayden, what are you talking about?”

“Oh, you don’t know. Well, long story short your beloved mistress stole all of Jordyn’s life savings, her clothes, and furniture. Left her in the empty apartment with just a mattress and a loaf of bread. She stayed there for a week before Trey took her to his house. That’s where she’s been staying ever since.” I could tell he was taking it all in. It was showing all in his facial expression. “So can we throw her a party?”

“Yeah, Kayden, we could throw her a party but you have a limit so don’t go over it, understood? She’s turning 17, not 21. And next time you see her tell her I want to talk to her.” I nodded my head, feeling accomplished. I was about to throw the biggest party of the year in a couple of days. Shit, if Kris Jenner can throw a wedding in three days, I can throw a party in a week. I went back to my room and booked a flight to L.A. I needed to get all the items for her gift bags and invites. I had made a couple of sketches for her dress. I was going to make her look beautiful. I left baby Ivy with my mom and went to the airport. L.A., here I come.

              Chapter 8:

We were back to school like we never left and I was doing what I did best—getting straight A’s. It was lunchtime and of course me and Shyla were chilling with our girls Nicole and Natalie. They were twins and ruthless as hell. They didn’t give a damn about anything. We were considered the smart but crazy girls because everyone knew we were graduating a year early but they also knew that we would beat the shit out of you if you looked at us the wrong way. We all had been cool since middle school and became like sisters. I could feel the tension in the cafeteria and knew some shit was going to go down. At the table next to us TaKiera, Mercedes, Tanya, LaTonya, and Trey and his boys sat their enjoying lunch. I laughed at Trey. He didn’t know just how stupid he looked. Here he was in shawty’s face like she didn’t set him up.

“Yo, but for real we should do the talent show this year. I mean it’s our last year,” Natalie said in her New York accent.

“Yeah, we should but what songs would we dance to?” Shyla said, down to do it. I just nodded my head in agreement. I could feel someone’s eyes glued to the side of my head.

“Well, you know I will be hooking up our hair for it. So you can scratch that off the list,” I said in my ratchet girl voice. We all fell out laughing and I could still feel someone’s eyes glued to the side of my face. I turned around to see who the eyes belonged to. Of course they belonged to TaKiera. I rolled my eyes and let out a deep sigh. I threw my hair up in a bun just in case some shit was about to go down.

“We should go shopping next week if you don’t have to work,” Nicole said, and we all nodded in agreement.

“I’m off on Monday. We could go then.”

“What are you doing for your birthday?” I had totally forgotten all about my birthday with everything that had been going on.

“I don’t know. We could go out to eat or something. I haven’t put too much thought into it.”

“So is she just going to stare at you all period or is she trying to get fucked up today?” Shyla asked, ready to go smack the shit out of her. Just as quick as she said it Nicole was out of her seat and standing in front of TaKiera. I got up and grabbed Nicole by her arm. I looked over at the table and nodded to the exit. We just got back from break. I didn’t need to be getting suspended for beating the shit out of her. After lunch school was a breeze and just like that everything was over.

I arrived home to find a duffle bag filled with the little bit of clothes I had sitting by the door. I looked around wondering what the hell was going on. I was the bigger person today. I could hear voices coming from the den. I walked over there to see Trey and Jay in deep conversation.

“Trey, what’s going on? You kicking me out or something?”

“I’m not kicking you out but—”

“Jordyn, I am your father and you’re moving in with me. I shouldn’t have to be at work and find out from one of my little niggas that you’re living with your brother’s right hand man. I don’t care how you feel about our relationship; I’m still your father. I gave you money. Why you didn’t use it?”

“One, I was talking to Trey. Two, why would I use your money? Money that you make by ruining people’s lives. I’m good, sir. If you don’t want me to stay with Trey, cool, no problem. But today is not the day you’re going to play daddy.” As soon as the words came out my mouth I was hemmed up to the wall.

“Listen and listen good. I am your fucking father and you will respect me. I don’t want you living with Trey and you will not be living with Trey. You don’t want to come to my house then fine, I will put you in an apartment. But you will not fucking disrespect me, little girl. Now go get your duffle bag and take your little ass to the car.” I picked up my duffle bag and did as I was told. Once my father got in the car it was a very awkward and quiet drive. Once we arrived at his house I got upset. I didn't want to live with him and his rude ass wife. The car came to a complete stop at the front of the house.
"Jordyn, get out of the car now." I sucked my teeth and got out. I waited for him to open the front door. He handed me the keys and we walked in. I could hear his wife suck her teeth. Shit, if my father wasn't sitting right there I would've slapped the shit out of her. Jayden walked down the stairs and showed me to my bedroom. I walked into the room and was shocked. It was huge. It was the size of my old apartment. I had three aqua walls and one black wall. That was my focus wall. I had a variety of candles on my dresser. I walked over to my closet and wanted to cry. It was filled with brand new clothes and all of the latest shoes. I looked at the shoe boxes and was surprised to see at least three Christian Louboutin boxes sitting there. No matter how bad I wanted to be mad I couldn't. Shit, I was thankful. My brother knocked on the door.
"I hope you like your room. I decorated it all by myself." I looked at him.
"You did this by yourself?"
"I had a little help from Ivy but that's about it." I nodded my head.
"Jayden, have you seen her?" He looked at me and was silent. He shook his head no and walked out the room. It may sound crazy but I really missed my mom. It seemed as if she took my money and left the city. I sat down on my bed and thought back to when my mother decided to leave me. What grown woman leaves their kid? I lost all respect for that lady. I heard the cries of Ivy and decided to go help out. Of course I ran into Star and she rolled her eye. I was tired of the bullshit eye rolling.
"I have her so don't worry about it!" she said with attitude in her voice.
"Look, I understand you have ill feelings about me living here but I don't give a damn. That's my niece. My father just so happens to be your husband. If you could forgive him for fucking my mother you should be able to handle the consequence that came along with those five long years of them fucking. I mean, you do know I was supposed to have a little sister, right?" I said, laughing at her face. Too busy laughing, I never saw her raise her hand to slap me.
Whap!
It took me a minute to realize the bitch slapped me. I blacked out and every hurtful situation was coming out on her face and body. Jayden and my father ran down the stairs once they heard glass shatter. Jayden grabbed me off of her. All the while she still had my hair in her hand.
"You little bitch I'm going to kill you and the bitch that created you," she said as she spit blood onto the floor as if we were in the street.
          Jayden:
I sat in the office with my father as we watched over the tape of my mother and Jordyn fighting. We watched my mother slap her first. That pissed my father off. If there was one thing that could piss him off it was someone touching his kids. He walked out of the office. I already knew how this was going to end. I went and checked on Ivy and waited for the shouting to start. This happened all the time. My mother was bitter and Daddy didn’t care. He didn’t understand how he spent 13 years trying to fix a relationship that wasn’t fixable. He fell in love with Tinker. I remember the night he came home and told my mother. He was hella high and his eyes were red as hell. He was drunk and thought Kayden and I were asleep. He started packing his bags, saying he wasn’t in love any more. But my mother threatened to never let him see us. At the time Jordyn was young and wouldn’t remember he even existed. That was the last night my dad got high and the last night he saw Tinker. It was too hard for him to see her. Most the time he only saw the bed he created for her.