In the Gray

by B.B. Reid

“It’s because of her, isn’t it? I know you’re not really going to walk away from our thing because of that pigment-challenged bitch!”

😬😬

“Little girl, don’t you get in that fucking car,” Joren warned.

This ain’t gone end well

“Be so for real,” Zoey interjected. “This girl looks like she’s twelve. No offense,” she offhandedly threw my way. I was very much offended, but it wasn’t worth arguing over, and with a stranger, no less. “She doesn’t even look like she’s old enough to be in this club, much less date that green-eyed monster.”

They stay coming for her young ass 😂😂

I didn’t really believe he’d hurt me,

I will keep screaming that HE CHOKED YOU!!

“Don’t be shy now.” He pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek. “Come on.”

😩😩

I should call the police and tell them you’re dating preschoolers.”

Wheezing 😭😭

Remembering we weren’t alone,

ISTG I thought I missed something. They’re STILL on this hot air balloon!!

Whatever that meant.

Girl it meant let him lead, pay these bills, and dick you down

I just smiled, thanked him, and started making a list.

Very demure, very mindful

Apparently, I could spend a ridiculous three-figure amount on a trash can, but he drew the line at scented candles, saying he didn’t want his house smelling like the back room of a strip club.

Oh he would hate me

“Who the fuck are you talking to, Atlas?” My gaze dropped, and I mumbled submissively, “No one.”

IKYL! What happened to all that mouth?

Of all the available women, the lion of Idlewild had chosen a teenager.

A LITERAL TEENAGER

After our hair had been freshly pressed, sweat, water, or moisture of any kind was an absolute no-no for Black women.

I killed the engine and made sure to pocket the keys before I answered her. “It’s my parents’ home.” Atlas’s reaction was about what I’d expected. She visibly balked. “Your…what?”

😂😩😂😩

We never called our elders by their first name; it was always Ms., Mr., Aunt, or Uncle, according to whatever role they parroted in our lives.

That!

The doctor and the cut on her head had already confirmed she’d hit her head, but I wondered if it had occurred after she’d passed out.

“Oh, no, Ms. Heidi,” Atlas said when my father started to stand. “You and your husband worked so hard already. Owen isn’t doing anything. He can get it.” My chewing slowed as my gaze slid to Atlas, who tilted her head and silently dared me to object. Sliding my tongue over my front teeth, I nodded and stood to do her bidding.

Whipping out my nine, I aimed for her front tire, making Atlas scream when I pulled the trigger twice. I was so mad I missed both times, which only pissed me off even more—that and the two bullet holes in my pavement.

This nigga crazy!

“You’re fucking your own daughter!”

………………………

It was the only time I’d been able to look Joren in the eye after fucking his girl behind his back.

Chile… this is a mess

A baby girl, no more than a few weeks old, with star-shaped markings on her face.

And Jada tried to tell her! That’s why she looked so pale after Atlas drowned

“Man,” Roc said, watching them go and running his hand over the waves in his close-cut in agitation. “I don’t know what the fuck all of this is about, but keeping it a hundred, I’m cool on it.” He looked at Rowdy. “You said you wanted to be the one to handle her, so you got it.” He slapped hands with Rowdy, and they gave each other dap and a snap before Roc walked off, mumbling incoherently. “I got enough damn problems. He just gon’ pull a gun on me? His boy? The fuck I look like playing detective anyway?”

😩😩😩

Jada couldn’t be sure that I was the daughter she’d given away any more than I could be sure the baby in the photo she’d carried around for twenty years was me—or that Rowdy was the man who’d sired me.

Girl… DNA tests exist

“Yes.” Rowdy took my hand in his. I linked our fingers. “Together?”

Ain’t no damn way. Y’all need to be on Maury or something

and a little ground cinnamon—

I thought she didn’t like cinnamon

“We never fucking stopped!”

Wooooow. He really ain’t shit! That’s your best friend’s wife. On top of that, you messing with the “mother” and the daughter?!

The only reason I hadn’t come clean before was because Joren’s pride ran deeper than his love for his wife. Much deeper. He’d never forgive me.

AND HE SHOULDN’T! IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PRIDE! YALL BETRAYED HIS TRUST!

Professor Saunders wasn’t responding to any of my emails. She hadn’t been in weeks.

Is she Unrequited?

Ruen appeared while I was grabbing a small plate for my brownie and made a show of looking around. “Nice crib. I see Rowdy succeeded in turning you into a house bitch.”

Girl you braaaaaave

“Did I? You seemed to be doing that all on your own. Joren told me about how you purposely tracked them down. What’s still unclear is why. Was it money? Did your little scheme fail, and now you’re after mine? I mean, damn, little girl. I couldn’t get rid of you fast enough when you were born, but you can’t seem to take the hint. I gave you up, which means I don’t owe you shit. Do us all a favor and go back to where I left you.”

Yeah, jump her

“I bet he answers the phone for his baby mama, though.” Jada and I both paused in shock. “What are you talking about?” I asked when words seemed to fail Jada. “He has a kid?”

Why are you blowing up this man’s spot???

When his tongue teased the seam of my lips, I opened for him, consequences be damned.

Ain’t no way

“I wouldn’t take it back even if I could.”

BEAT HIM DOWN JOREN!!

“My mistake was the best thing that had ever happened to me.”

NIGGA THIS IS PROBABLY YOUR DAUGHTER!!

“What? Hell nah!” Roc immediately denied it.

😭😭

His cheating had taken an emotional toll on her that she’d tried to exorcise by betraying him too.

Then get a damn divorce then

Atlas’s tortured gaze met mine in the mirror. “What if we were fated, Owen, but not meant to be?” I pressed a kiss to her shoulder while never looking away. “Then I’ll keep you anyway.”

I am…

I wasn’t prepared for her kiss the moment my ass hit the mattress. I gasped, and Ruen was ready for it. She slipped her tongue inside my mouth, and I felt one of the tiny tabs on my tongue for a split second before I swallowed it down.

I knew it

I felt the moment Rowdy’s focus shifted to her. “Take all that shit off,” he ordered gruffly. “My girl wants to see you.”

DEBAUCHERY

And then I went.

You went where???

I was staring at the ceiling, waiting for Atlas to go pee already, when I felt something warm and wet splash onto my stomach and then temper into a steady stream.

I literally threw my phone

For the first time ever, I was stunned into silence and covered in Atlas’s urine.

…

“Get out,” I told her. For once, Ruen didn’t challenge me. I guess the night had gotten too weird even for her.

I would have been gone at the pee…

want this to be over so that I can be free to love you the way God called me to.”

Girl God didn’t tell you that! Don’t lie on God!!

He was Chris Brown’s doppelgänger without the talent and all of the toxicity.

😭😭

Outside, I watched her climb into a silver Tesla and drive away.

I knew it!

After thoroughly abusing my teaching privileges at the university and calling in a few favors, I discovered that Atlas Beck was the baby my best friend had given away.

Woooooow

She’d known back then how much I liked Rowdy. I’d been stupid enough to confide in her many times, but she’d always laugh and tell me how I didn’t stand a chance. And then, to throw salt in the wound, she went and fucked him and got pregnant.

Y’all are all horrible people

One to Kareena Beck for if she ever woke up, another to the Wrays, and the third to a local radio station in Idlewild.

Ooooooooooooh weeeeeee

I had a particularly painful death in mind for her, and once she was out of the way, Rowdy and I could move forward.

She was plotting on this girl the whole book…