“Who is Kaylani?” Autumn asked.
“Kaylani? What is she doing there?” Kenzi asked in the background.
“You’ll find out when y’all get here. This shit is fucking wild, man,” I said, pacing the sidewalk.
“We’re ten minutes away, babe. Just breathe in and out. Whatever it is, you got this. You’re strong, you’re amazing, you are calm, and no weapon that is formed against you will prosper. You’re a king, and you can overcome any situation that may come your way with a clear mind and a calm heart. You hear me?”
I nodded. “I hear you, mama. I love the fuck out of you.”
“I love you more, big man. Just hold tight for me.”
I closed my eyes and did the breathing exercises she told me to do. I thought of a good place just to keep calm. I wanted to ask questions, but I feared I’d end up choking one of them if I did. They stood by the truck, talking amongst themselves, and in my mind, I felt like they were plotting against me.
“Stop fucking whispering!” I yelled at them.
“Ghana, you are trippin’. You need to calm down!” Bre yelled.
“Hey! Don’t talk to him! Don’t say anything else to him!” Autumn yelled through the phone. “We’re pulling up now, baby. Stay calm.”
Three minutes later, Kenzi’s car double-parked in front of me, and she and Autumn emerged. Autumn came straight to me, tossing her arms around me. I held her tightly while Kenzi walked over to Bre and Kaylani.
“Now, what is happening? Why are y’all here?” Kenzi asked.
Kaylani rolled her eyes slightly and looked at Kenz. “Nichelle ran off somewhere three months ago, and we can’t locate her. She got a DNA test done on Nizara, and it turned out that Nico wasn’t the father. She left a letter telling us to bring the baby to Ghana. At first, I wasn’t going to do it, but my aunt can’t take care of her, and I’m still in school and can’t take her.
“There is no one else in the family willing to take her in, so I brought her up to her father.”
“She’s not his, so why would you even do that?” Kenzi asked.
“Ghana is the only other man she’s been with besides Nico. And that nigga been missing since he found out the results.”
“All of this sounds like some bullshit,” I said. Why would that ho-ass nigga risk his life, coming for me, if he already knew the baby didn’t belong to him?
I didn’t ask the shit out loud, because it didn’t even matter anymore. The nigga was worm food, but it just wouldn’t make sense for him to do some stupid shit like that for a seed that wasn’t even his.
“Where is the baby?” Kenzi asked.
“In the back, sleeping.”
Kenzi went to the back and opened the door. She stood there for over twenty seconds, just staring inside. When I saw a tear slide down her cheek, right then I knew, the shit had to be true.
“Ghana . . .” she called out to me. I drew in a deep breath, then begrudgingly made my way over to the truck with Autumn holding on to my arm. When I peered inside, my heart fell to my stomach, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.
She looked just like me. The eyebrows, the shape of her face, the shape of her lips, and the roundness of her snout were 100 percent me. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I didn’t need to, to know that she belonged to me.
I never got a chance to see her in the hospital because I was filled with so much rage, but I believed my sister when she said she didn’t belong to me.
“I was wrong, Ghana. We never gave her features time to come in before I concluded she didn’t look like you. All I saw was Nichelle’s betrayal, and I’m sorry,” Kenz said.
“I still want a DNA test,” I said. “I’ll get y’all a room, and first thing in the morning, I’m calling my doctor to come administer it. Until then, keep her until it’s time, and send me your CashApp.” I walked away and headed inside the building. I needed to fucking smoke.
Kenzi and Autumn followed close behind as we took the elevator up to the loft. The first thing I did when we got inside was grab my cigar box and take out a blunt. I lit it and paced the floor, trying to wrap my head around what the fuck was happening.
“This is absurd. Like, I can’t even believe any of this. When I saw her, I was only looking for the birthmark. I really am sorry, Brother.”
“You ain’t got shit to be sorry for, Sis. Too much shit was happening at the time, so even if I did see her, I wouldn’t have thought she was mine anyway.”
“But you’ve missed six months of her life?—”